how do you critique cartoons?

[PeteJ]

since their anatomy is simplified or sometimes looks nonexistent and have cylinders for arms and legs, How do I judge them? just by form?

[JeffX99]

I use a giant wooden mallet I pull out of nowhere.

But really...I mean...do you honestly think there is some methodology or set of criteria for judging cartoons? It's as simple as "That works...pretty funny, has character, appropriate and consistent within itself and it communicates." Might help if you narrowed the field..."cartoons" could be anything from Johnny Hart to Alex Raymond to Gary Larson to Winsor McCay, Jack Davis, Bill Martin...etc.

[jinloes]

Usually, I judge them by overall effectiveness of the style and consistency in their anatomy.

[JeffX99]

[Edit: This reply was in response to posts that have been deleted]

OK...well, I guess there is...and it's as simple as I said..."Does this work?" If it works, yay! If not...well, you don't see the ones that don't work.

[Psychotime]

What Jeff said.

[Star Eater]

To fully understand cartooning, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme and figures of illustration, then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has the objective of the cartoon been rendered and 2) How important is that objective? Question 1 rates the cartoon's perfection; question 2 rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining the cartoon's greatness becomes a relatively simple matter.

If the cartoon's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the cartoon yields the measure of its greatness.

A cartoon by Warner Brothers might score high on the vertical but only average on the horizontal. A Disney epic, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the cartoon to be truly great.

[HunterKiller_]

Shape design plays a big part.

[Kiera]

(2 characterdesigns in the same short, just something to think about)

[Elwell]

The same way you critique anything else: intent and execution.

[MephistoLV]

Study "The Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Then apply your newfound knowledge when viewing cartoons.