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animation How do you feel about the incessant need to add pop culture in cartoon movies


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If you know what I'm talking about I'm talking about how cartoon movies like Madagascar or Shrek. How they have to keep plugging in references to social media, reality shows and all that stuff.

 

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It can be cool when done right and scarce. But when pop culture is the only form of humor, it gets bad and cringy.

 

Also it's good when it's only pop culture. When people add memes to movies, it's often outdated.

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Ugh, those references were one reason why I didn't like the Angry Birds movie. It got to the point where it began to sacrifice actual plot for pop culture humor. I couldn't resist the urge to facepalm at most of the references (at least the ones that I actually understood).

 

Thank goodness Disney usually stays away from that kind of thing, and even then when they do reference pop culture it's for the good of the story... like the superhero and gaming references in The Incredibles and Wreck-it Ralph, respectively.

 

As for that Shrek video there... the humor in the Shrek films was good until it started excessively spoofing things other than fairy tales. Then it went downhill in my eyes because the references just didn't fit the already-established universe.

Edited by Prospekt
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There are a lot of Pop Culture Jokes i dont even get, so most of the time...i dont know when its a Pop Culture Joke anyway.

 

Sometimes they can be funny if i get them, but in Family Guy for example, i almost get none of the Actor or Movie Jokes, since i dont know that many People or Movies.

So, even if a Cartoon Movie would have a lot of Pop Culture Jokes, i wouldnt even notice it that much, since i dont know many things.

So, it doesnt bother me.

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   Pop culture references in cartoons is nothing new, go back and watch Popeye, Disney shorts, Looney Tunes, and Tom and Jerry, they tend to many have popular references, because the animators liked the same things their audience does too. Overtime, animated films did the same thing, to connect with their audience, and to express their freedom, by showing the audience the writers are human too, I see it as a time capsule, a moment captured in animation, to remind the audience what was popular in the past, and to show the future audience what their parents or grandparents enjoyed. Friendship is Magic is a part pop culture, it get referenced in Cartoon Network cartoons, and sitcoms, because there are people out there who enjoys the show, but do not call themselves bronies, pop culture references are harmless, and do not affect the story or plot, it adds to the fun, combining enjoyable things together, a story succeeds by relating to as many people as possible, whether it is our time or the time yet to come.   

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Oh, God, I hate it when writers do that. Granted, if it's done well or cleverly like in "Friendship is Magic", this can come off as being funny, but the way these writers in these animated movies do it just makes the references come off as cringe-inducing. For a good example of what I'm talking about, go watch the season 10 prwmiere of "Fairly OddParents."

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This is risky business. If the joke works well in the context of the film or show, then it works well as a joke absent the context of the pop culture reference, which becomes an added bonus that makes the joke even funnier to people who know it. The best way to do this is to make the reference funny for the same reasons the original was funny.

 

For example, if you don't know FLCL, this picture of Octavia could still be funny because of Octavia rushing towards the camera making an absurd facial expression. If you do know FLCL, you know that the artist does, too, and you have more of a connection with the work because of that mutual respect for the referenced work.

 

If a reference is there for the sake of getting only the latter reaction, and not being a joke independent of the reference, then it's elitist and therefore not entertaining to anyone who doesn't get the reference. Even to those who do get the reference, it's not as good as when the true essence of the original work is captured by a reference.

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Usually it's added to entertain the adults who know the references in kids movies. The references can become intrusive or out of context to the movie's plot and that's when you know they're just filling in time.

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  • 4 years later...

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