Saturday Morning Cartoon Research Paper

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Saturday Morning Cartoons

Saturday morning cartoons are on the verge of becoming extinct on the major networks. Year after year there are continually less and worse cartoons on Saturday mornings. It was painful and sad but I thought that they had hit rock bottom and they will only get better from here. However, it now seems that cartoons may very well slide out of existence. How did this happen? Where have all the cartoons gone? Is there any hope in the future or will we all lead a cold, miserable existence (ok it might not be that bad).

First, it would probably help to start at the beginning of Saturday morning cartoons and give a history to find out how we got here. Saturday morning cartoons have been around since …show more content…

These were the first “post-T.V.” cartoons and this era was referred to as the “golden-age” of Saturday morning cartoons. During this time some of the most influential and longest running cartoons debuted on Saturday morning. The one cartoon, however, that attracted the highest ratings was the Beatles cartoon. Fortunately, after its initial season the ratings dropped off dramatically and the show was canceled. Bugs Bunny first appeared on Saturday morning in 1960 and has continued to be shown on one station or another for the last 40 years. Scooby-Doo first started in 1969 and also continues to be shown today. The Jetsons, which originally started out in primetime, was very popular on Saturday mornings as well. This time period also gave birth to some the very first “action” cartoons on Saturday morning. Spider-man and Superman were both vary popular among young …show more content…

Stations flooded Saturday morning with action cartoons with commercial tie-ins, such as toys or videogames. The most successful cartoon of the eighties being He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He-Man not only dominated ratings but toys sales as well. Other notable cartoons with merchandise tie-ins being Transformers, G.I.Joe, and The Smurfs. The eighties also saw a number of older cartoons given facelifts. The most popular of these rehashed cartoons being Pink Panther. There were also a few good new cartoons, the most popular being Ducktales. Despite the number of cartoons and the variety, ratings continued slide. Then NBC aired a show called Good Morning Miss Bliss, that name was later changed to Saved by the Bell. While Saved by the Bell was not a cartoon it was a sign of things to

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