Televised cartoons have a history dating back to the 1920s and at that time there were barely any dialog between the characters in the episode. The cartoons were similar to Steamboat Willie, starring Mickey Mouse which were mainly action filled and in black and white. As time progressed cartoons increased in dialog and in color. The dialog between characters were kid friendly and tread lightly on certain topics such as first loves. There was no abusive language or topics that made parents feel uncomfortable. …show more content…
Cartoons are still colorful, entertaining, and a great past time for children but at what cost. When you compare the language of cartoons from early times it is extremely different. The words used are chosen to make the target audience laugh, but with many cartoons who is their target audience is it kids or adults. Words like "shut up" and "stupid" are light compared to certain cartoon shows. There are cartoon episodes that censor or "bleep" curse words out, for example let's take SpongeBob SquarePants, in an episode called Sailor Mouth the topic was about bad words and Patrick and SpongeBob, characters on the show, learned the bad words and began to use them. The 'bad words' were bleeped out each time they used a curse word, but if you go back to before the 90's no cartoon episode would dare use such language in a cartoon. The violence in cartoons is still present in today, but different in aspects of severity. They now show guns and knives and characters using them in a threatening manner. We can still say cartoons are entertaining for both children and adults, but parents are finding that cartoons are, not how they once were. Cartoon are now rated from general audience to parental guidance. The episode of SpongeBob SquarePants with the cursing was rated "G" which means most parents would find this program suitable for all ages. A quick lesson to the children about using bad words and how to use