When I was a kid, you could occasionally see shirtless boys or men in Saturday morning cartoons, but it was rare, primarily on jungle or prehistoric adventure series like The Herculoids. Mostly you had to make do with an open shirt or a spandex superhero uniform, and of course Saturday morning live-action series.Fred from Scooby-Doo seemed to have a nice physique, but not once in 10,000 episodes did he ever take his shirt off.
Times have changed. In Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013), he flexes at poolside.
There's a lot of Japanese anime, like The Legend of Korra and The Daily Lives of High School Boys), but also a lot of Western cartoons, everything from Phineas and Ferb to Johnny Test.
There are even a few oldies, like these golden-haired preppy types (from Beverly Hills Teens and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, respectively).
See also: Saturday Morning Muscle
No I do not,I get the feeling that Bill from curious George may be a shotacon target
ReplyDeleteBill from "Curious George" is a teenager. Diego is a kid, but his shirtless scene is so cartoon-stylized that I doubt he would be of interest to the shotacon crowd.
DeleteBesides shotacon is for anime
DeleteDespite my comment below, ア二メ refers to all animation, if you're speaking Japanese at least.
DeleteEither way, shotacon and lolicon were a big reason Miyazaki said anime was a mistake. (His rant names lolicon in particular.)
Who didn’t have a crush on Fred?! He was the perfect antidote to the lanky, goofy Shaggy!
ReplyDeleteOkay, Avatar isn't anime. It's an American show. Sorry, I had to get that off my chest, pardon the pun.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, a new trope seems to be "gay at the end". Legend of Korra did it. Adventure Time did it, making Bubbline canon in the finale. (Even if they've been in love for over a century. Though I still say Jake is bi, even if it was only for a one-off gag from season 1.)
Speaking of Adventure Time, it did subvert one heterosexist trope:
Finn starts with a crush on Princess Bubblegum. Over time, we learn he has plenty of love interests, most of them princesses or similar. He even has a symbolic "lose his virginity" scene with Lumpy Space Princess. Yeah, he's single in the finale. (And I liked him with Huntress Wizard. Oh well...) And two of his love interests are romantically involved with each other and have been for over a century.
I can think of two "openly gay in the last episode" scenes in children's tv. Craig and Eric, the obviously-dating nerd duo on "Drake and Josh," hold hands in the last episode. Nergal states that he is in love with Irwin in the last episode of "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy."
DeleteIt's obviously a strategy to depict the characters as gay without getting a backlash from the network or horrified parents.
DeleteConan the Adventurer. But then they made him a babysitter and it jumped the shark.
ReplyDeleteAttack of the Killer Tomatoes, saw the sequel. I'm sure it's some reference to them being of the nightshade family. I think I was high when I realized that.
ReplyDeleteThe cartoon was relatively unremarkable. The NES game based on the cartoon has one of those "I had trouble with THAT guy?" bosses.
Part of it was limited animation. Clothing hides accidental anatomical breaks; Hanna-Barbera have their funny animals collars, necklaces, and ties for the same reason. But the 70s gave us Filmation's Tarzan, and the 80s brought the Thud and Blunder fad to media outside of novels and comics. (I know Marvel and Darkhorse had Conan.) Mostly film, but also cartoons.
The neck gear on the old Hanna Barbera characters makes the viewer think that they are clothed, therefore civilized, even if they live in the wilderness (or in zoos or pet stores). Wearing pants would remove their animal nature altogether, making them fully human, like Mickey Mouse.
DeleteAnyone remember Ned Flanders on the Simpsons?
ReplyDelete