Why I'm Not Ashamed that I Watch Cartoons
I've been watching some more animated tv shows lately. Now, I'm 23 years old, and I don't really have any friends younger than 19 or 20, so I can't really blame this on the influence of children. But I love stories. My entertainment choices--video games, movies, television, books--are almost exclusively based on the stories I get to experience.
Here's a few of the things I watch:
Star vs the Forces of Evil
Star vs. the Forces of Evil - I think I'd have to say this one is might be one of my favourite animated shows. It starts out as a fun, lighthearted kid's show, but it's intelligent enough to be enjoyable even in the earlier seasons. I started watching it because of that, actually, because all the other shows I watch tend to be really dark and I needed something to break it up. As the show goes on, though, it gets a lot darker than you'd expect, but it still manages to keep its sense of humour and the themes of friendship and family (which sounds lame, but I promise it's really not).
Danny Phantom - A classic of the golden age of cartoons, in my opinion. I just rewatched this series recently, and I still wish it had not been cancelled. You don't get a lot of really good superhero shows like this, especially not ones directed at younger audiences. It also deals with stuff like morality, keeping secrets from your loved ones, bad characters can have good in them, yadda yadda yadda.
Voltron was one I really watched for my friends (who are 23, 23, and 24), and so I could finally understand all those references they kept making. However, I got into it pretty quickly, because all the characters are fantastic, it's got a great, snarky sense of humour, and the story arcs are almost entirely really compelling.
Voltron: Legendary Defenders
Ninjago - Well. Ninjago. I will admit, I'm basing this one more on how into the show my friends are (those same 20-year-old ones), than on what I've seen of it. This is one of the shows that really, really blossoms in its later seasons after a pretty weak start (and I mean weak, because I'm only on season 2, and it's bad. No insult intended to anyone involved, but the animation is mediocre and sort of clunky, particularly for an action show, and the writing is repetitive and leaves a lot to be desired.) However, they, and their reactions, inform me that this does not last, and despite the fact that all of the characters are legos, the storytelling is superb.
Star Wars Rebels - This is a great dramatic comedy about a dysfunctional sort-of-family (complete with mom, dad, crazy uncle, and three angsty kids) and their space adventures in space! And it's Star Wars! If you like Firefly, you'll probably like this show. If you don't like Firefly, go watch Firefly, then come back and finish reading. Done? Great. Rebels is fantastic for its characters and their developing relationships, but the action (lots of pew pew gunfights and epic lightsaber battles) is amazing as well. The animation is pretty unique and it is beautiful. If you watch this show, make sure to notice the lighting. Some scenes are utterly breathtaking
The thing is, like I said before, the stories are really what's important to me. And all these shows (or at least 3 of them, and one that I will have to see for myself) have incredible storytelling. I know that what I've done here is basically defend a bunch of shows that I like, but I do really, really like them (give me a little grace here).
Star Wars: Rebels
Cartoons and animated shows can tell really, truly wonderful stories, and a lot of them do. They can touch on all kinds of heavy subjects--I mentioned some of those when I was discussing Danny Phantom--but, maybe in part because they are perceived as being for younger audiences, a lot of them handle these issues with a great subtlety that I think is lacking in several of the more adult live-action shows that I've seen.
Here I've been talking about all these shows and their storytelling, and I haven't even touched on the animation itself. Animation can vary so widely in style and quality that some of it probably shouldn't even be compared, but it's even further from live action. Animation can be incredibly beautiful in ways that I don't think live action shows are really capable of. It's truly fascinating to watch different shows and see how the animators differently portray character, emotion, and action.
I do love live-action shows, don't get me wrong (some of them, at least). But animation will always hold a special place in my heart. I think I'll leave you with a few shots from some of those great animated shows, and let them speak for themselves.
