Cartoons - Stage 5 Comprehension - The 1980s - Comprehension Pack.pdf

STAGE 5 Unit focus: Cartoons Text focus: Information Text The 1980s Animated television series kicked off in the 1960s and remained popular for decades, but the 1980s was a strange time for animated cartoons. The early part of the decade saw lots of popular characters moving from bedrooms to the tel...

STAGE 5 Unit focus: Cartoons Text focus: Information Text The 1980s Animated television series kicked off in the 1960s and remained popular for decades, but the 1980s was a strange time for animated cartoons. The early part of the decade saw lots of popular characters moving from bedrooms to the television, with He-Man, My Little Pony and Transformers all going from being popular toys to popular cartoon shows. These were sometimes criticised for basically being adverts for the toys, and children certainly pestered their parents to go out and buy them. By the middle of the decade, some of the most lasting and iconic cartoons were being produced. A raft of new and exciting animators and filmmakers were just emerging from California, and they turned their hands to cartoons. Many of these have gone on to influence cinema for decades: John Lasseter was responsible for Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Cars; Tim Burton worked with Disney on Tron and Black Cauldron and then gave us A Nightmare Before Christmas and, more recently, Wednesday; Michael Peraza worked on The Little Mermaid and Duck Tales. The list goes on. In 1988, a film called Who Framed Roger Rabbit changed the landscape again. This time, live-action film was mixed with excellent animation to great effect. It was a huge hit, winning several Oscars. It is often credited with reviving people’s interest in animated films at the cinema. There’s no denying that Disney ruled the roost at the cinema, but Don Bluth released two films that competed: An American Tail and The Land Before Time. An American Tail earned more than any other non-Disney animated film at the time. Television cartoons were definitely where the action was as far as children were concerned. The late 1980s and early 1990s were the golden age of weekend cartoons, where children could command the use of the television set and settle down for a few hours of top-quality animation. Many of these cartoons were produced by Hanna-Barbera Studios, but others were made by Disney and Warner Bros. Classics such as Garfield, The Smurfs, ThunderCats, Alvin and The Chipmunks, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all went on to become all resources ©2023 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com successful series, films and most even had computer games. One of the most lasting cartoons began life in 1987. A man named Matt Groening created a short animated sketch for The Tracey Ullman Show. The family of yellow Americans got its own series in 1989, and The Simpsons has been running ever since. It is currently the longest-running animated series. Until the 1980s, all animations were drawn by hand. This was expensive and slow work. Television cartoons needed to be produced as cheaply as possible because they ran every week. By 1989, Disney had created a system that allowed them to draw cartoons on computers, which saved a significant amount of time. This Computer Animation Production System was called CAPS. The first film that used it was The Little Mermaid (1989). By 1990, this new system meant that cartoons were once again as popular as in the early days. VOCABULARY FOCUS 1. Find and copy a phrase from the first paragraph that means “started with a big hurrah”. 2. If something is “iconic”, what does it mean? 3. If a “raft” of new animators was appearing, what does that tell you about how many there were? 4. Find and copy a word from the text that means “bringing back”. 5. Find and copy phrase that tells you how dominant Disney were in the 1980s. S R R I R VIPERS QUESTIONS Why were popular characters “moving from the bedroom to the television”? What was the name of Disney’s new computer animation system? Which film mixed live action and animation? What evidence is there that The Simpsons has been and is still popular? Who created The Simpsons? all resources ©2023 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com