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Why don't cartoon characters ever grow up?
SpongeBob SquarePants has been on the air for 10 years, yet has not aged at all. Bart Simspon has been 10 years old for nearly two decades now, what gives
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If you want cartoon characters to age, you have to update the way you draw them AND the way you characterize them - in essence, you have to be constantly building new characters and making a conscious decision in how to do so, whereas in live action this process will happen naturally. So I'm guessing the tradition probably started out somewhat accidentally. I'm also guessing that in the case of The Simpsons, they never thought the show would last as long as it has - and they couldn't very well start aging the characters in the fourth season after not doing it for three years. And if they had, we'd have a drastically different show now from the one we had 20 years ago, and it would probably lose much of its appeal. Just imagine: Grampa's dead, Lisa and Bart are moved out with lives of their own, maybe married with kids - which household do we follow? And Maggie is just about grown up. The pets have died. The kids have matured and changed. It makes for a very, very different kind of show.
To what extent the lack of change is practical vs. intentional is hard to say, but either way, cartoons have evolved as a medium where time doesn't have to advance - this is something no live action entertainment can ever achieve. I think this is why the tradition has stuck - it gives us something that will remain consistent from year to year in a world of change. Not that mediums involving time passage are a bad or uncomfortable thing, but sometimes that permanence has appeal. Cartoon characters already have less reality to them than filmed actors - they're icons, really, serving a purpose almost like that of archetypes. They stay the same shape, but their social commentary changes with the times.
To what extent the lack of change is practical vs. intentional is hard to say, but either way, cartoons have evolved as a medium where time doesn't have to advance - this is something no live action entertainment can ever achieve. I think this is why the tradition has stuck - it gives us something that will remain consistent from year to year in a world of change. Not that mediums involving time passage are a bad or uncomfortable thing, but sometimes that permanence has appeal. Cartoon characters already have less reality to them than filmed actors - they're icons, really, serving a purpose almost like that of archetypes. They stay the same shape, but their social commentary changes with the times.
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Nice analysis!
Some more realistic ones do; mostly ones in comic strips.
But mostly it's because time doesn't really exist in a normal way in the cartoons, and because we only get a snip of time in that half-hour time slot, sometimes once a week. If you cut someone's life into half-hour slots and then only let them live once a week for that long, their lifespan turns into centuries instead of years.
Yes, sometimes the plot happens over a course of weeks, rather than days--it's never like a hidden camera recording a half hour of their life. So really, because a certain episode is only about, say, what happened when Homer wanted to get his kids a free trombompoline, all the rest of the things that happened in the rest of the family--a science fair, or moving Grampa at the retirement home--went into different episodes. Even though they happened during the same time period of the supposed life of the Simpson family
But mostly it's because time doesn't really exist in a normal way in the cartoons, and because we only get a snip of time in that half-hour time slot, sometimes once a week. If you cut someone's life into half-hour slots and then only let them live once a week for that long, their lifespan turns into centuries instead of years.
Yes, sometimes the plot happens over a course of weeks, rather than days--it's never like a hidden camera recording a half hour of their life. So really, because a certain episode is only about, say, what happened when Homer wanted to get his kids a free trombompoline, all the rest of the things that happened in the rest of the family--a science fair, or moving Grampa at the retirement home--went into different episodes. Even though they happened during the same time period of the supposed life of the Simpson family
For some reason this won't let me punctuate the last sentence.
There's a bug in editing, chops off the last character, so put two characters instead.
I think this has to do with the memories which cartoon characters can bring about in people. When I think of my childhood and the cartoons I watched I can remember many little details. These details have resulted in my hunting down old shows I use to watch and purchasing them on DVD. If the characters had grown up throughout the years the episodes would look different to me and take away part of that memory which has me searching them out so many years later.
Anyone in the business of sales can tell you that creating a positive memory of a product will sell that product beyond anything else. In order for that to hold true the memory can't be chances so repetition is important (even if that means Bart Simpson is a 30 year old stuck in a 10 year olds body)
Anyone in the business of sales can tell you that creating a positive memory of a product will sell that product beyond anything else. In order for that to hold true the memory can't be chances so repetition is important (even if that means Bart Simpson is a 30 year old stuck in a 10 year olds body)
1. It is easier to draw.
2. It is good for branding/marketing.
3. It is our hidden desire to resist change, be young always!
2. It is good for branding/marketing.
3. It is our hidden desire to resist change, be young always!
source(s):
Experience
Experience
Can I answer a question with a question? How do you know SpongeBob Squarepants hasn't grown up? How old is he anyway? He does have a job. If he doesn't retire in 30 years that will be suspicious; but, it's not clear to me what he would look like at different ages. After all, he's just a square bathroom sponge.
i think its because for a kids cartoon they makers want the kids to be able to relate to the caracters....also when a kid is watching a show like batman were robin (batmans side kick) is helping out the kid is then inflewenced to help out to...or just by the show merchindice. so i think cartoonists keep the charaters a single age so they can let the kid relate to the character.
though in the show ruggrats.....they made there characters become teens to get the attention of kids from 10- 13
though in the show ruggrats.....they made there characters become teens to get the attention of kids from 10- 13
The question isn't about children growing up, it's about time passing. It's not just Bart that hasn't aged, no one has. Time would be a nightmare for cartoons, on many fronts. Harder to draw, as noted. But also, reality sets in. If you're going to age the kids does that mean you have to consider them in college? Dating? Will they gain weight? What about puberty? When will Grandpa Simpson die? Many of these questions, with people, are easier - certainly the physical appearance ones are. Putting too many real life details into the cartoon would ruin the experience for people. Cartoons, unlike real life, are an escape. Stuff happens in cartoons that can't happen outside, and we like it that way.
if cartoon characters aged then it would not function properly as a cartoon. A cartoon is abstract, nothing is limited to the physical limitations of the real world. I think it would suck if cartoon characters aged, if they did then they would have to adhere to the rest of the rules of the regular world.
Some cartoon characters grow up. I remember Pebbles and BamBam from the Flintstones grew up and had their own cartoon.
In general, fictional characters do not age in order to keep their stories similar and appealing to the same audience. Altering the characters can change the types of stories they get involved in, which can decrease the audience that pays money to watch the cartoon (in the form of buying from advertisers and buying DVDs of the program)
I hope this helps.
source(s):
My memory of the Flintstones
My memory of the Flintstones
In traditional American cartoons, the characters often only age as the show runs out of other ideas. After all, those characters at that original age were "the" characters, aging changes what they are. Therefore, shows like The Flintstones and Rugrats only age characters as they "jump the shark" and have no idea what to do for another episode.
Also, The Simpsons has toyed with the idea of aging all the characters two or three times for individual episodes, but thankfully never planned to stick with it.
Also, The Simpsons has toyed with the idea of aging all the characters two or three times for individual episodes, but thankfully never planned to stick with it.
because they're not real
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