We've gone from "not dumbing things down for kids" in various cartoons, to $300,000,000 blockbuster movies dumbed down, even though aimed at various ages of adults!

Yes, books are better than any cartoons/tv shows/movies and that goes without saying. But I find it interesting, comparing apples to apples (media to media), looking at how we've objectively gone far downhill in just 40 years.

WHY were the 80's a golden era of imagination, optimism, risk-taking? Because they absolutely were.

They put real effort into these shows. They took them seriously. I couldn't see them doing this today.

Yes, a lot of these shows were silly and I haven't watched most of them. HOWEVER, what I do see is a willingness back then to take risks, try new things, and exercise a decent dose of imagination, which has been SORELY LACKING for a couple of decades now. I see real storytelling, most of these cartoons had an educational dimension, but they knew how to do it without getting preachy or boring.

Pretty sad when a cartoon has better characters, plot, action, pacing, etc. than modern multi-million dollar movies. To listen to these reviews, that does seem to be the case. (Some of my thoughts come from watching a couple other short videos that talked about "forgotten" cartoons from the 80s). And we're comparing these 80's shows to the "best" movies of Hollywood today -- the tent poles, the anchor stores, the major draws.



For a laugh, skip to 48:30 -- "Dinosaucers"