Main character types

Central characters have somewhat stayed the same over the decades, whereas they
used to be mainly male a lot of main characters in the past 20 years have been
female. There are usually two types of build for a main character, with varying sizes
of height, well-built and skinny but the characteristics that stay the same throughout
are being strong, both mentally and physically, occasionally dim witted and often rely
on their family and/or friends for help who they care for deeply and will do anything
for.
Characters such as Fred Flintstone, Stan Smith, Peter Griffin, Gaston, Mr. Incredible,
Johnny Bravo, Larry the lion, fall into the well-built category and are regarded as
physically strong, while characters such as Finn the human, Bugs Bunny, Mulan,
Anna, Mickey Mouse, Elastigirl, Courage, and Eren Jaeger are seen as physically weak
because theyre skinny but arent although they are more intelligent.

Sophistication and types of humour

Humour has changed to the point where it now caters a lot to the overly sensitive
people that take offence at the slightest thing and believe they have rights because
they take offence and doesnt feature things that are now considered racist and a
stereotype. I think humour is a lot more sophisticated as it has more depth and
meaning. Where older shows relied on violence to get a laugh with little in terms of
actual jokes or depth, compared to modern day standards which frequently highlight
current issues with the occasional joke thrown in.

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Shows such as Family Guy and South Park receive complaints for almost every
episode thats shown due to their parodies, use of profanity, and use of stereotypes.
It is an unfair judgement towards these or any show that feature current events,
because while people are complaining about something that makes reference to 9/11
or religion they will more than happily laugh at anything else like jokes about WWI/II
or the Titanic, which is complete hypocrisy. Although other shows do criticise Family
Guy they generally have the same fan base, myself included.

Family member roles

The family roles have somewhat changed but also partly stayed the same i.e. the
father is the bread winner, and the mother stays at home looking after the house.
There are usually two or three children, with the eldest expected to look out for the
other(s). In non-traditional families, where the family is made up of really close
friends, they often adhere to the same archetype. Teen Titans is an example of such a
family, Robin is the fatherly figure, Starfire is sort of the mother as she looks out for
everyone, Raven is the moody daughter, Cyborg is the jockey eldest, and Beast boy
is the mischievous baby of the family.

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Although the roles have stayed the same, for the most part, the representation
hasnt, female characters are much more heavily developed and given more screen
time than they would have years ago. The Simpsons is a great example of multiple
changes but primarily on how family roles have somewhat changed, Marge isnt just
a stay at home mom shes had her own job and has done bodybuilding and MMA, and
is the head of the house hold and tells everyone what to do. Lisa has developed from
being a female Bart to a really intelligent, sax playing, vegetarian. Bart also changed
from this clichd troublemaker to a decent person that has struggled in school.
Homer has gone from being this oaf a father to a really caring and intelligent
character.

Storylines
Storylines have become a lot more sophisticated especially having more substance
and relevance to modern society instead of just being slapstick comedy. While only a
handful of shows follow a proper narrative as opposed to just having a new random
story each week they are still a lot more detailed, for the most part, than what they
were seventy years ago.

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T.V. shows such as the Dragon Ball franchise and Shingeki no kyojin have a storyline
that continues with each episode mainly because they are based on a manga and
had a story before they were made into a series, whereas shows like Adventure time
and Family Guy will occasionally make reference to previous episodes and have
continuations, shows like Spongebob Squarepants and Bobs Burgers dont really
refer back to previous episodes and both have a new story each episode.

Shows have also become more educational, although shows for babies have become
a lot whinier like Peppa Pig, like the WotWots and the Magic school bus are more
educational than shows from the 50s. When looking back at cartoons from the 90s
they were really not suitable for children. Family guy also receive complaints for
storylines in particular an episode that talked about abortion was condemned
because pro-lifers didnt like it, and an episode was banned on some American
stations because it featured a character that had down-syndrome even though it
didnt make fun of her or the symptom.

Techniques and styles

The techniques and styles in animation that are still used to this day are Anime
(which is just an abbreviation of the word animation in Japanese) CGI, Flash,
traditional, cutout, cel, stop motion, and live action mixed with Flash. Shows like The
Simpsons use cell animation where the cells were once painted have now moved to

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digital colouring. Family Guy was originally traditional hand drawn animation but is
now done on Flash along with most shows. Japanese anime being the only real source
of traditional animation.
Flash, along with 3D CGI, is a much more effective form of creating animations as it
can be done a lot quicker with more intricate and detailed work but costs more. Stop
motion is most often used in childrens shows, advertisements, and comic shows like
Robot Chicken. It is probably the cheapest form of animation to make and is
appealing because of its distinct look and superior displaying of textures.

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