Forum - View topicNEWS: Cartoon Network Head Stu Snyder to Step Down
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2093 |
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Hopefully the new head of Cartoon Network won't still be living in the 1910's:
http://io9.com/paul-dini-superhero-cartoon-execs-dont-want-largely-f-1483758317 Like forget the live-action garbage and other grievances I've heard. THIS goes beyond mere annoying behavior and is just downright sexist and offensive. I feel sorry for all the talented animators and writers of quality cartoon shows that have been canceled or altered because their boss(es) fully reinforces gender roles and this boss(es) apparently hate the idea of their ratings go up due to multiple demographics enjoying said shows and would rather have shows with low ratings just so they can sell toys to ONE demographic because they believe that only boys have the capacity to find enjoyment in an action figure. Sadly, this outdated thinking and reinforcement of gender roles isn't limited to just there. One time at my second job at a toy store, a boy asked his dad if he could look at the Monster High dolls. The father literally said, "what is wrong with you?" Such a cruel statement to a boy who had not said anything wrong in the slightest. I so wanted to criticize the man but knew doing so could endanger my job and I doubt such a guy would be open-minded to anything I have to say. This isn't 100 years ago, folks, so stop clinging to ancient times already. |
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PurpleWarrior13
 Posts: 2027 |
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^ I'm a guy, and I have no shame in the fact that I loved collecting and playing with Barbie dolls when I was about 4 years old (my favorite was my Ariel mermaid doll). My parents and relatives didn't seem to mind (including my dad, who personally wrapped my Sleeping Beauty Barbie for Christmas himself). It wasn't until I started Kindergarden and was teased about it that I started feeling bad about it. There's no shame in a boy playing with Barbies and no shame in a girl playing with action figures (which I also had when I was a bit older). Why can't kids just like what they like? I find the whole "cartoons and action figures are for boys" thing to be incredibly sexist. It's why Wonder Woman has yet to get her own movie, and why cartoons almost always seem to have a male protagonist.
Anyway, I won't expect any revolutionary changes, at least for now, but this is certainly a step in the right direction. I actually stopped watching Cartoon Network regularly almost 10 years ago, but still kept up and slowly lost even more interest over time. Maybe I grew out of it? Eh, I can still watch the old Cartoon Cartoons for enjoyment, not so much with the stuff on today. The only shows they have that I don't mind are Ben 10, Tom and Jerry, and Looney Tunes (no, not the new show). I don't like Adventure Time, but I can understand why the show has fans, and I don't hate Teen Titans Go, but I don't think it's nearly as good as the original series. Cartoon Network has hated action series for a long time now. Even Beware the Batman is in serious hot water (hasn't premiered a new episode since November, and has missed it's planned half-season premiere). Not even the goddamn Batman is safe. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14790 |
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Which is ironic since that's what doomed Toonami - it became too boy-centric (that was the reason for Miguzi, to try to balance things out a little). (Then again, they don't really sell toy figures off Toonami since they didn't own the merch license, so all they got off it were ratings and ad fees.) But yeah, targeting just one demographic is kinda like focusing solely on otaku since they're the ones who buy BDs - it makes things stale out. Last edited by enurtsol on Fri Mar 07, 2014 2:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2093 |
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Warner Bros.' "argument that "she's hard to make work" is so hilarious and stupid for three reasons: A) writers (save a few stinkers) have been making her work for decades, in fact many, including myself, consider the current run to be one of the best of DC's current titles (the main Batman book by Scott Snyder and Earth-2 are the only two I rank even higher currently) B) Zack Snyder is being pushed as the head of the cinematic DC universe they're trying to create, and we all know Snyder has NEVER done any sort of movie involving Greek mythology, swords, shields, etc. so clearly he would have no idea what to do with Wonder Woman. Oh wait, 300 was the movie that made him a somewhat big name...... C) There already was a great Wonder Woman movie back in 2009. A direct-to-DVD/BR animated movie that had only a little over an hour to tell the entire origin and battle with Ares (whereas a Hollywood movie would have at least 1.5 hours, usually 2) and it worked out just fine. And I just laugh at anyone who tries to say any variation of the costume can't work. Superherohype even reported on a WW porn movie that actually had a great outfit based off the classic design, so don't tell me "rolling in that Harry Potter money" Warner Bros. can't afford to make something work that a porn budget of all things managed to pull off. To stay somewhat on topic, it is funny that both Spectacular Spider-man and Green Lantern TAS (both series that were canceled before finishing) are getting full-series Blu-Ray sets coming out within the next month or so. I guess the people who make the DVD/BR decisions have a better understanding of the various audiences (which include adults who definitely want BR series sets) these shows reach then these executives. |
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electricpatriot
Posts: 81 |
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Wow. That's really idiotic. |
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TheGameNinja
 Posts: 92 Location: Alabama |
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Finally! This guy was responsible for CNreal, strangling Toonami into 2 hours and refusing to license shows for it before pulling it, The pre- and post-CNreal live action stuff, basically everything that was wrong with the network since the guy before him stepped down. It's finally been getting better and I have no doubt that since apparently one of the main reasons for this is him not getting on with the Sales and Distribution guy that cancelling shows like Green Lantern because girls were watching was a huge factor. Good riddance.
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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And besides, some brave soul on YouTube already figured out what a gray, ponderous, slo-mo, CGI-painted 300-worshipping Zack Snyder WW a la Legendary Pictures would look like, and, er....yeesh. Now I remember why I hated Man of Steel. All I ask is that Cartoon Network keep their minds on DC Animation once in a while without those little demons from '00-'04 whispering "Aquaman...Wonder Twins...They're laughing at youuu..." in their ear, and making them feel they have suddenly turn every show into some overstylized "retro" and/or camp-kitsch twist just to sell the heroes, like Teen Titans Go or Batman: Brave & Bold. Warner/DC started developing a cripplingly neurotic self-image problem after they started believing their own Superfriends smears. |
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Beatdigga
 Posts: 4401 Location: New York |
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Brave and the Bold was awesome though. TT Go, less so.
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4450 |
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Very interesting. Whether true or not, every decision that CN has made that I disagreed with has been attributed to Stu Snyder, so maybe this will be a chance for something to change. Then again, a lot of what I would consider missteps seem to have derived from concepts that run deep within network television, so I won't expect to be seeing a massive shift.
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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To be fair, Superfriends was horrendous and deserved all the mocking that it got (and then some). The Cartoon Network commercials that spoofed the Wonder Twins were pretty funny back in the day.
The man who put live action on Cartoon Network shouldn't be allowed to resign gracefully but should have been hauled out in cuffs as that was a criminal offense. |
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EricJ2
Posts: 4016 |
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BACK IN THE DAY. Although in DC Animation's later Justice League series--which went out of its way to singlehandedly try and repair three years of damage its own network had done to the company and the brand image--they did a story arc on Project Cadmus, a secret covert government agency that was creating its own heroes to fight the "threat" of the JL. And (in the TV canon), who were those heroes, a teen group named the Ultimen? A size-changing Native, two shape-changing alien twins, a black electrical-powered hero, and a wind-powered Asian... (And let's not get into how many JL episodes tried to resurrect the Legion of Doom.) Ask most DC writers, a few will tell you they became DC fans growing up on the "Challenge" series. (Okay, it was the one without the Twins.) Any stoned 70's-reffing fool slacker can deconstruct, that's the easy part. |
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Mister Ryan Andrews
 Posts: 219 |
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Gonna play some devil advocate here, but just because it's 'sexist' doesn't make it wrong. The article doctordoom85 linked to has the head writers admitting girls buy different toys than boys so selling them action figures wouldn't work. They'd got to sell them other merchandise or something like body pillows or whatever  That's what anime does when a shounen show is popular with women. Western shows need to expand into pandering to other demographics more. Oh, this show is popular with adults? Give em some adult collectors stuff like anime does. A figure of Korra you can take her clothes off? Yeah, sure, why not? Oh, Nickelodeon, nevermind, that's why not, right. Or maybe there's not enough adults to justify marketing to them to begin with. Who knows? It kind of sucks, though, to see shows popular with the 'wrong' demographic get axed because the head honchos are too lazy to market it to them.
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electricpatriot
Posts: 81 |
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The sad part is that these bigwigs can't be bothered to acknowledge or respect secondary demographics. What they should do is get people with better eyes for business. Find the guys that can think about the varying demographics and market to these people, like you said. But, unfortunately, all the "businessmen" are too stupid and asinine to put forth the effort. |
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Levitz9
 Posts: 1022 Location: Puerto Rico |
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That would probably because secondary demographics aren't worth pursuing--or that doing so misses the point. Look at GaoGaiGar: a kid's television show based around transforming robots. It did terribly with kids, and adult otaku ate it up. When they tried shifting the show to reflect those more "adult" tastes (i.e., fanservice and violence in the GGG OVAs), the series didn't do as well. Who'da thought: people liked GaoGaiGar as a kid's show, not as something "for them". This whole "secondary demographics" thing comes off as older fans going "I watch this show, focus on ME!". I don't buy into it. A show's marketing should be changed because these other people watch a show in addition to the (sizeable) main demographic. Even if it's a case like GGG or Young Justice, that kind of thing misses the point, I think. |
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Polycell
 Posts: 4623 |
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There's a difference between changing the show and merchandising. Instead of trying to profit off the demographics the shows bring in, the execs are flat-out refusing to market to certain groups and demanding shows be changed to avoid attracting them. That is a huge problem that needs to be resolved.
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