A mini-survey on which cartoons kids like

[Andrew T. Hingson]

I've been volunteering in a 2nd grade class for the Junior Achievement program (teaching kids about business and their community) and just for fun I asked this class of 20+ kids what their favorite cartoon was.

Sponge Bob came up the most (no surprise there) but some of the other picks were pretty interesting.

At least 3 girls said Kim Possible was their favorite, 2 boys said Code LYOKO was their favorite, a boy and a girl said Avatar was their favorite, 2 boys said Naruto was their favorite and few kids said Tom & Jerry was their favorite.

Kim isn't a big suprise I suppose but I wasn't expecting to hear Naruto, Avatar, LYOKO and certainly not Tom & Jerry (as they say kids don't appreciate the classics... though T & J seem to break that rule more than any other classic probably because it's more kid friendly than your average episode of the Jetsons or Flintstones.

Of course there was one kid who said The Simpsons and one who said South Park... which I told him he shouldn't watch. Honestly I was expecting at least one kid to say Family Guy but none did.

And when I told them I liked Ninja Turtles a lot of them laughed at me. I wonder what their responce would have been I told them my favorite show was One Piece (though they wouldn't know I didn't mean the dub).

Anyway I thought it was interesting. This in no way speaks for the majority of the kids in America... then again judging from ratings it's not far off either.

[CyberCubed]

Interesting, no Yu-gi-oh, DBZ, or Pokemon?

My my, how times have changed. 5 years ago at least one out of every 3 kids were hooked on the above shows.

[judyindisguise]

Interesting, no Yu-gi-oh, DBZ, or Pokemon?

My my, how times have changed. 5 years ago at least one out of every 3 kids were hooked on the above shows.
And no "Fairly Oddparents'?

If anything, your survey supports my contention that the only way FOP generates decent ratings these days is because Spongebob, as its lead-in show, is boosting it. :)

[CartoonOverlord]

It's good to hear a classic toon like Tom and Jerry is still watched by the newest generation. I'm suprised to also hear Avatar, Code Lyoko and Naruto were among the favorites. I bet if you did mention One Piece most of the kids wouldn't know what you were talking about!:p

[Master Moron]

It's good to hear a classic toon like Tom and Jerry is still watched by the newest generation. I'm suprised to also hear Avatar, Code Lyoko and Naruto were among the favorites. I bet if you did mention One Piece most of the kids wouldn't know what you were talking about!:p

Well, considering One Piece! comes on right after Naruto, I assume they'd at least know what it was.

[Brettfern]

If I say Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I hope no one laughs at me..

[Rurouni Kenshin]

Wow, Lyoko is an interesting choice for kids. Also not a big surprise the kids don't like Ninja Turtles, as much as I try to like the show, it just seems somewhat shallow.

[CyberCubed]

That's not why they don't like it, they don't like it because the plots go over their heads.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Shallow?

I thought the problem with TMNT (like JLU) is too much substance and not enough flash. Naruto has a lot of substance but also a lot of flash. For the life of me I still don't know why 6 year olds watch LYOKO though. As there's pretty much no "flash" there either.

[Juu-kuchi]

Heck if they stay up to see Naruto, maybe you should have asked them what they think about Bobobo.

I'd love to hear about their reactions to the show if they saw it.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Naruto's on at 9PM on Saturday. Bo-Bobo is at 10 now but it was at 10:30PM. Granted Naruto was also at 10PM for a while.

None the less... they might go to bed after One Piece or Naruto. Then again, they might not.

[I.R Joey]

That's very cool of you to go through the trouble of doing that sketch. Thanks for the entertaining thread.

[Master Moron]

Shallow?

I thought the problem with TMNT (like JLU) is too much substance and not enough flash. Naruto has a lot of substance but also a lot of flash. For the life of me I still don't know why 6 year olds watch LYOKO though. As there's pretty much no "flash" there either.

Maybe they like Code Lyoko's theme song. Hey, maybe that's why they don't like Ninja Turtles. It has a pretty dull theme song. Or maybe they find Michaelangelo as annoying as I do. Or maybe its just the basic concept. I mean, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is kind of a silly name. I mean, most serious cartoons out there don't really have such goofy titles.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

What and Code LYOKO isn't a silly name? Dragonball Z isn't a silly name?

The name isn't the problem at all. Kids dug the old TMNT and the name hasn't changed. I think it's that it relies too much on continuity despite being episodic. So a kid tuning in mid season would be waaaay lost.

[Freedom Fighter]

Hearing 'Lyoko' mentioned was a big surprise, despite how much I like it. Honestly, I probably would've though of several other shows that kids might mention before 'Lyoko.' Hearing 'Spongebob,' 'Kim Possible,' 'Naruto,' and 'Avatar' does fit the norm if you look at the Nielsen ratings, though, so I'd still classify this group of 2nd graders as your typical sample.

I was surprised there weren't more Nick shows mentioned... and it seems this group also likes action-comedy hybrids, which explains why those types of shows become more abundant in recent years.

I'm relieved that they didn't mention any horrible shows they shouldn't be watching, though (and no, I'm not gonna point any fingers).

I think the kids might've been laughing at you more because they probably think you're too old to be watching cartoons (like practically everyone here). Still, I'm in firm belief that 'Ninja Turtles' is just too dark and too continuity-based for kids to follow on a regular basis. I mean kids are just like adults... they use TV as a place to get away from the real world, and the easiest way to do that is to laugh at jokes, not watching two people try to kill each other.

In actuality, if Michaelangelo and the show in general were much funnier, the show might've been a bigger hit with kids. But I guess there's nothing wrong in keeping a show around that seems to resonate more with teens and adults than young children, even if it's geared towards the latter.

[Mandi-chan]

I kinda get why some kids may not dig the new TMNT toon, it's just like I was with Gargoyles when I was a kid. I didn't watch it because I couldn't get into it because of the dark serious story. I wanted either mindless crap to entertain me or anything that would make me laugh. To be honest, I (an extremely loyal fan of the new toon) probably wouldn't have liked the new TMNT toon back when I was a kid. It would have gone over my head too much.

When I was a kid, I didn't appreciate and enjoy the things like I do now. I didn't look for good quality shows until I was older. Gargoyles appeals to me now, enough that I'm willing to buy the full season and watch it even though I never saw much of the show to begin with. It appeals to me; kinda dark, serious, and mature stuff. Just like the new TMNT toon.

[PowerZord]

I did a small survey with a 7-Yr old girl neighbor. She came in while I was watching the South park episode: "Free Willyzx" She loved it even though she doesn't understand the english language, she kept asking for more episodes.

I showed her Three Power rangers episodes: (Wormhole, Zapped, The green dream)

"Wormhole" and "Zapped" are from PRSPD
"The green dream" MMPR Season 2.

She liked Wormhole, and MMPR S2.(even though I explained her that MMPRS2 is from 1993)

There are some kids who enjoy the same stuff we do. Oh and she also loves the simpsons

[Neo Yi]

Interesting. There's a lot of shows that kids love that I never expected them to. Hey, you can't argue with kids who love Avator.:D

And I still don't get why Spongebob is so popular.
~Neo

[Anthonynotes]

Interesting. There's a lot of shows that kids love that I never expected them to. Hey, you can't argue with kids who love Avator.:D

And I still don't get why Spongebob is so popular.
~Neo

Maybe since SpongeBob's sort of a "throwback" in style to older (pre-80's) cartoons' style---a lot of slapstick humor, sight gags, characters that aren't children or superheroes, characters that are anthropomorphized animals (vs. humans), etc.? :-)

Might explain his popularity among some adults (who aren't fans of the Power Rangers, TMNT, or shows about human-kids-going-to-school aside from "South Park"), anyway...

-B.

[Yash]

It's good to see that kids are digging Naruto and Avatar, at least.

Interesting.

[Master Moron]

What and Code LYOKO isn't a silly name? Dragonball Z isn't a silly name?


How on earth is Code Lyoko a silly name? It just sounds like a code that someone inputs into a computer, which is exactly what it is. And Dragonball Z?!? Are you kidding me? Dragonball Z is one of the coolest names I've ever heard. I think part of the reason for its success is because it has such a cool sounding name. You hear the name Dragonball Z and even if you've never seen the show it creates cool images in your head. The word dragon is inherently cool, why do you think they use the word dragon on so many movies and videogames and stuff? The word turtle isn't inherently cool, though. And the letter Z always makes things sound cool.



The name isn't the problem at all. Kids dug the old TMNT and the name hasn't changed. I think it's that it relies too much on continuity despite being episodic. So a kid tuning in mid season would be waaaay lost.

That was then, this is now. If you look at the cartoons you had a whole bunch of action cartoons with a bunch of anthropomorphic animals. You had the Swat Kats, the Street Sharks, the Cowboys of Moo Mesa, etc. But, if you look at most actions cartoons nowadays, they don't tend to have too many anthropomorphic animals. Of course, there aren't really that many action shows period nowadays. Cut, if you look at the successful action cartoons lately, Justice League, Teen Titans, Avatar, Naruto, none of them have anthropomorphic animals. Well, the DC shows have talking gorillas, but that's it. I think in the 80s anthropomorphic animals were a little more acceptable in action shows than they are now. Of course, there's Loonatics, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last.

[judyindisguise]

How on earth is Code Lyoko a silly name? It just sounds like a code that someone inputs into a computer, which is exactly what it is. And Dragonball Z?!? Are you kidding me? Dragonball Z is one of the coolest names I've ever heard. I think part of the reason for its success is because it has such a cool sounding name. You hear the name Dragonball Z and even if you've never seen the show it creates cool images in your head. The word dragon is inherently cool, why do you think they use the word dragon on so many movies and videogames and stuff? The word turtle isn't inherently cool, though. And the letter Z always makes things sound cool.



That was then, this is now. If you look at the cartoons you had a whole bunch of action cartoons with a bunch of anthropomorphic animals. You had the Swat Kats, the Street Sharks, the Cowboys of Moo Mesa, etc. But, if you look at most actions cartoons nowadays, they don't tend to have too many anthropomorphic animals. Of course, there aren't really that many action shows period nowadays. Cut, if you look at the successful action cartoons lately, Justice League, Teen Titans, Avatar, Naruto, none of them have anthropomorphic animals. Well, the DC shows have talking gorillas, but that's it. I think in the 80s anthropomorphic animals were a little more acceptable in action shows than they are now. Of course, there's Loonatics, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last.Personally, I think there are too many toon shows with humans in them now. I'd like a few good shows with anthro-animals in them, as long as they not designed by the staff of "Camp Lazlo" :ack: . Ugly! What's interesting is that most of the animated feature films star anthro-animals and the more recent of such films have been big hits, like "Madagascar" and "Chicken Little". I don't think people will ever get tired of talking animals as long as they're well done. (Speaking of talking animals, did anyone here besides me see the "Narnia" film over the weekend? Did it not ROCK? It did! I'm seeing it again THIS weekend).