Best Cartoons In India
The way art and dissemination of art have changed over the last few decades does not only track the evolution of technology but also the way viewers have imbibed and perceived media. From oral storytelling in a rural backdrop to radio to B&W television sets where audio was the king and visuals that actually hit the animation bullseye, it has had its own journey. The way that art speaks to us has reached a crescendo where even counting and listing its various arms would not do justice to the kind of emotion each one delivers to the audience. For the sake of the topic under discussion, we are going to focus on one of the most path-breaking forms of art — animation. From diversifying and choosing the audience to making new innovations in the genre itself, today, the animation is everywhere. Homes, schools, advertisements — anywhere there is a screen, there is animation.
Evolution of animation
Animation is an art form that continuously challenges its creators to push technology so that anything that can be imagined can also be brought to life. Back in the 1960s, apart from Disney animated films, there were a few animators who were ‘trying to make their characters more identifiable, rather than making a beautiful frame where every frame was different.’ The big screen television enabled the cartoons for kids in the 90s to come around with fluid animation and beautiful visuals with rich colors. Dexter’s Laboratory and Batman: The Animated Series were the best ones from these times. There were other creators like Hannah Barbara and Jay Ward who were trying to reach out to a wider audience by appealing to the children and adults with strong storylines and witty wordplays.
Exploring and taking the dynamics a step ahead these kinds of shows gave a definition to their characters by creating organic chemistry and how they connected with one another. Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Toy Story, The Flintstones, The Simpsons are some of the work that has made milestones in the world of animation. There was no turning back after that.
Cartoons and Their Audience
As time progressed and technology kept providing more ways to provide layers and built various themes and subthemes to a single storyline. A child’s mind, assuming that children are the primary target audience of the genre, adapts and learns a lot through watching a cartoon. Learning and exploring this dimension further, creators began to curate keeping their affiliations in mind. What would attract a 12-year olds? What would make a character likable and aspiring? What could be the language of communication and the setting? Who should be the arch nemesis? How should he look? What should be the takeaway? Do the kids watching learn something from watching the show? All these questions hold importance while creating a kids cartoon show.
To create a lasting impact shows began to be curated keeping the social culture in the backdrop. The audience watching cartoon is in the most active zone of their growing period. Their brain registers even the minutest detail that goes a long way in determining their personality and characters, factors they feel for and are ready to stand up for. Hence, it not only becomes a medium of entertainment, but also a channel to shape their future.
Over the years two major channels had dominated the Indian cartoon world on television, however, in the last decade a number of other cartoon channel have also surfaced to create a space not only on prime time television, but also in the hearts of the young viewers. This likeability has obviously been generated by the kind of shows airing on these channels. Some of the most favorite cartoon shows go back years, while some only a few years old gained a mass fan base. Cartoons like Tom and Jerry and Mr. Bean: The Animated Series go way back but still thoroughly captivated our hearts. A number of recent shows have created a spellbinding audience for themselves like Chhota Bheem, Ozzy and the Cockroach, Grizzy and the Lemmings, Mighty Raju, Shin Chan, and Doremon. Pogo has gone on to become of the most loved kids’ cartoon channel, airing some of the above-listed shows.
While we don’t know what the future might bring and where animation as an art form would progress, few cartoons will live on forever, just like Tom and Jerry. The audience would keep going back either to relive the storyline or for the sake of nostalgia, or even for making their kids relive their childhood.
Cartoons are here to stay and evolve, stay glued to Pogo TV.
