MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT CARTOONS
by Eric Munter
I don’t know this to be fact, but I imagine that the majority of people think cartoons are for kids and adults who watch them are strange. If this is so , I proudly count myself as a strange person because I LOVE cartoons and all things that have to do with animation.
Much how I love writing and the endless possibilities that medium brings, in the world of cartoons anything too is possible. There are things that simply can’t be done in traditional sitcoms and movies due to budgetary constraints and other concerns. But in cartoons? You want to have a thousand explosions? Just draw them. You want to have a talking whale fly through the sky? Just draw it. Want to create a world where everyone can fly? You guessed it – just draw it! The possibilities are endless.
One of my all-time favorite movies is “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”(Interesting tidbit: the studio did not want to include a question mark at the end of the title even though it would’ve been grammatically correct because of a supposed “question mark jinx.” Supposedly, movie titles with question marks did not perform well at the box office.) That movie PERFECTLY blended live action film with animation – and it even got the two kings of cartoons on screen for exactly the same amount of frames and words spoken. Those two characters? Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse. On top of it all, the plot, while not original, provided a good spin on the “who-dun-it” genre. It’s a movie I’m not ashamed to say I’ve watched at least two-dozen times.
Cartoons allow us an escape from reality even though its characters are created in ours. And when a cartoon is done well, I can’t help but completely “geek out” and fall in love with it.
JUN