1,658 words
Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)
Entertainment has a history of normalizing particular behaviors. This is nothing new. Cartoons are just one of many forms of entertainment media that are influential on the general public. Sometimes cartoons can in fact be the most influential type of media at a given moment in terms of pop culture. Why is this?
First, what exactly is a cartoon? Those who are not well-versed in the diversity of cross-media platforming most likely associate “cartoons” with “animation,” and may use these terms interchangeably. But this is not exactly the case. Cartoons are any caricature or exaggerated characters illustrated for comics, or else a series of character drawings in animated media. Before they became famous for being animated, some cartoons began as comic strips, and some that remain well-known today even date back to the late nineteenth century: The Yellow Kid, Little Nemo, Popeye, and The Addams Family, to name a few. And long before them, the political cartoon made its debut in 1754 with Benjamin Franklin’s famous “Join or Die” propaganda piece which called for the creation of a union that would eventually become the United States.
You can buy Dark Right: Batman Viewed from the Right here
Now that the definition of a “cartoon” has been established, I can respond to Travis LeBlanc’s “Adult Cartoons Are a Disaster for Western Civilization.” Note that I will not be arguing against his comments about Rick and Morty, Fritz the Cat, or Heavy Metal. I agree that those are negative for Western Civilization. Nor am I going to address his critique of Ralph Bakshi. However, I am critical of LeBlanc’s assumption that “cartoons,” aka animation, is “for children,” a cultural assumption that is commonly found in North America, as well as his failure to realize the potential animation has as a medium.
Animation was never intended to only be for children, even within the confines of Western society. Early cartoons such as Felix the Cat, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Mickey Mouse would fool anyone into thinking that these were intended for a younger audience, at least when taken at face value. Once you dig deeper, however, you find that these early cartoons were already quite experimental, and were often filled with sexual innuendo and extreme violence. The animators pioneering this new medium pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable. One of the most notable characters of this period is Betty Boop, after all, although most forget that she is in fact a cartoon prostitute.
Silly Symphonies and Looney Tunes both included drag performances and instances of explicit homosexual behavior and extreme violence prior to the implementation of the Hayes Code in 1934. Sure, Bugs Bunny would still get away with some of these things even after Hollywood adopted the Hayes Code, but that was the exception to the rule. In the pre-Code days of animated Hollywood, none of these short featurettes were explicitly designed to entertain children, but were intended to fill the gaps between the news programs the actual movies in the early cinemas. Some of these movies were in fact intended solely for adult audiences. The idea that cartoons are solely for children is therefore a myth.
Betty Boop
LeBlanc glosses over The Flintstones, which is perhaps most notable as the first animated sitcom aired in primetime. It was not merely filler between children and adult programming, either. At that time Hanna-Barbera was seeking to build on their earlier success with Tom and Jerry to focus on adapting established TV shows as low-budget, animated episodic series aimed at primetime or family audiences. The Flintstones, which debuted in 1960, was a retooling of The Honeymooners, a famed 1950s live-action sitcom.
This was not the studio’s only animated sitcom to repeat this formula, either. The Jetsons debuted two years after its sister series and was loosely based on I Love Lucy, another 1950s sitcom classic. Hanna-Barbera would continue this trend into the 1970s, sometimes creating literal animated copies of 1960s live-action sitcoms such as Bewitched (they had in fact developed the opening credits sequence for the original series in 1964) and having the characters appear in cross-over specials along with others of their characters. Hanna-Barbera experimented with various single-season animated specials and variety shows in the late 1960s, but the studio would not develop its first animated series directed specifically at the children’s demographic until the 1969 debut of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Norman Lear would take the formulas of the 1950s American sitcoms and subvert them with shows such as All in the Family, Maude, and The Jeffersons, updating them for the audiences of the 1970s and early 1980s. This is important, as these series would go on to influence most of the classic animated sitcoms of the 1990s and 2000s such as The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy, and The Cleveland Show, the last one likewise being a satire of The Cosby Show. Most of the humor in these animated sitcoms derives from the sarcastic and satirical nature of the live-action sitcoms of the 1970s that had been produced by the Jewish progressive Norman Lear. These would have more of an influence on America’s growing obsession with the black subculture than anything Ralph Bakshi produced. Lear was also responsible for Good Times and other black- centered family sitcoms of the 1970s, such as the previously mentioned The Jeffersons.
Homer Simpson of The Simpsons and Peter Griffin of Family Guy
Ralph Bakshi’s work would go on to influence shows such as South Park and Rick and Morty, which deviated from the typical Lear-style sitcom formula. Both of these shows have direct connections to both children’s and family media, as the former is a spoof of classic children’s holiday specials, and the latter is heavily influenced by the 1980s cinema franchise Back to the Future. South Park would directly steal from Heavy Metal in one episode, while Rick and Morty highlights sexual taboos much as Fritz the Cat had done.
These cartoons are indeed toxic for Western Civilization, but not because they are crudely animated characters who swear. Their toxicity is deep and nuanced. Let’s classify adult animation in three waves. The first wave includes the 1960s animated classics such as The Flintstones. The second includes the Lear-style animated sitcoms such as The Simpsons. The third and current wave includes shows such as Rick and Morty. Some of them do overlap, but this classification makes sense in context. It also shows how each wave is influenced by a previous era of television, and how the animated shows either subvert the original material or expands on the subversion. The first wave was relatively harmless, being based on classic 1950s-era sitcoms. The second wave was based on Lear-style sitcoms with a clear progressive leaning. Early on in the history of these programs, the humor could be somewhat crude, but not overtly offensive, and could even be somewhat cathartic for those who grew up in broken homes. Sometimes they were even wholesome, or used satire that could be positively interpreted through a nationalistic lens. The problem arose when these shows then attempt to stay relevant by adopting third-wave style humor and essentially overstaying their welcome. South Park pioneered this with their potty-mouth antics, gross-out imagery, and topical themes that date each episode after its initial viewing. The rise of the Internet, which has desensitized the public to taboos and extreme topics, has similarly played a major role in shows such as Rick and Morty, which fights for relevance through shock humor and taboo-breaking.
South Park
Animation is a medium, and like any medium of entertainment, it has both good and bad potential and can be aimed at any demographic. Many animated films made in Hollywood are not conceived of as purely children’s entertainment. Disney did not seek to make “children’s films” with their animated classics, for example, which were rather designed as “family entertainment.” This is a far different type of demographic. When Thomas the Tank Engine or Barney the Dinosaur get feature-length films, by contrast, they are not intended for parents or a general audience to enjoy. The producers know these films are exclusively for a pre-school audience. But films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King are in no way directed strictly at children. They contain elements children may like, but parents and childless adults enjoy these films as well. I doubt anyone would be comfortable saying that Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame is merely a “kid’s film.”
Animation has potential. Imagine if dissidents had the cultural power to tell Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales in animation on the level as The Little Mermaid or the Snow Queen. We would not be dealing with watered-down characters and stories, nor debating diversity casting or “representation.” The West is rich in folklore and fairytales that can be used to develop lasting stories that will have a major impact on society. We could have beautifully stylistic and faithful animated adaptations of stories from the Poetic Edda and the Norse Sagas, instead of the “diverse” Asgard as seen in the Marvel Comics Universe.
Animation is vital. White people of all ages need uplifting stories that promote Western values and inspire them. Animation provides a cost-effective method of showcasing the magical elements that live-action cinema is not capable of reproducing without expensive digital effects that, frankly, do not carry the same magic. Let us not forget how many modern dissidents were inspired by animated web shows such as Murdoch Murdoch, for example.
Murdoch Murdoch
The next part of this essay will be a response to the second part of LeBlanc’s, which deals with Japanese anime and The Simpsons’ cultural impact. I will primarily focus on his critique of anime, and why I think he is too quick to judge as well as how his attitudes about “artsy-fartsy” films limit any potential nationalist movements may have to influence pop culture. I will also address the popularity of anime in the West, and why Western audiences — especially those of white European backgrounds — are drawn to Japanese-style animation.
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11 comments
Let’s not forget the original cartoons: murals. I’m traveling through Northern Ireland and these pictures tell a thousand words. It’s so unbelievably intense to be on a street lined with Loyalist cartoons. Even more intense to walk into one of the adjacent bars and be suspected of Catholicism and be retroactively threatened with a .45, but then the Ulsters hand you a free beer and tell you about their time in the militias as the Shankill Butchers.
I don’t think either of you mentioned Rocky and Bullwinkle. Possibly the best adult cartoon ever. Just an oversight?
Sufferin’ succotash! No mention so far of Sylvester the Cat, the funniest of the classic cartoon characters.
I would like to add some thoughts to this.
I agreed with the spirit of Leblanc’s article, but I did take quite a bit of pause to disagree with some of it as well.
What got me thinking was, what was the most predominant influence on early film, in general, including animation? Naturally, that would have to be Vaudeville. One of my favorite movies of all time, The General, is vaudeville in film, starring an actor who was literally born into Vaudeville, Buster Keaton.
Yiddish Vaudeville was the precursor to Jewish power in Hollywood. A disproportionate number of early comedic film stars were Yiddish Jewish Vaudevillians and minstrel performers. (Al Jolson, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, and The Howard brothers along with Larry Fine)…whose heavy presence can also be seen in Mel Blanc’s Looney Tunes. (Basically animated Yiddish Vaudeville)…which brings me to my next thought…
My formative years were inundated with “family friendly” Jewish comedy, performers, and cartoons…The Three Stooges, Jerry Lewis, Shari Lewis and Lambchop, Al Capp, Harry Houdini etc. as well as aforementioned Looney Tunes.
When I was a kid, there wasn’t much else on TV, outside of Saturday morning, other than these old shows that were shown on syndication. Turner Broadcasting expanded that when cable TV came along.
What I’m getting at here is, animated film in the pre-war era was largely Vaudeville put to motion. Vaudeville was the only kind of entertainment that many rural and small town Americans ever got to experience up until the 30s, when talking pictures and eventually television made Vaudeville obsolete.
Even to this day, I’ll sit down and watch the Three Stooges with my sons. But in hindsight, as I watch that stuff, I’m amazed at how much sexual innuendo, drinking, smoking, gambling, prostitution, swindling, and all sorts of low class adult vice were part of their act. But by the 60s and 70s, and 80s, the Stooges were practically considered G rated family entertainment!
And what were they other than in-the flesh cartoon characters? (If memory serves, they even had a cartoon at some point).
Now none of this is to refute the issues of cartoons doing damage to Western culture. They have, but this is best viewed in context to the broader issue of Jewish influence on our culture. The Three Stooges are child’s play now, but in their day, they were risqué and pushed the envelope. They were marketed in exactly the same way to adults, as shorts before feature films, as early animation was. In this way there really is no difference. Yet to accept this might mean that we have to conclude that adult film has all the same problems that animation does in harming western culture. And perhaps this leads us to the real truth, and that is that people shouldn’t be wasting their time watching anything produced by Hollywood Jews. And at this point in time, it is probably too late to save the film industry altogether.
I don’t think Trevis’ point rests on whether or not cartoons were originally intended for children, and I’m pretty sure he isn’t even making that statement. He focuses on the fact that they are, and more importantly were *percieved* as being for children back when adult animation first became prevalent during the 90s.
This leads him to the larger point of infantilization and vulgarization of culture, which contributes to the arrested developmental state many western adults find themselves in right now. I doubt many here would find much disagreement with his conclusion.
I can see how the first part of LeBlanc’s article might generate the sort of assumptions the author of this one works under; but as seems to be his style, LeBlanc drives his message perfectly clear by the of his essay making all the criticism presented here redundant.
Never dreamed I’d be called upon to “White Knight” for Betty Boop, but she wasn’t ever depicted as any kind of prostitute … she was a faithful spoof of the average “flapper”, which were newly liberated young ladies during “the age of wonderful nonsense.”
Hear Hear! I loved Betty Boop.
Political cartoons and political graffiti have been with us for many centuries, but take care that either side not go to cartoonish extremes. The blasphemous Alexamenos graffito (1st-3rd century) depicts a crucified Christ with the head of a donkey, mocking “Alexamenos worships God”. How would the Muslims deal with an ancient cartoon about Muhammad in a museum?
The political graffiti of ancient Pompeii can be entertaining.
All the drunkards ask you to elect Marcus Cerrinius Vatia
Some of it could be personal and sweet.
A daughter was born to us early on the evening of Saturday, August 2.
With a snarky, sarcastic reply?
On October 17, Puteolana [a dog] had a litter of three males and two females
The door to a tavern had two guys scribbling about their rivalry over a woman.
[Severus] Successus the weaver loves Iris, the slave of the innkeeper’s wife. She doesn’t return his affections, but he tries to make her pity him. So says his rival. Farewell.
[Successus] You are envious and angry, but don’t try to steal from someone who is better-looking than you are, who knows what to do in bed, and who is better endowed than you are
[Severus] I have said it and written it: you love Iris, but she doesn’t love you
But Athens, Greece in modern times has a graffiti problem. There are some cool murals on garage doors and building walls, but many iconic centuries old buildings are littered with ‘tagging’ that couldn’t even generously be called art.
Perhaps the decline of Western Civilization can be seen in the use of cartoons in repair manuals for highly complex machines. The collective mind comprised of the many individual talents that went into building a Tiger tank then devolved to the few individuals, however competent they may have been, who were assigned to run and repair the intricate machines.
You can see the utility of cartooning in holding the attention of the reader as he learned. It does seem a bit incongruous, though, that they had to resort to this simplistic art form to rush the training.
What happens when the complexity of the technology to run the civilization outstrips the ability of people to maintain it?
Cartoons, in this case, are a symptom, or a sign, not the cause.
From the introduction to an English translation of the Tigerfibel ( Tiger manual) which is entirely germane to this topic:
“The task of actually writing the new training manual was assigned to Leutnant Josef von Glatter-Goetz. Glatter-Goetz took the assignment to heart and gave serious consideration to the need to impart such a large amount of information quickly and make it stick in the minds of bored young tank men. He therefore developed the idea of writing a humorous and highly risqué manual that would hold fast in the memories of the young men training on the Tiger. To do this he used humorous and risqué cartoon illustrations along with slang and the everyday situations which it was hoped the target audience would identify with.”
That much may have been tailoring it to the audience. Members of a tank crew might be able to turn a wrench reliably after going through the suitable training, but that doesn’t mean they were all mechanical engineers or even had a lot of prior experience.
“Turning the wrench” would have been the easier part. First they would have to figure out the problem. The case of the Tigerfibel is a best case scenario where a people with an innate ability for mechanics were targeted by the cartooning.
I live in an area that was originally settled by Germans and to this day even with de-industrialization it is dotted with small to medium sized machining businesses. They once thrived here because of the talent pool.
All this may be a diversion but it is a defense of cartoons.
I wish some of the manuals I had to deal with were as clear and entertaining. An enterprising fellow once drew up cartoon manuals for aspects of my trade and managed to get them printed. They were big sellers in supply houses.
Tigerfibel is available on-line in parts. There was a free pdf available at one time.
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