One of the issues that concern me these days is the future of cartoons. Are we going to see computer animated cartoons only? Will there ever be hand drawn animated movies like before? Are these days gone forever?
The reason why I chose this issue to talk with you about is because of some observations, or comments that I have concerning computer animation. Well I don't claim to have seen all computer animated movies of course, but let's say I saw 40 or 50% of them and based on that I came with the following conclusions.
Most of the advantages of computer animation are related to the visual side-the graphics and stuff. Most of the negatives, however, are related to the content of such cartoons:
1. Computer animated movies are more visually attractive and can even expand the cartoons audience to include adults or grown ups as well
2. One of the pros of computer animated is that it puts the viewer into the movie as if he is in the middle of the events (thanks to 3D graphics)
3. Also, cartoon characters that are computer-designed seem more appealing, because you can see every detail of their features
A negative side however is that:
1. Many of the computer animated films concentrate on the graphics and impressing the audience with the latest techniques that are visually stunning and in return, the story plot is being abandoned sometimes or not as skillfully made as the visuals and graphics. A visually stunning movie with a weak story plot does not make a good cartoon movie in my opinion.
2. Also, many computer animated movies lack the emotional or human side not like traditional animated movies that are more concerned with the script and storyline. Rarely, would you find heart breaking stories such as Bambi or Pinocchio in a computer animated movie, maybe because such movies reflect our age today where cinema audiences want more visuals and graphics and are less interested in a highly emotional plot. Of course, there are exceptions such as Chicken Run or Finding Nemo, two computer animated movies that are very well written.
Or is it the fact that such computer movies are so visually attractive that they dominate over a really good story but we only get to notice the graphics because they are so catchy?
The coming years will answer that question..
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Positive Cartoons Are Still Out There!
Analyzing cartoons and their content does NOT mean criticizing them all the time. I, as a cartoon fan, sometimes notice that many writers who analyze cartoons fall into the mistake of criticizing cartoons mostly or showing their bad side more than any positive sides that they could have.
When I looked at my blog, I realized that maybe me too, I did not stress on the positive examples of cartoon shows. Cartoons are not all bad or full of violence, or sexual hints. There are many good cartoons out there and that's what I will be talking to you about.
Let me tell you about four of the loveliest concepts that I found conveyed in cartoons:
1. The Tolerance Concept: it's very hard to accept those who are totally different than you. Yes, it's true, only few people can actually tolerate others who have a different look, religion, or ideology. It takes time to accept or admit that there may be others out there who may be different than you are but just because they're different, doesn't mean that they are any inferior or less than you are.
That's exactly what Happy Feet and Winnie the Pooh's Heffalump movie tries to say. In Happy Feet, Mumble is different from all other penguins because he CAN'T sing like them. Because he's different, he's being expelled from the place where penguins live. But later on, this penguin that has been underestimated and ridiculed just because he's different saves the whole penguin nation!
Winnie the Pooh's movie discusses a new creature that came into the Hundred Acre Wood, the forest where the Winnie Bear lives. This creature is a strange looking elephant like creature. Because he is physically strange looking, he has no friends and the elephant spends a hell of a time to prove that he's not a bad person. He's just different.
The fact that cartoons convey such a noble and wonderful concept means that there are still many cartoons who are very useful, and important for kids to watch. The beauty of cartoons is that they can teach many beautiful concepts in an indirect way that does not seem old fashioned or boring to the child.
2. The Beauty-lies-within concept: In one of my posts, I discussed the "Ideals of beauty" issue-cartoons enforcing certain standards of beauty. While there are many cartoons that kind of mock ugly characters, there are other cartoons that stress that it's not important how one looks from the outside as long as he is beautiful from the inside. For Example, the Shrek movie: Shrek is a very ugly looking ogre yet he is loved by the princess because he is kind. This is very important for kids to learn, because still many people judge others by the looks.
3. Brotherhood is also a very important and noble concept portrayed in Disney's Brother Bear cartoon movie. Few cartoons actually focus on the brother relationship. To see how lucky one is to have a brother or sister is definitely a thing that children need to learn-they have to see how God really gave them a very special gift-to have a brother or sister. In Brother Bear, a brother sacrifices his life for his brother to save him from a beast bear. The movie shows how brothers are supposed to support and love each other.
4. Related to Brother Bear is the lovely concept of sacrifice. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle, the heroine of the story, does a great sacrifice. Having been imprisoned by an ugly Beast, Belle's father is locked in a prison in the Beast's tower. Belle goes there and asks the beast to take her instead. When the beast's face comes into the light, Belle can see how ugly he is. The Beast tells her she can choose: either to leave her father there or to take her instead but then she'll have to stay in the Beast's castle forever. To save her father, Belle makes the hardest choice and frees her father and takes his place.
There are many great and worth-watching cartoons out there. What's needed is to highlight them, discuss them, and hopefully kids will watch them and remember the lovely and noble concepts conveyed in the, for the rest of their lives.
When I looked at my blog, I realized that maybe me too, I did not stress on the positive examples of cartoon shows. Cartoons are not all bad or full of violence, or sexual hints. There are many good cartoons out there and that's what I will be talking to you about.
Let me tell you about four of the loveliest concepts that I found conveyed in cartoons:
1. The Tolerance Concept: it's very hard to accept those who are totally different than you. Yes, it's true, only few people can actually tolerate others who have a different look, religion, or ideology. It takes time to accept or admit that there may be others out there who may be different than you are but just because they're different, doesn't mean that they are any inferior or less than you are.
That's exactly what Happy Feet and Winnie the Pooh's Heffalump movie tries to say. In Happy Feet, Mumble is different from all other penguins because he CAN'T sing like them. Because he's different, he's being expelled from the place where penguins live. But later on, this penguin that has been underestimated and ridiculed just because he's different saves the whole penguin nation!
Winnie the Pooh's movie discusses a new creature that came into the Hundred Acre Wood, the forest where the Winnie Bear lives. This creature is a strange looking elephant like creature. Because he is physically strange looking, he has no friends and the elephant spends a hell of a time to prove that he's not a bad person. He's just different.
The fact that cartoons convey such a noble and wonderful concept means that there are still many cartoons who are very useful, and important for kids to watch. The beauty of cartoons is that they can teach many beautiful concepts in an indirect way that does not seem old fashioned or boring to the child.
2. The Beauty-lies-within concept: In one of my posts, I discussed the "Ideals of beauty" issue-cartoons enforcing certain standards of beauty. While there are many cartoons that kind of mock ugly characters, there are other cartoons that stress that it's not important how one looks from the outside as long as he is beautiful from the inside. For Example, the Shrek movie: Shrek is a very ugly looking ogre yet he is loved by the princess because he is kind. This is very important for kids to learn, because still many people judge others by the looks.
3. Brotherhood is also a very important and noble concept portrayed in Disney's Brother Bear cartoon movie. Few cartoons actually focus on the brother relationship. To see how lucky one is to have a brother or sister is definitely a thing that children need to learn-they have to see how God really gave them a very special gift-to have a brother or sister. In Brother Bear, a brother sacrifices his life for his brother to save him from a beast bear. The movie shows how brothers are supposed to support and love each other.
4. Related to Brother Bear is the lovely concept of sacrifice. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle, the heroine of the story, does a great sacrifice. Having been imprisoned by an ugly Beast, Belle's father is locked in a prison in the Beast's tower. Belle goes there and asks the beast to take her instead. When the beast's face comes into the light, Belle can see how ugly he is. The Beast tells her she can choose: either to leave her father there or to take her instead but then she'll have to stay in the Beast's castle forever. To save her father, Belle makes the hardest choice and frees her father and takes his place.
There are many great and worth-watching cartoons out there. What's needed is to highlight them, discuss them, and hopefully kids will watch them and remember the lovely and noble concepts conveyed in the, for the rest of their lives.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Fiction in Cartoons: What are the Limits?
Somewhere at the back of your mind, you know when you watch a carton that it's not real: I mean that when you as a viewer see a cartoon, you do not expect its incidents to be real. But that's because you are an adult and you realize that what's on TV in a cartoon show is not supposed to reflect reality.
But what about children, who are a prime audience for most, if not all of the cartoon, shows? Let's first agree that children are no more those naive viewers who would believe anything a cartoon says or shows, but I am particularly interested in younger viewers who are still 2 or 3 years old. They are more susceptible to mixing between cartoons and reality.
Which drives us to the main question that I want to raise which is: what are the limits, if any, that should be put on the fiction in a cartoon show? Some people may laugh at these questions, because many people love cartoons mainly because they are a fiction, so they would probably say; what's the point in making cartoons real as long as we have tone of real life programs? Aren’t cartoons supposed to be a fantasy…a dream..a form of imagination?
Of course, the answer is yes to all these questions. Yes, cartoons are all that but how could you explain two of the most popular accidents that took place in Egypt, where two boys threw themselves from the balcony to imitate Batman and Mighty Mouse? Yes, these are two real incidents that took place in the 1990s in Egypt, believe it or not. When I get to think: why did the boys jump off the balcony? Did they really think they could fly like Batman? If yes, then why did they think so? Is it the cartoon that made them think they can imitate their characters?
What I want to say here is that any cartoons show should not make the child get confused between the reality and fiction in it. I mean, the cartoon should be clear from the beginning that it's either a reality or a fiction. Because the grey area, when you see a cartoon and can't really know whether it's fiction or not, here comes the real danger. Of course, cartoons are not expected to put a title like: 'Hey kids, all this show is just fiction', but I'll explain my point more.
The best example to demonstrate in this discussion is the comparison between Batman and Superman. Indeed, these 2 shows are a great example of what I mean. Superman is an imaginary character of a man from a planet called Krypton who has special, supernatural power such as eye vision (he can see through ultraviolet rays) and flying of course.
Superman's villains (or enemies) are both humans from Earth (such as Lex Luthor) and also villains and monsters from space. While the show's context is clearly fictional, because all the time you see monsters and flying creatures, this is different in Batman. Batman is just a normal guy, Bruce Wayne, who has no special powers. He's just well built, physically, and has weapons atht can make him, well, climb from one building to another.
In my opinion, the Batman show is far more dangerous than the Superman show, because when the Batman show started, it set a real context for itself from the beginning. All the villains in the show are humans, there are no special powers for Batman, so children kind of expect that the following incidents are happening (or can be happening) in real life because the show made no signs or hints that there is anything unreal going on.
Here is the danger, because knowing that Batman is an ordinary human can make the child not only like him but also try to imitate him, more than Superman. At the back of the child's mind he knows that Superman is not real, and so the chances that he will try to fly like him are there, but less than the chances of trying to imitate Batman because children can more relate to it as a human character just like them.
It's this mix or conflict, let's call it, between reality and fiction that raises the question of when to put limits on the degree to which a cartoon is fictious pr not. From my point of view, I think the cartoon should never play on the grey side. It should be honest and clear with the audience from the beginning: that's either a fiction or a real-life cartoon. Of course, as I said, this won't happen by saying it directly. Instead, I suggest the following things as determinants that should be taken into considerations, when making a cartoon show:
• Characters' appearances and origin: if you want to make it a fiction cartoon show make them aliens, or make them look different than humans so children can notice the difference and not expect to be able to do everything they do.
• Story incidents of course
• Wording is also important: indicate these are "special powers' if the show is not clearly fictional, as Batman
• Some channels as Space Toon notify kids before cartoon shows start that what they will see is mainly fictional. But I believe a better method is to make it clear INSIDE the show not BEFORE it.
But what about children, who are a prime audience for most, if not all of the cartoon, shows? Let's first agree that children are no more those naive viewers who would believe anything a cartoon says or shows, but I am particularly interested in younger viewers who are still 2 or 3 years old. They are more susceptible to mixing between cartoons and reality.
Which drives us to the main question that I want to raise which is: what are the limits, if any, that should be put on the fiction in a cartoon show? Some people may laugh at these questions, because many people love cartoons mainly because they are a fiction, so they would probably say; what's the point in making cartoons real as long as we have tone of real life programs? Aren’t cartoons supposed to be a fantasy…a dream..a form of imagination?
Of course, the answer is yes to all these questions. Yes, cartoons are all that but how could you explain two of the most popular accidents that took place in Egypt, where two boys threw themselves from the balcony to imitate Batman and Mighty Mouse? Yes, these are two real incidents that took place in the 1990s in Egypt, believe it or not. When I get to think: why did the boys jump off the balcony? Did they really think they could fly like Batman? If yes, then why did they think so? Is it the cartoon that made them think they can imitate their characters?
What I want to say here is that any cartoons show should not make the child get confused between the reality and fiction in it. I mean, the cartoon should be clear from the beginning that it's either a reality or a fiction. Because the grey area, when you see a cartoon and can't really know whether it's fiction or not, here comes the real danger. Of course, cartoons are not expected to put a title like: 'Hey kids, all this show is just fiction', but I'll explain my point more.
The best example to demonstrate in this discussion is the comparison between Batman and Superman. Indeed, these 2 shows are a great example of what I mean. Superman is an imaginary character of a man from a planet called Krypton who has special, supernatural power such as eye vision (he can see through ultraviolet rays) and flying of course.
Superman's villains (or enemies) are both humans from Earth (such as Lex Luthor) and also villains and monsters from space. While the show's context is clearly fictional, because all the time you see monsters and flying creatures, this is different in Batman. Batman is just a normal guy, Bruce Wayne, who has no special powers. He's just well built, physically, and has weapons atht can make him, well, climb from one building to another.
In my opinion, the Batman show is far more dangerous than the Superman show, because when the Batman show started, it set a real context for itself from the beginning. All the villains in the show are humans, there are no special powers for Batman, so children kind of expect that the following incidents are happening (or can be happening) in real life because the show made no signs or hints that there is anything unreal going on.
Here is the danger, because knowing that Batman is an ordinary human can make the child not only like him but also try to imitate him, more than Superman. At the back of the child's mind he knows that Superman is not real, and so the chances that he will try to fly like him are there, but less than the chances of trying to imitate Batman because children can more relate to it as a human character just like them.
It's this mix or conflict, let's call it, between reality and fiction that raises the question of when to put limits on the degree to which a cartoon is fictious pr not. From my point of view, I think the cartoon should never play on the grey side. It should be honest and clear with the audience from the beginning: that's either a fiction or a real-life cartoon. Of course, as I said, this won't happen by saying it directly. Instead, I suggest the following things as determinants that should be taken into considerations, when making a cartoon show:
• Characters' appearances and origin: if you want to make it a fiction cartoon show make them aliens, or make them look different than humans so children can notice the difference and not expect to be able to do everything they do.
• Story incidents of course
• Wording is also important: indicate these are "special powers' if the show is not clearly fictional, as Batman
• Some channels as Space Toon notify kids before cartoon shows start that what they will see is mainly fictional. But I believe a better method is to make it clear INSIDE the show not BEFORE it.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Cartoon Creativity
We always hear the word creative. By it, we mean anything that's new and unprecedented. When it comes to cartoons, I believe it is somehow different.
When can you call a cartoon 'creative'? Well, I think that it's not that the cartoon is new or up to date that makes it creative. A cartoon show may be using the latest graphics or technology, yet the story line or plot is just an imitation of some other cartoon.
So, it's mainly the story plot that makes a cartoon stand out and be creative, not the graphics, year of production, or fashionable look of its characters. For example, I believe that a movie like "Snow White" which has been made in the 1930s with very primitive technology is far more creative than a movie like Antz. Why? Because while Snow White was the first animated feature and about a story that has been written and modified to suit all audiences, Antz felt like a variation on Disney's A Bug's Life. Although Antz is more visually stunning and attractive than Snow White, thanks to 3D animation, yet when you feel that the cartoon show is about something new, then the graphics and techniques come later.
Another example of a creative cartoon show is Detective Conan. It is a Japanese cartoon about a young detective who solves mysteries in each episode of the show. While many Japanese cartoons at that time were about space and robots, this show came with a totally new concept. The action in Detective Conan is a "mental" action and not bombs and spaceships. To create a cartoon show with so many human angles, like the Romeo Blue Skies anime is another reason why I call this show a creative one. It chose a totally new area, the tragedy of chimney cleaners who are forced to work in such a profession, and dedicated a cartoon show to explain their suffering. The show had no fast paced action or visually attractive graphics, but this 100% human story was a hit because children needed a story that addresses their emotions first and their eyes second.
So, creativity of a cartoon show, I believe, is about what you say in it and not how you say it. Say something new, in a very simple manner and you'll be creative. Similarly, if you have the same old story and use the latest graphics and technologies, your cartoon show won’t be creative.
When can you call a cartoon 'creative'? Well, I think that it's not that the cartoon is new or up to date that makes it creative. A cartoon show may be using the latest graphics or technology, yet the story line or plot is just an imitation of some other cartoon.
So, it's mainly the story plot that makes a cartoon stand out and be creative, not the graphics, year of production, or fashionable look of its characters. For example, I believe that a movie like "Snow White" which has been made in the 1930s with very primitive technology is far more creative than a movie like Antz. Why? Because while Snow White was the first animated feature and about a story that has been written and modified to suit all audiences, Antz felt like a variation on Disney's A Bug's Life. Although Antz is more visually stunning and attractive than Snow White, thanks to 3D animation, yet when you feel that the cartoon show is about something new, then the graphics and techniques come later.
Another example of a creative cartoon show is Detective Conan. It is a Japanese cartoon about a young detective who solves mysteries in each episode of the show. While many Japanese cartoons at that time were about space and robots, this show came with a totally new concept. The action in Detective Conan is a "mental" action and not bombs and spaceships. To create a cartoon show with so many human angles, like the Romeo Blue Skies anime is another reason why I call this show a creative one. It chose a totally new area, the tragedy of chimney cleaners who are forced to work in such a profession, and dedicated a cartoon show to explain their suffering. The show had no fast paced action or visually attractive graphics, but this 100% human story was a hit because children needed a story that addresses their emotions first and their eyes second.
So, creativity of a cartoon show, I believe, is about what you say in it and not how you say it. Say something new, in a very simple manner and you'll be creative. Similarly, if you have the same old story and use the latest graphics and technologies, your cartoon show won’t be creative.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Cartoon Script Writing: Is it hard?
Yes. Definitely. I believe that writing for kids generally and writing for a cartoon show specifically is a very hard task to do. First, it's a challenge because you have to respect kids' intelligence. If you write your cartoon in a way that seems so lame, then kids will feel underestimated. likewise, if you write your cartoon in a very complex manner, kids may feel alienated and say "that the cartoon is not meant for them".
Another challenge is how you as a writer build rapport (or a kind of familiar relationship) with your children audiences and not just grab their interest. A cartoon show is an extending show and not just one or two episodes. THe efforts that you as a writer have to put in the script is larger because you want kids to keep following the cartoon. In order to create such relationshio, you must very craefully and skillfully draw your charcters in a way that keeps their charcaters rich and subject to further elaboration.
Take the Simpsons for instance, Homer Simpson, the father, is a very simple yet rich charcater. He always feels he's a loser, he likes to eat a lot. But the authors write the chracter in a way that makes you expect a lot of funny stuff from him. Naturally, you'd keep following the show to see what the character is doing every episode. Other shows that fail to maintain such rapport, are either cancelled by the production company or aired in non-prime time.
As a cartoon scriptwriter, there are also important language guidelines, in my opinion. This is one of the faults that the Bakkar cartoon creators fall in. In many scenes, you'd find Bakkar talking with a very complex or highly eduacted language.
It is important that every character has a different set of langugae terms, because this adds to the extent you persuade the child with the character. You would expect Bart Simspons to say words like : "cool, jerk, that sucks..etc", while his mother, Marge Simpsons, would say educated words like "modernization, globalization, incorporation, ...etc'. Homer Simpsons, the father, will always be food-centered with pharses like " stomach rumbles, delcious, apetite, hungry, when's lunch..etc"
Bottom line: a good cartoon scriptwriter, I believe, is one who knows what to say, to whom and how to say it.
Another challenge is how you as a writer build rapport (or a kind of familiar relationship) with your children audiences and not just grab their interest. A cartoon show is an extending show and not just one or two episodes. THe efforts that you as a writer have to put in the script is larger because you want kids to keep following the cartoon. In order to create such relationshio, you must very craefully and skillfully draw your charcters in a way that keeps their charcaters rich and subject to further elaboration.
Take the Simpsons for instance, Homer Simpson, the father, is a very simple yet rich charcater. He always feels he's a loser, he likes to eat a lot. But the authors write the chracter in a way that makes you expect a lot of funny stuff from him. Naturally, you'd keep following the show to see what the character is doing every episode. Other shows that fail to maintain such rapport, are either cancelled by the production company or aired in non-prime time.
As a cartoon scriptwriter, there are also important language guidelines, in my opinion. This is one of the faults that the Bakkar cartoon creators fall in. In many scenes, you'd find Bakkar talking with a very complex or highly eduacted language.
It is important that every character has a different set of langugae terms, because this adds to the extent you persuade the child with the character. You would expect Bart Simspons to say words like : "cool, jerk, that sucks..etc", while his mother, Marge Simpsons, would say educated words like "modernization, globalization, incorporation, ...etc'. Homer Simpsons, the father, will always be food-centered with pharses like " stomach rumbles, delcious, apetite, hungry, when's lunch..etc"
Bottom line: a good cartoon scriptwriter, I believe, is one who knows what to say, to whom and how to say it.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Cartoons and the Ideals of Beauty
I know the title may seem somehow strange but that's because many of us do not relate cartoons to how children want to dress and look like. I believe that cartoons do affect the child's way of clothing. Cartoons, I believe do not just dissimninate or show examples of "beautiful" cartoon charcters but rather enforces new standards of beauty: new guidelines for saying that someone is beautiful.
Children are willing to imitate cartoons which can extend to their choice of clothes. I know a mother who has an 8 year old daughter who is always wiling to wear "high heels and miniskirts" imitating Barbie in her way of clothing. The problem is that it is sometimes difficult to tell the child that what his favorite character wears is inappropriate because he is his example in everything. American cartoonists usually draw their female cartoon heroes with very perfect and unrealistic body shapes. So, no matter how hard the girl tries, she will never be that perfect!
Previously, I have tackled this issue in one of my researches and I remember writing about how emotionally girls are affected by the female cartoon models that they see in ads. Maybe because physical appearance may be more important to girls than to boys, so that's why a girl may care more to look like her cartoon hero. Of course, if the girl can not wear the tight or revealing clothes of her favorite character, or if her body isn’t that perfect and fit, all this may increase their negative self image.
But the problem is not just in how cartoonists draw the characters and how they dress. There's a deeper side of the issue, because some cartoons also enforce wrong notions: that beauty is more important than other traits. Maybe this takes place unconsciously, but if you re-watch the Cinderella movie for example, you'll find that the Prince married Cinderella JUST BECAUSE SHE LOKED SO BEAUTIFUL and he loved her during their 10 minute dance. Is this enough to choose a wife? Such cartoons concentrate on the notion that girls have to be beautiful and attractive in order to reach their goals. Probably if Cinderella was as ugly as her stepsisters, her future would not have been that bright! So, here cartoons are emphasizing the importance of physical beauty and ignoring other values that children should be taught as the importance of work in order to achieve one's goals and that beauty is insufficient to make a girl successful in her life.
Children are willing to imitate cartoons which can extend to their choice of clothes. I know a mother who has an 8 year old daughter who is always wiling to wear "high heels and miniskirts" imitating Barbie in her way of clothing. The problem is that it is sometimes difficult to tell the child that what his favorite character wears is inappropriate because he is his example in everything. American cartoonists usually draw their female cartoon heroes with very perfect and unrealistic body shapes. So, no matter how hard the girl tries, she will never be that perfect!
Previously, I have tackled this issue in one of my researches and I remember writing about how emotionally girls are affected by the female cartoon models that they see in ads. Maybe because physical appearance may be more important to girls than to boys, so that's why a girl may care more to look like her cartoon hero. Of course, if the girl can not wear the tight or revealing clothes of her favorite character, or if her body isn’t that perfect and fit, all this may increase their negative self image.
But the problem is not just in how cartoonists draw the characters and how they dress. There's a deeper side of the issue, because some cartoons also enforce wrong notions: that beauty is more important than other traits. Maybe this takes place unconsciously, but if you re-watch the Cinderella movie for example, you'll find that the Prince married Cinderella JUST BECAUSE SHE LOKED SO BEAUTIFUL and he loved her during their 10 minute dance. Is this enough to choose a wife? Such cartoons concentrate on the notion that girls have to be beautiful and attractive in order to reach their goals. Probably if Cinderella was as ugly as her stepsisters, her future would not have been that bright! So, here cartoons are emphasizing the importance of physical beauty and ignoring other values that children should be taught as the importance of work in order to achieve one's goals and that beauty is insufficient to make a girl successful in her life.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Cartoon Violence…The Issue of all times
One of the social effects that cartoons, particularly foreign cartoons can have on children is related to violence. I know you may have heard enough of that issue, but I believe violence is a very vague term that has to be narrowed down into clear points.
Many cartoons were criticized because of the violence in them. In fact, it is not the violence that made researchers concerned, but the repercussions violence has on children. I did one of my research papers on the social effects of cartoons on kids and I remember reading that American Saturday morning cartoons in the USA contain 20-25 violent acts every hour. However, I believe that it is wrong to use the term violence unless we specifically mean it. Not all rapid movements and excitement can be related to violence.
Let's classify violence into 3 types: violence, action and high action. I think violence is the aggressive acts in a cartoon. High action is through quick movements, sound effects, high music while action itself is not related to violence. Solving mysteries and going on exotic adventures are: action that attracts the child without the integration of violence and with no aggressiveness. I believe such classification breaks down the very broad term of violence and makes it easier for us to specify what kind we mean.
In Egypt, children are familiar with many popular foreign cartoons that contain violent actions and scenes as the American Batman and Superman and the Japanese Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon. What's dangerous, I believe, is not that children become exposed to violent shows, with bloody scenes; what's more dangerous is when a cartoon show presents violence as an attractive behavior that can be modeled or imitated by the child. Some cartoons teach children that violence is humorous and funny. As a result, children practice this violence in their play so as to cause laughter at the person in pain. Take the famous cartoon Tom and Jerry, children always laugh at Tom cat that is always in pain because of Jerry mouse's tricks. Consequently, children may practice these tricks to produce laughter and fun.
Violence is not only in actions but it has also expanded to include words. In many foreign cartoons, there is a great deal of what is called bad language, including insults and inappropriate terms like when Captain Maged tells his opponents "Damn on you, I'll defeat you".. This may also be of great impact on children especially if they try to apply this language in their daily interactions. So, in short: when we talk about violence in kids' cartoons we have to ask ourselves:
• What kind of violence do we mean?
• How is it presented in the show? subtly or clearly?
• Are children motivated to model this behavior?
• Is this reflected in their social activities (e.g. when they are playing)
Many cartoons were criticized because of the violence in them. In fact, it is not the violence that made researchers concerned, but the repercussions violence has on children. I did one of my research papers on the social effects of cartoons on kids and I remember reading that American Saturday morning cartoons in the USA contain 20-25 violent acts every hour. However, I believe that it is wrong to use the term violence unless we specifically mean it. Not all rapid movements and excitement can be related to violence.
Let's classify violence into 3 types: violence, action and high action. I think violence is the aggressive acts in a cartoon. High action is through quick movements, sound effects, high music while action itself is not related to violence. Solving mysteries and going on exotic adventures are: action that attracts the child without the integration of violence and with no aggressiveness. I believe such classification breaks down the very broad term of violence and makes it easier for us to specify what kind we mean.
In Egypt, children are familiar with many popular foreign cartoons that contain violent actions and scenes as the American Batman and Superman and the Japanese Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon. What's dangerous, I believe, is not that children become exposed to violent shows, with bloody scenes; what's more dangerous is when a cartoon show presents violence as an attractive behavior that can be modeled or imitated by the child. Some cartoons teach children that violence is humorous and funny. As a result, children practice this violence in their play so as to cause laughter at the person in pain. Take the famous cartoon Tom and Jerry, children always laugh at Tom cat that is always in pain because of Jerry mouse's tricks. Consequently, children may practice these tricks to produce laughter and fun.
Violence is not only in actions but it has also expanded to include words. In many foreign cartoons, there is a great deal of what is called bad language, including insults and inappropriate terms like when Captain Maged tells his opponents "Damn on you, I'll defeat you".. This may also be of great impact on children especially if they try to apply this language in their daily interactions. So, in short: when we talk about violence in kids' cartoons we have to ask ourselves:
• What kind of violence do we mean?
• How is it presented in the show? subtly or clearly?
• Are children motivated to model this behavior?
• Is this reflected in their social activities (e.g. when they are playing)
Sunday, May 6, 2007
When Comics Turn Into Cartoons
I have always been wondering: if a comics book turns into a cartoon: which one would be better? Would they be exactly the same, or will one's success surpass the other?
Many cartoon shows are based on comic books, like Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Looney Toons..etc. In most of the cases, a comics book is created first, where the character creator draws a preliminary issue. If it is a market hit, the comics book goes on and is turned into a series. Later on, and as the series' popularity increases, the series is made into a cartoon show, usually for one season as a trial. A season in the US lasts for 26 episodes. If the first season is successful, then probably the show is turned into a movie and so on.
What concerns me is not the sequence by which comics are being turned into cartoon shows. I am really interested in the differences and similarities between the show and the comic. Can the cartoon show deviate from the comic? Are there limits for the cartoon show writers? Definitely, the show's producers do not want to produce a cartoon that is a replica of the comic. If the cartoon show does not offer something new, then children will probably be satisfied with the comic.
I believe that both the show and the comic have to adhere to certain guidelines; the most important thing is to stick to the characters' personalities. It would be very annoying or disturbing for the child if he reads about Batman's noble characteristics in the comic, but finds him seducing Cat woman in the show. I believe that if this contradiction between the show and the comic takes place, both the comics and the show may lose their audiences. So, the story outline and the basic traits of each character should not change when turning the comics into a cartoon show.
Another thing is of course the history of the character. Batman for example has a certain life event that made him turn into a "Batman". His parents died and that was his motive to fight crime. If we see something different – even if not opposite or contradictory to that- in the cartoon show, this will make the cartoon lose its credibility more than the comic. Printed material is more credible, but may be the opposite takes place but I believe that the cartoon show remains less powerful than the comic, especially to more adult audiences. If the cartoon show precedes the comic (i.e. comic is based on a cartoon show that appeared first), then this is a different case.
What can change, then, from the comic to the cartoon? I believe that a successful comic-based cartoon show should try to opn up opportunities, by seeing which parts of the characters' lives may have been ignored from the hero's life and shed light on it. Here's the challenge: you must be innovative but keep the overall outline the same. It's very hard for the cartoon show's authors to come up with something that the comic author did not think of. A solution, I believe, is that both the show's authors and the comics' authors sit together every now and then and plan for the cartoon and the comic so that both complement each other.
Many cartoon shows are based on comic books, like Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Looney Toons..etc. In most of the cases, a comics book is created first, where the character creator draws a preliminary issue. If it is a market hit, the comics book goes on and is turned into a series. Later on, and as the series' popularity increases, the series is made into a cartoon show, usually for one season as a trial. A season in the US lasts for 26 episodes. If the first season is successful, then probably the show is turned into a movie and so on.
What concerns me is not the sequence by which comics are being turned into cartoon shows. I am really interested in the differences and similarities between the show and the comic. Can the cartoon show deviate from the comic? Are there limits for the cartoon show writers? Definitely, the show's producers do not want to produce a cartoon that is a replica of the comic. If the cartoon show does not offer something new, then children will probably be satisfied with the comic.
I believe that both the show and the comic have to adhere to certain guidelines; the most important thing is to stick to the characters' personalities. It would be very annoying or disturbing for the child if he reads about Batman's noble characteristics in the comic, but finds him seducing Cat woman in the show. I believe that if this contradiction between the show and the comic takes place, both the comics and the show may lose their audiences. So, the story outline and the basic traits of each character should not change when turning the comics into a cartoon show.
Another thing is of course the history of the character. Batman for example has a certain life event that made him turn into a "Batman". His parents died and that was his motive to fight crime. If we see something different – even if not opposite or contradictory to that- in the cartoon show, this will make the cartoon lose its credibility more than the comic. Printed material is more credible, but may be the opposite takes place but I believe that the cartoon show remains less powerful than the comic, especially to more adult audiences. If the cartoon show precedes the comic (i.e. comic is based on a cartoon show that appeared first), then this is a different case.
What can change, then, from the comic to the cartoon? I believe that a successful comic-based cartoon show should try to opn up opportunities, by seeing which parts of the characters' lives may have been ignored from the hero's life and shed light on it. Here's the challenge: you must be innovative but keep the overall outline the same. It's very hard for the cartoon show's authors to come up with something that the comic author did not think of. A solution, I believe, is that both the show's authors and the comics' authors sit together every now and then and plan for the cartoon and the comic so that both complement each other.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Cartoon Censorship: Why, where, when and how?
Some people may think when reading that title: isn't censorship for adult stuff only? What does censorship have to do with cartoons? The truth is that many of the cartoons that are being aired on Arab channels are indeed censored. Some of them are obviously censored, where one could easily notice that there some scenes that were cut. Others, are more subtly cut so kids will hopefully not notice that there are some missing parts.
Censorship itself as a term, apart from cartoons, is debatable. Some think that it should not exist, while others believe it should exist to an extent. Others think that there should be no censorship at all, and leaving the choice to viewers to watch what they want to watch and ignore what does not agree with their ideas or interests. But cartoon censorship is different from any other kind of censorship, for two main reasons. First of all, cartoons are thought of as "for-kids" material, so many people may never think that cartoons can be subject to that process. Secondly, many (or most of) cartoon viewers are children. So, what you censor so that a kid doesn't see is definitely different than what you'd censor for an adult not to see. The fact that many cartoons have mixed audiences poses a big problem here, because in many cases, you're not sure: who's really watching the show? Is it children, teens, adults or a mix of all these demographic groups?
Let's take the first question: why do censorship for cartoons? The obvious answer is "because kids watch them", but I believe that the more realistic answer is not that kids watch cartoons, but because are being influenced by cartoons (especially their favorite shows) in their behaviors and ideas. On one side, I believe censorship is a good sign because this means censors have come to realize that cartoons do influence kids and that they're not just nice shows, but rather teachers in many cases who tell the child how to act, think and sometimes even how to dress. So, if you ask me, I believe censorship as a general procedure, is right. But that's on the general level. This doesn't mean that I agree with all kinds of censorships of course. By the way, at first, I was totally against cartoon censorship. I used to believe that when a kid watches a cartoon and finds a scene is being suddenly cut, this will trigger many questions in his mind and drive him to think about what's being censored rather than concentrating in the show. But when I did some internet research, I came to understand how cartoons really influence kids. The more that influence, the more attention that should be paid to these shows.
This leads us to the second question: where to do censorships? This is also very debatable. Although I believe cartoon censorship is a must in some cases that I'll be telling you later, I believe that cartoon censorship should not be practiced everywhere. Take the Shrek movie for example. It was shown on MBC 2 movie channel (which is for adults) and on MBC 3 (which is for kids). On both channels, the movie was censored in the same way. The same scenes were cut from both versions. This does not make sense to me, because how do you expect the audience of a kids channel to be the same as that of a movie channel? When you omit some kissing scenes from the kids' version, this may make sense, but omitting them from the adults' version is unexplainable because MBC 2 does not omit kissing senses in regular movies. Is it just laziness from the censors to use 2 versions for the same movie? Maybe yes and maybe no. A more practical solution is to place cartoons that are not suitable for all kids at night, where younger kids may not be awake. For example, Cartoon Network TV shows a cut-version of Dragon Ball Z, a Japanese anime in the morning, and at night, they air the un-cut version.
The most debatable question, however, is when to censor: in other words: what to censor. Personally, I believe cartoons should be slightly censored in very few cases, when there's really some explicit or obviously suggesting scene in a cartoon. Otherwise, there should be no censorship. Let's first look at MBC 3 and Space Toon TV, which are two of the most popular Arab cartoon TV stations in the Arab world. What MBC 3 censors is not what Space Toon censors, although both belong to the Arab world, which supposedly has a common set of beliefs.
Space Toon is more of a harsh censor: it cuts any scenes that contains a girl wearing a short skirt over the knee, or any open dress. It also cuts all kissing scenes, and almost any scene in which there is a short physical distance between a male and a female character. Batman is almost one of the most heavily censored cartoons on Space Toon. The strange thing is that while Space Toon seems to care very much about the moral side, it does NOT censor violent scenes or bad language. Strange, isn’t it? But it's true. Believe it or not, while in some European countries, there have been many calls for censoring violent cartoon shows, such as Dragon Ball Z, Space Toon rarely cuts violence and blood scenes. So, it seems that censorship, according to Space Toon censors, is "cutting immoral (sexual) scenes only). But is violence moral? That's another question. MBC3, on the other hand, is more lenient, when it comes to cartoon censorship. It keeps the violent scenes, does not censor short or open skirts/dresses, but omits only the love or kissing scenes.
It's not just what to censor, it's also how you do it. While MBC3 usually cuts the whole scene, Space Toon has created a new way of censorship that is very much debatable. Space Toon does NOT cut the scene. Instead, it either slows the visual tape until the inappropriate shot passes, while keeping the sound tape as it is, or it does a bolder thing. It changes the entire story plot, so that characters appear to be talking about something totally different than the original dialogue. Take Slam Dunk, a popular anime, for example. While the anime hero has a girl friend in the show and they're in love, the Arabic version calls them just colleagues and does not translate any love words, but substitutes them by other topics. So, instead of the anime character to say 'I like that girl', the Arabic version may say ' she's a kind hearted girl, or a good student' or any silly stuff. Some story events are totally changed. Instead of a character that is alcoholic for instance, they say he's ill or tired. I am against this kind of censorship. Either you cut it all together or you don't show it at the first place, but this kind of censorship underestimates kids and treats them like fools. Believe me, kids know everything and the sad fact is that: while they may not see it in cartoons, they may see it else where. Welcome to the Internet age!
Check out this website, for an online petition against Space Toon and the censorship that it carries out:
http://www.petitiononline.com/stc123/petition.html
Censorship itself as a term, apart from cartoons, is debatable. Some think that it should not exist, while others believe it should exist to an extent. Others think that there should be no censorship at all, and leaving the choice to viewers to watch what they want to watch and ignore what does not agree with their ideas or interests. But cartoon censorship is different from any other kind of censorship, for two main reasons. First of all, cartoons are thought of as "for-kids" material, so many people may never think that cartoons can be subject to that process. Secondly, many (or most of) cartoon viewers are children. So, what you censor so that a kid doesn't see is definitely different than what you'd censor for an adult not to see. The fact that many cartoons have mixed audiences poses a big problem here, because in many cases, you're not sure: who's really watching the show? Is it children, teens, adults or a mix of all these demographic groups?
Let's take the first question: why do censorship for cartoons? The obvious answer is "because kids watch them", but I believe that the more realistic answer is not that kids watch cartoons, but because are being influenced by cartoons (especially their favorite shows) in their behaviors and ideas. On one side, I believe censorship is a good sign because this means censors have come to realize that cartoons do influence kids and that they're not just nice shows, but rather teachers in many cases who tell the child how to act, think and sometimes even how to dress. So, if you ask me, I believe censorship as a general procedure, is right. But that's on the general level. This doesn't mean that I agree with all kinds of censorships of course. By the way, at first, I was totally against cartoon censorship. I used to believe that when a kid watches a cartoon and finds a scene is being suddenly cut, this will trigger many questions in his mind and drive him to think about what's being censored rather than concentrating in the show. But when I did some internet research, I came to understand how cartoons really influence kids. The more that influence, the more attention that should be paid to these shows.
This leads us to the second question: where to do censorships? This is also very debatable. Although I believe cartoon censorship is a must in some cases that I'll be telling you later, I believe that cartoon censorship should not be practiced everywhere. Take the Shrek movie for example. It was shown on MBC 2 movie channel (which is for adults) and on MBC 3 (which is for kids). On both channels, the movie was censored in the same way. The same scenes were cut from both versions. This does not make sense to me, because how do you expect the audience of a kids channel to be the same as that of a movie channel? When you omit some kissing scenes from the kids' version, this may make sense, but omitting them from the adults' version is unexplainable because MBC 2 does not omit kissing senses in regular movies. Is it just laziness from the censors to use 2 versions for the same movie? Maybe yes and maybe no. A more practical solution is to place cartoons that are not suitable for all kids at night, where younger kids may not be awake. For example, Cartoon Network TV shows a cut-version of Dragon Ball Z, a Japanese anime in the morning, and at night, they air the un-cut version.
The most debatable question, however, is when to censor: in other words: what to censor. Personally, I believe cartoons should be slightly censored in very few cases, when there's really some explicit or obviously suggesting scene in a cartoon. Otherwise, there should be no censorship. Let's first look at MBC 3 and Space Toon TV, which are two of the most popular Arab cartoon TV stations in the Arab world. What MBC 3 censors is not what Space Toon censors, although both belong to the Arab world, which supposedly has a common set of beliefs.
Space Toon is more of a harsh censor: it cuts any scenes that contains a girl wearing a short skirt over the knee, or any open dress. It also cuts all kissing scenes, and almost any scene in which there is a short physical distance between a male and a female character. Batman is almost one of the most heavily censored cartoons on Space Toon. The strange thing is that while Space Toon seems to care very much about the moral side, it does NOT censor violent scenes or bad language. Strange, isn’t it? But it's true. Believe it or not, while in some European countries, there have been many calls for censoring violent cartoon shows, such as Dragon Ball Z, Space Toon rarely cuts violence and blood scenes. So, it seems that censorship, according to Space Toon censors, is "cutting immoral (sexual) scenes only). But is violence moral? That's another question. MBC3, on the other hand, is more lenient, when it comes to cartoon censorship. It keeps the violent scenes, does not censor short or open skirts/dresses, but omits only the love or kissing scenes.
It's not just what to censor, it's also how you do it. While MBC3 usually cuts the whole scene, Space Toon has created a new way of censorship that is very much debatable. Space Toon does NOT cut the scene. Instead, it either slows the visual tape until the inappropriate shot passes, while keeping the sound tape as it is, or it does a bolder thing. It changes the entire story plot, so that characters appear to be talking about something totally different than the original dialogue. Take Slam Dunk, a popular anime, for example. While the anime hero has a girl friend in the show and they're in love, the Arabic version calls them just colleagues and does not translate any love words, but substitutes them by other topics. So, instead of the anime character to say 'I like that girl', the Arabic version may say ' she's a kind hearted girl, or a good student' or any silly stuff. Some story events are totally changed. Instead of a character that is alcoholic for instance, they say he's ill or tired. I am against this kind of censorship. Either you cut it all together or you don't show it at the first place, but this kind of censorship underestimates kids and treats them like fools. Believe me, kids know everything and the sad fact is that: while they may not see it in cartoons, they may see it else where. Welcome to the Internet age!
Check out this website, for an online petition against Space Toon and the censorship that it carries out:
http://www.petitiononline.com/stc123/petition.html
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Cartoons as Marketing Tools
One day, I was sitting there watching the Pokemon cartoon. For those who don't know what Pokemon is, Pokemon is an anime about a young boy named Ash who begins his journey to collect all kinds of Pokemon. Pokemon means 'Pocket monsters". Throughout the show, Ash and his friends try to collect all Pokemon. I was sitting there enjoying the show, when a question pooped up in my mind: when the producers of the show were working on Pokemon, did they know that many products will be made based on that cartoon? I mean, did the show succeed and then many products were made based on its characters? Or was the show specifically made for commercial reasons, to launch related products in a later phase after kids are fully attached to the show?
Can cartoons be a marketing tool? Can cartoon characters like Mickey and Donald act as sales characters selling different products? The idea of marketing to children has been always interesting to me. In fact, I noticed that in many marketing textbooks, there's always a special section dedicated to children marketing, as if the child is a very different kind of consumer, with specific strategies that have to be directed to him, in order to make him desire a certain product. This led me to conduct an extensive research project about that topic. But don't think I have that leisure time to do researches. This project was a university assignment of course!
When I started searching about the relationship between cartoon characters and products that use them to make kids buy them, I found out that there are three ways in which cartoons can be used as marketing tools. I am interested in the third way, but let me tell you the three. By the way, this is not a scientific conclusion. I categorized them that way, maybe other researchers see them differently.
The first way by which companies can use cartoons to market their product is to actually create special cartoon characters specifically for their products. These characters will be associated with the product and endorse it in any form of promotional material: whether ads, posters, or any other form of promotion. Take Nesquik for example. Instead of using any well known cartoon character, Nesquik created the Nesquik bunny. You can only see him in Nesquik related promotions and not in any cartoon show.
The second method is to choose a cartoon character that has become so popular. Then, you go and take a license from its producers to use that character in your marketing efforts to market your company's products. This is the most common form of cartoon marketing. Food companies, such as Keloggs, heavily use this method. Once a cartoon show is popular and successful, they use it on the cereal's cover.
But what really triggers me is the third way of using cartoons for marketing: when you make a cartoon show and while you are making it you know that it's not just a cartoon but a whole line of products that will be launched shortly after the program starts its airing on TV. Pokemon is one example. How would you explain that Nintendo, the famous game boy company, is one of the show's producers? Not only Pokemon, there are other cartoons that have a whole product line sold in most toy stores. Beyblade (see picture), Let's Go (Sabek and Lahek), and Super Sonnic Spinner are all applicable examples.
I'll tell you the procedure: First, they start with an idea, say a young boy who likes to travel and play sports and stuff. This idea is then tailored and modified because it has to include something 'collectable' that children can buy once they see the show. It is this word "collection" that sums the whole thing up. Any commercial show that is mainly done for commercial purposes and not just to entertain kids, has to include something (or things) that the child will want to collect, otherwise, his friends will call him a loser! These shows enforce a kind of "love of possession" among kids and I am not exaggerating when I use this term.
I'll prove it to you. First of all, the slogan of the Pokemon series is "collect them all', and them refers to the Pokemon related products, especially card games and action figures. Today there are hundreds of Pokemon related products, ranging from simple books to card games, T shirts, action figures..etc. At a certain time, there was a real Pokemon "frenzy". Kids were mad about the show and they went crazy, trying to collect almost anything that has the Pokemon logo. This 'collect them all' idea made Saudi Arabia actually ban the Pokemon show, not because it's immoral but because they believed that it controlled kids' minds and kind of hypnotized them to buy any Pokemon product they find at the toy store.
Lately, I have been noticing a new phenomenon. If you are a heavy viewer of Space Toon TV, as I am, you'll notice that the channel, though it's a cartoon channel, yet it has a clearly commercial tone. I believe that their criteria when choosing the cartoons they air is not just whether they are moral and stuff, but whether they hold any marketing opportunity. For example, every summer season, the channel airs new cartoon shows. 60% of these shows have lots of related products that the channel starts to advertise simultaneously with the launch of the show. Inside a Beyblade show for example, you'd find lots of Beyblade related toy ads. One of the channel's owners (or shareholders) is a toy company that takes licenses to distribute these cartoon related toys in the Middle East. That of course explains it. If the channel can air cartoons that have related products, this will being lots of profit!
Is this ethical? I have been always asking myself that question. Probably, I'll never decide, because on one side: I think that it's any company's right to make a profit from selling a cartoon related character. But on the other side, I think that there is some manipulation (or call it exploitation) that is taking place here. I mean it's unethical to tell the kid in the ad that if you don't own the whole set, you'll be a loser and seem out-dated because all your friends will have the toys and you'll be left behind. Yet someone would say that parents have a role here to control their kids' purchases, but tell you what: it's mostly kids who influence their parents and not vice versa. Kids have a nagging power where they cry, shout and throw themselves on the ground if you don’t buy them what they want. So, it's the parent who pays but it's usually the child who makes the purchase decision.
Can cartoons be a marketing tool? Can cartoon characters like Mickey and Donald act as sales characters selling different products? The idea of marketing to children has been always interesting to me. In fact, I noticed that in many marketing textbooks, there's always a special section dedicated to children marketing, as if the child is a very different kind of consumer, with specific strategies that have to be directed to him, in order to make him desire a certain product. This led me to conduct an extensive research project about that topic. But don't think I have that leisure time to do researches. This project was a university assignment of course!
When I started searching about the relationship between cartoon characters and products that use them to make kids buy them, I found out that there are three ways in which cartoons can be used as marketing tools. I am interested in the third way, but let me tell you the three. By the way, this is not a scientific conclusion. I categorized them that way, maybe other researchers see them differently.
The first way by which companies can use cartoons to market their product is to actually create special cartoon characters specifically for their products. These characters will be associated with the product and endorse it in any form of promotional material: whether ads, posters, or any other form of promotion. Take Nesquik for example. Instead of using any well known cartoon character, Nesquik created the Nesquik bunny. You can only see him in Nesquik related promotions and not in any cartoon show.
The second method is to choose a cartoon character that has become so popular. Then, you go and take a license from its producers to use that character in your marketing efforts to market your company's products. This is the most common form of cartoon marketing. Food companies, such as Keloggs, heavily use this method. Once a cartoon show is popular and successful, they use it on the cereal's cover.
But what really triggers me is the third way of using cartoons for marketing: when you make a cartoon show and while you are making it you know that it's not just a cartoon but a whole line of products that will be launched shortly after the program starts its airing on TV. Pokemon is one example. How would you explain that Nintendo, the famous game boy company, is one of the show's producers? Not only Pokemon, there are other cartoons that have a whole product line sold in most toy stores. Beyblade (see picture), Let's Go (Sabek and Lahek), and Super Sonnic Spinner are all applicable examples.
I'll tell you the procedure: First, they start with an idea, say a young boy who likes to travel and play sports and stuff. This idea is then tailored and modified because it has to include something 'collectable' that children can buy once they see the show. It is this word "collection" that sums the whole thing up. Any commercial show that is mainly done for commercial purposes and not just to entertain kids, has to include something (or things) that the child will want to collect, otherwise, his friends will call him a loser! These shows enforce a kind of "love of possession" among kids and I am not exaggerating when I use this term.
I'll prove it to you. First of all, the slogan of the Pokemon series is "collect them all', and them refers to the Pokemon related products, especially card games and action figures. Today there are hundreds of Pokemon related products, ranging from simple books to card games, T shirts, action figures..etc. At a certain time, there was a real Pokemon "frenzy". Kids were mad about the show and they went crazy, trying to collect almost anything that has the Pokemon logo. This 'collect them all' idea made Saudi Arabia actually ban the Pokemon show, not because it's immoral but because they believed that it controlled kids' minds and kind of hypnotized them to buy any Pokemon product they find at the toy store.
Lately, I have been noticing a new phenomenon. If you are a heavy viewer of Space Toon TV, as I am, you'll notice that the channel, though it's a cartoon channel, yet it has a clearly commercial tone. I believe that their criteria when choosing the cartoons they air is not just whether they are moral and stuff, but whether they hold any marketing opportunity. For example, every summer season, the channel airs new cartoon shows. 60% of these shows have lots of related products that the channel starts to advertise simultaneously with the launch of the show. Inside a Beyblade show for example, you'd find lots of Beyblade related toy ads. One of the channel's owners (or shareholders) is a toy company that takes licenses to distribute these cartoon related toys in the Middle East. That of course explains it. If the channel can air cartoons that have related products, this will being lots of profit!
Is this ethical? I have been always asking myself that question. Probably, I'll never decide, because on one side: I think that it's any company's right to make a profit from selling a cartoon related character. But on the other side, I think that there is some manipulation (or call it exploitation) that is taking place here. I mean it's unethical to tell the kid in the ad that if you don't own the whole set, you'll be a loser and seem out-dated because all your friends will have the toys and you'll be left behind. Yet someone would say that parents have a role here to control their kids' purchases, but tell you what: it's mostly kids who influence their parents and not vice versa. Kids have a nagging power where they cry, shout and throw themselves on the ground if you don’t buy them what they want. So, it's the parent who pays but it's usually the child who makes the purchase decision.
Monday, April 16, 2007
In search for an Arab cartoon "hero"
About ten years ago, when one would ask himself about the Arab cartoons that he knew of, he would probably say: none. In the last couple of years, there were some attempts to create Arab cartoon characters that address Arab children in specific.
Today, we do have Arab cartoon characters. Cairo Cartoon Studio, supervised by late Dr. Mona Abou El Nasr, can be considered as a pioneer in the Arab cartoon industry. It created cartoons such as Kani & Mani, Sindbad and Bakkar. Other Egyptian studios created other cartoons such as Hanadi, M5, and several others. There were also few attempts on a regional scale, with some cartoon attempts in Saudi Arabia.
We do have Arab cartoon characters, but do we have Arab cartoon heroes? What's the difference, you may ask. I believe that a cartoon hero is very much different from a regular cartoon character. Your definition of a hero may be different, but I believe that a real cartoon hero is someone that a kid not only likes to watch, but likes to imitate, or model his/her behavior according to the actions of that cartoon character.
A true cartoon hero is also characterized by loyalty. If kids love that hero, they may stay following its cartoon show, and sometimes even buying any related product to that character. A true cartoon hero is widely popular, not only in a city, but on a wider scale. For example, Superman, Batman, Spiderman are international characters that are known everywhere.
Let's try to apply these 3 characters on our Arab cartoon characters. Let's take the relatively most popular Egyptian cartoon character, Bakkar. Bakkar is a Nubian boy, living in Aswan, with his mother and little goat Rashida. Bakkar has lots of friends and goes on many adventures. He is a sensitive and kind-hearted kid who is talented in drawing. Bakkar has been there for more than 7 years. It is aired every Ramdan. The show is usually a 30-epsiode, with each episode lasting for about 15 minutes. Today, Bakkar is probably the only Egyptian (and Arab) cartoon character that is being regarded as a cartoon hero.
Let's take the first characteristic of a cartoon hero: modeling behaviors according to the hero's actions. Let that be the first criteria. Do kids tend to imitate Bakkar? Do they see him as a role model to follow? The answer, I believe, is a big NO. Kids today tend to look up to actors, football players and singers but definitely not to Bakkar. Even if they imitate a cartoon character, they imitate a character that they feel challenging to them. Some of my friends told me that their young brothers laugh at Bakkar. Of course, Bakkar's show producers were not hoping for the show to be a comedy one, but I believe Bakkar as a cartoon character has a serious communication problem with kids. The show treats them as if they were the same kids of the 1950s or 1960s: kids who have to drink milk before they sleep, do their homework and obey what Mummy is saying otherwise there will be no sweets and they will be grounded. Come on, kids today are not kids anymore. We are in the internet age, and they know everything. They want a cartoon character that challenges them, not act as a third-grade teacher who tells them to do their homework on time. Bakkar has really good concepts, but it says it so directly, that it sometimes seems silly and naïve. Kids will never imitate someone they don't believe that he is with to look up to. For Bakkar, I believe they underestimate the character and not the opposite.
A hero also has loyalty. Are children loyal to Bakkar? Do they care to watch him every Ramadan? At this point, I believe that there is some loyalty for Bakkar. I know kids who care to watch it every Ramadan. But loyalty alone does not make a real hero to me, because you have to ask the kid: why do you care to see Bakkar? Is it because of a habit that you do every Ramadan? Or because you really like Bakkar and wait for his annual adventures? Or because it's the almost only Arab cartoon aired on Egyptian TV in Ramadan? Or do you care to watch it to laugh at the silly goat and the over-childish plots in the show?
Popularity is also an important feature of a real cartoon hero. Ask any child in any country about Captain Maged, Mazinger, Batman, Mickey Mouse and Donald duck, Tom and Jerry, they will very likely tell you a lot of them. Bakkar of course is not required (nor intended) to be an international character because it is an Arabic-speaking character. I heard that Chinese Television bought the episodes and aired the episodes, but let's take a narrower scope: the Arab world. Is Bakkar known all over the Arab world? I really don't know the answer, but what I am sure of, is that even if it is known all over the Arab world, it is not as popular as foreign cartoons.
What does Bakkar, or any other Arab cartoon character need to become a true cartoon hero. Well, that's a difficult question, but if you ask me I think there are three key requirements: excellent production, excellent technicalities (story writing and artwork), but the third element is the most important. The producers of the show have to research their children audiences and see who they are addressing. They need to respect children's intelligence and address them in a way that makes them feel challenged not underestimated. I think that it really hurts the child when he feels that he's being viewed as a kid who is not yet old enough to think and decide for himself. When a cartoon show gives him that feeling, he does the simplest authority he has: he switches the channel right way!
Today, we do have Arab cartoon characters. Cairo Cartoon Studio, supervised by late Dr. Mona Abou El Nasr, can be considered as a pioneer in the Arab cartoon industry. It created cartoons such as Kani & Mani, Sindbad and Bakkar. Other Egyptian studios created other cartoons such as Hanadi, M5, and several others. There were also few attempts on a regional scale, with some cartoon attempts in Saudi Arabia.
We do have Arab cartoon characters, but do we have Arab cartoon heroes? What's the difference, you may ask. I believe that a cartoon hero is very much different from a regular cartoon character. Your definition of a hero may be different, but I believe that a real cartoon hero is someone that a kid not only likes to watch, but likes to imitate, or model his/her behavior according to the actions of that cartoon character.
A true cartoon hero is also characterized by loyalty. If kids love that hero, they may stay following its cartoon show, and sometimes even buying any related product to that character. A true cartoon hero is widely popular, not only in a city, but on a wider scale. For example, Superman, Batman, Spiderman are international characters that are known everywhere.
Let's try to apply these 3 characters on our Arab cartoon characters. Let's take the relatively most popular Egyptian cartoon character, Bakkar. Bakkar is a Nubian boy, living in Aswan, with his mother and little goat Rashida. Bakkar has lots of friends and goes on many adventures. He is a sensitive and kind-hearted kid who is talented in drawing. Bakkar has been there for more than 7 years. It is aired every Ramdan. The show is usually a 30-epsiode, with each episode lasting for about 15 minutes. Today, Bakkar is probably the only Egyptian (and Arab) cartoon character that is being regarded as a cartoon hero.
Let's take the first characteristic of a cartoon hero: modeling behaviors according to the hero's actions. Let that be the first criteria. Do kids tend to imitate Bakkar? Do they see him as a role model to follow? The answer, I believe, is a big NO. Kids today tend to look up to actors, football players and singers but definitely not to Bakkar. Even if they imitate a cartoon character, they imitate a character that they feel challenging to them. Some of my friends told me that their young brothers laugh at Bakkar. Of course, Bakkar's show producers were not hoping for the show to be a comedy one, but I believe Bakkar as a cartoon character has a serious communication problem with kids. The show treats them as if they were the same kids of the 1950s or 1960s: kids who have to drink milk before they sleep, do their homework and obey what Mummy is saying otherwise there will be no sweets and they will be grounded. Come on, kids today are not kids anymore. We are in the internet age, and they know everything. They want a cartoon character that challenges them, not act as a third-grade teacher who tells them to do their homework on time. Bakkar has really good concepts, but it says it so directly, that it sometimes seems silly and naïve. Kids will never imitate someone they don't believe that he is with to look up to. For Bakkar, I believe they underestimate the character and not the opposite.
A hero also has loyalty. Are children loyal to Bakkar? Do they care to watch him every Ramadan? At this point, I believe that there is some loyalty for Bakkar. I know kids who care to watch it every Ramadan. But loyalty alone does not make a real hero to me, because you have to ask the kid: why do you care to see Bakkar? Is it because of a habit that you do every Ramadan? Or because you really like Bakkar and wait for his annual adventures? Or because it's the almost only Arab cartoon aired on Egyptian TV in Ramadan? Or do you care to watch it to laugh at the silly goat and the over-childish plots in the show?
Popularity is also an important feature of a real cartoon hero. Ask any child in any country about Captain Maged, Mazinger, Batman, Mickey Mouse and Donald duck, Tom and Jerry, they will very likely tell you a lot of them. Bakkar of course is not required (nor intended) to be an international character because it is an Arabic-speaking character. I heard that Chinese Television bought the episodes and aired the episodes, but let's take a narrower scope: the Arab world. Is Bakkar known all over the Arab world? I really don't know the answer, but what I am sure of, is that even if it is known all over the Arab world, it is not as popular as foreign cartoons.
What does Bakkar, or any other Arab cartoon character need to become a true cartoon hero. Well, that's a difficult question, but if you ask me I think there are three key requirements: excellent production, excellent technicalities (story writing and artwork), but the third element is the most important. The producers of the show have to research their children audiences and see who they are addressing. They need to respect children's intelligence and address them in a way that makes them feel challenged not underestimated. I think that it really hurts the child when he feels that he's being viewed as a kid who is not yet old enough to think and decide for himself. When a cartoon show gives him that feeling, he does the simplest authority he has: he switches the channel right way!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Ideologies in American cartoons
If you ask me about the thing that American animators do best, I'll tell you that they really know how to use cartoons to convey ideologies. I believe that what distinguishes American cartoons from other cartoons is not the vibrant animation or interesting story plots. I think that their skill (you may call it talent) in mixing an engaging story plot with an ideology, that they want to convey, is what makes American cartoons really stand out.
Let me explain. First, let's agree that by 'ideology', we do not mean negative ideas only. Lots of American cartoons may have ideas that we as Arabs agree or disagree about. But what I mean is that every American cartoon has an idea to convey. Of course, you'd say that any cartoon has a goal. That's right, but the skill is not in just having an ideology or a goal: it's how you convey it.
Take Aladdin for example. Aladdin is a very famous Disney animation movie. It was used to enforce the stereotype that many Americans have about Arabs: that they are a bunch of barbarians living in the desert with their camels and sheep. Aladdin was one of the few times that Disney used a dark-skinned hero for one of its movies (see below). But when you see the movie, you'd find it really entertaining and you may not even notice the subtle messages in it.
Batman is another example. In such shows, the idea of "America saves the world" is being put into every episode. Of course, Batman is an American guy (Bruce Wayne) who saves his country and never gets defeated. Superman seems to work on a larger scale. He saves the world against aliens and evil creatures. You might say: they're just simple cartoons, but just take a deeper look at them, and you'll find that they all tend to enforce the image of the "American hero" that the world would suffer without.
Sexuality is another ideology conveyed in cartoons. Take a look at Batman for example. Isn't it supposed to be for kids? Well, how do you explain a 3 minute scene in one of the episodes, where Harley Quinn, one of the evil characters, actually seduces the Joker in a really explicit scene that I could not believe my eyes when I saw. The problem is not in the sexual hints, the problem is where they are placed. In Japan, there are special adult anime that is basically sexual and immoral. But to include such hints in a popular cartoon show that kids of all ages watch, is definitely another issue.
But again, American animators are not that bad. I mean, there are many positive ideologies that are included in American cartoons. Take Happy Feet, the 2006 Oscar Winning Best Animated Feature movie. It's about a penguin who is different from all his peers. While all his friends and family like to sing, he likes to dance. Happy Feet's main message is how to accept and tolerate others who are different from us. It says that being different doesn't mean being inferior. Did it say these messages directly? Of course not and I believe that if it had done, it would have never won the Oscar.
Even movies, such as Shrek, that have lots of sexual hints, do contain very deep and positive messages. The fact that Princess Fiona sees the beauty inside Sherk who is an ogre, is a very good message. It tells kids never to judge someone from the outside, and that real beauty lies within a person.
Americans have this talent of working on many levels simultaneously. On one level, they are just doing nice cartoons with vibrant animation, engaging story, nice characters, glamorous colors, great music..etc. On another level, they are including whatever ideologies they want to convey in a way that is barely noticed.
Closely related to this issue is subliminal advertising in cartoons, especially American ones, where there are ads that are not noticed being put inside the cartoon. But what I am more interested in is the ideologies in such cartoons. Ideologies are more subtle and you can never touch them. A product is visible, so it's easier to include in a show, even if subtly. But an ideology requires more effort because you can never see it but rather sense it.
For American animators, it's important that you convey your ideology, but that doesn't mean that you have to say it out loud. Consequently, you'll find many interpretations of American cartoons. While someone would see Shrek as innocent humor, other people may see it as explicit. This debate means that American cartoons are definitely more than just nice characters that kids love. They deserve a much closer and analytical look. This does not mean that we keep criticizing cartoons and making things complex. But simply, whenever you are watching a cartoon, tell yourself: It's a nice show, but is that all, or does it want to say more?
Let me explain. First, let's agree that by 'ideology', we do not mean negative ideas only. Lots of American cartoons may have ideas that we as Arabs agree or disagree about. But what I mean is that every American cartoon has an idea to convey. Of course, you'd say that any cartoon has a goal. That's right, but the skill is not in just having an ideology or a goal: it's how you convey it.
Take Aladdin for example. Aladdin is a very famous Disney animation movie. It was used to enforce the stereotype that many Americans have about Arabs: that they are a bunch of barbarians living in the desert with their camels and sheep. Aladdin was one of the few times that Disney used a dark-skinned hero for one of its movies (see below). But when you see the movie, you'd find it really entertaining and you may not even notice the subtle messages in it.
Batman is another example. In such shows, the idea of "America saves the world" is being put into every episode. Of course, Batman is an American guy (Bruce Wayne) who saves his country and never gets defeated. Superman seems to work on a larger scale. He saves the world against aliens and evil creatures. You might say: they're just simple cartoons, but just take a deeper look at them, and you'll find that they all tend to enforce the image of the "American hero" that the world would suffer without.
Sexuality is another ideology conveyed in cartoons. Take a look at Batman for example. Isn't it supposed to be for kids? Well, how do you explain a 3 minute scene in one of the episodes, where Harley Quinn, one of the evil characters, actually seduces the Joker in a really explicit scene that I could not believe my eyes when I saw. The problem is not in the sexual hints, the problem is where they are placed. In Japan, there are special adult anime that is basically sexual and immoral. But to include such hints in a popular cartoon show that kids of all ages watch, is definitely another issue.
But again, American animators are not that bad. I mean, there are many positive ideologies that are included in American cartoons. Take Happy Feet, the 2006 Oscar Winning Best Animated Feature movie. It's about a penguin who is different from all his peers. While all his friends and family like to sing, he likes to dance. Happy Feet's main message is how to accept and tolerate others who are different from us. It says that being different doesn't mean being inferior. Did it say these messages directly? Of course not and I believe that if it had done, it would have never won the Oscar.
Even movies, such as Shrek, that have lots of sexual hints, do contain very deep and positive messages. The fact that Princess Fiona sees the beauty inside Sherk who is an ogre, is a very good message. It tells kids never to judge someone from the outside, and that real beauty lies within a person.
Americans have this talent of working on many levels simultaneously. On one level, they are just doing nice cartoons with vibrant animation, engaging story, nice characters, glamorous colors, great music..etc. On another level, they are including whatever ideologies they want to convey in a way that is barely noticed.
Closely related to this issue is subliminal advertising in cartoons, especially American ones, where there are ads that are not noticed being put inside the cartoon. But what I am more interested in is the ideologies in such cartoons. Ideologies are more subtle and you can never touch them. A product is visible, so it's easier to include in a show, even if subtly. But an ideology requires more effort because you can never see it but rather sense it.
For American animators, it's important that you convey your ideology, but that doesn't mean that you have to say it out loud. Consequently, you'll find many interpretations of American cartoons. While someone would see Shrek as innocent humor, other people may see it as explicit. This debate means that American cartoons are definitely more than just nice characters that kids love. They deserve a much closer and analytical look. This does not mean that we keep criticizing cartoons and making things complex. But simply, whenever you are watching a cartoon, tell yourself: It's a nice show, but is that all, or does it want to say more?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Japanese Cartoons: are they second class cartoons?
Maybe you are not familiar with the term "anime". It's a term that's being used to describe Japanese cartoons. In Egypt, we call it cartoons or animation, just like any other foreign cartoon. But worldwide, Japanese cartoons have been called anime, maybe to distinguish them from any other cartoon and maybe anime is just a simple abbreviation of the word animation, without any purposes of making Japanese cartoons special in any sense. But are Japanese anime really special?
Well, since I don't expect everyone reading this blog to be a cartoon expert, let me give you short tips on how you can identify a Japanese cartoon. Usually, anime characters have very wide eyes. Of course, there's a special style of drawing from one anime to another, but generally anime have common guidelines concerning their animation styles. Sharp features for the characters, vibrant colors, and many visual details are all common guidelines. Also, anime series are usually long, ranging from 52 to even 100 episodes. They are divided into seasons.
Anime are not very popular in Egypt. If you ask yourself of the anime you are familiar with, you'd probably just recall Captain Maged or Mazinger, who is the most popular anime in Egypt so far. When I visited Vienna, they had special stories that sell anime stuff. In Egypt, not much anime is popular.
The problem is not just that anime are not very popular here. I feel that there's a kind of stereotype about Japanese cartoons, that they are all violent, and low-quality. Lately, I was reading an Egyptian magazine, and a media specialist said that the Arab world is one of the greatest consumers of anime, mainly because they are much cheaper to buy than American ones and that they are consequently of lower quality, which makes them 'trash' or second class cartoons.
Well, I disagree with that. Let me tell you why. I believe anime has its pros and cons, but you can't really set them as lower quality cartoons. Generally, anime revolves around a number of themes. There's the robot/space theme (anime occurring in space, where there are lots of space battles and stuff), the comedy theme (caricature-like drawing, with a funny characters), the sentimental/human theme (more directed towards teenagers and adults, involving realistic romance or tragedy stories). There's also the hero/fight theme (superheroes, like Mazinger and stuff), and there's the sports theme (here comes Captain Maged!). What a variety, I must say. So, if anime are really of low quality, isn't this variety something difficult to maintain. The fact that there are so many themes means that there are lots of writers working on anime and lots of efforts being put into them.
Accusing anime of being of low quality is mainly not because they are of low quality, but we, Arabs, really do buy low quality anime and ignore much of the anime that is really great! We focus on cartoons like Captain Maged and Grandizer that are 25 years old, and we ignore anime like "Romeo Blue Skies".
This is one of the anime that made me cry one day. It's a very touching one, about the life of chimney workers and how they suffer from hunger and oppression. We also tend to associate anime with violence mainly because all what we see are anime with superheroes fighting and shouting, but these are only some of the anime themes and not all of them. I admit that maybe 60% or more of the anime are like that, but what about the other 40%?
I think that one of the main pros of anime is the storyline (or story plot). These guys write as if they are writing to adults. They never underestimate kids' minds. They respect kids' mentalities and offer rich stories and believe me I think these stories can be turned into novels. The great artwork in anime is a great plus, though some anime are not that artistically made.
What I don't like about anime is the exaggeration in it. Even when making a sentimental anime, with no heroes flying or Captain Maged taking one hour to reach the goal, I believe much of anime creators exaggerate in their character's reactions. They overdo many things. If it's a sentimental anime, you'd find lots of crying and tragedies, if it's a comedy one, you may find the show irritating because it's full of laughs without a real story you could follow sometimes. Also, anime have very long series. It's good to find out that your favorite anime has a lot of episodes, but sometimes you’re dying to know how the story will end, but you'll have to wait for 100 more episodes to come.
But if you ask me, I believe that anime are really worth watching. I mean try to think of anime as a diverse thing and don't limit yourself to the silly cartoons that we see on Egyptian TV. Watch Space Toon TV for example, or any Arab Channel, you'd definitely find a great variety of anime that will keep you attached to them. If you disagree with me, I'd be happy to hear your opinion. I am an anime-fan but not an anime-fanatic!
Well, since I don't expect everyone reading this blog to be a cartoon expert, let me give you short tips on how you can identify a Japanese cartoon. Usually, anime characters have very wide eyes. Of course, there's a special style of drawing from one anime to another, but generally anime have common guidelines concerning their animation styles. Sharp features for the characters, vibrant colors, and many visual details are all common guidelines. Also, anime series are usually long, ranging from 52 to even 100 episodes. They are divided into seasons.
Anime are not very popular in Egypt. If you ask yourself of the anime you are familiar with, you'd probably just recall Captain Maged or Mazinger, who is the most popular anime in Egypt so far. When I visited Vienna, they had special stories that sell anime stuff. In Egypt, not much anime is popular.
The problem is not just that anime are not very popular here. I feel that there's a kind of stereotype about Japanese cartoons, that they are all violent, and low-quality. Lately, I was reading an Egyptian magazine, and a media specialist said that the Arab world is one of the greatest consumers of anime, mainly because they are much cheaper to buy than American ones and that they are consequently of lower quality, which makes them 'trash' or second class cartoons.
Well, I disagree with that. Let me tell you why. I believe anime has its pros and cons, but you can't really set them as lower quality cartoons. Generally, anime revolves around a number of themes. There's the robot/space theme (anime occurring in space, where there are lots of space battles and stuff), the comedy theme (caricature-like drawing, with a funny characters), the sentimental/human theme (more directed towards teenagers and adults, involving realistic romance or tragedy stories). There's also the hero/fight theme (superheroes, like Mazinger and stuff), and there's the sports theme (here comes Captain Maged!). What a variety, I must say. So, if anime are really of low quality, isn't this variety something difficult to maintain. The fact that there are so many themes means that there are lots of writers working on anime and lots of efforts being put into them.
Accusing anime of being of low quality is mainly not because they are of low quality, but we, Arabs, really do buy low quality anime and ignore much of the anime that is really great! We focus on cartoons like Captain Maged and Grandizer that are 25 years old, and we ignore anime like "Romeo Blue Skies".
This is one of the anime that made me cry one day. It's a very touching one, about the life of chimney workers and how they suffer from hunger and oppression. We also tend to associate anime with violence mainly because all what we see are anime with superheroes fighting and shouting, but these are only some of the anime themes and not all of them. I admit that maybe 60% or more of the anime are like that, but what about the other 40%?
I think that one of the main pros of anime is the storyline (or story plot). These guys write as if they are writing to adults. They never underestimate kids' minds. They respect kids' mentalities and offer rich stories and believe me I think these stories can be turned into novels. The great artwork in anime is a great plus, though some anime are not that artistically made.
What I don't like about anime is the exaggeration in it. Even when making a sentimental anime, with no heroes flying or Captain Maged taking one hour to reach the goal, I believe much of anime creators exaggerate in their character's reactions. They overdo many things. If it's a sentimental anime, you'd find lots of crying and tragedies, if it's a comedy one, you may find the show irritating because it's full of laughs without a real story you could follow sometimes. Also, anime have very long series. It's good to find out that your favorite anime has a lot of episodes, but sometimes you’re dying to know how the story will end, but you'll have to wait for 100 more episodes to come.
But if you ask me, I believe that anime are really worth watching. I mean try to think of anime as a diverse thing and don't limit yourself to the silly cartoons that we see on Egyptian TV. Watch Space Toon TV for example, or any Arab Channel, you'd definitely find a great variety of anime that will keep you attached to them. If you disagree with me, I'd be happy to hear your opinion. I am an anime-fan but not an anime-fanatic!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Welcome to Animation & Beyond
Hi. Welcome to my blog. First, let me tell you a little about myself. I am Mina Nagy, an Egyptian 21-year old student who will be graduating this semester from the faculty of Mass Communication at Misr International University in Cairo.
I am sure you're saying at the back of your mind now: "What does a 21 year old guy have to do with cartoons? Aren't they supposed to be for 'kids'?"
Well, I tell you what: that's the reason why I made this blog. I adore cartoons and I believe that they are not just for kids. In fact, I believe that cartoons are more than just 'animation'. Every cartoon has a concept or even an ideology behind it. Even the very childish cartoons have a purpose. So, I think people should never underestimate cartoons and view them as something trivial and childish.
I have always loved to watch cartoons since I was a little kid. When I was four, my Mom and Dad took me to meet the headmaster of the school that I was about to join. When he asked me what I wanted to become when I grow up, I told him that I would like to "become like Uncle Scrooge, to fill trucks with gold". Guess what? I was accepted and joined the school because of that answer. Cartoons continued with me even in my university life. I conducted two extensive research studies about cartoons and their effects on children.
I made this blog not because I am a big cartoon fan or just someone who likes to watch cartoons. Many of us watch cartoons or pass by them. But few people look beyond these nice looking characters on the screen. This blog does not just offer pictures, screensavers, or video clips of nice cartoons and stuff. I mean I would love to do that but I believe that there are many websites that offer cool cartoon stuff. So, I think I should use this space to offer something new, or at least different, plus I don't want you to waste your time reading a routine blog.
This blog discusses what's behind cartoons: their content, effect, ideas conveyed in them..etc. Does this seem complex? Well, I think that if you read some of my posts here and start to look at cartoons with a different eye, then I could say that my blog made a difference. On my blog, you'll find posts about American, Japanese and even Arab cartoons. I am really waiting for your comments and opinions. How do you view cartoons? Do you think I am exaggerating and overdoing it? Or do you think I am somehow right? After all, cartoons are a form of art and everyone can see art differently. But even though we may have different opinions, it's always nice to discuss them together.
Welcome to Animation & Beyond! Please stop by every now and then, if you can and check some of the posts here. I hope you find it interesting and worth a couple of minutes from your time!
I am sure you're saying at the back of your mind now: "What does a 21 year old guy have to do with cartoons? Aren't they supposed to be for 'kids'?"
Well, I tell you what: that's the reason why I made this blog. I adore cartoons and I believe that they are not just for kids. In fact, I believe that cartoons are more than just 'animation'. Every cartoon has a concept or even an ideology behind it. Even the very childish cartoons have a purpose. So, I think people should never underestimate cartoons and view them as something trivial and childish.
I have always loved to watch cartoons since I was a little kid. When I was four, my Mom and Dad took me to meet the headmaster of the school that I was about to join. When he asked me what I wanted to become when I grow up, I told him that I would like to "become like Uncle Scrooge, to fill trucks with gold". Guess what? I was accepted and joined the school because of that answer. Cartoons continued with me even in my university life. I conducted two extensive research studies about cartoons and their effects on children.
I made this blog not because I am a big cartoon fan or just someone who likes to watch cartoons. Many of us watch cartoons or pass by them. But few people look beyond these nice looking characters on the screen. This blog does not just offer pictures, screensavers, or video clips of nice cartoons and stuff. I mean I would love to do that but I believe that there are many websites that offer cool cartoon stuff. So, I think I should use this space to offer something new, or at least different, plus I don't want you to waste your time reading a routine blog.
This blog discusses what's behind cartoons: their content, effect, ideas conveyed in them..etc. Does this seem complex? Well, I think that if you read some of my posts here and start to look at cartoons with a different eye, then I could say that my blog made a difference. On my blog, you'll find posts about American, Japanese and even Arab cartoons. I am really waiting for your comments and opinions. How do you view cartoons? Do you think I am exaggerating and overdoing it? Or do you think I am somehow right? After all, cartoons are a form of art and everyone can see art differently. But even though we may have different opinions, it's always nice to discuss them together.
Welcome to Animation & Beyond! Please stop by every now and then, if you can and check some of the posts here. I hope you find it interesting and worth a couple of minutes from your time!
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