John K on the "Death of Form"

Animator John Kricfalusi wrote an excellent essay about the decline in the design quality of children's toys and everything else.

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Here is a toy of Simon the chipmunk from the 1960s cartoon series [Top]. It is a well made toy. It has a solid recognizable form and the details are fairly cute and tasteful. It is a nice happy thing to give a kid (or a grown up nerd like me). Whoever made the toy liked kids and was kind to them by making something cute and fun. The sculptor did what was once obvious to people — make things well and make them with a purpose in mind — in this case — make a cute toy because kids like cute toys. Logic and common sense — foreign concepts today.

Here's a version of supposedly the same character from the 1980s [Bottom]. What's the difference? No form. No taste. Ugly, sloppy and wrinkly. Whoever makes modern toys for kids doesn't understand the concept of toys and cartoon characters. They are supposed to be made to make kids happy. That means cute and appealing and with a distinct shape and form. In order to be appealing, you have to have form and design. It doesn't seem to exist anymore.

The bastards that make shit like this must hate kids. Either that or they are just plain retarded.

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