I've been waiting for a cartoon like Generation O to come along since, well, since I myself was a kid. Ever since the death of Saturday morning with the death of Sonic SatAM, cartoons have fallen into one or more of these categories--drek, Pokemon, and anime. Generation O stands head and shoulders above most, if not all, cartoons and family shows on today and those that were on within the last several years. Considering the dominance of Pokemon and the popularity of said drek toons and anime, it will not be an easy time for Generation O.
Yet consider the stuff that's on right now. Kids WB is littered with repetitive and boring action toons such as Static Shock, MIB, and Batman Beyond, which is nothing at all like the Batman animated series I remember watching. There's also X-Men Evolution, which has none of the edge of the original X-Men. The worst of these action toons is Max Steel, which is nothing but eye candy and has characters so bad it's not even funny. Fox Kids is a barren wasteland, with nothing of value and drek so horrible that it makes Kids WB's drek look like silver. I'm not sure what this Los Luchadores is all about, but it looks terrifyingly stupid. Then you have your copy cat monster cartoons, such as Digimon and the painfully bad Monster Rancher. None of these cartoons have any thought, wit, character or story put into them.
What is Generation O? Combine material from some of the best sitcoms with traditional cartoon sensibilities, some vibrant wit and characters, some surprisingly good animation that puts all to shame and some catchy tunes that will have even some adults snapping their fingers and mix all these together, and you've only come close to describing Generation O. Of course Generation O wouldn't be half so great if it didn't have the valuable life lessons thrown in, which aren't done in the ooey-gooey dopey manner that too many cartoons and family shows use. You won't find generic stuff here. The humor is also clean and top notch, not relying on cheap gags that you see in too many cartoons. The music is also more important, as it is part of the story and not just some side element like in previous cartoons. The songs are being written and performed by Kay Hanley, lead vocalist of the now disbanded group Letters to Cleo. How's that for amazing?
Will Generation O fly high in years to come? We can only hope, as so far, this is the best out there and the most fun I've had with a cartoon in years.
