History Main / TheKidsAreAmerican

Of course, this trope tends to appear more due to practical reasons - the vast majority of UsefulNotes/{{Hollywood}}'s movies are filmed in California, and there are a number of laws involving child actors all around the world. Finding a kid who lives in or near UsefulNotes/LosAngeles just makes the situation a lot less complicated. And due to Hollywood's gravity, this effect bleeds into animation and video games as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': Both Jackie and Uncle have been living in America for years, but retain noticeable Chinese accents. Jade is fresh out of Hong Kong but sounds like she grew up in Los Angeles.

[[folder:{{Film}} - Animated]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', ''every single member'' of the parents' generation speaks with a Scottish accent. ''Every single member'' of Hiccup's speaks with an American one. WordOfGod is that this was intentional to make the younger generation more relatable to the western (read: American) audience, and to underscore the divide between the traditionalist adults and the modern, progressive youth.

[[folder:{{Film}} - Live Action]]

* Similary inverted in ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'', in which all the adults have American accents, but flashbacks of the Red and Gold Rangers have them as kids with New Zealand accents.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': Both Jackie and Uncle have been living in America for years, but retain noticeable Chinese accents. Jade is fresh out of Hong Kong, but sounds like she grew up in Los Angeles.

** Averted with the humans, however, where both the children and the adults in that case all have British accents.

* Inverted with ChildProdigy Dexter from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', who speaks with a vague Eastern European accent despite being 100% American like his parents. Likely a reference to the show's creator being a Russian immigrant to America as well as the fact that Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union produced a large number of renowned scientists.

TruthInTelevision: With the pervasiveness of American media and the Internet, kids who grew up watching [=YouTube=] and Netflix will likely speak with American accents, especially if the child is less than 12 when their speech patterns aren't fully set. Even afterwards, a few people can adapt their accents, arriving in the US as late as 18 or 20 and managing to learn to speak English with flawless American accents.

* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/DorothyMeetsOzmaOfOz''. Dorothy, Aunt Em, and Uncle Henry all have American accents, but Dorothy is the only one without a midwestern accent.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', ''every single member'' of the parents' generation speaks with a Scottish accent. ''Every single member'' of Hiccup's speaks with an American one.
** WordOfGod is that this was intentional to make the younger generation more relatable to the western (read: American) audience, and to underscore the divide between the traditionalist adults and the modern, progressive youth.

* ''Disney/RobinHood'': Most of the adults have British accents, but all the kids have American ones.

* In ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', Geppetto (Christian Rub) has a foreign accent but Pinocchio (Dickie Jones) has a Midwestern American accent. Then again, Pinocchio was brought to life by a fairy of no terrestrial nationality.
* Disney has also inverted this trope, however. In ''Disney/PeterPan'', the Darling kids (with the exception of Michael) are practically the only characters with British accents. The same is true with Alice in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland'', though to a lesser extent. Some Wonderland characters sound English, but the most prominent ones sound American. (Incidentally, Alice and Wendy were voiced by the same British child actress, Kathryn Beaumont.)
* In ''Disney/TheAristocats'', Duchess sounds Eastern European (voice actress Eva Gabor was Hungarian), while the kittens Toulouse and Berlioz sound American and Marie has a Mid-Atlantic/British accent, despite being natives of Paris, France.
* Simba in ''Disney/TheLionKing'', in sharp contrast to his parents (although [[Creator/JamesEarlJones Mufasa]] has more of a "Mid-Atlantic" accent than a non-American one, and Sarabi's accent wobbles between American and Madge Sinclair's native Jamaican). Scar, his uncle, however, sounds [[EvilBrit British]].
* The titular ''Disney/{{Moana}}'' is voiced by American Auli'i Cravalho, while many of the adults are played by actors from Australia or New Zealand. However, all of the lead actors are of Pacific Islander descent. It's not that noticeable since she speaks with a Hawaiian Pidgin accent as opposed to the Midwestern/Californian accent these teenage characters tend to have.
* In ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'', the enchanted objects uniformly have British or French accents (the story is set in France). The only exception is Chip, who speaks with an American accent despite his mother, Mrs. Potts, having the quintessential English matron's voice, Creator/AngelaLansbury. The live-action remake amended this.

[[folder:{{Film}} (Animated)]]

* In ''Disney/TheAristocats'', Duchess sounds Eastern European (voice actress Eva Gabor was Hungarian), while the kittens Toulouse and Berlioz sound American and Marie with has a mid-atlanic/British accent, despite being natives of Paris, France.

* The titular ''Disney/{{Moana}}'' is voiced by American Auli'i Cravalho, while many of the adults are played by actors from Australia or New Zealand. However, all of the lead actors are of Pacific Islander descent. It's not that noticeable since she speaks Hawaiian Pidgin accent as opposed to the Midwestern/Californian accent these child characters tend to have.

[[folder:{{Film}} (Live Action)]]

* A variant in ‘’Series/ShortlandStreet’’: The [=McKay=] parents are both Australian, but their teenage kids (who immigrated with them) are Kiwi.

* Intentionally done in ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''. The elderly Hudson has a thick Scottish Accent while the rest of the clan range from American Accents to neutral. This was done to highlight the generational differences and acceptances each had of the modern world. As the series progressed, more Clans living in Modern Times would be discovered (Specifically the English, Japanese, and Guatemalan clans) spoke in region appropriate accents. An explanation of the Avalon Clan (who all grew up with Scottish or English accented characters yet still spoke with an American accent) was never given.

** Averted with the humans however, where both the children and the adults in that case all have British accents.

* On ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', Lu and Og sound American compared to the adults' British accents. Subverted with Mike, who ''is'' American (specifically, New York).
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Star and her parents are from AnotherDimension. However, while they both have British accents (Though they are [[FakeBrit played by American actors]]), Star's accent is American. Other people from Mewni have American accents, so it ''could'' be justified by Star's family being royalty, but that would still leave Star's accent unexplained.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Issac Sumdac has a Hindi accent, but his daughter Sari, has a American one.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Stewie inverts this. His family speaks with accents one might find from Rhode Island, while he speaks with something of a British accent (it's there but its subtle), playing into the EvilBrit trope he was from earlier seasons. In a segment from the second ''Viewer Mail'' episode, he plays this straight, where he speaks with an exaggerated Texan accent, while the rest of the family speaks with a British accent. In "Send in Stewie, Please", it is revealed [[spoiler:that Stewie had been faking his accent all along. When his therapist suggests that he speak in his normal voice and be like everyone else, Stewie reverts back to his British accent, since he does not want to be like everyone else.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Stewie inverts this. His family speaks with accents one might find from Rhode Island, while he speaks with something of a British accent (it's there but its subtle), playing into the EvilBrit trope he was from earlier seasons. In a segment from the second ''Viewer Mail'' episode, he plays this straight, where he speaks with an exaggerated Texan accent, while the rest of the family speaks with a British accent.

* Disney has also inverted this trope, however. In ''Disney/PeterPan'', the Darling kids are practically the only characters with British accents. The same is true with Alice in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland'', though to a lesser extent. Some Wonderland characters sound English, but the most prominent ones sound American. (Incidentally, Alice and Wendy were voiced by the same British child actress, Kathryn Beaumont.)

* In ''VideoGame/{{Skyrim}}'', the majority of adult {{N|onPlayerCharacter}}PCs are Nords, and possess varying degrees of Scandinavian accents. All of the children in the game are also Nords, but not a single one speaks with any accent other than American.

* On ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', Lu and Og sound American compared to the adults' British accents. Subverted with Mike, who ''is'' American.

TruthInTelevision: With the pervasiveness of American media and the Internet, kids who grew up watching YouTube and Netflix will likely speak with American accents, especially if the child is less than 12 when their speech patterns aren't fully set. Even afterwards, a few people can adapt their accents, arriving in the US as late as 18 or 20 and managing to learn to speak English with flawless American accents.

This actually has a fairly logical explanation. The vast majority of UsefulNotes/{{Hollywood}}'s movies are filmed in California, and there are a number of laws involving child actors all around the world. Finding a kid who lives in or near UsefulNotes/LosAngeles just makes the situation a lot less complicated. And due to Hollywood's gravity, this effect bleeds into animation and video games as well.

This is often a subtrope of UnexplainedAccent and AccentsArentHereditary.

TruthInTelevision if the family has immigrated to the States; children's speech patterns aren't fully set until age 12 or so, anyone younger than that can learn a new language without an accent and/or pick up the local accent within a language with sufficient immersion. Even afterwards, a few lucky people can adapt their accents; some people have arrived in the US as late as 18 or 20 and managed to learn to speak English with flawless American accents.

This actually has a fairly logical explanation. The vast majority of UsefulNotes/{{Hollywood}}'s movies are filmed in [[CaptainObvious California]], and there are a number of laws involving child actors all around the world. Finding a kid who lives in or near UsefulNotes/LosAngeles just makes the situation a lot less complicated. And due to Hollywood's gravity, this effect bleeds into animation and video games as well.

* The titular ''Disney/{{Moana}}'' is voiced by American Auli'i Cravalho, while many of the adults are played by actors from Australia or New Zealand. However, all of the lead actors are of Pacific Islander descent.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' : Issac Sumdac has a Hindi accent, but his daughter Sari, has a general American one.

This actually has a fairly logical explanation. The vast majority of UsefulNotes/{{Hollywood}}'s movies are filmed in [[CaptainObvious California]], and there are a number of laws involving child actors all around the world. Finding a kid who lives in or near UsefulNotes/LosAngeles just makes the situation a lot less complicated. And due to Hollywood's gravity, this effect bleeds into animation and video games as well. This is often a subtrope of UnexplainedAccent and AccentsArentHereditary.

This actually has a fairly logical explanation. The vast majority of UsefulNotes/{{Hollywood}}'s movies are filmed in [[CaptainObvious California]], and there are a number of laws involving child actors all around the world. Finding a kid who lives in or near UsefulNotes/LosAngeles just makes the situation a lot less complicated. And due to Hollywood's gravity, this effect bleeds into animation and video games as well.

* The titular ''Disney/{{Moana}}'' sounds American [[OohMeAccentsSlipping most of the time.]]

* The titular ''Disney/Moana'' sounds American [[OohMeAccentsSlipping most of the time.]]

* The titular ''WesternAnimation/Moana'' sounds American [[OohMeAccentsSlipping most of the time.]]