If it's crap... We'll tell you
Cartoons =/= Kids
So I've been told recently by some idiot (I'm not just saying that, his logic made me facepalm to the point I lost an incredible amount of braincells) that I'm immature for still liking cartoons and for wanting to be a cartoonist. Yet here's the thing... his girlfriend draws anime, which is automatically more 'mature', right?
'ANIME IS MOAR REALISTIC!!111'
Oh yeah, because we all have gigantic eyes that sparkle all kawaii, have green/blue/indigo hair that spikes out all the way to norway, and mouths that just move up and down, basically expressionless. That's EXACTLY what we look like. I digress.
In any case, when did this concept that cartoons = kid entertainment come into place? Cartoons were intended for ALL ages back in the 50's, so when did that ever change? I mean, people might have thought that when seeing that Tom and Jerry was just 'mindless cat-and-mouse chase antics', yet I manage to dumb down a lot more while watching a soap opera... or "Twilight".
There are hundreds of adult centered cartoons that are NOT Japanese. There are several that aren't even comedies! Ever hear of "Plague Dogs", "Watership Down"? Those originally were distributed in the UK I believe, but those were some INTENSE animated movies. Even "Watership Down", which was rated PG, had some nightmarish imagery and violence that would terrify little ones quite easily.
I met people who believe that Family Guy is a kid's cartoon. Yeah, that's how bad it is.
So... tl;dr: I'm sick of people assuming that cartoons are childish, when cartoons were originally meant for all ages to begin with, and now have several different types of demographics and age groups to appeal to.
'ANIME IS MOAR REALISTIC!!111'
Oh yeah, because we all have gigantic eyes that sparkle all kawaii, have green/blue/indigo hair that spikes out all the way to norway, and mouths that just move up and down, basically expressionless. That's EXACTLY what we look like. I digress.
In any case, when did this concept that cartoons = kid entertainment come into place? Cartoons were intended for ALL ages back in the 50's, so when did that ever change? I mean, people might have thought that when seeing that Tom and Jerry was just 'mindless cat-and-mouse chase antics', yet I manage to dumb down a lot more while watching a soap opera... or "Twilight".
There are hundreds of adult centered cartoons that are NOT Japanese. There are several that aren't even comedies! Ever hear of "Plague Dogs", "Watership Down"? Those originally were distributed in the UK I believe, but those were some INTENSE animated movies. Even "Watership Down", which was rated PG, had some nightmarish imagery and violence that would terrify little ones quite easily.
I met people who believe that Family Guy is a kid's cartoon. Yeah, that's how bad it is.
So... tl;dr: I'm sick of people assuming that cartoons are childish, when cartoons were originally meant for all ages to begin with, and now have several different types of demographics and age groups to appeal to.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Surgeon Sky on -
And I could care less about whether or not you do give a damn to begin with.
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Permalink Reply by Official Rob on -
Too think, this could have been an interesting topic..
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Permalink Reply by Timmy Cupcakes on -
Holy shit, where's Donkey Lips?
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Permalink Reply by Timmy Cupcakes on
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To answer your question I say to each their own. You are right, there are tons of cartoons that are made for adult audiences. Your friend probably just doesn't liek them. I say do whatever you like and who gives a shit what they say.
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Permalink Reply by The Eyeball Kid on
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That's something that's been bugging the hell out of me lately. I know some intelligent who refused to see WALL*E in theaters because it's "a kids movie." Yes, kids will love the movie, but most of the stuff is completely over their head. Hell, I've spoken to adults for whom a lot of the satire was lost on.
I normally don't mind (Their loss), but this perception affects what gets produced. People think that animation is for kids, so kids are the only ones who want to see animated films. Therefore animation studios only produce material for children. This backs up the perception that animation is only for kids, and the cycle continues.
I started a thread a couple months back about WALL*E potentially getting a Best Picture nomination. I got responses like, "Who cares? The Oscars are bullshit anyway." If an animated film can be taken seriously enough to contend with adult dramas at the Oscars, what effect do you think that would have on future animated films?
For one, the quality of the storytelling would likely be taken up a notch, like the Silver Age of Disney following the nomination of Beauty & The Beast. More importantly, though, we might get more adult animation in the United States. New styles will flourish, and animation will become the diverse art form it should rightly be.
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Permalink Reply by Gerald Harvey Peckinpah on -
I'd love to see an American animation studio produce something in the league of Persepolis.
Or, Grave of The Fireflies.
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Permalink Reply by Surgeon Sky on
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THIS
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Holy fuck I love Persepolis. I liked Ratatouille a lot, but the only reason it won in the animation category last year was because the voters were too lazy to actually bother seeing it. Or maybe they were voting on the technical strength of the animation rather than the overall quality of the film.
In any case, I would've loved to see that get a best picture nomination, but only popular films ever manage that. Part of why I had my hopes so high for WALL*E.
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Permalink Reply by Gerald Harvey Peckinpah on
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You've just encapsulated almost exactly how I felt about the outcome of last year's best animated feature selection.
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Permalink Reply by Surgeon Sky on
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I completely agree, it bothered me that people would laugh at me going into Coraline and saying that it was 'just a stupid kid's movie anyway'. People need to see animated movies for what they are, not stereotype them to all be 'nonsensical and mindless'.
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