Single Perspective Argument—Progression in Animation
Road Runner, He-Man, Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry. These are just a few of the cartoons that many Americans, including myself, grew up with. They were great when they came on and they will be treasured as classics to the generations they have influenced. What, then, could possibly be the problem? Read the list of cartoons again and think of the characters…the majority of which are male and if there are female characters, they play a minor role as supporting characters. Times change, however, and now there are more and more cartoons with females not only as characters with real weight behind them, but right in the spotlight.
Things began to change with the introduction of The Scooby Doo Mysteries. Cast in this cartoon were two male humans, one male dog and not one, but two females. While one of the females, Daphne was still a bubbly airhead who cared more about the bad guy messing up her hair than about his plans to take over the world, there was the balancing factor of intelligence, Velma. Velma was smarter than all four of the other characters combined, but since she wasn’t exactly the “swingingest cat around,” it’s not likely that there were many young girls who wanted to be just like her. However, after talking to people I know who grew up with the original show and seeing some of the media changes myself, it’s obvious enough that there were at least a few girls out there who thought that Daphne didn’t quite have her priorities straight.
After Scooby Doo, cartoons started having more females in starring roles. One of the biggest ones that I can think of would have to be Rainbow Brite. She was amazing! She was a young girl who found out about the hardships of a world outside her own. When she found out what she needed to do to help it, she did and after that, she more or less ran the entire world. Not to mention making sure that our world stayed colorful and that all the colors went with what they were supposed to. She was even capable of thwarting off the evil plots of her arch nemesis, Murky and his henchman Lurky. This was the first cartoon that I can remember, where the ratio of female to male characters was actually higher. So much higher in fact that Rainbow Brite had two of the male characters fighting, however indirectly, for her affection.
While Rainbow Brite was awesome and was a great female lead in that cartoon, it was the 80s and it was all about the music. Due to this fact, the children of that time period craved for a cartoon that better fit into the world of guitar playing music that was around them. The solution to this was Jem and the Holograms. This cartoon was completely different from Rainbow Brite, but similar at the same time. It was about a hardworking woman who could do everything, as opposed to a young girl who was just determined to help those who needed it. Jerrica, Jem’s alter ego, is where the similarities begin. She, like Rainbow Brite, helps those in need; Jerrica gives practically all of her earnings to charity. Jem and the Holograms focused on a bit less extreme flip side of reality. With the huge exception of Jem actually being a hologram, some of what happened in this cartoon series could actually go on in real life and I think that’s what made millions of girls flock to their TVs to watch this beautiful, yet intelligent, female rock star day in and day out.
Modern cartoons, their characters and the children who watch them are forever indebted to those that came before them. If it wasn’t for the original Scooby Doo Mysteries, we wouldn’t have A Pup Named Scooby Doo where Daphne finally gets a brain, Velma is actually adorable and Fred is shown for the meathead we all knew he was deep down inside. If it weren’t for cartoons like Jem and the Holograms and other similar cartoons with where females were given the opportunity to show that they were more than wallflowers we wouldn’t have Chip-N-Dale Rescue Rangers with Gadget as the beautiful, smart, little miss fix-it who always had Chip and Dale at her heels. Nor would we have the even more modern cartoons and some of my personal favorites with females showing all they can do in so many different ways. Including: As Told by Ginger, Recess, Pepper Ann or Wild Thornberries. Each of these cartoons, as stated, shows girls a different way of viewing life. They don’t just stick to mainstream America, or have everyone ultimately looking the same with a change in hair or eye color here and there. They introduced children, not just girls, to all kinds of different lifestyles, problem solving techniques and an overall good time, which is what most people are after in viewing a cartoon anyway.
These television shows also show girls that not only are there going to be different people around them, but that they too can be different and not just placing them as the only “normal” person in a world full of “freaks.” These cartoon shows are picking up the slack for the parents of these young children who, for whatever sad reason or another, opted to not inform their child that they don’t have be picture perfect in order to fit in or make anyone happy, including themselves. There are so many options to choose from, whether it’s Pro-wrestling watching, fast talking, tough girl Spinelli of Disney’s Recess, to the down-to-Earth, artfully-talented, sweetheart of Ginger in Nickelodeon’s As Told by Ginger and everywhere else in between. If either of these girls aren’t what someone would want to be, there are so many more options out there, in these shows, the ones mentioned above and so many more that I may not even be aware of. Girls are no longer limited to the housewife imagery of the Flintstones and the Jetsons; they can spread their wings to see the world in so many different ways.
As this vast change of how much cartoons have changed since the time of my aunts, uncles and parents is brought to sight and the change of how females are viewed by our society and hence changing how they view themselves, I can’t help but wonder what’s in store for my younger cousins as they get older, how cartoons will be like in future times for my children, or for their children. How strongly the female figure will be represented, is a beautiful thing, I think, to see how far we have come and how many changes have been made. Even in something that’s supposed to be “just a cartoon.”