Cartoons CAN be Mature!

[YamadaJisho]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w

 

[Zac Smith]

Waltz With Bashir, what I would call a very adult orientated cartoon. About genocide, death and war. Pretty heavy stuff even for an adult. Banned in many countries and has an 18 rating here in the UK, I would recommend watching unless you have a real distaste for subtitled films

 

[Nazz3]

I think people are usually just talking about the 'cartoons' that are meant for children, not animated shows in general.

There's a shitload of animated shows meant for adults, Futurama, Archer, Metalocalypse, Simpsons, King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead, Regular Show etc.

 

[Snoozer]

Why yes, they can be. It's been proven that they can for decades now. It just still has to sink through in our selective cultural conscious.

The "spiked bowle", X-men references, Final fantasy fighting music etc.

Wait...what? I didn't notice any of those. What are you talking about?

Pony Spoiler:

Spoiler

Here's a discussion about the X-Men (and other references) I guess this one is a bit vague
http://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/iubcb/can_we_compile_a_list_of_references_made_on_the/
The pillow fight music is supposed to be pretty much like one of the Final Fantasy Battle themes

 

[Vicarious Reality]

People think cartoons are all fun with no serious content?

 

[MorphingDragon]

I would consider the original Dragon Ball to have mature themes.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

I always hate when people seem to come across a fact like this and think they've stumbled upon the holy grail of secrets; it's kind of a ***** slap to the industry I admire and actually have family who works in. My sentiments are that in a medium like Cartoons and Comics if it's drawn and written by a mature adult with passion for their work then it's a Mature piece of work regardless of presentation. That's of course taking the word mature by it's actually meaning instead of it's perceived one.

In it's perceived meaning, maturity is reserved for only adult subjects like harsh violence, sexual tones, and in a lot of cases depression.

In it's actual meaningMaturity is a psychological term used to indicate how a person responds to the circumstances or environment in an appropriate and adaptive manner. (Wikipedia), Mature content is smart content. Content that doesn't attempt to belittle it's audience or act to the lowest common denominator just because it's easy.

In this vain, two shows that can be considered mature in it's perceived meaning; Futurama and Family Guy; in the actual meaning I would separate into Futurama being Mature and Family Guy being Immature.

With this I can say that some of the most mature animation I've seen on TV and Film have been; Animainiacs, Batman: TAS, My Little Pony: FiM, Avatar the Last Airbender, any Pixar Film, and any Miyazaki film.

If you want to break it down further you can call out the categories of "Kid Show," Family Show," and "Adult Show." But in all honesty those labels have nothing to do with Maturity. After all, Sesame Street fits perfect under the qualifier of "Kid Show," and they never come off as immature to me.

I will just quote you because I was going to say this but you did a much better job than me.

 

[sumanoskae]

There Snip

calling Heavy Metal mature is an insult to everything that is Tits ans Heavy Metal. Take that back immediatly!

I'm just using the unrefined definition of "Mature" I would considered it Violently and sexually "Mature" in a very Unmature way. kind of like Animal House, Mature themes and very childish execution. Still, guilty pleasure. Most people would call it Mature but that's only because the word is a bit ill-defined.

Agreed

 

[Lilani]

-snip-

It's nice that you've discovered this, but I'm afraid people have been aware of this for a long time Disney sort of smashed that door to bits with their movies that kids AND adults can love, then the Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy and pretty much everything on Adult Swim have kept it open since. I mean, of course SOME people think cartoons are just for kids, but then again some people think black and white movies can't be entertaining, or that music without lyrics is pointless and boring. It's all a matter of personal taste and prejudice.

 

[Hunter15]

if u look at shows like batman the animated series, the Simpsons (yes im counting that) or Cowboy bebop then yes then can, but then u see My little Pony, spongebob Squarepants, and 95% of all anime and then u bang your head into a wall with spikes coming out of it

 

[DarkRyter]

So I wonder why people continue to assume that Cartoons can't be mature.

They don't.

Or at least, I don't.

And by proxy, that's everyone.

 

[CountVonCoop]

[Adult Swim]!!!!!! if there was any a cartoon/cartoons that was not directed at children it would be pretty much everything that comes out of adult swim.

 

[Laser Priest]

Yeah, that is clear.

The only people who disagree are the people who care too much about appearing mature and thus force themselves to resemble boring businesspeople lacking in human traits.