As the ‘90s approached, a very wonderful thing happened for all of us who had dedicated their lives to animation. Animation was to suddenly and miraculously rise up from the dead, reborn, fresh, snappy, popular and enjoyable, thanks to some idealistic madmen, and some very clever cartoonists, writers, directors and producers who had never given up on the art of animation and its immense potential as a major form of entertainment. I think we can thank the early geniuses of the cartoon industry, the Tex Averys, Chuck Joneses, Bob Clampetts and Walt Disneys, whose early work continued to successfully entertain generation after generation with quality animation entertainment, on endless television reruns, least we forget the real magic of animation.

On a side note, I apologize to the legions of animation fans that grew up on some of the worst animation in the history of the art form, and still love the shows they came to love in the ‘70s and ‘80s. I know there are devout fans out there. I may criticize this animation for its lack of artistic integrity, but it is interesting to observe, that even in its lowest form, animation still captured young people’s imaginations like nothing else. But lucky for all of us, a Rabbit named Roger, and a slob named Homer, were about to help bring about a revival the likes of which nobody could have anticipated.

It’s impossible to exaggerate the impact Who Framed Roger Rabbit had on the animation industry, whether you like the film or not. Courtesy of Disney. © Touchstone Pictures and Amblin Ent. Inc.

In 1988, Robert Zemeckis and Richard Williams and their colleagues managed to convince a lot of people to spend a lot of money on a very risky project. I don’t have to waste my breath here explaining or describing or analyzing Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but it’s impossible to exaggerate the film’s impact on the animation industry, whether you actually like the film or not. (I actually know several sad, lonely souls who are so critical of Roger Rabbit that they couldn’t find it in themselves to enjoy it!) Historically, Roger Rabbit was an earth-shattering revelation. While being produced by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Ent., Roger Rabbit marked the first time that characters like Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck and Donald Duck were able to all meet up on one movie screen.

Wow! For an old long-time fan like me who had watched animation all but die in the ‘70s and ‘80s, this was an animation orgasm! Combining live-action, animation, and an intriguing storyline, complete with a femme fatale, in a way that appealed to Joe Public was a stroke of genius. Quite suddenly, animation was a big-time box-office success, and everyone took notice. It was incentive enough for Disney and others to get their heads out of their asses, and start putting some real resources back into their films, returning to something approaching a magical art form once again.

And then along came Homer Simpson.

The man who sparked an interest in animation that produced a boom that that is still alive in the 21st century. ™ & © 2001 The Simpsons and TCFFC. All rights reserved. ™ & © 2001 Fox Broadcasting Cr: Fox.

When I first laid eyes on The Simpsons, my pretensions of artistic integrity wouldn’t allow me to accept it as a high-quality show. There are those who would still argue that it is trash, and those who would argue it is high art, but, regardless of your opinion, the success of The Simpsons can’t be understated, and it even grew on me over the years, largely because of my youngest son catching onto it. Everybody knows, it was the writing that made it work. Matt Groening’s artwork definitely has appeal on some level, but the true genius lies elsewhere. I don’t plan my viewing time around it; you don’t have to. After all these years, it’s still on television more often than any other series, animated or live-action that I can think of.

The Simpsons was produced at several different studios over the past 18 years, both domestic and overseas, but mostly in South Korea. During the first three seasons, Klasky Csupo was the studio handling all the production domestically, but due to scope and popularity of the show, Klasky’s small studio was overwhelmed, and the show ended up being subcontracted to an overseas studio in South Korea and Fox later transferred the U.S. production work to Film Roman. Regardless of where The Simpsons was being produced, it undeniably sparked an interest in animation that has spawned an incredible boom domestically, the crest of the wave of which we are still riding well into the 21st century!

Animation, as we all know, has enjoyed a revival of epic proportions in the last 15 years or so. Within that timeframe, there have been bumps and gullies to be sure, but for the most part, it has risen exponentially, giving rise to more animation, in more formats than we ever would have dreamed of in the past. And with that popularity, the technology has finally caught up with animation and pushed it into the fourth dimension. Digital ink and paint for 2D, 2.5D hybrids, CGI, Flash and an astonishing plethora of animation software and hardware tools, have changed everything about the production pipeline of animation, almost beyond recognition. But, it’s all cartoons, and they are bigger and better than ever!

Saturday morning? We now have several 24-hour a day television cartoon channels! And primetime network television is bursting at the seams with more and more so-called “adult” cartoon shows.