By Kiev Lintz
A cartoon picture can portray anything from something funny, all the way to something starkingly serious. The way the picture is drawn and colored can great affect the feel that is given off, much like with any other artistic form. While cartoons have long been thought to be an immature art form, the fact is that it is maturing all of the time. New styles are always coming up, as well as subject matter. The kiddy cartoons of years past are being replaced with more mature and artfully drawn mediums.Not many would have given a cartoon picture even a second glance a few decades ago. There were not many out that were especially visually appealing as the medium was rather new, and the technology available at the time didn't lend any help to cartoon artists. Around the mid 1990's Japanese animation started to really boom in the United States, which brought a whole new level of awareness of cartoons in general.
Before the Japanese animation boom, American animation had been crude at best. Japanese animation at the time was leagues above what was being made in other parts of the world. The lines were generally very crisp, colors were very vivid, and the art style was distinctly unique. This boom gave way to a whole new wave of cartoon fans, and opened the doors to a whole new way to draw and perceive any cartoon picture.
While animation and cartoon styles in general were going through their maturing in the 1990's, computer animation and design was also growing. Using computers, cartoon artists could draw, tweak, and color their work easily without a need for ink or extensive linework. This helped with animation as well, as each frame could be drawn and dealth with on the computer, eliminating the need to individually draw and scan each individual frame. This not only made it much easier to animate, but also made it less expensive and take far less time. Features that would have taken several months or a couple of years before were suddenly finished in a few months or weeks. It was quite a big jump.Today's cartoon stills, comics, and full-motion cartoon films are much easier to make and are more visually stunning than ever before. This is because of many reasons, though the main two are the Japanese animation influence as well as the maturing of graphic design technology. These two factors have changed the face of cartoons and animation forever.
The differences between cartoons 20 years ago and those today can make it difficult for anyone to go back and look at a cartoon picture from the past. At this rate, cartooning is looking to be one of the bigger entertainment and art mediums of this century.