Why do people think that all animation is for kids?

Or at least, why do people stigmatize others who watch family friendly animations (ie: Powerpuff Girls, Friendship is Magic, Spongebob) as opposed to the "adult" animations (Ie: Family Guy)?

I ask because my friend did call another friend an insult because the second friend likes Disney Channel. And he did kinda laugh when I said "you're talking to the resident animation fan here".

Because most animation, since TV came along, has been made for kids.

Though I don't think people will insult you for admitting you'll watch shows you watched as a kid out of nostalgia. That's just normal.

Ditto.

And as long as a cartoon's at least creative, funny, and appealing I don't care who it's targeted towards :)

edited 25th Jul '14 8:35:26 PM by teddy

Yeah, it's not really that hard of a question to answer.

That's like asking why people think all oldies concerts are for Baby Boomers.

I always believed that animation is an art and it should be aimed at everyone since it's just a different medium to tell a story. A lot of people assume that animation is just for kids because many kids do enjoy animation.

It's just a mindset to be honest... but here's a better question.

Why is most adult animation comedy?

Because those are the only kind of people who really want to make animation for adults, I guess.

Or who can do so while being taken seriously by the mainstream press.

Because I guess the creators think that adults are mainly interested in comedies when it comes to TV shows.

Shows like Doctor Who and Arrow say "hi" to that mentality.

Or it could be success of shows like the Simpsons that made it so that most cartoons aimed at adults is a comedy.

I would like to see more action animations aimed at adults.

We all would. ALL OF US.

@PPB: Doctor Who isn't animated.

Because bright colours and imaginative situations appeal to kids more. Cartoons offer more instant gratification than SERIOUS live action does (on average), and God knows children have shorter attention span than us MATURE ADULTS.

There, I explained the ancient question in one short paragraph. Where is my cookie?

To add to that, we currently live in a culture where it is more acceptable to suffer than to be happy. You will be respected for having no free time because of your 3 kids and 2 jobs, and looked down upon for having enjoyed yourself for 2 hours a day for the past 5 years. Being happy is not respectful, while being miserable sure is. And that is not even my idea; the cult of miserableness was brought up in one of the latest episodes of the Blistered Thumbs podcast.

edited 26th Jul '14 9:58:04 AM by KlarkKentThe3rd

Link please for those who can't find it?

Also, one thing I think ought to be mentioned is the tendency for the cartoons that gain the most popularity among adults to be, well, serious. For example, Batman The Animated Series and Avatar The Last Airbender both hold a 9.0 rating on the IMDB.

I don't think we've had a truly silly cartoon for children gain a noticeable adult following on the Internet since Sponge Bob Square Pants. While Adventure Time, I admit, is surreal and can be silly (this coming from someone who's never really seen it), it also has very serious points to it.

Just thought this ought to be thrown out there.

I was using that as an example of not all shows that are loved by adults are comedies. I was going more meta with TV shows in general with that statement.

edited 26th Jul '14 12:34:28 PM by powerpuffbats

Most adults enjoy classic cartoons almost as much as kids do and they're known to be very silly

True, but then again, I'm only talking about TV animation.

Re: Adventure Time—Eh, I'd guess it wasn't really planned that way and more developed that way through Cerebus Syndrome. If you watch the first season, it's pretty consistently silly and kid-friendly (with slight subtle adult humor).

You could make an argument that it grew in popularity as it underwent Cerebus Syndrome. As far as I remember its first year, it was about as popular as the previous two CN originals, Chowder and Flapjack - which were cult-level hits, but not as big as Adventure Time would eventually be.

Keep in mind, AT got a boost from its pilot being posted on You Tube, so it already had a built-in fanbase upon its premiere. I agree with what you said, though, on how it developed into what it is.

As I said, though, about as popular as Chowder and Flapjack were in their time.

(this forum should have a quote button to reply lol)

Yeah. The only tv cartoon I can think of the adults really liked was The Simpsons. I knew a lot of people whose parents would watch the show every Sunday.

edited 26th Jul '14 8:40:48 PM by teddy

It was an adult-oriented cartoon, though.

@Teddy: Fast Eddie doesn't like quote buttons, so this site is never getting one. Use [[quoteblock]]<text>[[/quoteblock]] to quote someone.

Thanks!

True, but it was one of those few cartoons made for adults that most adults enjoyed (sounds weird lol). A lot of adult animated sitcoms like Family Guy and South Park tend to have fanbases younger than their target audience who really like it. Simpsons was one of those shows that not only appealed to its target audience, but other age groups also.