March Madness Cartoon Bracket Final Round Breakdown

This is it, the finale.  Whose cuisine will reign supreme…oh, wait…wrong competition.  We only have the one matchup this week, so I’ll make the argument for Looney Tunes (though I picked the Simpsons to win from the beginning, I have come around to the power of Bugs and Co. in the subsequent weeks) and Nik will plead the case for The Simpsons (who was his favorite to win from the beginning).  I know, their resumes speak for themselves, so very little in terms of an argument is really necessary.  If you are on the fence though…let’s have a debate!

  VS

Looney Tunes (1) vs. The Simpsons (2)

Matt:  There are so many aspects of both cartoons that are similar.  They both are merchandising juggernauts (though I would have to give a slight edge to Looney Tunes based on the fact that there are still people buying Tweety Bird shirts fifty years later – and not just at yard sales) and the longevity of both shows is astounding. 

Looney Tunes is a series that had no fear in a time when fear was a mainstay of living.  Fear of war, fear of the Russians, fear of nuclear Armageddon, these were all commonplace, not to mention fear of being labeled as a communist and finding yourself out of work and out of prospects for the rest of your life.  Looney Tunes didn’t care and they continued to make jokes and poke fun at people that in a more sensitive time may have backfired terribly. 

Oh, The Simpsons does that now?  Looney Tunes did it first. 

           

That’s the main argument that can be made for Looney Tunes over damn near everything, they were there first, and they did it first.  This is the same reason that you will not see Family Guy winning accolades over The Simpsons, or as South Park so eloquently put it: “The Simpsons already did that”.  What they don’t realize is that Looney Tunes did it before them.  A multi-generational cartoon that united both adults and children in its hilarity: check, social satire: check, memorable and lovable characters: check, a simpleton, a curmudgeon and a smartass: check, some of the best “villains” in cartoons: check, slight digs at their own existence (on a network or as a business in general): check. 

While both cartoons hold up relatively well in syndication, Looney Tunes is one of the rare shows with the longevity that it had that actually got better as it went along (not just in terms of animation and character design).  As the writers introduced new characters and got even more comfortable with the characters that they had, they got funnier!  Staleness never creeped in, even when they recycled jokes (wabbit season-duck season) they were able to keep them fresh and hilarious.  This is also a show that had multiple “stories” per episode.  It is widely acknowledged that The Simpsons writers write two stories for every episode (the one that they open with and the one that that eventually turns into) but Looney Tunes was a show based on “shorts” which means that an hour long episode was comprised of eight to ten shorts, which means eight to ten stories.  Stretch that over the life of the cartoon and you are looking at a lot of different stories, many times telling different angles to the same basic plot (hunter and prey) and yet each one has its own voice, and is hilarious in its own right.  That’s the true hallmark of the greatest cartoon of all time.

Nik:  Well said, Matt. Very valid and poignant argument in favor of Looney Tunes. It’s down to a matter of classics/nostalgia vs. a more modern day power house of comedic and cartoon brilliance. Both titles saw very long and successful runs. They enjoyed plenty of off-shoots, such as video games, movies, music, and butt-loads of merch. I can’t even make a for/against argument based on voice acting. Both shows exhibited the powerhouses of their day, really setting an incredibly high precedent for the other cartoons around them.

            What I think it’s going to boil down to is overall societal influence. However, that being said, if we were polling a larger group of the populace, I’d say Simpsons take it, hands down. The way this crowd has been running, though, I’m seeing a favor towards a lot of the old school, a lot of that with which we grew up. I think the Tunes could definitely take this. After all, Looney Tunes was probably one of the first/most influential cartoons that most of us remember experiencing.

            The Simpsons plays to a variety of crowds. I remember watching it as a kid and laughing at plenty of it. And upon watching it now, I’m finding new and different places to laugh. It can play to both the lowest and highest common denominator. It’s no Futurama, my preferred Matt Groening masterwork, with its both subtle and blatant nerdy humor, but it still packs a helluva comedic blow. Like Matt said, it has a great way of providing cultural reference and commentary while still staying true to the absurd stories and characters that were created so long ago. As culture has adapted and evolved, so has the Simpsons, even moreso than Looney Tunes has, in some ways. Looney Tunes has refreshed its image along the way, never becoming completely obsolete, but Simpsons has proven that it can do more than just up its definition and renew its voices (Billy West, my all time favorite, (Red M&M, Cheerios Honey Bee, Phillip J. Fry, and so many, many others) is actually the new voice of Bugs a la Space Jam).

            The Simpsons, very much like Southpark, though not as blatantly thrown in your face, provides a constantly refreshing look at what’s going on in our modern culture, albeit in some pretty bizarre ways, but it’s a bit more topical and in some very loose ways, intellectual than you’ll find in Looney Tunes.

            Now it seems like a point of taste. Do you like the silly frivolities of falling anvils and doping ones opponent with word-play? Or is it more a solid, culturally referenced story that tickles your bones? Both can entertaining, and one can argue that either can be stronger in terms of comedic effectiveness. But, in terms of overall cultural significance and staying-power in our modern times, I think Simpsons has it moreso than Looney Tunes. After all, they’ve been around forever too, at this point, and are still potent in their delivery.

Think of it in terms of respecting ones elders. I love my grandma. She’s got so much experience and knowledge to pass on. I learn from her whenever I see her. But I don’t hang out with her every day. I hang out with my brothers more. Newer versions of my grandma.

…right?

The Cartoon Bracket Final Four Breakdown

Final Four!  This wasn’t too surprising in terms of who advanced, but most of the matchups came down to the end and were a lot closer than expected.  I think that trend will continue as everyone’s favorites from each round go head-to-head.  Let’s take a look at the matchups.

Looney Tunes (1) vs. The Flintstones (1)

Matt:  Both Looney Tunes and The Flintstones were slightly challenged during the last round.  They wound up prevailing, but that puts this round in a little more jeopardy.  I originally thought that Looney Tunes would roll here, and I still think they win, but I’m not nearly as confident now.  I will make the case for Looney Tunes by saying that after watching some of the old cartoons recently, these were edgy before anyone knew what edgy was.  Half of the cartoons, or at least the jokes in the cartoons would not be acceptable today.  They are hilarious, but a little too controversial for this day and age.  This goes for not only the racial jokes that we as a society have grown out of, but also gun-related jokes that would be incredibly out of place in this society.  It’s a time capsule of where we were and where we are now.  To me, The Flintstones (aside from that cigarette commercial) was a lot more vanilla.  This isn’t to say that it was a bad cartoon, as we can attest by their placement in the final four, but it was definitely not as memorable in my eyes as Bugs and friends.  This may have to do with the Bugs Bunny and Tweety show that was popular on Saturday mornings in the early and mid nineties that kept it relevant for our generation.  Watching the episodes with my kids now, it just brings back all of the good memories of that time, while still holding up as solid cartoons today.  That’s a true test of a good cartoon in my opinion.

Nik:  I’m inclined to agree. I think that Looney Tunes has much more to offer, much more appeal to current generations, and our generation even, than Flintstones does. If you have a hankering for Flintstones, you can just watch King of Queens or Honeymooners, or even the Simpsons. Fat dumb guy, wife who puts up with crap, throw some kids in there, a wacky neighbor, some tertiary characters and they all fit the same cookie cutter. Looney Tunes is not so easily pegged down. And because it’s having more of a nostalgic, original feel, I think that it’s got this one.

Matt:  It’s amazing how many shows are just an iteration of the fat guy-hot wife Honeymooners theme.

The Simpsons (2) vs. Animaniacs (5)

Matt:  The Simpsons is the only contender last round that won by a large margin, blowing Transformers away.  I think that they continue that dominance here.  I like the fight that Animaniacs has put up, continuing its run as the “giant killer” but I think that it ends here.  There is no doubt in my mind that The Simpsons has fallen off a bit in the last few years, but it’s hard to keep up the quality over a multi-decade span.  The fact that they are still going, and that at times there are still some very funny moments, at least one per episode, proves to me that it is one of the best cartoons of all time.  Like Looney Tunes, the older episodes, before they were really heavy into the pop-culture, still hold up pretty good.  Sure, the animation is not as crisp back in the late eighties, early nineties, but the way they were written and the significance of the cartoon makes it better than many that just fizzled out after a year or two.  Animaniacs was great, but The Simpsons was transcendent in terms of its cultural importance.  By The Simpsons winning, it would set up a final between the two most multi-generational cartoons of all time. 

Nik:  It is very difficult to add much more to what Matt said. Frankly these two don’t even belong in the same category of cartoon. Simpsons is a multi-generational titan of the animated world. Animaniacs was cool, and is fondly remembered back with Bobby’s World and Tiny Toons, but cannot begin to compare in terms of cultural relevance and over-all staying power. The Simpsons has had a movie, several music albums (Do the Bart Man), thousands of t-shirts, video games and who knows what other crap that has seeped into an everyday way of life. You could ask an 18 year old kid about the Simpsons. You can’t ask them about Animaniacs. While I really dig a ton of the voice work from Animaniacs (Maurice Lamarche, Rob Paulsen, Tress Macneil, to name a few), The Simpsons has also had tons of powerhouse voices as well. So it really seems that there is nothing that Animaniacs has over the Simpsons in terms of strong points. Simpsons it is.

Matt:  Ha!  Do the Bart-Man!