So the cartoon industry has gotten over certain remnants from the 80s. My childhood took place in that decade which is why I don't hate it, quite on the contrary, but with an a little more professional eye than I had back then I can't deny that a lot of mainstream cartoon productions of that time were garbage one way or another.
What is it like today? The unfathomably horrible production values of most Hanna-Barbera and Filmation TV shows have gotten somewhat better thanks to the advent of digital production means. Fairy-tale musicals are largely a thing of the past because of audiences' over-saturation with corny songs and not every Saturday morning show insists on spoon-feeding children tedious morality lessons anymore, at least not in the form of cringe-inducing"<insert marketable character> Says"-segments.
The cartoon medium (3D, 2D, Flash, stop-motion) used aside, what are the flavours of our current time, the late 90s/early 2000s period?
Personally, I would list:
- graphically reduced design styles reminiscent of the 50s and early 60s (Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls)
- anime influences in character design and certain acting clichés (giant sweat drops, anger veins, nose bubbles and other over-stylised symbolic expressions)
- buddy movies (starting around the time the original Toy Story became a success they replaced fairy-tale lovers)
- the dysfunctional family (kudos to The Simpsons)
- pop culture innuendos (I'm going to use Shrek I-III as the main representative here)
- grotesquely innocent characters their manipulators just can't overcome (SpongeBob, M. M. o.Flapjack, to an extend Chowder)
What else do we have?
The worst part about this is how far it's devolved. Many current shows, Total Drama Island probably being the most obvious offender, don't even seem to understand the logic behind these designs.
They don't have any strong graphic statements or overarching shapes, and so the characters are just awkward-looking, off-balance collections of limbs, rather than, say, a fat guy's body making a big round shape or an attractive woman making an hourglass shape, etc.
Similarly, the designs in this faux-retro style have generally become pretty cluttered, filled with useless details that would probably drive the animators crazy if they actually had to draw them multiple times.
As for trends in animation during the last decade...
One that immediately comes to mind (and I almost feel bad for typing it since it's so frequently brought up), is the reliance on celebrity voices for a character's appearance and personality. It had happened a few times in the past -- Phil Harris in his 3 Disney films, and Robin Williams in Aladdin, but it's started to happen more and more in animated movies, generally with the exception of Pixar. Worst examples (again, usually the first ones mentioned) would be Shark Tale, Bee Movie and the like.
Well, for me those show are all about the here and now. The likelihood that someone will be willing to watch these shows in a few years from now, is very unlikely. They did their job, fill time, bring an audience, and provide sells revenue.
"Total Drama Island" and "Total Drama Action" are all about the gages. The characters are always looking into the cameras, spitting out the lines.
As for the big name actors jumping into voice animation, almost every interview I have heard had something about 'they were doing it for their kids."
Can a higher standard be haled on the art work and make money?