ABSTRACT
The early 1990s were hailed by many as the new age of prime time animation. After the success of The Simpsons, new cartoons such as The Ren & Stimpy Show (henceforth Ren & Stimpy) and Duckman seemed to promise that animation had finally conquered prime time. Ultimately many more of these shows perished than thrived, reproducing the short-lived boom that followed the success of The Flintstones in the 1960s. “Prime time animation” thus continues to be a problematic category. Moreover, conventional explanations of the success of those few cartoons which did make it in prime time are unsatisfactory, telling us little about the texts themselves or the way they function(ed) within the industrial apparatus.
