Decline.... of Animation?

Like the Decline of Gaming

http://superflashbros.net/2009/02/22/decline-of-video-gaming/

We are having a Decline..... in ANIMATION!

First off, this is similar to what the nostalgia critic pointed out in his video of "Why do we love stupid?"
I want to push this a little further to better understand it.
I don't have a lot of examples to literally point or give out, so I'm trying to stick with what I do know.

TEEN TITANS GO!
The biggest one I want to point out is Teen Titans Go. A cartoon that is directed at preteens and teenagers. The cartoon is so random and disorganized, it seems like the current director for the show is picking topics at random, picking 1-5 of the titans, and putting them into a mixer with their writers to see what it flushes out.

The show has no straight-line story for the characters to follow and there really isn't a recurring villain to give them any issues or any arc where they tackle the villain. You get the H.I.V.E. time to time, but it doesn't exactly work for story nor any character development. A few of the romance scenes seem forced and nothing is permanently adapted nor do they choose to learn from any past experiences.
There's probably a lot more I'm missing, but I'm giving minor examples. Anyone else can fill in the empty spaces if they prefer.

Star vs. The Forces of Evil
This show I've seen online several times. They've established a main villian, Star's purpose to stay on earth, side kick and so on. It's very, unexpectedly random, though it seems to work in favor to keep a story moving. It's the choices made to develop the stories I'm picking at next. The whole birthday party episode where Star decides to attend a party, they get on a bus and their main villian, Ludo attacks. The objective being to drive the entire bus through a portal to capture Star; a plan that can fail in more numerous ways than one. It doesn't even show how Ludo figured out there was a party going on to even devise a plan.

Though I guess I'm nit picking, it seems the random and the unexpected is what this purely rides on.

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It feels like cartoons are following a default to purely rely on randomness and the unexpected to keep hold of the audiences attention and they continue to dumb down this aspect for cheap laughs, becoming lazy and no longer relying on smart writing. The stories have a jumbled feeling to where it's not straight forward.

There is a demographic I can understand who continue to watch it like such; though it feels...stupid.
Anyone else have anything to add to this list and point out a problem?

maybe it's because you're watching a show dedicated to 8 to 13 year olds

I think Steven Universe and Gravity Falls are the only two televised Animated TV shows that doesn't suck

I've been catching up on a lot of cartoons lately. I'd disagree about there being a decline. Shows like the above mentioned Gravity Falls and Steven Universe, while aimed at a young audience, don't dumb down their content to the level of a toddler and anyone can watch them and at least feel like they're got coherent stories and characters.

I strongly disagree. I think there are many shows out right now that I would have really enjoyed in my younger days cause hell, I enjoy them now lol.

To name a few: Steven Universe, Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball, Gravity Falls. Regular Show can be pretty decent too, from what I've seen. Considering all of this is airing right now, I think there is a pretty good lineup going for kids these days.

pretty much all the shows already mentioned, steven universe, gravity falls, adventure time, regular show, they're all quite good and even i watch and enjoy them. teen titans go is like... almost entirely a gimmick show, is it even meant to be good lol?

also the thread title is misleading as fuck i thought there was some article detailing why animation was facing an actual decline xD

Well, I think you need to stop watching children's entertainment if you're frustrated on shows like Teen Titans Go.

Yeah I have to agree, since they're generally aimed at kids it's understandable why sometimes they go a little on the sillier side. Plus there's a difference between dumb and whimsical. Just because things aren't a hundred percent realistic doesn't mean it's dumb - it just depends on the nature of the show. And also there are plenty of shows that balance these things well like as mentioned Gravity Falls and Steven Universe. Also, (kinda surprised no one mentioned this) Avatar the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. I don't think animated shows are declining so much as they're catering to their audience and that maybe the dumber shows just seem to stand out more.