What has happened to cartoons?

[FS]

Most of us grew up with some of the best cartoon series ever made: Transformers, GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, TMNT, Thundercats, Captain Pla- uhm, etc. These were quality shows, renewing and consistent most of the time. It may just be that I've gotten older, but when I see some cartoons nowadays I feel like they've all gone down the shitter.

Ever since Power Rangers (or possibly before that), cartoons have gotten all kinds of negative Japanimation influences and are starting to all follow the same pattern. I mean, a character can't even fire a gun anymore without jumping 500 feet into the air while screaming the gun's name. I was going to make a joke here about how I don't jump into the air shouting "RIGHT FIST" during a fight, but today I was watching the latest incarnation of Transformers (with the Autobots and Predacons, a couple of Manga-ish humans, and Optimus Prime with a weird round head), and an Autobot actually jumped into the air saying "SHOULDER DASH!" before throwing himself against a Predacon - without use of thrusters or something similar, I might add. It's becoming really ridiculous.

Next to that, cartoon-producing companies seem to be saving a shitload of money by recycling material. Cartoons might have a sequence where the characters transform, apply armor or weapons, or call upon vehicles or robots (which may also transform, or connect), and these scenes are made into a huge deal which takes up half the episode, and then are re-used in every episode. This is particularly popular in the shows where the heroes are color-coordinated, each have their own weapon, animal and element, and together make supermegasomething - every episode.

And villains. Even the old classics had their share of goofy and useless bad guys, but nowadays there's always one guy who's actually smart and evil, and all of his minions are useless and stupid, constantly messing up and performing slapstick action. The only reason they're not all destroyed in the first episode is because they flee as soon as the odds are turning in a battle, and the heroes are too kind-hearted to make an effort at permanently putting them down. At least in the old Transformers cartoon, they actually tried to kill each other.

It seems like even the producers know their shows are constantly repeating the same shit over and over again, because every few episodes, they need to introduce a new element. Usually this is an upgrade of one or more of the characters, with new abilities and weapons. Other times it's a new characters with a personality you could have seen coming from a mile away.

The storylines are nothing worth watching anymore. There's the kid who's on the trail of his long lost father, the heroes who're trying to find a way home, the protectors of Earth who have to defend the planet from destruction or domination every single episode.

And that's not even mentioning the flood of Pokemon-influenced shows. They're not even trying to hide the fact that they want kids to buy their stuff anymore - characters in cartoons now actually use the trading cards as weapons. What's the name of that show where everyone fights using dreidels? Jewish Cyber Death Warriors?