hey Plurk, why did the 80s and early 90s take stuff like Robocop and Beetlejuice and make kids cartoons out of it? Were they just thank creatively bankrupt for original kids media?

Why did they make a Beetlejuice Cartoon and then make Beetlejuice be Lydia's wacky friend

When he was the VILLAIN in the movie

because they knew that kids hadn't actually watched the movie, I guess?

except oh wait, it's PG

I mean... I liked the Beetlejuice cartoons

they made cartoons out of like any movie, and 90% of the time, the plot or characters were wildly different than the actual movie

like Jumanji, where the kids would go into the game where Robin Williams' character still lived and then the kids got to leave at the end of the day once they solved the mystery

most kids' cartoons in the deregulated 80s were glorified toy commercials

it was a big step up quality-wise to go from plotlessly shilling dolls and action figures, to episodic plots wringing some extra cash out of a hit movie's brand

took a few more years before it became common to really invest in original cartoon material, and even then, things mostly stayed episodic until the mid-2000s

but yeah, basically if a high-concept movie hit it big in the late 80s and early 90s, if you wanted in on that sweet, sweet merchandising cash, you kiddified it and churned out a Saturday morning cartoon version

then sat back to enjoy the sales figures on lunchboxes and backpacks and action figure sets while you brainstormed for the sequel.

this worked out better for some franchises than others, hence the immortality of Ghostbusters vs. the cult oddity of Beetlejuice