User blog:Roy shyon/A history on the "animation is for kids" mentality

Let's go back to the 1950s.Television was the new kid on the block and was seeing massive popularity.So much so that MGM had to close down their animation department.So what did the animators do there?Simple,convert to television.So they went to a company named screen gems so they could make cartoons for television.However there was a catch,since television had a much lower budget than theatrical films,the budget was 1/8th of what it was for a theatrical cartoon (animated short film).Due to this the cartoons had to be dumbed down to the point that only kids could enjoy them.But what about animated films?Well at the time disney had a monopoly on animated feature films at the time and we all know what Classic disney movies are like.That's how the stereotype animation is for kids came to be.Japan also switched to television,but instead of actually dumbing down the cartoons,they used source material (in this case Manga) to save the budget.Also it should be noted that Japanese censors are a lot less strict than those in the US.So when adult animated shows came in Japan,the Japanese audience was use to dark themes in cartoons.What it did,It saved japanese animation from going down the horrible path it went down in almost every other country.Anyways so in the 1970s,there was one guy who went out of his way to defy this stereotype and his name was Ralph Bakshi.He made animated films with a X rating (its hard to explain so google it yourself).It’s also useful to note that his films were the first major non disney animated movies.However most of his films are forgotten nowadays.Lets fast foward to the 90s when televsion animation was becoming better than ever and the disney renaissance.Disney had regained their monopoly on animated movies after losing it in the 70’s and 80’s and the fcc outlawed saturday morning cartoons.Due to this it allowed television animation to go to places like it never had before.One of these was making animated shows for adults.Nowadays there are so many adult animated shows that theres even an entire block for these kinds of programs .Unfortunately,these shows dont make an impact big enough to break the stereotype.Why?Because the most popular ones use a rehashed kids show formula.The best example of this is family guy.It was actually going to be a childerens show for cartoon network,but fox picked it up and changed a few things and you got something for “adults”.It dosent help that these jokes are made by kids 11-13.There are some aversions though,like a good amount of shows on Adult swim.Another thing to note is that adult animation in the US is TV exclusive.Why?Like I said earlier,the TV animation boom in the 90s was during the time of the disney rennisance,so most animated films to be profitable had to use the disney fairy tail formula.Even to this day,most animated films cater to younger families.Though there are some that have no demographic like Toy Story and Shrek,most animated films appeal 75% to kids and 25% to adults.But with the succsess of sausage party,this could change soon.All we can do is hope.