I may be 20 years old and an “adult” now, but among the many ways that I have changed since I was a kid, one thing has stayed the same. I don’t play with Barbies anymore, I no longer hate veggies and my taste in music has greatly improved since my Nsync days. What hasn’t changed is my love of cartoons.
Sure, there are cartoons aimed toward people my age. “South Park,” “Family Guy,” and “Futurama” are all great. But these aren’t the only cartoons I’m talking about. When school, homework and other “adult responsibilities” allow it, I enjoy watching cartoons like “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “The Fairly Oddparents,” “Chowder” and “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.”
On a good day, I would consider myself fairly intelligent. I can carry on a sophisticated conversation, and I know what to do in the case of an emergency. I rarely miss a day of school, I take good notes and get good grades. In most ways, I am a mature adult. But I love cartoons, and I’m pretty sure all the maturation in the world wouldn’t change that. My parents always joke that they spend so much money sending me to college, yet I come home to watch kid shows they deem “stupid.” “I see Kelly’s improving her mind, continuing her higher education,” they say as I watch “SpongeBob.” Even I can see the oddity in me studying for a huge biopsychology exam while watching cartoons.
I’ll be the first to admit that I am maybe a little bit older than these shows’ target audience members. They’re made for kids, I get it. But what I like about children’s cartoons is that they don’t rely on vulgarity for humor, and they don’t have to try too hard. These cartoons are pure and simple fun. They might be a little dumb at times, but that doesn’t cheapen my laughter and enjoyment, and it certainly does not negatively affect my intellect.
Up until recently, I stuck with the Nickelodeon cartoons I liked when I was a kid, like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “The Fairly Oddparents.” But my recent discoveries of Cartoon Network’s “Chowder” and “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack” have fully taken my love of cartoons to the next level. “Chowder” is about a kitchen apprentice who always gets into some sort of trouble while trying to help his mentor, Mung. In the kitchen, Chowder and Mung make dishes like “thrice cream,” “sing beans,” and “froggy apple crumble thumpkin.” “Flapjack” is about a kind-hearted boy who was raised by and lives in a whale named Bubbie. Flapjack longs for adventure and follows the jaded pirate Captain K’nuckles, whose cynicism threatens to crush Flapjack’s spirit but never to any avail. Flapjack always learns a lesson from K’nuckles’ pessimism.
The animation in both of these shows is so unique that if the humor itself weren’t enough to catch my interest, I would still watch just to admire their cartooning techniques. The creators of these shows use different textures in their animation, instead of the plain, flat animation most other cartoons use. It’s exciting and new and, for me, impossible to turn off. Kids aren’t the only ones who can appreciate this.
Just because I’m 20, and soon I’ll be living on my own does not mean I’m too old to watch cartoons. My full school schedule stresses me out and watching cartoons like the ones I’ve mentioned reminds me of the simplicity of being a kid. Obviously, I can’t go back in time and be a kid again, but if I can be as simply amused by cartoons as I was as a kid, even if only for 30 minutes, I’m going to take that opportunity and love every second of it.