To be honest American animation has never been good. Sure there's a few gems on television but even as a child I always chose Japanese animation over anything else. I thought a lot about this recently and I think its a culture factor that makes this so.

Why don't we have compelling storylines? Why do we over rely on lame jokes to repalce true animation? I can't speak for all japanese animation, but I feel if these things exist in cartoons, anime is the place to find it.

I think American culture doesn't accept animation as an acceptable medium for serious ideas. Partly because its squarely targeted at children.

Or could it be it's just simply expensive to make animation? Is this the reason behind all the live shows that have popped up over the years? Disney anyone?