Cartoons CAN be Mature!

[Soviet Heavy]

I recently found a very interesting animated short film called "Tales of the Black Freighter."
Bloody, disturbing, extremely well animated and very good voice acting by Gerard Butler made up an experience I've never seen in Western Animation before.
So I wonder why people continue to assume that Cartoons can't be mature. That it is all just "kiddy" stuff. If anything, the existence of this short film would prove that statement false. So what's up with the stigma against Cartoons and content featured in them? Can you name any other cartoons that deal with mature issues?

 

[No_Remainders]

I swear a thread identical to this was done quite literally last week.

 

[malestrithe]

Cartoons have been mature for a very long time. Look up anything by Ralph Bakshi, especially Fire and Ice, Fritz the Cat, Coonskin and Wizards.

Tales of the Black Freighter has nothing on what Bakshi did in the 70s and 80s.

 

[Ashannon Blackthorn]

It's just a medium. Look up Bakshi or half the Studio Ghibi lineup and you can see it's all not just kiddie fluff.

 

[Drakmeire]

There is always Batman the animated series. And A Scanner Darkly. And Heavy Metal. And almost everything by Ralph Bakshi. And a good majority of anime.
Like Elfen Lied
<youtube=E5pgqAMBCR4>
Mature for exploring the dark side of humanity when confronted with something they fear. Also notable for having a character witnessing her dog being beaten to death in front of her.
and Hellsing
<youtube=MyD2p-uWQsU>
Mature for...Well, Violence. and that's about it. Guilty Pleasure
Also for kids movies, Secret of NIMH and Watership Down are very mature movies aimed at children.

 

[Fanta Grape]

It's just a medium. Look up Bakshi or half the Studio Ghibi lineup and you can see it's all not just kiddie fluff.

Grave of the Fireflies. Sigh.

I swear a thread identical to this was done quite literally last week.

and yes. But then again, every thread is repeated in the escapist. "Your avatar is now...", "Is it just me or...", "Why do people like...", etc.

 

[Mike Richards]

Two of my favorite examples of this are Danny Phantom and especially Avatar: the Last Airbender. To give some context both of these aired on Nickelodeon, so it's hardly like they were created for a more specific, 'they'll find it on dvd if they want to' audience.

Danny Phantom's best episode featured him facing off against a version of himself from the future who turned evil after witnessing his entire family and friends die in an explosion in front of him, only to have his humanity forcibly ripped out by his former arch enemy in an attempt to make the pain go away. Meanwhile Avatar routinely dealt with things like century-long genocidal war, secret totalitarian government operated torture/brainwashing, the constant looming threat that important people could actually die, and at one point even the on-screen death of one of the main villains at the (more or less, it's complicated) hands of the 12 year old main character.

That's why it was my favorite show growing up, it may have taken a while to get going, but once it knew what it wanted it pulled no punches. If only more kid's tv would get the hint.

Oh, and Tales of the Black Freighter was actually created as a tie-in for a super-hero movie called Watchmen. The Ultimate Edition edits the cartoon back into the film like it was in the graphic novel, worth checking out.

 

[thefrizzlefry]

Moral Orel. Especially the second and third seasons. That show is.... Just goddamn.. It's the bleakest show I've ever seen on cable TV.

 

[Soggy Toast]

Cartoons are considered childish because most animated cartoons were made for children. This dates back to Dr. Seuss and other cartoonists that directed their works toward children.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Let me answer your question with a question.
Why do people keep thinking that games are all for kids dispute the growing number of games not designed for kids like M rated games which are specifically not sold to people under 17?

It's just a broad generalization of a medium based on one segment of it that most people see. Lots of people lots of people have seen kids cartoons, but not lots have seen more serious animations the same way lots of people have seen kids games but less have seen mature games. It's a matter of generalization and categorizing.

 

[Evidencebased]

snip

Also for kids movies, Secret of NIMH and Watership Down are very mature movies aimed at children.

Fucking Watership Down. Fastest way to traumatize a room full of elementary-school-age birthday party guests ever.

I read the book and was like "huh, that's kinda dark" and then watched the movie and was like "JEEZUS CHRIST! Bunny blood everywhere!"

 

[scarfacetehstag]

everyone is ignoring that hes citing watchmen, a graphic novel, as an example of mature cartoon?

 

[Rayne870]

It doesn't have to be dark and disturbing to be mature, most children's cartoons do have adult themes/jokes/social commentary blended in very subtly.

Fairly Odd Parents and Spongebob Squarepants are pretty good examples of it.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

everyone is ignoring that hes citing watchmen, a graphic novel, as an example of mature cartoon?

This came from Watchmen? I just found this on youtube. How are they connected?

 

[LadyRhian]

"Tales of the Black Freighter" was a backup cartoon in the original "Watchmen" comics. And yes, it's adult. I'd also say the Hellboy comics published by Dark Horse are adult- they play with disturbing images (think of the "tooth fairies" of the second movie- Kinda cute, but they eat you to get at the calbium in your bones and teeth. The animated Hellboys were made more "Kid-friendly", but there are still some disturbing stuff in there. So is "Heavy Metal", the Movie, much of which is about the havoc a strange alien globe wreaks on anyone who comes into contact with it. Animation was by Moebius, I think.

The 70's were responsible for some very weird and strange animated movies/cartoons. And the Japanese do plenty of "adult stuff" in cartoons, like Crayon Shin-chan, which even though it's about a toddler, deals with more "adult" content. Or look at Stewie Griffin of "Family Guy", a baby who has dreams and fantasies of romancing his own mother, or killing her off. That's pretty adult/mature content, right there. And then there was Aeon Flux, which first appeared in "Liquid Television" on MTV... she died at the end of every episode. They had some other pretty disturbing animations- I recall one about two racers who were so intent on winning a race that they killed each other off and the entire stadium went up in flames, with the racers' skeletons driving around the track of flaming skeletons forever in Hell (I think it was Hell, there was no dialogue to tell you what was happening).

To go on to Anime, take a look at the series Vampire Princess Miyu. In the original, long animations, she is depicted as far more cruel, while the later series that had het go to a normal High School is also very adult. Some of the episodes actually made me cry, and I am a 44 year old woman, less disposed to cry than most.

People think cartoons can't be mature because a great majority of Western cartoons *are* for kids. But it's never been only *all* just for kids. But unless you are into animation, that is all most adults ever see. I mean, even cartoons "for kids" can be sick, twisted and downright disturbing. Just look at "Courage the Cowardly Dog". Some of those episodes are downright Nightmare Fuel.

 

[Megnaman]

Frisky Dingo kindof

 

[Smooth Operator]

The stereotype stuck with the cartoon medium just as it did with games... now we need to wait for the old ignorant people to die off before this changes.

 

[SenorNemo]

There is an unstated premise here: Gore and/or Sex = Maturity. While the acceptance and willingness to face such things is an aspect of maturity, it does not define maturity. M.D. Geist has plenty of boobs and blood of a very strange consistency, but nobody in their right minds would call it mature: this is the film you'd get if you asked a 12 year old to make an animation.

If we're talking about American animation, I'm not familiar enough with it to point out any (traditionally) animated films that are mature in that way, but if we're also talking about anime (I kind of assumed we weren't, since I thought the fact that anime routinely handles mature subjects was well established), take something like Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It's not overly bloody (though there is blood), nor does it have any real fanservice, and yet it's one of the most mature anythings I've ever seen for its complicated characters and take on political philosophy. It's a series that could only have been made by someone with a certain amount of wisdom, for people with a certain amount of wisdom.

 

[twistedmic]

Moral Orel. Especially the second and third seasons. That show is.... Just goddamn.. It's the bleakest show I've ever seen on cable TV.

Especially in the third/final season. I swear to Christ some of those episodes make Futurama's 'Jurassic Bark' seem like a Brady Bunch episode.

As for other serious animated works, check out 'Waltz with Bashir'. It's a foreign language film about a former Israeli soldier trying to regain his lost memories of his part in the 1982 Lebanon War. It is definitely for adults only and obviously handles mature subjects.

Futurama, despite being a comedy cartoon, has some pretty mature episodes. And Venture Brothers is definitely not for kids.

 

[darkfire613]

everyone is ignoring that hes citing watchmen, a graphic novel, as an example of mature cartoon?

This came from Watchmen? I just found this on youtube. How are they connected?

In the comic, the Tales of the Black Freighter was a series that was at the newsstand that Rorschach would visit. It was used as an example of how comic would be different in a world where heroes were real, because no one would find them interesting subjects for comics any more. It was left out of the movie, but one of the cuts that was released for home had that animated version included.