1990s: Sitcoms and Nicktoons, television in the 90’s
Television in the 1990’s was dominated by a yellow family (The Simpsons), a prince in Bel-Air, and two companies which competed for the best ratings, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. There was a wide variety of choices. For those who wanted a laugh, they could tune in to Seinfeld, The Fresh-Prince of Bel-Air, Home Improvement, or Friends. For those who liked suspense, Twin Peaks was the king of horror. Children entertained themselves with cartoons. In 1991, Nickelodeon released its first animated TV shows such as Rugrats and Ren & Stimpy, and reached its success with SpongeBob in 1999. The series Dallas got cancelled and Steven Spielberg tried his hand at animated series with Animaniacs. Television was also tuned in for Americans during important historical transmissions of the decade, such as the Persian Gulf War and the O.J. Simpson car chase.
Television in the 1990s had the same effect that it had 40 years before, in its introduction: To unite people and families. Whether it was people laughing at Fran Drescher’s ocurrences as The Nanny, or watching their favorite basketball teams in the Olympics, television was powerful and comforting. It served as a window to explore different universes and provide union for friends and families.
1990s: Google, Nokia, and World Wide Web, 90’s inventions
The 1990’s were an age of technological revolutions. The introduction of search engines such as Google offered the chance of searching for every topic online. VHS got discarded in favor of DVD. Nokia released its first cellphones. Children in the decade loved playing with their Tamagotchis or their Furbys. In medicine, doctors discovered the HIV protease inhibitors and Viagra. 1990s also saw the release of the first CGI movie and the start of the computer animation industry. And, in 1996, a scientific breakthrough occured when Dolly the sheep became the first cloned mammal and animal in history.
The world began to take shape as it is today in the 1990s. Technologies as we know them today originated in this decade. Without the 1990s, we wouldn’t have text messaging, Photoshop, or CGI animation.
1990s: Tarantino, the Disney Renaissance and computer animation
The 90’s produced many breakthroughs in cinema history. The start of this decade saw a sequel for The Terminator and the third Back to the Future film. Iconic films such as Jurassic Park and Titanic became the most viewed of the decade. One of the most important protagonist of this decade is Quentin Tarantino. Starting out as a video store clerk at Los Angeles, Tarantino made his directional debut in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino created a new style characterized by the presence of irony and black humor, as well as nonlinear narratives and violent, bloody scenes. But not everything was gore for the 1990’s. During this decade, Disney went through a Renaissance with a long series of features such as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Mulan. The 1990’s also saw the birth of computer animation. In 1995, Pixar made its debut with Toy Story, a tale about friendship and toys which became the first fully-CGI animated movie. CGI animation dominates filmmaking.
In conclusion, without the 1990’s advance in technology, our favorite animated classics will still be stuck in hand-drawn traditional animation.