Earlier I talked about how cold war era cartoons helped the animation industry. There are many ways that they did help and improve cartons. I believe that these cartoons paved the way for many writing techniques. It borrowed many elements from live action TV and created some of its own. In a way, we sometimes forget how ground breaking it is. This is where animation was started to be taken seriously in as a form of entertainment. Cartoons were always praised for their visuals. Now they could also be noticed for their writing too. It definitely helped make cartoons more entertaining and profitable.
One of the pioneers of writing for cartoons was the show Rocky and Bullwinkle. A show had a simple premise and was executed well. What it lacked in animation quality it made up for in its writing. When cartoons started to appear on TV, they thought it would not work. There is no way that kids or adults would watch it for the whole time. However, the series creator Jay Ward knew the key to keeping the show alive. He hired writers such as Chris Hayward who would later write for TV shows like “the Munsters”. With his style of writing and jay wards creativity, they were able to make rocky and bull winkle a great success. They went on to make other characters like Dudley Do-Right, Peabody, and many others. These two had a great career together
As the decade moved on we have had many prolific writers in the field of animation. Of course, one of the most famous names in this business is Joseph Barbera and William Hanna. They created an empire of characters that would last for decades. Even while viewing some these it is funny and still relevant today. What I found amazing was how most of the shows they made were clones of each other and they were still successful. Just think about it. Scooby Doo, the Amazing Chan Clan, Josie and the Pussycats, they all had the same premise but they all differed in many ways. It’s a testament to their skill in writing how they were able to adapt. The same goes to all their animal shows too. They may all look the same on the outside but the writing for them was different at times.
Well into the nineties and early 21st century, we see the development of cartoons for adults. They have always been there however; they have not had as much popularity. One of the first shows to display adult cartoons was Matt Groening’s the Simpsons. It speaks a lot to the show that has been on the air for over 20 years. The show writing has changed over the years but it is a great model of his style of humor. It gives realistic events and portrays them in satirical and very different ways. The way a cartoon can only do. Soon shows like MTV’s Daria would show the superficial parts of life and riff on them. Then you have the crass and very blunt South Park that has been dealing with its satire and humor. All these use the normal American family trope and turned into something unique with the use of animation and their writing skills.
In conclusion, I think that writing for animation is a whole another world from live action. It can be similar at times but it is definitely different. There are so many styles you can use to entertain people. I think that most of them root themselves in the satirical styles. Even way back when Rocky and Bullwinkle was on they had satire. In the coming years I hope to see animation writing to be keep changing and getting better with time.
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