As I was reading through that excellent resource for animated news that is Line Boil, I came across a link to an article originally published by The Guardian newspaper in the UK, where it asks whether adult animation has finally begun to be accepted as a serious film genre.
It is worth a read, if only to see what the neighbours are up to. For you see, that is the main, I don’t want to say “problem” with the piece. it is quite well written and researched considering the nonsense that some magazines tend to publish. However it is clearly written for the average person who has never really had an interest in animation.
For those of you reading this blog, I would hope that you are aware that adult animation has been around as long as animation itself has. In fact, that’s who the first films were intended for and contrary to what the article says, Walt Disney did not make Snow White specifically for kids, despite the fact that a significant amount of its gross from later runs came from children’s receipts at the box office.
It is fair to say that the mainstream popularity of adult animation has increased in recent years and when I say this I refer to the more western styles; we all know anime has had a large adult following for decades on both sides of the Pacific.
It is encouraging to see this increase which has been sorely needed for a long time. On too often an occasion, adult animation has entered the mainstream consciousness for the wrong reasons, i.e. Fritz the Cat, Beavis & Butthead, South Park, etc.
I suppose the main problem is this stubborn image that persists in places like Hollywood that animation, “real” animation is for kids and kids only. Thankfully, the likes of Pixar have challenged that perception and are still working on it. If one were to read the TAG Guild blog, you will find Steve Hullett constantly admonishing the benefits of animation over live-action as a revenue-generator.
While this image is unlikely to disappear in the foreseeable future, it is encouraging to see signs that people are starting to move beyond it.