I am a child of TV, I pretty much loved it all, and still do---but I am slightly more discriminating these days. I once interrupted my Halloween candy gathering to run home to watch The Monkees. Since it was also a time when you'd send your 4th grader out with her friends and 6th grade sister (to supervise), I went out again after the show was over. After all, they were giving out candy!
I had my fill of the Law and Order franchise a long time ago and I cannot sit through any of the CSI's. Those shows either gross me out, scare me or I get stuck on things like: "Why is the coroner wearing false eyelashes?" "And why does David Caruso speak in that odd, halting manner?" But in summer reruns I have discovered "Castle", a clever over the top show that has been compared to the good years of Moonlighting. It has snappy writing, compelling characters and plots that don't make me fear for the future of humanity. So what does this have to do with anything regarding art, cartooning, or licensing? Well, in a recent episode, Rick Castle's young daughter is conflicted about studying or going to the beach with her friends, and how can she ever resolve this when she grows up? And he said;
"Find work that feels like play."
It took me a few (dozen) years to find work that didn't feel like mind-numbing, soul sucking work but now that I've found work that feels like play I can never go back. OK, I could...but I really hope the bottom doesn't fall out of the cartoon market any time soon. Because frankly, I am no longer qualified for any other work---just ask my former employers!
