Children's Animation Deserves Better - Doodley

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"It's for kids" is the biggest excuse for bad animation and media in general

If they mark this as a kids video, we riot.

8:28 Funny that you say that - the kids in Bluey are actually voiced by kids. For that reason, they’re not credited so they can be raised outside the spotlight. Love to see a production crew that actually cares about these kids.

"Hand the kid a tablet and ignore them" is the main school of thought now.

My parents decided to show my sister copious amounts of Coco Melon before going to kindergarten. She did so poorly in school that the teacher had to have a talk with my parents and myself that something had to be done else she'll have to be held back. After giving my parents 10 across the face, I went on a 6 month sabbatical and had to regulate what my sister could watch and tutor her. I had to sit down with her and get her to watch the media I watched when I was growing up, Between the Lions, Electric Company, Cyberchase, Word Girl, Sesame Street, etc, on top of doing activities together such as building legos, go fish, visits to the park, etc. By the end of the 6 months, she not only did complete 180 in performance, she also began reading at a 2nd grade level. She's now more motivated than ever to read and write. The other day she squirreled away my copy of The Hogfather by Terry Pratchet and was able to read aloud the word "archchancellor". If you have kids, DO NOT LET THEM WATCH COCO MELON. It is making them stupid.

GOOD GRIEF, HE’S NAKED!

There's also the fact that kids are information sponges. You don't have to directly teach everything for them to learn. For example, a well-written, engaging story is helping kids learn storytelling just by exposing them to it.

Even Thomas/Railway Series creator Reverend Wilbur Awdry knew that kids were smart and not stupid. "You've got to remember that you're not merely writing for children. You're writing for the unfortunate people; mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandfathers, grandmothers... who've got to read the stories aloud. Not just once, but over and over and over again." -Reverend W. Awdry A quote I wish more writers of children's stories and shows remembered and take note of.

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest" -C.S. Lewis

The "Distractatron" is literally the type of machine you'd see in a (well made) kids cartoon episode about teaching kids not to stay in and watch TV all day LMAO. That is comically evil.

When my daughter was in the target age for this stuff, I showed her DVDs of old "Electric Company" episodes (which had actually been labeled "not for children" since there were a few segments that haven't aged well, and research on what was optimally educational had moved on). But with appropriate guidance, that show taught her to read just as it'd taught me to read. She was a fan of "WordGirl" too. When she was a little older and watching shows like "Adventure Time", "Gravity Falls" and "Phineas and Ferb", I remember thinking that we were actually in a golden age of that kind of media, since those cartoons were so much better than the garbage I'd watched on Saturday mornings in the 1970s. They weren't educational shows, but they had substance--actually quite a lot of narrative complexity with multidimensional characters, some thoughtfully presented messages and sometimes even epic continuing storylines.

This reminds me of Jim Henson’s, the dark crystal, and how he thought that it was unhealthy for children to be never be afraid and how he wanted to get back with the deep and dark roots of the fantasy genre through Hans Christian Andersen’s Stories. I feel like whenever people hear the words *Family Friendly*, they automatically think it equates to being made “For Kids”. When in actuality, it means that it’s made with kids and adults in mind. With things that children and adults can understand.

people nowadays will never understand the sheer pain and panic of realizing you only have one more chance to get a question right and not be a Party Pooper while watching Crashbox

WordGirl literally features a mad scientist who fights his own psyche and the psyche of a mouse for control of his body. WordGirl is amazing

No kid will ever remember any cocomelon video with pride and fondness after they grow up bruh

I really hate how "family-friendly" has been watered down into 'kidshow fodder' (stuff like Cocomelon and cringe-worthy YouTubers like Ryan's World) because the literal term 'family-friendly' was intended to mean that something is suitable for both kids and adults, and I'm glad shows like Bluey and Wordgirl are actually aware that a "family-friendly" show has to appeal to *families*!

It always pains me to see network TV shows for kids getting cancelled left and right while low quality, ugly YT Kids content farms are just allowed to run rampant. Glad I grew up with shows made by people who actually care about the kids watching lol

Using word girl is probably one of the best examples I could think of.

The way kids WILL watch almost anything makes it even more important that what is produced for them is as good as it can be!