Because I love visiting blogs about animation, I'm able to figure out why both Disney and Dreamworks get their unnecessary, yet understandable negativity. Disney is unfairly disliked by adults and teens for being kid-friendly and Dreamworks also gets a lot of hatred from these people for being immature and juvenile. Both of them are very conservative with their own formulas and are unbalanced. Sure, Disney has created most of their timeless childhood classics, but they're unable to actually reach the adult and teen demographics apart from Walt's works, the Renaissance-era classics, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, their TV cartoons, the Muppets, Pixar's films, the Marvel universe and the Star Wars saga. Sure, Dreamworks has the edge, but don't you dare to start it with the likes of Shark Tale and Shrek the Third.
I'm not against neither Disney nor Dreamworks, but Disney's 90s movies had the same formula for every single movie. Because it was fresh when The Little Mermaid came out, the formula didn't really become noticeable until the second half of the 90s. A young protagonist (usually with a dead mother) sings about how they want to be accepted and how they are looking for something more (Ariel, Belle, Aladdin, Simba, Pocahontas, Quasimodo, Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan all do this). They all have "hilarious" and tonally out of place sidekicks that usually spout pop-culture references (with the exception being Pocahontas because her animal sidekicks don't talk). The sidekicks are usually the only ones who truly understand our lonely hero who doesn't quite fit in with the rest of society. The protagonist usually falls in love with someone from a different world (mermaid/human, beast/human, street rat/princess, Native American/Englishman, gypsy/white soldier, god/mortal, ape-man/civilized woman). Normally, the pair sings an Oscar-baiting love song. The villain is introduced early on the movie and he or she normally has some sort of tie with one of the main characters. At some point, the villain usually breaks into an awesome villain song where they scheme about how they're going to fuck with the protagonist ("Poor Unfortunate Souls", "Gaston", "Be Prepared", "Savages" and "Hellfire" are all examples of this). To counteract the darkness of the villain songs, the sidekicks usually get a funny number to "lighten the mood" and provide kids with catchy tunes for the inevitable sing-along track. These songs include "Under the Sea", "Be Our Guest", "A Friend Like Me", "Hakuna Matata", "A Guy Like You", "One Last Hope", "A Girl Worth Fighting For" and "Trashing the Camp". Anyway, the villain does something that causes the romantic leads to have a misunderstanding, but all is forgiven by the time we get to the big epic showdown. Usually the showdown starts out more lighthearted with the sidekicks hilariously taking out the main villain's sidekicks, but then it gets very serious when the hero and the villain come face to face. The villain usually dies in a scary fashion (with some exceptions) and then all of the main characters celebrate before the Oscar-baiting end credits pop song comes on. As for Dreamworks, most of their 2000s movies had the same formula of their own. When Shrek came out, the formula was fresh and wasn't obvious until the second half of the 2000s. Protagonists are always male cocky guys who are treated like bastards and only care about being accepted. Many characters are voiced by celebrities, not for the art of animation, but for the sake of marketing. The humor is nothing but sarcasm, snarky mean-spiritedness, dirty humor, pandering innuendos and really dated pop-culture references (the ones people from future generations will never ever know). So much money is wasted in those kinds of movies which always end in annoying dance party scenes and immediate sequels happen to be forced.
But I'm talking about the 25th anniversary of Cartoon Network, the best place for cartoons. There's a reason why their shows, both Cartoon Cartoons and Cartoon Network Originals, such as The Powerpuff Girls, Steven Universe, Codename: Kids Next Door and Samurai Jack are universally loved by all ages: they're not cutesy-wutesy like the Disney classics, and their edge is on the strong characters that break the mold and not on intelligence-insulting adult humor and pop-culture references like Dreamworks. There's a reason why The Powerpuff Girls was the face of Cartoon Network and why CN would reboot PPG in the first place: the original 1998 cartoon's beauty was strongly unlike Disney and had a more mature heart and soul than the likes of Shrek and Shark Tale. Not even their more action-oriented shows like Samurai Jack, Megas XLR and Sym-Bionic Titan were "hardcore" enough as they're all made from fully-freshed, well-written, likeable and relatable characters and compelling storytelling. Compared to Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Shark Tale, most of Cartoon Network's animated gems are more balanced than those films that tried too hard to get an adult and teen audience and failed miserably.
The reason why Disney and Dreamworks reclaimed their stolen glory is that they toned down the edgy content. Despite this, many people still love Cartoon Network's shows to this day because they were always edgy. Not in the sense of gratuitous sex, graphic violence and ear-wormy profanity, but because of character development. It's on Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, the three perfect little girls made from sugar, spice and everything nice who always fight evil before bedtime. It's on Dexter, a boy scientist who secludes his state-of-art laboratory from his sister and his parents. It's on Johnny Bravo, a handsome man whose attempts to seduce women lead him to disastrous predicaments. It's on the three Eds, whose get-rich-quick schemes always lead them into mischief. It's on Courage, a scaredy dog who always overcomes his fears for a noble goal. It's on the Kids Next Door, an organization of kids saving defenseless children and their families and other innocent civilians from adult and teen extremists. It's on Mac and Bloo, a boy and his imaginary friend who live adventures in a mansion inhabited by colorful monsters under the strict care of an anthropomorphic rabbit. It's on Billy and Mandy, two kids whose guardian and best friend is the persornification of death. It's on Lazlo, a Brazilian spider monkey in a summer camp. It's on Finn and Jake, a young man and his canine pal who remind us of Wallace and Gromit. It's on Mordecai and Rigby, a blue jay and a raccoon who always get themselves into surreal messes in their attempts to entertain themselves. It's on Gumball, a blue kitty who inhabits a world full of anthropomorphic creatures and objects. It's on Ami and Yumi, a J-pop rockin' duo globetrotting alongside their greedy manager. It's on Jack, a formidable samurai who was trapped in the future by his diabolical archnemesis. It's on Ben Tennyson, a boy who uses his Omnitrix to become numerous aliens, each with their own personalities. It's on Cow and Chicken, a brother and a sister who happen to be very different (obviously). It's on Steven, a half-Gem boy who lives with three Crystal Gems. It's on the three bears: a grizzly bear, a polar bear and a panda, each with their own traits.
In conclusion, Cartoon Network is on the same level than Nickelodeon because they can tell good stories just like Disney does and look less kiddie to the audience, but still have fun comedy and pop-culture references without being over-the-place just like Dreamworks did. This is called ballance, one of the key factors for the success of Cartoon Network. And speaking nicely of Disney and Dreamworks, both of them have stuff that have also got that balance right: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, the 2016 version of The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, Kingdom Hearts, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ducktales, Gargoyles, Kim Possible, Gravity Falls, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars from Disney; and The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron, Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Kung Fu Panda, Puss in Boots, Rise of the Guardians and How to Train Your Dragon from Dreamworks.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário