# Campus Cartoon Characters Caldwell Tanner Illustrates Nostalgic '90s Toons as Undergrads By Jason Soy | Published 2011-08-19 | Pop Culture Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/caldwell-tanner References: [blog.thaeger](http://blog.thaeger.com/2011/08/17/cartoon-university/) & [loldwell](http://loldwell.com/) These Caldwell Tanner illustrations of cartoon characters in university totally nail each toon's persona if they were to actually attend college. The [pizza-loving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/tmnt-pizza-seasoning) would totally be the overweight dorm dwellers of college residences. And it comes as no surprise that [Bart Simpson](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/the-simpsons-x-family-mart) would be selling substances to other kids in university libraries. Caldwell Tanner's brand of [humorous illustrations](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/titos-spokescart) has been featured on many websites such as CollegeHumor and its easy to see why from this collection of images. My favorite of the bunch is the group of Japanese anime characters chugging beers during a club meeting. **Implications** - Consumers enjoy seeing cartoon characters re-contextualized in unexpected situations because it offers viewers a euphoric humorous experience. Corporations may consider using humor in their media and promotional campaigns as consumer demand for funny material is always high. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 6.9/10 - Popularity: 99% | Activity: 100% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 70% men, 30% women - Primary generations: Gen Z, Millennial - Top markets: North America, Europe ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Pop Culture](https://www.trendhunter.com/popculture) > [Media](https://www.trendhunter.com/media) ## Key Themes ### Why This Trend Is Growing - **Re-contextualized Cartoon Characters:** The popularity of illustrations depicting cartoon characters in unexpected situations presents opportunities for disruptive innovation in marketing and content creation. - **Humorous Media and Promotional Campaigns:** Consumer demand for funny material creates opportunities for businesses to incorporate humor into their marketing strategies and engage with their target audience. - **Nostalgia-driven Content:** Creating content that taps into nostalgic feelings by featuring popular '90s cartoon characters attending college can be a disruptive innovation opportunity for entertainment and media companies. ### Industries Being Reshaped - **Entertainment:** The re-contextualization of cartoon characters in humorous illustrations can lead to disruptive innovation opportunities in the entertainment industry, such as creating new forms of animated content that appeal to both children and adults. - **Marketing:** Using humor in media and promotional campaigns can be a disruptive innovation opportunity for the marketing industry as it helps businesses stand out and connect with their target audience in a memorable way. - **Content Creation:** Leveraging nostalgia-driven content featuring popular '90s cartoon characters attending college can be a disruptive innovation opportunity for content creators and platforms looking to attract and engage a specific audience demographic. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Cartoon-Themed Cereals](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/kelpo.md) - [Adult Animated Series](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/animated-comedy.md) - [Encouraging Cartoon Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/redraw-your-world.md) - [Revived Retro Animations](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/stranger-things-animated-series.md) - [90s Cartoon-Themed Supplements](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ghost-x-tmnt-products.md) - [Cartoon Trivia Games](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/cartoon-quiz.md) - [Retro Cartoon Back-to-school Capsules](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/unisex-styles.md) - [Cartoon Mashup Qsr Meals](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/hello-kitty-tmnt.md) - [Nostalgic Cartoon Tech Accessories](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/power-puff-girls-collection.md)