Cartoons aren’t just a child’s pastime to me; they
are an indicator of the future; a virtual dipstick of society.? What is
interesting to me in my rigorous study of cartoons is that they’ve
devolved considerably over time.? Now to tell the quality of a cartoon,
you need to take into account the following six factors:

Storyline

Voice acting

Artistry

Animation

Originality

Plot Cohesion

?

I wish I could give you some sort of firm,
mathematical equation that would help you determine each of these
without you actually having to think and form opinions? but I can’t.?
Most cartoons from Japan will automatically outstrip all American
cartoons in the areas of Artistry and Animation, and also automatically
lose a bunch of points on Voice Acting.? But I guess the latter is not
really their fault.?

In order to judge the cartoon, assign each cartoon
you watch a number from zero to nine.? Zero indicates the cartoon has
none of that particular factor.? Nine indicates that the cartoon
outstrips all others in that factor.? Once it gets a number in all
factors, average the total together to get an overall rating.? Here,
I’ll do one for you.

Looney Tunes Cartoons:

Storyline: 3 (there is no overall storyline to all
cartoons, though each individual Looney Tunes character has his or her
own story theme.? These themes tend to be very consistent and internally
accurate.? Also, they are funny)

Voice Acting: 9 (I’m sorry, but Mel Blanc is
perhaps the greatest voice artist that ever lived.? His nuance and
expression for each cartoon was perfect for those characters in that
cartoon.? The rating of nine will NOT be disputed.)

Artistry: 7 (The quality of the art changes from
cartoon to cartoon, but Looney Tunes endured great experimentation, most
of which was excellent.? The artistry during the 1960’s, however, was
awful and that time period remains apothecial in my book.)

Animation: 7 (Though it cannot compare in overall
detail to the cartoons produced in Japan, the Looney Tunes were produced
with the best technology of the time, and they rendered twice the frames
per second as modern cartoons, making the movement very fluid.)

Originality: 8 (Okay, it wasn’t some totally off
the wall artsy production unlike anything ever witnessed, but it was
close.? Looney Tunes came out of nowhere with fresh ideas that set the
standard for all cartoons since.)

Plot Cohesion: 5 (The cartoons were made to stand
alone, but the themes they carried over were accurate unto themselves.)

Okay, so, pencils down.? Looney Tunes receives an
overall cartoon score of 6.5.

Now kids, go ahead and do your own.? Tell me what
you get, I am interested to know.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 14th, 2003 at 9:39 am and is filed under Comics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.