Innuendos - Why?

Let's face it. When no ones around for us to feel embarrassed by, we like to sit down and watch crappy kids cartoons for the simple reason that they are cheesy, silly and just something to generally be slightly entertained by.

However, those who have children may not find these cartoons as entertaining, and may be more tempted to tell their children that 'Mummy would like to watch Coronation Street now'.


Innuendos are a great way preventing this as these off-side intertextuality keeps adults laughing to themselves quietly whilst their child wonders 'I don't get it?.

When I was kid I remember my mum and dad laughing their heads off at this next scene. I NEVER understood it until I looked it up recently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyNa_NsMR_4

Believe it or not, but these innuendos are in almost every children's show. And the best reason why is to keep ratings high. Did you know: While Animaniacs was popular among younger viewers (the target demographic for Warner Bros.' TV cartoons), adults also responded positively to the show; in 1995, more than one-fifth of the weekday (4 p.m., Monday through Friday) and Saturday morning (8 a.m.) audience viewers were 25 years or older.^[20] The large adult fanbase even led to one of the first Internet-based fandom cultures.^[34] During the show's prime, the Internet newsgroup alt.tv.animaniacs was an active gathering place for fans of the show (most of whom were adults) to post reference guides, fan fiction, and fan-made artwork about Animaniacs

That's a lot of grown ups choosing a kids cartoon show over  'The price is right' or 'Catchphrase'.

 Why? Well here's a clue:

Not only is 'Prince' a well known artist in the 80's, but the term 'Fingerprints' or 'Finger Prince' is also a fairly black humoured joke which may or may not leave those old enough how the writer got away with that...

The next video is full the brim with innuendos and was made as a parody especially for adults who used to watch the show as a kid. 'Rainbow' proved to be insanely popular and this video is just a fun way of showing that the cartoon has 'grown up' with their audience, much like Andy from Toy Story, only with slightly more humour. Again, children COULD watch this have no idea about any of the sexual references whilst still being able to fully enjoy the show.

Toy Story - Director References towards his favourite film.

Lee Unkrich, Director of Toy Story 3 makes references towards his favourite films 'The Shining' in all 3 films. Although these are very small references, those who are typically old enough to have seen the show may find themselves feeling 'special mentioned' for understanding the references. It's almost a way of the director telling the non-children audience that adults too can watch Toy Story and they have their own personal side references, not to mention a few sexual innuendos embedded throughout the films. These are just ways of keeping the 'grown ups' entertained as they watch the film with their children. It immediately attracts attention as they feel 'included' to also watch the film.

The numbers 237 are famously the numbers of the hotel room in the film 'The shining' and can be seen on Andys Laptop

Another nod to The Shining, Sid's garbage truck features a license plate that references Room 237. 

Both are references to room 237, the room Danny is told never to enter.

Both images show a very similar carpet. The left being the Shining and the right being Toy Story. Obviously.

Intertextuality and Easter Eggs in Toy Story

ixar loves to hide Easter eggs in their films, little references to movies and characters from the animation studio’s past and future

the street on which Pixar’s original headquarters were based. The pins on the map in Andy’s room correspond to the hometowns of “Toy Story 3” production staff.

P.U. stands for Pixar University, a professional-development program for Pixar employees.

The Pizza Planet Truck from the first every feature length CGI film 'Toy Story' has appeared in every Pixar film since. This is intertextual and shows a visual timeline of the content improvement of CGI animation whilst using the pizza truck as a symbolic reference to the first film which produced every one of these other fantastic films. Pretty cool, right? 

A113: What started as an inside joke of CalArts alumni (a reference to the classroom number that was used by Animation students, including John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird, Pete Docter) has been present in not only every Pixar film, but Disney movies, Iron Giant, The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, Powerpuffgirls and Tinytoon Adventures. It's almost a way of each post graduate student signalling to each other that them too studied in that room and look at the work they are producing now. I'll admit if I ever get the opportunity i'd do the same writing 'FMM' or 'UoH' for the sake of subliminal references.

The version of Ken used in “Toy Story 3” is modeled after “Animal Lovin’ Ken” from 1988.

The version of Barbie used in “Toy Story 3” is modeled after “Great Shape Barbie” from 1983.

Intertextuality - Easter Eggs.

Intertextuality is recognising the connections of one story to the other. In terms of media a best way of describing intertexuality is simply one film/cartoon/etc. making a reference to something that their target audience may understand.

The simpsons is a great source and is full of intertextuality and references. 

Why? Because it is a family show, and they use many different references for all kinds of people to laugh at.

However

Intertextuality must not be used if it destroys the general point as a whole. The plot must still make sense to those that don't understand the reference and it is simply a little 'easter egg' for those that do.

Easter Eggs in video games:

Easter Eggs are part of a video game which are added bonus's to the player. These are not a fundamental part of the game and can reference anything from prequels of the game to the producers to even things completely unrelated to the game as a whole.

For example, in World of Warcraft, If you get the achievment "Shop Smart Shop Pet...Smart." you will recive a in-game companion skunk named Stinker. If you come across any cats while Stinker is out, he will chase after them with a heart above his head. This is a reference to a Looney Tunes character which many people born before the 90's will understand!

Another is in a  game called 'Runescape', Use any herring with any tree on RuneScape. You will get the message "This is not the mightiest tree in the forest." This is a reference to 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail', where the Knights' Who No Longer Say Ni demand "Find the mightiest tree in the forest and cut it down withA Herring!" 

As you may know, the two are completely unrelated to their references but the joke still stands without destroying the general plot. 

A brief introduction to ...

Denotation refers to the actual/literal meaning of a word, the "dictionary definiton". For example, if one looks up the word 'Dog' in a dictionary, you will discover that one
of its denotative meanings is a literal definition of what a Dog actually is.

Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the associations that are connected to
a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. The
connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings.
The connotations for the word snake could include evil or danger.

Myth is the idea that could accumilate from the image that is being pursued, and is the essential criteria that is needed in order to advertise to its target audience.

'You may live in a house, but we live in a home.'