An idea for a book

So, for many years now I've been thinking of writing a book about the Animation Age Ghetto phenomenon, how it came to be, and what can be done about it. There have been so many books written on the subject of animation, and few, if any, of them deal strictly with the subject of animation for adults. Among the topics I was thinking of covering are:

-The factors that led to the Ghetto existing in the first place: Disney's domination of the animated film market, the inadequacy of the MPAA rating system, the proliferation of cheap cartoons for children on TV

-The cultural differences between Japan and the US that make comparisons between "adult" content in anime and western animation faulty.

- The mentality that if an animated work IS for adults, it must be a raunchy gross-out comedy, which has prevented primetime animated dramas from becoming established.

- The work of underground "animation artists" like Zagreb, Mclaren, Lye, and Hubley

- The state of animation today, including children's series with adult fandoms such as Adventure Time, Steven Universe, and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, as well as adult animations like Bo Jack Horse Man and Sausage Party.

Anything you think needs to be in a book like this?

edited 20th Jun '17 5:13:19 PM by ElSquibbonator

I would love to see it. Make it happen!

I would love something, ANYTHING that explored not only that, but ALSO the insane obsession America has with shielding children from anything too "Mature" and "Dark". Like, I know Brickleberry and South Park are DEFINITELY not for children but Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball, while at times gory and dark violent can definitely be seen by children. I really dont get why people try to shield children so much.

Same for anything with gay people in it.

I guess you could talk about the perception that anything 2D animated is G-rated (like for small children), and anything CG is something adults can enjoy or at least something a whole family can enjoy like animation used to be percieved.

The Nostalgia Critic did an editorial on the pg rating that I think is probably related to why that is:

It'll be important to make it clear what kinds of more adult animation has been successful in the West, and why it's been successful. What is it about The Simpsons or Family Guy that requires that they be animated, and what does being animated do for these shows that being in live action would not?

What sources do you think you'll use? There hasn't, to my knowledge, been a book written on this subject, but I know there are lots of articles, both in print and on the Internet.

That's what's been bothering me. As far as I know, I'm the first person to propose something like this. A book like this needs to be written, but no one's ever done it.

edited 22nd Jun '17 8:15:48 AM by ElSquibbonator

Here are a couple more topics you can cover:

• The rise and fall of Action for Children's Television and other grassroots groups, and their relationships with companies and artists.
• Seth MacFarlane's Protection from Editors with post-cancellation Family Guy, and its depictions of violence, gore, sex and innuendo that not even FOX's live-action shows can normally get away with.

edited 22nd Jun '17 9:24:48 PM by Kartoonkid95

This seems like the sort of topic that would require some original research, in the form of interviews with people from the industry.

A good area of study would probably be the point in which film animation began to transition into television animation - which a point where "for kids and only kids" started becoming more and more prominent a direction in the animation industry.

Also, don't make it strictly a dichotomy between America and Japan: with animation being an increasingly worldwide thing, the ghetto or lack thereof has effected a lot of different countries in a lot of different ways over the decades. I would at least include Canada, parts of Europe and parts of South America in there as well.

edited 22nd Jun '17 9:32:02 PM by KnownUnknown

Action for Children's Television? Weren't they the ones who got the Garbage Pail Kids Show banned?

WOW. A stopped clock is right twice a day INDEED!

It was the group that changed practically everything on children's television in the late 60s onward.

Here's a NY Times piece about the death of its founder, Peggy Charren. And incidentally, her uncle was a blacklisted screenwriter who co-wrote Cleopatra.

I'm sure part of the mindset behind the continuation of the Animation Age Ghetto is the persistent charge that television cartoons are simply half-hour commercials for toys. That's an interesting aspect to investigate right there; after Hot Wheels had it's own cartoon show in the 60's, the FCC made it against regulations for a cartoon based on a toyline to even air. This was eventually amended in the late 70's so that a cartoon simply couldn't advertise it's own toys in it's own commercial blocks. The first cartoon to be based on a line of merchandise, after the rule was amended, was, believe it or not, Strawberry Shortcake, followed by (though not necessarily in this order) Pac-Man and "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.'' Might be good for a chapter.

edited 26th Jun '17 3:00:40 PM by Robbery