Like all children since the 1990s, cartoon shows made up a third of my childhood. We used to go nuts behind them and idolized them. But then, those characters were worth our craze and figurative worship. They were powerful, but had humility. Some maybe deadly fighters but were benevolent. Some were a little plain but were plain intelligent. Some had entirely disgusting habits, but outstanding values of friendship, courage and all noble stuff. Such were the characters I and my peers venerated.

After entering the 2010s, the cartoon characters have definitely had fallout. The characters may have the same power, strength and kindness. But, like most things did they become better with time? Absolutely not! It feels like cartoon producers have gone more backward in time and have worsened the quality of cartoon characters. It’s not about the animation. No. It’s about the very quality we look for in people i.e. ‘character’ and ‘substance’. Shows these days have basic fist fights. No remarkable planning, no fantastic moves, no element of novelty, just the fight between plain good guy and the bad guy.

The cartoons earlier had the most brilliant stories. Sure, they were entirely fictional. But, aren’t cartoons supposed to be imaginary? The point that cartoon makers are missing is that on some level, without knowing it, children are attracted to cartoon shows because they are not real! They contain no level on which a child may be able to relate his life to that of the cartoons’. That is what makes cartoons so delightful to watch!Kids enter a new, different universe. But when cartoons are made with the elements of real life, they lose their fundamental charm and cease to amusing and enjoyable. So if kids are going to watch cartoons, make it worth their watch!

Authored by: Farheen Ahmed; XI Commerce; Seedling Modern Public School