Enough of That Cartoons are Strictly for Kids

I see that there's quite a bit of All Adult Animation Is South Park going on in this thread.

I could name plenty of "mature" animated films. Mary And Max, Chico And Rita, Waltz With Bashir, most of Ralph Bakshi 's work. Heck, even Fantasia is more geard towards adults than kids (my experience with kids and Fantasia is that most kids find it boring, while adults I have watched it with find it amazing.)

I guess why All Adult Animation Is South Park is so prelavaent is because there aren't really any prime time animated shows aimed at adults that aren't comedies. Which have their own ghetto too.

edited 18th Feb '13 1:51:28 PM by PippingFool

I'm having to learn to pay the price

Some of the editors (and I shouldn't take this seriously, sense they bash everything) consider everyone who is at least a fan of one work of animation to be an otaku who constantly cosplays, has no life outside of the living room, and just generally acts like a creepy pedo.

Heck, the first time this perception became widespread was around the late 70's, which further got hyped up by the 80's basically marketing to 9 year olds without putting much effort into the actual show.

The creators of Looney Tunes flat out said they were mostly making the shorts for themselves. Disney was family oriented and Walt essentially chose to market to G ratings, for everyone. That's why no one in public is bothered if you mention how great you thought Toy Story was, but you'll get stares as soon as you say you like Tom and Jerry.

Of course, most old people are more excepting of kid stuff then middle aged guys. If Cracked saw this they would probably make fun of us for making these arguments that are a "waste of time". Despite the fact that they just 'wasted' an hour making a top 6 list.

While I enjoy all those shows listed (especially Robot Chicken), it takes a lot more then an outright dick joke to make something mature. If anything, adding unneeded vulgarity and shock value makes it less mature.

edited 18th Feb '13 2:10:36 PM by T448Eight

The world isn't ready for giant T4 combustion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GbpGiYmBSs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKm9

Hey, Robot Chicken does more than dick jokes. You'd be surprised how varied the humor is. One moment it's shocking violence, the next it's something surprisingly intellectual like the giraffe in the quicksand.

Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great

To be honest, I think Daria is the most mature "Adult" show on that list. Since I'm rather partial to Daria, I don't mind.

I'm having to learn to pay the price

Adventure Time is a great example of a pretty mature animation. People might not see this, but there are a lot of layers of depth that should have been obvious to anyone.

Signatures are for lamers.

Can't argue with that.

The world isn't ready for giant T4 combustion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GbpGiYmBSs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKm9

That's just an easy target to aim at. Besides, there seem to be a few animation fans on the staff anyway. Otherwise, I doubt they'd have so many articles about the 7 Most Bizarre Things You Didn't Notice in Cartoons That Aren't Photoshopped.

But everyone loves Tom and Jerry!

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

The All Adult Animation Is South Park thing is largely because for whatever reason, the only cartoons it's okay for adults to like are generally vulgar comedies. The few attempts at prime time or adult animation in American tended to not go over too well ratings-wise. I know Spawn got three seasons or so but I'm not sure what the ratings were like.

Of course, some cartoons are produced specifically for toddlers and children. Muppet Babies, for one. Mickeys Playhouse, for another. These are meant to educate and entertain young 'uns, and they do just that. Which is fine.

However, the majority of cartoons from the Golden Age were produced to accompany feature films, and would often be seen by a diverse audience. If the cartoon was too juvenile, the adults would fidget and wander out of the theater, to the distress of the theater owners. The owners, in turn, would tend to shun features from the studio that produced such "lousy" cartoons. Therefore, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Brothers and MGM and Paramount were compelled to keep their cartoon appeal broad-based; the humor and physics could be silly, but the cartoon as a whole had to avoid the puerile. Perhaps this is the reason why Golden age cartoons are so highly regarded: they did so much to appeal to everybody.

Lastly, there are the mature features that really aren't meant for minors, such as Bakshi's Fire And Ice or Nepenthe's Watership Down. Animation is a medium to tell a story. Any story, even the grim-dark ones.

I've no shame for being a cartoon fan. Hooray for Hanna-Barbera! Whoopie for Warner Brothers! And I know I'm not alone: one day, some years ago, I brought a portable DVD player with me to the bus stop. It had the Tom And Jerry Spotlight Collection disc in it. I pressed play ... and within five minutes, I had my own entourage.

I forgot The Plague Dogs and Felidae.

Watership Down, however, is the biggest case of What Do You Mean, It's for Kids? that I have ever seen. The book was written for older children/younger teens and the movie was aimed at older children/younger teens. It's just such as dark tale with the wild rabbits acting how they do in real life that gives it the YOU KNOW, FOR KIDS! attitude.

edited 19th Feb '13 2:56:17 PM by PippingFool

I'm having to learn to pay the price

You forgot The Flintstones. A lot of people forgot that that was a prime-time show for adults.

Not nearly enough!

Wait, really? That was the "Family Guy" for back then?

my drawing blog ya'll UPDATES 10 TIMES A MONTH WOW, THIS IS STRAIGHT UP MUH SOGGY KNEE

Oh come now, it was better than that.

But anyway, considering how much of an influence The Flintstones was on Family Guy, I think you can do the math.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

"The Simpsons" for back then?

my drawing blog ya'll UPDATES 10 TIMES A MONTH WOW, THIS IS STRAIGHT UP MUH SOGGY KNEE

The Simpsons was in its own category back then. I still think it is.

The world isn't ready for giant T4 combustion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GbpGiYmBSs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKm9

Same thing, The Flintstones influenced that too.

Basically, any family-based animated sitcom probably was influenced by The Flintstones in some way, since it was the Ur-Example if not Trope Maker for the genre.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.