Modern Cartoons are Awesome

[dotcom]

AAGH BLAGH NEW SHOWS ARE LAME WAAAAGHAAAGH BOOBOOOOOOOO--The average internet user, 200#-2012This is a topic to discuss modern cartoons and how awesome they are. Anything starting from the early 2000s is acceptable, but stuff from the past five years or so is preferred. (So like from 2007-now)Most people nowadays talk about present-day western animation as the "worst thing evers," which usually translates to "Everything after I hit puberty sucks." More often it's severe cases of Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch (Also known as the most stupid form of arguing), or things they barely pay attention to. People tend to watch the past with ultra thick nostalgia goggles and the present with cynicism specs. They judge new shows by brief previews and advertisements. Often they will disregard anything new just because it's new without even giving it a chance. The bottom line is, they think new stuff is generally very bad.I disagree!I think there is as many great cartoons now as there were in the past. I think there were the same percentage of bad cartoons (Probably more, now that I think about it) that were totally terrible back then. There will always be bad things, but there are also always gems amongst the mediocre and downright unwatchable. This is a show to discuss those great ones.Presently, there are four main channels with good (great) cartoons in them. As a way to start off discussion, these are the ones I consider to be great cartoons. (Bolded is for extra goodness) Dates listed are the years they started, the ending year is only included if it's actually ended.Disney Channel:-Gravity Falls (2012)Nickelodeon:-Legend of Korra (2012)-Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006-2008)The HUB:-Dan Vs. (2010)-My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010)-Transformers Prime (2010)Cartoon Network:-Transformers Animated (2007-2009)-The Clone Wars (2008)-Adventure Time (2010)-Regular Show (2010)-Generator Rex (2010-2012)-The Amazing World of Gumball (2011)-Ben 10 Omniverse (2012)The idea of this list is to give you something to throw the rotten vegetables at. Disagree with me! Tell me how wrong (or right) I am! I am all for encouraging discussion. Let's debate it up as much as possible in here. Any and all opinions welcome.

Edited August 12, 2012 by dotcom

[Axilus Prime]

I can see I may have spawned this with my Adventure time comment.No, I like most of the shows you posted up here. Actually, all of them except for Adventure Time, Gumball, MLP: FIM, and Dan Vs.Yes, I have seen at least one episode of the shows I dislike. As for the first two on my list of dislikes, MANY episodes.

Edited August 12, 2012 by TNG Prime

[dotcom]

I can see I may have spawned this with my Adventure time comment.

Nope, I've wanted to make this since that topic got started, but never had the time. Your comment just reminded me that I really had to.Also, just saying watching=/=paying attention. You can watch as many AT episodes as you want, but it doesn't do any good if you don't pay attention to the subtle characterization and worldbuilding. It isn't all random and stupid.

[iPenguin]

I'm not going to lie, I rewatched a couple of series I enjoyed as a kid, but now I realise how bad they actually were. But I agree, modern cartoons are awesome. There was this really awkward time when animates started switching from purely hand drawn cartoons to ones made on a computer and the quality of the animation itself had really gone downhill. I haven't really paid too much attention to modern cartoons, but I still need to finish avatar (I stopped midway through the earth season) and start Korra and Adventure time. Only thing I would disagree with the list is The Clone Wars. I mean the star wars franchise has already been beaten to a pulp, and I think that this series didn't help it redeem itself at all. I liked the clone wars by Genndy Tartaskovy, but I couldn't stand this.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Summer Don't Know

[Rainbow Dash]

I think MLP:FiM shoud be obvious for me.That's mostly it, don't really watch much cartoons :/.

[Klak]

I agree with many of your show choices, while adding Danny Phantom, Young Justice, Green Lantern Animated Series, Teen Titans, Justice League (ended in mid 2000s so I think it counts), Spectacular Spiderman, Wolverine and The X-Men, and Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Animation is pretty good nowadays, but there are quite a few bad shows out there.I myself still think that certain great shows of the past have yet to be fully paralleled in their respective genres (mainly Animaniacs, BTAS, Batman Beyond, Freakazoid).Also, nostalgia is ok. Don't be too harsh on them . Too much of it is bad, though.

[Terminus]

Well, Clone Wars was pretty good (I've only seen the first two seasons), it gave me faith that good CG animation might exist on television, although I haven't seen any other CG shows that come close to Clone Wars in animation or plot.And I enjoyed Napoleon Dynamite, and I was somewhat surprised it didn't do too well, because my friends and I watched about half of the episodes, and we all enjoyed it.

[Tomaku]

Out of those you listed I only like Avatar from 2005. Cartoons were better before just like Bionicle's best year was 2001.

[Toa Kayn]

My favourite has to be Regular Show by far.I tried watching MLP:FIM a while ago and it just didn't really appeal to me

[StrobeFlashLite]

holy dumpwas this supposed to counteract with my bad cartoons thread?but stillnow i only use my tv cable for weather and cartoon networkeverything else is on the computer or my roku (a media streaming device)but i watch that stupid mad shou just to see if they shatter my childhood or my interests (maybe i should've put that in my thread)

Edited August 12, 2012 by StrobeFlashLite

[Axilus Prime]

I haven't seen any other CG shows that come close to Clone Wars in animation or plot.

May I suggest to you Transformers: Prime? That is the best Transformers TV show ever made.

[SgtPanda]

There was this show that ran from 2004-2005 called Megas XLR. It. Was. Amazing.

[dotcom]

@SFL: Yes actually.MAD is terrible, but some shorts are so ridiculous they're actually kind of funny. I liked the time they covered Cowboys & Aliens, Ben 10 and FiM all at the same time.

I haven't seen any other CG shows that come close to Clone Wars in animation or plot.

May I suggest to you Transformers: Prime? That is the best Transformers TV show ever made.

Prime is cool, but the animation is just okay. Animated was much better, though that one isn't CG..

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

MEGAS!!!!Most of the Toonami shows were said to be good. But the only one I watched was Naruto(New!). Gundam Seed is ok. But I have only watched a few episodes when I am bored. FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD!! Gen Rex was boss.All I can think of right now.

[Axilus Prime]

The animation is "ok"? Animated was better? Wut.How so? Prime has the 3D, and the textures and reflections in the metal, and...Just About A Sixth Of The Effects The Movies Had.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Honestly, a lot of the cartoons in the past were pretty awful. The only reason I like Batfink is because it's quite aware of how terrifyingly campy it is, and so it takes a flying leap over stupid and lands back in awesome.So when you say that cartoons are just as good now as they were then, I take that as saying that forty percent of them are terrible, forty percent are mediocre, and twenty percent are, for one reason or another, pretty awesome.

[Angel Beat]

I don't watch many cartoons these days, but here's a short list of those that I like from the past 5(?) years.- Transformers Animated- Transformers Prime- Star Wars the Clone Wars (aka the CGI one. I really need to get up to speed.)- My Little Pony: Friendship is MagicThat's it for now.

[dotcom]

@YT: Actually, I said there were probably more bad ones back then, so I guess that's okay Those percentages seem accurate either way.

The animation is "ok"? Animated was better? Wut.How so? Prime has the 3D, and the textures and reflections in the metal, and...Just About A Sixth Of The Effects The Movies Had.

I don't mean Animated's animation is better than Prime's, I meant Prime isn't the best TF series.Prime's animation really isn't all that amazing.

[Vandenreich]

They may be good but they cant even compare to the 90s and early 2000's-Batman: The Animated Series-Spiderman: The Animated Series-Batman Beyond-Clone wars (2003)-Justice League-X-Men: The Animated Series-Justice League Unlimited-Static Shock-Samurai Jack-AnimaniacsThese shows in my opinion are better then almost everything on air today, am I saying every show sucks now? No. Im saying everything used to be better IMO

Edited August 13, 2012 by Deltus

[Athmos]

Justice League was a favorite of mine.Danny Phantom was decently good. Not the best, but good.Brief stint when I really liked Fairly Oddparents.Avatar: The Last Airbender was great(Had a few bad moments, I admit.).Courage: The Cowardly Dog(Ended in 2002, sadly.) EDIT: OH AND: Spider-Man: Animated Series. THE BEST CARTOON OF ALL TIME.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Cinnamon Grochi

[Axilus Prime]

Ah, Danny Phantom. I loved that show way back when I was little. I hated how scarce its showings were.

[Shadow Kurahk]

Not all of them are that bad, but the majority have degenerated into potty-humor-reliant garbage. Spongebob is the best example--that used to be one of the greatest animated shows, and now it's just inappropriate humor. Cartoon Network is the primary culprit of this, though.Old cartoons were a lot better, but that's not to say stuff like The Last Airbender weren't/aren't great.And while I respect the animation that MLP has to offer, it is definitely not something I'm interested in watching. Good for you all if you think so.The older cartoons that people have named here are a lot better, I think, than the ones you've listed. And yes, I've seen episodes of almost every one, including MLP.-SK

Edited August 14, 2012 by XII. Larxene

[SgtPanda]

Oh!Here in Canada. we have a little piece ol'genius called Almost Naked Animals.It's brilliant I say!

[KZN02]

No mention of Motorcity on Disney XD? That's an awesome show, from the creators of Megas XLR.

[dotcom]

No mention of Motorcity on Disney XD? That's an awesome show, from the creators of Megas XLR.

Motorcity! I've been wanting to give it a watch, as I've heard some good things about it. (Don't now how it'll stack against the other brilliant new Disney show, though). It sounds good and the art is pretty cool.

[~Shockwave~]

TfpTfaGenerator RexLoK (the first two episodes had me a bit worried, but i'll firgive that.)Avatar: the last airbender.Danny phantom is bomb.And the Unicron trilogy, the Tf series I watched when I was younger was probably terrible.

[Axilus Prime]

TF Prime's animation is the best I have seen in any CGI cartoon. The humans are nothing special, but they look decent, and the robots look almost real.@Wheeljack, Unicron Trilogy was terrible until Transformers Cybertron. TFC had too many flashy laser blasts and waves, and any stock footage aside from the transformations (Those were fun to watch, at least.) was annoying, but overall I liked it.You may want to re-watch TFC sometime.

[KZN02]

No mention of Motorcity on Disney XD? That's an awesome show, from the creators of Megas XLR.

Motorcity! I've been wanting to give it a watch, as I've heard some good things about it. (Don't now how it'll stack against the other brilliant new Disney show, though). It sounds good and the art is pretty cool.

Hard to do that as Gravity Falls is a super suspense thriller and Motorcity is explosively action awesomeness.

[Klak]

They may be good but they cant even compare to the 90s and early 2000's-Batman: The Animated Series-Spiderman: The Animated Series-Batman Beyond-Clone wars (2003)-Justice League-X-Men: The Animated Series-Justice League Unlimited-Static Shock-Samurai Jack-AnimaniacsThese shows in my opinion are better then almost everything on air today, am I saying every show sucks now? No. Im saying everything used to be better IMO

Exactly, doesn't mean there aren't good shows on nowadays. The previous posts including my own prove that there are good shows out there. But this is BZPower! Your opinions must always be hyperbolized!

TF Prime's animation is the best I have seen in any CGI cartoon. The humans are nothing special, but they look decent, and the robots look almost real.@Wheeljack, Unicron Trilogy was terrible until Transformers Cybertron. TFC had too many flashy laser blasts and waves, and any stock footage aside from the transformations (Those were fun to watch, at least.) was annoying, but overall I liked it.You may want to re-watch TFC sometime.

Indeed@TF Prime. Also, IMO, Armada was one of the best of the Unicron trilogy.

[KZN02]

Anyone remember Sym-bionic Titan? That was a short-lived series, but it was awesome.

[Axilus Prime]

True. That was an awesome show.

[Lyichir]

I agree that cartoons aren't in any sort of decline, even though I've only seen bits and pieces of many of the cartoons you mentioned. In fact, among those Korra and My Little Pony are the only ones I've seen any significant amount of (plus Ninjago, but apart from being Lego it doesn't really compare in terms of quality). But I can tell from what little I've seen of others that they're just as high quality as the shows of my childhood. In fact, Adventure Time calls to mind an earlier age of animation, where the only limit to what could be done was the creators imagination, and it was used to depict things which would be impossible to depict otherwise. That surreal quality makes me really want to watch the show, although in two weeks I'm going back up to college, so my opportunities to do so may be limited.There are probably some lame cartoons now, but there were lame cartoons back then, too. Although, in the intervening years, I've learned better than to judge a cartoon without seeing it. Looking back, I was somewhat of a hipster in my youth, assuming that if a show was popular (like Animaniacs or Gargoyles, for example) it must not be very good. But now I read about some of those shows online, and realize that the content of those sort of shows was right up my alley, if I had just gotten off my high horse and watched them.

[Bfahome]

I bet half the shows anyone used to love will, if they watch them years later, look pretty bad.I have no problems admitting that the only reason I have for watching Sailor Moon or Pokémon nowadays is the nostalgia. Both shows were actually kinda dumb.There are always going to be pretty good shows on and pretty bad shows on. You probably aren't going to remember the bad ones years later.

[Toa Zaz]

Started watching Black Dynamite. Surprisingly great. Probably my new favorite currently running TV show.

[SgtPanda]

Started watching Black Dynamite. Surprisingly great. Probably my new favorite currently running TV show.

I thought you meant the movie, which was way too hilariously blaxploitated to be serious XD

[~Shockwave~]

TF Prime's animation is the best I have seen in any CGI cartoon. The humans are nothing special, but they look decent, and the robots look almost real.@Wheeljack, Unicron Trilogy was terrible until Transformers Cybertron. TFC had too many flashy laser blasts and waves, and any stock footage aside from the transformations (Those were fun to watch, at least.) was annoying, but overall I liked it.You may want to re-watch TFC sometime.

maybe, i only really watched energon and cybertron. and a few episodes from armada. i remember them being ok, but i was in elementary school, so, yeah.

[iPenguin]

There was this show that ran from 2004-2005 called Megas XLR. It. Was. Amazing.

Heck yeah I remember that. It was awesome.I remember the DMV episode. Edited August 22, 2012 by Summer Don't Know

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

Gundam 00. 'Twas epic

[Klak]

Anyone remember Sym-bionic Titan? That was a short-lived series, but it was awesome.

It was great.

I bet half the shows anyone used to love will, if they watch them years later, look pretty bad.I have no problems admitting that the only reason I have for watching Sailor Moon or Pokémon nowadays is the nostalgia. Both shows were actually kinda dumb.There are always going to be pretty good shows on and pretty bad shows on. You probably aren't going to remember the bad ones years later.

It depends on the show, really. Some of the old shows I used to watch while young are still great today. Edited August 24, 2012 by KlakWest

[Fractual Forever]

A list of the shows I watch? Sure, but I don't really watch much TV.Avatar: The Legend of KorraBen 10 OmniverseAdventure TimeTransformers PrimeMy Little Pony: Friendship is MagicAll shows have their own appeal, or else they won't still be running. Remember, a show must have a fanbase for it to continue running, or else there won't ever be a reason to show it. It just so happens that the youth of today are interested in these crazy, potty-humour jokes and shows that look like they're made from people that only do it for the money.