Broats: A cute short about three anthropomorphic goats who live in a petting zoo created by Jack Cusumano who we interviewed last year. Loved the color palette in this short.
Louis and George: A short about a frog and alligator’s first day of school. LOVED the bgs in this one!
Matt and Gus:Â A short about two kids who want donuts in an grownup’s office. Especially enjoyed the character design.
All three shorts were cute, well designed and staged and they all told stories that made sense which is NOT an easy thing to do in 3 minutes. I particularly enjoyed the backgrounds in Louis and George which stood out for me. Still, I am left feeling that if the creators had been given a full 7 minutes to explore their world every one of these shorts could have been even better.
I wish Networks would realize that trying to cram an idea into three minutes is short-sighted. Give the damn idea time to breathe; especially if you intend to build a brand and make billions on that idea.What’s that old saying? “You have to spend money to make money.” Good advice and saving money shouldn’t be done during the development phase. I mean after all, you can make a show out of Popsicle sticks if the writing is good and the characters are solid, but it takes TIME to make us love them.
In the beginning, Disney and Warner Bros. didn’t make 2 minute shorts to try and quickly make a hit and Hanna Barbera many years later would still not change that model with their shows either.  Granted the seven minutes actually came from the fact that it was the maximum amount of film that could fit on a film spool that set that standard but that seven minutes was actually a good amount of time to sit and watch a story and it became the staple length in cartoons, which still survives to this day more or less.
Most of Cartoon Network’s successes came out of 7 minute shorts which allowed you to explore the world and learn why these characters were awesome. Dexter’s Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, The Regular Show, Adventure Time (granted that one was at Nick initially) and many many many MANY other hits ALL came from that business model. Even Nick had the Oh Yeah shorts program from which Fairly Odd Parents, Chalk Zone, and I believe even Sponge Bob came. Two of these Nick is STILL making new cartoons from. What does that tell you?
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you can’t make a good cartoon in three minutes, I’m just saying you can make a BETTER cartoon in 7.
Let’s give creators time to breathe life into cartoons shall we? I think we’ll all benefit from it!
