Blame the FCC for mandating "educational content", and blame the studios for having "standards and practices" policies that serve to sanitize and enforce "moral lessons."
I don't think that these factors can be blamed for the degradation of today's cartoons. Educational? How many people have already mentioned Schoolhouse Rock? And where is this educational content you speak of? Is it in Kirby's Adventures or the new TMNT? Oh, I know, Ultimate Muscle. And what's wrong with moral lessons? Remember He-Man? At the end of every single episode, Teela would do a narrative summary of what had just happened, and usually presented a very specific moral lesson. So I think that maybe there are other answers that aren't quite so easy.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think that these factors can be blamed for the degradation of today's cartoons. Educational? How many people have already mentioned Schoolhouse Rock? And where is this educational content you speak of? Is it in Kirby's Adventures or the new TMNT? Oh, I know, Ultimate Muscle. And what's wrong with moral lessons? Remember He-Man? At the end of every single episode, Teela would do a narrative summary of what had just happened, and usually presented a very specific moral lesson. So I think that maybe there are other answers that aren't quite so easy.