How traffic lights are portrayed on cartoons vs. real life

[traffic light guy]

Ever noticed how on cartoons, traffic lights are never paid attention to detail, they're usually drawn as a single faced signal hanging from a pole. In real life they're much more complicated, with arrows, different types of poles, backplates, etc. I'v never even seen a signal with arrows on tv. But yet, cars look very realistic, down to the brand and model. Anyone else notice how traffic lights look very generic in cartoons.

[jeffandnicole]

I always thought almost nothing in cartoons were portrayed to look like the real thing.

[lepidopteran]

Also, notice how often in cartoons the signals are only 2-section, where the yellow light is AWOL?  (See also The Law of Conservation of Detail on tvtropes.org , time sink warning included)  There also seems to be a lot of Acme-type signals with semaphores and bells, though that might have been the norm when said toons were produced.

Ever notice how the standard drawn symbol (or so it seems) for a traffic signal is a 4-way unit with cutaway visors, even though they are quite rare today?

I think there was a green arrow in the movie "American Graffiti", where someone is cruising at night and is chatting with
another motorist while stopped at a red signal.  He almost runs the light when a green turning arrow comes on but the through movement is still red.  (I might be mixing it up with a different movie.)

[D-Dey65]

Also, notice how often in cartoons the signals are only 2-section, where the yellow light is AWOL?  (See also The Law of Conservation of Detail on tvtropes.org , time sink warning included)  There also seems to be a lot of Acme-type signals with semaphores and bells, though that might have been the norm when said toons were produced.

It was.

Ever notice how the standard drawn symbol (or so it seems) for a traffic signal is a 4-way unit with cutaway visors, even though they are quite rare today?

See the previous reply.