"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard... "
- Paul Simon ©1986 BMI Music
Memories from a sixth-grade history class:
I recall seeing pictures of pale, pitted figurines that resembled
malformed gingerbread men iced with dirt. My textbook informed me
that these objects were "fertility statues," created to
ensure fecund livestock and bountiful crops. At least that was the
prevailing theory; they might have actually been the Sumerian equivalent
of fuzzy dice, pet rocks or action figures. After some 5,000 years,
who really knew? This conjecture led to the only interesting homework
assignment I ever had in elementary school: "If archaeologists
were to dig up our classroom 5,000 years from now, what assumptions
might they make about the artifacts they find?" That was a challenging
question in 1965, but answering it in 2001 is simple: They wouldn't
need to make any assumptions at all.
Assuming no nuclear conflagrations, environmental disasters, world-cleansing
global pandemics or invasions by the Drej, the record of the past
should be easy to read. Current technology has been able to preserve
civilization through the use of increasingly sophisticated devices,
and at least the past fifty years of cultural history are available
to all mankind on CD-ROM, DVD and other formats. Frequently this historical
record reappears in digitally remastered form, looking and sounding
better than ever. This is no sci-fi fancy: source material will be
preserved in ways yet unforeseen and it is conceivable that audiences
a thousand years from now will be able to view an original episode
of Rocky and His Friends with full understanding of the cultural
context. Sure, the show may seem a bit weird and unworldly but hardly
indecipherable, since it will never have disappeared. These audiences
will contain historians and academics, but also fans who will recognize
many of the show's nuances.
Old Is New: Boomerang
Which brings us to April 1, 2000 and the premiere of Turner Broadcasting
System's newest offering, Boomerang. A companion channel to the highly
successful Cartoon Network, Boomerang differed from its "sister"
by offering vintage cartoons. The title suggested the "baby boom"
generation born between 1946 and 1964 who were ostensibly the original
audience for these cartoons, and the fact that the cartoons had returned
to their cultural owners and caretakers. Boomerang first cut a deal
with EchoStar satellite service and then hit it big with DirecTV soon
thereafter. In an interview with ign (March 27, 2000), Cartoon
Network president Betty Cohen noted that while, "Cartoon Network's
phenomenal audience growth with older kids and younger adults is increasingly
driven by our aggressive ramp-up of original programming and contemporary
acquisitions...our research and consumer feedback tells us we still
have enormous opportunity to serve baby boomer parents with more of
the classic favorites they grew up with. Boomerang will give them
the chance to share those favorites with their kids."
Noble sentiments indeed. Economical ones as well. Research and consumer
feedback have neither ensured success nor averted disaster in the
world of TV programming, and the Cartoon Network execs are likely
aware of that fact. Boomerang may, in fact, have a secondary and even
tertiary purpose. Cartoon Network has two important goals that mitigate
against older toons dominating its programming. CN must ensure a steady
dose of progressive and original programming. They must also develop
the intensive marketing that is inseparable from toons that slip their
restrictive time blocks and enter the mainstream's profitable secondary
markets. To these ends, Cartoon Network has dedicated its prime viewing
hours to original programming. Their phenomenally lucrative Friday
evening block (7:30pm-11pm) was a key factor in gaining the economic
leverage needed for program expansion. CN is one of (ad-supported)
cable TV's highest rated networks, and advertising revenue exploded
40% over 1998-99 levels, partly due to this block's popularity with
viewers.
Some original projects, such as Ed, Edd n Eddy, are passable.
Other programs like Cow and Chicken or Dexter's Laboratory
have a steady following. Still other programs, primarily The [5]
Powerpuff
Girls [5], have slipped the leash and are on the eventual
way to classic status. Cartoon Network continues to develop its own
shows and will do so for the foreseeable future; Cohen and company
have made a $350 million commitment to original programming, and at
this time there are reportedly 25 animated shorts in sundry stages
of development. Each one has the potential to develop into a series
within the next two years. Add to that the commitment that CN is making
to anime (Gundam
Wing [6] and Techni Muyo are now on the scene in addition
to CN's other imports), and there is far less time available for Hanna-Barbera
leftovers such as Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan.
Wait...Who's Watching What?
Still, how can one let a library spanning forty years of Saturday
morning animation lie fallow? Adults make up 35% of CN's viewing audience,
and its viewership spends an average of seven hours per week "tooned"
in to the station. The average viewer is 81% more likely to have four
or more television sets in the home than non-viewers. This suggests
that there is certainly enough time, TV sets and adults to go around
for the vintage toons, but I find myself puzzled by a couple of other
statistics, and these deserve examination since they left me wondering
at which audience the Boomerang network is truly aimed.
As noted earlier, Boomers represent people born in the years 1946-1964
(ages 55-37). If we add five years to these birth dates to reflect
more accurately the times in their lives when Boomers were first addicted
to cartoons, the range of programming would reflect the years 1951-1969.
Demographic studies suggest that the typical head of the household
among CN's audience is in the 25-34 age range, which suggests birth
dates ranging from 1967-1976. If we were to apply the same five-year
rule, the range of programming would represent something like 1972-1981.
This range more accurately reflects the prevalent programming on Boomerang.
In an interview with l.a. life on April 1, 2000, Boomerang
senior VP Mark Norman suggested that the network would be concentrating
on the years between 1963 and 1976. If the viewership of Boomerang,
as Ms. Cohen suggests, is sharing the beloved cartoons of their youth
with their own progeny (allowing time for their children to hit the
age of five), who is that viewership? According to an article in Marketing
Click (3/99), "More children's television is viewed in households
with GenX parents and kids under 12 than those with Boomer parents,
according to Mediamark Research Inc. GenX households were almost twice
as likely to have tuned in to the Cartoon Network during a recent
six month period than Boomer households..."
Therefore, one conclusion we could draw is that Boomers are overrated
as a viewing audience for animated cartoon shows. Another conclusion
we might reach is that Boomerang, while it does show cartoons
pre-dating 1967, may not be completely intended for the baby boomers
and their kids after all. At the time that most of Boomerang's current
fare was playing on Saturday morning, true Boomers were sweating out
recessions or lurching towards yup-dom; Jabberjaw was the last
thing on their minds. Boomerang seems more a strategy to attract GenXers
and their offspring, who also cross over to CN for the newer and hipper
toons. Thus, CN and Boomerang team up for the tastiest pieces of the
demographic pie. Boomerang also serves the purpose of clearing the
decks for CN's original programs while maintaining the original network's
35% adult viewing base and fully utilizing Turner's colossal cartoon
library.
Curious-er and Curious-er
Fortunately for CN, the cartoons made during this period are "hot,"
gaining the endorsement of GenXers such as Timothy and Kevin Burke,
who sent these programs a cuddly love letter with their book Saturday
Morning Fever. Unfortunately, with few exceptions, many of these
cartoons exemplify how standardization, poor quality, minuscule financing
and fuss-budget "consultants" with pro-social agendas can
drain animation of all its magic and wonder. For better or worse,
Boomerang is a historical record of a well-defined generation's favorite
cartoons...but possibly not the generation described by Betty Cohen
or suggested by the network's title.
Curious-er and Curious-er
Fortunately for CN, the cartoons made during this period are "hot,"
gaining the endorsement of GenXers such as Timothy and Kevin Burke,
who sent these programs a cuddly love letter with their book Saturday
Morning Fever. Unfortunately, with few exceptions, many of these
cartoons exemplify how standardization, poor quality, minuscule financing
and fuss-budget "consultants" with pro-social agendas can
drain animation of all its magic and wonder. For better or worse,
Boomerang is a historical record of a well-defined generation's favorite
cartoons...but possibly not the generation described by Betty Cohen
or suggested by the network's title.
I find this more curious than problematic, and I respect the right
of Turner Broadcasting, or Cartoon Network, to call their new entity
whatever they wish. It is amusing, however, to see true boomer cartoons
such as Tom and Jerry and Rocky and His Friends, or
the offerings of the Acme Hour, playing on Cartoon Network
at the same time that Boomerang is broadcasting Sealab 2020 and
Yogi's Space Race. My only real quibble is that Boomerang does
not seem to be part of the basic cable package and must be purchased
either separately or through a package upgrade. It seems to me that
Turner is charging people for the wrong network. Speaking as a genuine
boomer born in 1956, I think that Cartoon Network has the more desirable
lineup. I would pay extra to see Mo
Willem [10]'s frenetic assault on the "fourth wall" that
he calls Sheep in the Big City. I would dig up a few more shekels
to watch John
R. Dilworth [11] and Courage the Cowardly Dog carry out their
minimalist revision of the American horror genre. I would pop a few
more pennies to enjoy the lively animation and snappy dialogue of
the underrated Mike, Lu and Og show. And I would bust my piggy
bank to see the City of Townsville eternally protected by The Powerpuff
Girls. But shelling out dough to view The Cattanooga Cats,
The Funky Phantom or Speed Buggy? With all due respect,
someone would have to pay me.
Ah, but I am only one humble journalist soon to be lost to the flow
of history. Boomerang is, at least, part of the process that assures
no cartoon ever goes to the cartoon graveyard. Thanks to this network's
current efforts, it is possible that 5,000 years from now future historians,
cultural archaeologists and animation fanatics can all sit down together
and watch Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch! without questioning
whether this was an example of animal worship, tribal ritual or archetypal
epic. Figuring out what era of audiences it was aimed at, however,
might be a different story since the matter is evidently not clear
among the Turner networks themselves.
Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman is a longtime student and fan of animation.
He lives in Anderson, Indiana.
Links:
[1] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/212
[2] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/213
[3] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/214
[4] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/215
[5] http://www.awn.com/mag/issue5.07/5.07pages/demottppg.php3
[6] http://www.awn.com/mag/issue5.03/5.03pages/kubingundam.php3
[7] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/216
[8] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/217
[9] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/218
[10] http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.6/2.6pages/2.6wilhelmctw.html
[11] http://www.awn.com/mag/issue4.08/4.08pages/millerdilworth.php3