Prime Time Animation: Television Animation and American Culture

Collection of essays, edited by Carol A. Stabile and Mark Harrison, which critically survey the course of television animation roughly between 'The Flintstones' and 'The Simpsons.' The essays also consider areas such as the relation between earlier made-for-cinema animation (such as the Warner 'Loony Toons') and television-based animation and the relationship between animation and brand image as well as looking at specific programmes and ideas of 'class' and 'taste' within the context of animation. Contents: Introduction: Prime Time Animation - An Overview / Carol A. Stabile and Mark Harrison. Part I: Institutions: 1. "Smarter than the average art form": Animation in the television era / Paul Wells; 2. The great Saturday morning exile: Scheduling cartoons on television's periphery in the 1960s / Jason Mittell; 3. Re-drawing the bottom line / Allen Larson; 4. 'The Flintstones' to 'Futurama': Networks and prime time animation / Wendy Hilton-Morrow and David T. McMahan; 5. Synergy nirvana: Brand equity, television animation and Cartoon Network / Kevin S. Sandler; 6. The digital turn: Animation in the age of information technologies / Alice Crawford; Part II: Readings: 7. Back to the drawing board: The family in animated television comedy / Michael V. Tueth; 8. From Fred and Wilma to Ren and Stimpy: What makes a cartoon "prime time"?; 9. "We hardly watch that rude, crude show": Class and taste in 'The Simpsons' / Diane F. Alters; 10. "Misery chick": Irony, alienation and animation in MTV's 'Daria' / Kathy M. Newman; 11. "What are those little girls made of?": 'The Powderpuff Girls and consumer culture; 12. "Oh my god, they digitized Kenny!": Travels in the 'South Park' Cybercommunity V4.0 / Brian L. Ott;