Truly "Adult" Animation

@ ewolf on previous page

Interesting idea but that wouldn't work. Animation is a visual medium, so a kid is still going to watch a cartoon for adults even if they doesn't understand the complexity of the dialogue or story because they're more likely to notice the artstyle.

edited 13th May '17 6:18:25 PM by MagnusForce

Batman The Animated Series. Its an adult cartoon disguised as kids cartoon. For that matter, also its fellow Fox Kids show The Tick given its deconstructive approach on the super hero genre and relatively adult take on its characters (though still comedic).

If we're going to consider Batman, then there's plenty of others like that.

Yeah, if BTAS counts, then Star Wars: The Clone Wars ft. Ahsoka "Helicopter-Decap" Tano definitely does.

As does Young Justice, Gargoyles, maybe even Gravity Falls. I could think of many more.

Most of what was done in the DCAU counts. They addressed some pretty heavy themes.

Well the DCAU basically goes without saying; except maybe Static Shock, to me that's the only one that is actually geared towards kids ironically.

Since someone mentioned two Greg Wiseman shows (Gargoyles and Young Justice), it begs the question as to where Spectacular Spider Man stands? On one hand it's for kids due to the high school setting and the fact that it's a Spider-Man cartoon. On the other hand it often deals with more serious subject matters such as the consequences of keeping secrets, the dangers of addictions, financial difficulties, the complexity of organized crime, death, etc. Counterarguement for the former is that Young Justice is also a super hero show involving teens; while the counter arguement for the latter is that Spider-Man TAS also tackles similar subject matters yet it is still considered a kids show (mostly due to all the ridiculous censorships).

Anyway, a lot of the 2010s CN shows can count for Truly Adult Animation OP is asking for. Specifically Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe and Gumball as all four dwell into subjects that aren't for kids (and not in a Radar Dodging way).

I haven't seen it since it aired, so I don't know about its quality, but there was a non-comedic adult cartoon called Invasion America that briefly aired on The WB sometime in the '90s.

The Dilbert cartoon probably qualifies too. While it did go into a lot of surrealistic comedy areas, it, like the comic it was based off of, was mainly aimed at people in the workplace, and a good chunk of the humor dealt with stuff like that. Even the more "out-there" stuff was done in a more intelligent way, for example, Dilbert's dad literally living in a restaurant because he hadnt had "all he could eat". It's not like he was some fat glutton, he was just going by his own interpretation of "all you can eat".

I remember Invasion:America. It wasn't terrible, and it wasn't great, either. Ended on a big reveal, but didn't get a second season.

I'd expect a number of web-only productions would probably fit this category.

Cartoons/animated stuff get bigger praise for featuring something considered mature like drugs, abuse, death, etc. Of course, I'm assuming that they're done well, but do those elements genuinely make any work of fiction better? And if a cartoon is already good, I'm sure whether it was made for kids or not won't matter. But do those things above make it exceptional?

I'm just asking this to see what other people think.

edited 14th May '17 1:20:05 PM by TheBiggestLoser

Bill Plympton's animation seems to fit for 'mature' adult animation. I remember seeing a film of his called 'Cheating'. It focused the romance of two lovers on how they cheated with each other. It wasn't raunchy, it was artisty.

The answer is, maybe.

The thing is that an all-ages cartoon can't necessarily cover the entirety of the human experience. Which is fine - it's not trying to. But well, stuff, like drugs, abuse, sexuality, etc ARE a part of the human experience that is worth exploring. Not to mention that certain kinds of characters and story sensibilities won't necessarily work or be good for an all-ages story.

Everything is just another tool in the writer's toolkit. It just depends on how you use it, and yes sometimes they can make your story better if you know how to use them.

Samurai Jack Season 5 isn't a raunchy vulgar comedy and is made for older teens and adults. It also has some really dark themes and brutal violence.

I'm really glad for it.

If you want a movie example, try Mary and Max. My all time favorite movie.

Also how is Moral Orel treated as porn?

Yes there's sex but you never see it on screen, and even then it's not meant to titillate you, it's for dramatic purposes

I don't think that comment you are referring to has anything to do related with Moral Oral.

Gonna add to the Bojack Horseman recommendations. And the movie Persepolis.

To explain a bit why Bojack Horseman is so great, and I guess to contextualize this within the larger trends in western animation:

The majority of adult animation, or at least, the face of it and the most popular and visible shows, are all raunchy comedies where The Staus Quo Is God. That's fine for setting up comedic situations and being entertaining, but it falls short of providing sustained drama because real drama needs to have consequences. If things keep getting reset and characters are continuously brought back to where they were when things first started that's pretty much the anathema to good drama. Some shows like The Simpsons were able to work well within those limitations, but they are still limitations.

Bojack Horseman simply allows continuity to exist and for things to keep happening. Occasionally there might be some disappointing lack of payoff or something that was resolved way too easily, but mostly the characters have to suffer for the consequences of their actions, which are sometimes horrible.

While there IS comedy, some of it decently funny, I think the hear of Bojack Horseman is actually its profoundly relatable drama. It uses the freedom of being an adult show to really go the profoundly uncomfortable and depressing places animation for all-ages would rarely venture. It shows the harsh realities that become obvious in adult life; that sometimes it's too much, and people choose to die instead of going on. That hurting profoundly deeply doesn't automatically absolve you when your flaws cause you to hurt the people you care about. That sometimes, you won't be forgiven for the horrible things you do. It questions whether people can really change.

Bojack Horseman himself is probably the most complex and interesting protagonist I've seen in western animation to date, he feels like he has more in common with a main character from a primetime tv drama than most of the characters you're used to seeing in animation. While he is profoundly flawed and often makes stupid, cruel decisions the show does a magnificent job of humanizing him and making you question whether you would have done the same in his place. And that's a really special achievement, to make a character relatable because they are gross, pathetic and cruel.

@Big K 1337 Moral Orel. Can't believe I forgot about that one.

ren and stimpy is a show for older teens and adults but oddly is aired on a kids network lol . im still suprised it got on Nickelodeon in the first place. bob camp confirmed it in a magazine article back in 1992 that it wasnt meant for kids. he said we are not aiming the stuff at little kids although kids do love it so if they were not intending it for little kids why was it on Nickelodeon lol

I'm trying to get into BoJack. I saw the first two episodes, and "BoJack Hates the Troops" really got me thinking.

It gets much better as the show goes on. I think the "wham" moment for me is episode 4 or so.

If you want adult animation, you have to look to Japan. On the movie side there is naturally the work of Satoshi Kun, on the TV side, there are a number of shows which are geared to a slightly older audience than the usual American animated show. Though they do tend to be quite gory.