This new iteration of Saturday morning cartoons was still popular with kids, but becoming increasingly unpopular with parenting groups. The Real Ghostbusters and Rambo: The Force of Freedom brought a marketing triumvirate: movie, cartoon and toy marketability. Pac-Man and Dungeons & Dragons introduced gaming to kids. Joe: A Real American Hero, Care Bears and The Transformers were all created with the mission to sell toys. Up to this point, cartoons were largely original creations, but were now being made to further blur the line between commercial and entertainment, with programs based on toys, video games, and movies. Series based on existing TV shows, like The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, or It's Punky Brewster, were laying the groundwork for the next stage of Saturday mornings: cross-promotional marketing. In 1978, the Federal Trade Commission attempted to ban advertising to children under the age of six, but groups representing toy companies, advertisers and cereal industries struck a deal to add educational and informational content alongside advertisements, bringing about public service announcements like The Bod Squad and One to Grow On alongside educational stalwart Schoolhouse Rock!, which had been playing since 1973.Įntering into the 1980s, Saturday morning cartoons were evolving into something different. Researchers found that kids had difficulty discerning differences between the shows and the ads that ran with them, and were not able to comprehend how manipulative the commercials could be. The latter would prove to be controversial, as parents and educators voiced concerns about the effects of Saturday morning cartoons and the direct marketing associated. One voice actor could play multiple roles, reruns spread out the cost of the initial investment, and the toy and cereal commercials that aired during the shows cajoled the children watching to push their parents into buying the products. TV networks were finding that animation was more profitable than producing live-action shows. RELATED: Genndy Tartakovsky Signs Overall Deal With Cartoon Network and Warner Bros.
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