History Main / GrowingWithTheAudience

* The prequel to ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', which focuses on Sulley's and Mike's college days, came out when the audience for the original movie were in college.

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' found a new mixture of goofy humor and mature storytelling that they could combine with ContinuityPorn, which came in contrast to the previous Anime/UnicronTrilogy that didn't appeal as much to older fans due to the more simplistic plot, InactionSequence and StockFootage heavy show. After ''Animated'', ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' and its follow-up ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'' would flex back and forth between which demographic it was aiming towards but still kept an eye towards keeping the MultipleDemographicAppeal.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' does this from a meta-perspective throughout the series. The first three (and to a lesser extent four) seasons had each episode end with Twilight or one of the other Mane Six [[GoldenMoment spelling out to the audience the moral learned that episode]] in the form of writing letters to Celestia or writing in their Friendship Journal. By season five, the concept was completely dropped, as the writers felt that any children who had been watching the show for that long would have matured enough to understand the lessons without needing them spoon-fed at the end of each episode. The increased presence of the adult PeripheryDemographic was also a likely factor.

* The ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise rose from humble beginnings as a [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic series]] about a robot defending the world from the jealous Dr. Wily. Then came the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series, which featured far more intense combat and mechanics on top of a more mature protagonist who just wants the fighting to stop, and as that series made the jump to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation, it explored the [[{{DeconReconSwitch}} dark implications while at the same time, solving them on certain cases]] of building an entire line of fully sentient robots. The ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series went even further by exploring the oppression of Reploids and how Zero and Ciel were working towards human-Reploid equality. And while ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' is LighterAndSofter, it still carries much of ''X'' and ''Zero''[='=]s mature themes.

* ''Anime/PrettyCure'': ''Anime/KibouNoChikaraOtonaPrettyCure23'' is a sequel to ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' featuring the once preteen protagonists of that show (and of its immediate predecessor ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'') as adults, releasing 15 years after the current adult audience watched the original shows as toddlers.

* This is the purpose of Thomas Vaccaro's [[WebVideo/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries rewrite of Seasons 5 and 6]] of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub''. He made the rewrite series with the intention of keeping to the more mature, complex tone of the series' first 3 canon seasons, which was abandoned in Season 4 and onward in favor of making a LighterAndSofter show in an attempt to appeal more to children. For one thing, the rewrite keeps the titular heroes as adults rather than rewriting them as teens. It also deals with a greater amount of adult themes than the canon series, including LGBT relationships, racism and discrimination, AbusiveParents, loss of one's culture, and miscarriage. [[YMMV/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries Some viewers have actually questioned whether or not the rewrite goes]] ''[[YMMV/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries too]]'' [[YMMV/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries far in the mature direction,]] as ''Winx Club'' was originally created as a kids' show.

* This is the purpose of Thomas Vaccaro's [[WebVideo/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries rewrite of Season 6]] of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub''. He made the rewrite series with the intention of keeping to the more mature, complex tone of the series' first 3 canon seasons, which was abandoned in Season 4 and onward in favor of making a LighterAndSofter show in an attempt to appeal more to children. For one thing, the rewrite keeps the titular heroes as adults rather than rewriting them as teens. It also deals with a greater amount of adult themes than the canon series, including LGBT relationships, racism and discrimination, AbusiveParents, loss of one's culture, and miscarriage. [[YMMV/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries Some viewers have actually questioned whether or not the rewrite goes]] ''[[YMMV/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries too]]'' [[YMMV/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries far in the mature direction,]] as ''Winx Club'' was originally created as a kids' show.

* This is the purpose of Thomas Vaccaro's [[WebVideo/UnicornOfWarWinxClubRewriteSeries rewrite of Season 6]] of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub''. He made the rewrite series with the intention of keeping to the more mature, complex tone of the series' first 3 canon seasons, which was abandoned in Season 4 and onward in favor of making a LighterAndSofter show in an attempt to appeal more to children. For one thing, the rewrite keeps the titular heroes as adults rather than having them be rewriting them as teens. It also deals with a greater amount of adult themes than the canon series, including LGBT relationships, racism and discrimination, AbusiveParents, loss of one's culture, and miscarriage.

* While ''Franchise/DragonBall'' has always been a children's franchise in Japan, its English localization has grown with the audience (although that doesn't stop the franchise having a broad MultipleDemographicAppeal, however). This is due to Japan and America having [[ValuesDissonance very different ideas about what is and isn't appropriate for children in media]] and Funimation's localization attitude changing drastically a few years after Dragon Ball was launched. Originally, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Funimation heavily re-versioned the series to reflect western animation of the time]] and follow strict syndication rules. When syndication ended, the show was edited to be more KinderAndCleaner (what's more ironic for Funimation's English Dubbing standards is their Dub of Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (owned by one of Shuiesha's biggest competitors, Kodansha) is even more KinderAndCleaner than the rest of their dubs) and family-friendly on TV and VHS, but was uncut on DVD. The uncut release (with blood, violence and mild swearing) is now the only version of the series available. ''[[Anime/DragonBallZKai Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters]]'' and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' now both premiered on Creator/AdultSwim, with no family-friendly version (at least in the United States until Toonami in Asia became defunct) for now.
* ''Anime/KibouNoChikaraOtonaPrettyCure23'' is a sequel to ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' featuring the once preteen protagonists of that show (and of its immediate predecessor ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'') as adults, releasing 15 years after the current adult audience watched the original shows as toddlers.
* While the original ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' anime was broadcast in a general audience timeslot in Japan (Mondays at 7 p.m.) with the primary target of preteens, ''Inuyasha: The Final Act'' aired in the OtakuOClock timeslot and is aimed at finally giving a manga-based conclusion to those original preteen fans.
* When the first ''Anime/{{SailorMoon}}'' anime got a ContinuityReboot called ''Sailor Moon Crystal'' (what's more ironic is like the first anime, it's more LighterAndSofter than the Manga), the series had cases of this.

* The prequel to ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', which focuses on Sulley's and Mike's college days, came out when the audience for the original movie were in college.

* The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series has become increasingly more mature and complex as it goes on, as have other JRPG franchises such as Nintendo's ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' and ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', SEGA's ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' and Bandai-Namco's ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''. While Square-Enix's ''Final Fantasy''-related RPG series ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is LighterAndSofter compared to its inspiration, it has been taking this route as well, to the point that the themes became more understandable to the now-grown-up players who played them back in their younger years.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' does this from a meta-perspective throughout the series. The first three (and to a lesser extent four) seasons had each episode end with Twilight or one of the other Mane Six [[GoldenMoment spelling out to the audience the moral learned that episode]] in the form of writing letters to Celestia or writing in their Friendship Journal. By season five, the concept was completely dropped, as the writers felt that any children who had been watching the show for that long would have matured enough to understand the lessons without needing them spoon-fed at the end of each episode. The increased presence of the adult PeripheryDemographic was also a likely factor.

* The ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'' fluctuates with this process, with different shows taking a different approach to things. That said, the movies did tend to be more adult than normal, especially ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker''. ''WebAnimation/LoboWebseries'' is the only installment to get a TV-MA rating. Years after the franchise concluded, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' was released that including more overt swearing, sexual situations and ToiletHumor, which came to a more mixed response.

* The first four seasons of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' (which originally aired from 2001 to 2004), while generally more ambitious in style and serious in tone than other shows from Creator/CartoonNetwork at the time, were still rated TV-Y7. The fifth season, made 16 years later, is rated TV-PG and TV-14 for a good reason, dealing with BloodierAndGorier levels of violence and DarkerAndEdgier themes (such as the main character contemplating [[DespairEventHorizon the possibility of suicide]]).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' fits this trope because when it first aired it was a children's show that focused on the exploits of toddlers. However when the show passed the ten-year mark, it was revamped into ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'', aging the protagonists to the status of pre-teens to appeal to the aging original audience of Rugrats.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' with respect to ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. This example is a bit more literal than most. If a 12-year-old kid watched ''A:TLA'' when it was first broadcast in 2005, they would start the first series at the same age as its kid protagonist, and finish ''LOK'' in 2014 at the same age as ''its'' 21-year-old adult protagonist.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. Whereas its first season was full of one-off comedic adventure stories, by its final season over eight years later, episodes would showcase [[ContinuityLockOut heavy continuity]], regularly tackle mature themes, and be seeped in metaphor and existentialist ideas as main character Finn matured from a child into a young adult while the older supporting cast also began to receive more focus. Both its [[SequelSeries sequel miniseries]], ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeDistantLands Distant Lands]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeFionnaAndCake Fionna and Cake]]'', would continue on this track, with the latter (which premiered thirteen years after the start of the franchise) being explicitly targeted at a young adult audience.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' did this for its "classic" continuity, at least narratively, as it followed and expanding on the same plotlines and characters for nine years. In terms of tone, however, only ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' can be said to be DarkerAndEdgier than the original series. Diminishing popularity overseas would result in that continuity's final entry being DenserAndWackier to better appeal to its target demographic, before the [[ContinuityReboot series was rebooted entirely]].

* Toys/{{BIONICLE}}, in its original run, went whole-hog with this, especially in the later years. It featured shades of CosmicHorrorStory, named characters dying, and thoughts of nihilism and hopelessness. The series even had the guile to have an ending where [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins, if only temporarily]]. The intent seemed to be to make stories more mature as the audience inevitably got mature.
* At times compared to many {{Toku}} series, ''Franchise/KamenRider'' has many cases of this.

* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' video games have taken on more mature subjects in their storylines over the years as their original audience has now grown to adulthood. Later games deal with themes like whether or not capturing Pokemon counts as animal abuse, AbusiveParents, world overpopulation, alternate dimensions, broken families, over-worked employees, and more. The later villains are also far greater in threat and [[VileVillainSaccharineShow vileness]] than [[TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily Team Rocket]] from the earlier games. On another front, the games have slowly begun acknowledging the TournamentPlay scene in-universe, to cater to the younger players who got into competitive battling as they grew up. Later games add AntiFrustrationFeatures aimed specifically at competitive players.
* Nintendo's ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' trilogy (despite being a QuirkyWork and as well as looking more like a Peanuts comic strip than other JRPG games) had cases of this, especially with the GrandFinale of the entire trilogy, ''VideoGame/Mother3''. While the first two games were rather standard {{Eastern RPG}}s in an UrbanFantasy setting, the final game deals with themes such as the loss of family members and the corrupting nature of capitalism.

* The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series has many cases of this as well, like the ''Zelda'' series does along with other JRPG franchises such as Nintendo's ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' and ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', SEGA's ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' and Bandai-Namco's ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''. The same can be said with Square-Enix's fellow RPG series, ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' (while the Kingdom Hearts is slightly LighterAndSofter at times than one of it's two big inspirations, it had been going to the Growing with the Audience route as well), to the point that as Players who grew up playing the Games of the franchise, the themes became more understandable to the grown-up Gamers (especially with Teenagers and Young Adults who are in their High School, College and University years in addition to including the [[EstrogenBrigade fangirls of the JRPG franchises]]) who played them back in their Younger years.
* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series has [[CyclicTrope cycled through this]].
** The games' stories started out in a typical cartoony video game setting with the protagonist fighting Eggman and his army of robots. Then came ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', a DarkerAndEdgier installment with pointedly more mature themes than any previous game in the series, with much of the CharacterDevelopment of the cast being themed around not relying on others and becoming more independent. ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' took this even further, dealing with themes such as a corrupt military murdering innocent scientists and weapons of mass destruction.
** When ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' took this to ludicrous extents and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' was slammed for its overly convoluted plot among other things, a growing backlash towards this trend forced Sega to go back and aim for a younger audience again, especially with ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and beyond by going LighterAndSofter and undoing much of the character growth experienced in the previous games.
** After the lighter direction would receive a backlash itself, Creator/SonicTeam went for a second attempt at this. First came ''VideoGame/SonicForces'', which earned a very mixed reaction due to audiences feeling it failed to commit to its promise as a return to a darker story. This would lead to ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'', which committed harder to a mature direction by taking on a more contemplative, melancholy atmosphere compared to previous games and reinstated much of the CharacterDevelopment from the ''Adventure'' games.

* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' had an irreverent air about itself. It leaned heavily into BlackComedy and while it doesn't go outright into [[InsaneEqualsViolent "all mentally ill people are dangerous psychos"]] territory, some of the portrayal of mentally ill characters could be considered offensive or uninformed by a modern viewer. ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' takes itself more seriously than the first game and has mature portrayals of complex themes such as grief and PTSD. It mostly helps that the SequelGap of 16 years meant that there was a lot of time for the series to mature and for the people behind it to gain a more nuanced understanding of the human psyche.

* Creator/{{Toonami}} is an odd example, as it is a programming block that originally aired during the daytime with a target audience of kids and preteens, was {{uncanceled}}, then received a new placement during the Creator/AdultSwim {{watershed}} hours with a new teenage and adult audience. That said, most of the programming for both incarnations of the block is Japanese anime that was targeted towards kids in their native Japan.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. Whereas its first season was full of one-off comedic adventure stories, by its final season over eight years later, episodes would showcase [[ContinuityLockOut heavy continuity]], regularly tackle mature themes, and be seeped in metaphor and existentialist ideas as main character Finn matured from a child into a young adult while the older supporting cast also began to receive more focus. Both its [[SequelSeries sequel miniseries]], ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeDistantLands Distant Lands]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeFionnaAndCake Fionna and Cake]]'', would continue on this track, with the latter (scheduled to premiere thirteen years after the start of the franchise) being explictly targeted at a young adult audience.

* Nintendo's ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' trilogy (despite being a WidgetSeries and as well as looking more like a Peanuts comic strip than other JRPG games) had cases of this, especially with the GrandFinale of the entire trilogy, ''VideoGame/Mother3''. While the first two games were rather standard {{Eastern RPG}}s in an UrbanFantasy setting, the final game deals with themes such as the loss of family members and the corrupting nature of capitalism.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. Whereas its first season was full of one-off comedic adventure stories, by its final season over eight years later, episodes would showcase [[ContinuityLockOut heavy continuity]], regularly tackle mature themes, and be seeped in metaphor and existentialist ideas as main character Finn matured from a child into a young adult while the older supporting cast also began to receive more focus. Both its [[SequelSeries sequel miniseries]], ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeDistantLands Distant Lands]]'' and ''Fionna and Cake'', would continue on this track, with the latter (scheduled to premiere thirteen years after the start of the franchise) being explictly targeted at a young adult audience.

* ''Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommittee'' never loses Music/HoneyWorks' overarching theme of "youth" over its run and still likes to make lighthearted high school romances and situations, but the older groups of the cast are shown going from inexperienced and clumsy teenagers to navigating their relationships through college, jobs, and other obstacles while they become adults. The story also starts branching out into adult worries and life outside the main cast, such as married life with the Narumi parents or the bittersweetness of a TeacherStudentRomance and bachelorhood with Saku Akechi. Given that most of the franchise's intended demographic was teenagers, they're subjected to seeing characters they grew up with go onto have a life and career of their own, while the franchise still secures younger viewers by making new generations of teens (albeit with different problems).