This cartoon is no doubt based on a real incident in which a children's cartoon
broadcast in
Japan had
backgrounds of
inverting primary colors that were flashing around 15-16 times per second (every two
NTSC frames). This
frequency is likely to (and did!)
trigger epileptic seizures in those susceptible. Apparently, some dozens of children did in fact have mild to severe reactions to the broadcast.
My swiss cheese memory has lost the title of the cartoon; however, I know that this happened in the last couple of years, and that it was eventually broadcast in the U.S. with the backgrounds toned down and the frequency changed.
UPDATE: Break has helpfully informed me that was no less than Pokemon the cartoon which was the culprit. :) From his info, the incident occurred on Dec. 16th, 1997, and resulted in 658 people being hospitalized (more than the 'few dozen' I had thought!) with several hundred required extended hospital stays. Ouch!