Are cartoons for kids?
 

What do you think? Nowadays it seems like more adults are watching cartoons than ever before. Are cartoons still mostly for kids or do you think they're also for adults now?

If by "cartoon" you simply mean "animated television program", then the question is so broad as to be meanigless. Animation is just one type of medium. It can be geared towards children or adults, just like books, film, and pretty much every other category of art

None of your poll choices really offer a proper answer to the question.

There are animated program for all age groups.

& barring stuff like Nick Jr, plenty of "kid-aimed" cartoons took adult viewers into consideration over the last few decades.

Animation as a whole isn't, but most cartoons on television are directed at children at various ages.

That doesn't mean adults can't enjoy them as well.

there are cartoons that all ages can enjoy, and cartoons that adults can enjoy, a majority of anime is made for adults these days, some for kids too.

When I was younger all I was ever told was that, "cartoons are for kids" and that I had to "outgrow cartoons" once I started becoming a teenager around 13-14 or so.

The only recognized cartoon for adults in my day was The Simpsons or other similar adult comedies, but that was about it. Back then if you were an adult watching cartoons you were viewed as if there was something seriously wrong with you. Like, "mentally disturbed" or something like that. I remember even in TV shows whenever 20+ year olds would watch cartoons they were openly mocked and made fun of.

When did this change? It seems like nowadays adults watching cartoons is more socially acceptable than ever before. You don't really see people mocked for liking cartoons anymore, besides some narrow minded people. It's so different than my generation in the 80's and 90's.

Yeah some one try to tell me Fire and Ice and Wizards are for kids lol

Or Heavy Metal the 1980's classic. The 3 movies I mention should not be watch by kids by the way and there all cartoons for adults.

Depends on what you mean. The target demographic is usually kids, so yeah, in that sense cartoons are for kids. That doesn't mean the writers can't try to make the show fun for adults too (one example would be Arthur).

I'd say cartoons are aimed at kids, but adults can enjoy them as well. For example, animaniacs is like a completely different show to watch as an adult, as a lot of the humour went over my head as a kid.

No.

Next question.

A percent are aim at kids not all. With the blood and gore of Wizards, the nudity of Heavy Metal, and Fire and Ice. (Non anime cartoons, American made) Kids need not see the above films. But in the 80's Adults got there adult cartoons(Non hentai) and Kids got there Transformers and my little pony. No way I stick in Wizards with kids around. The last American made cartoon for adults, I think was Heavy Metal 2000 from well the year 2000. Not counting CGI movies like sausage party, because I don't consider them true cartoons.

All of this.

No. For the same reasons everyone else said.

But for real... you posted this in a Ninja Turtles forum, what'd you think people were going to say?

What if you're a kid of God?

What the hell does that mean?

Ahh, another Cybercubed thread where he's out of touch with todays culture.

I'm convinced he lives in a pocket dimension stuck in the 80's/90's. But yeah it depends on the "cartoon". Plenty of mindless goofy ones out there for kids- I could name The Sponge for an example- and plenty for adults too. Gargoyles was surprisingly mature back it its day as were the Spider-Man and X-Men and Batman TAS back then. And then Simpsons, South Park and Futurama made animation acceptable for adults to enjoy as well.

Some of the "adult" cartoons like family guy feel more immature than actual kids cartoons.

Totally agreed on that. I used to be a Family Guy fan, but it started to seem like it just kept hitting all the same jokes.

American Dad >>> Family Guy >> The Cleveland Show

I think the low point was when it crossed over with The Simpsons. Which in all honesty should have died out YEARS ago. Homer and fam have gotten seriously stale over the past decade.

This thread needs to be locked.

The Simpsons hasn't been consistently good since Season 9. Show should have ended by Season 15 at the latest.

Hard to believe it's on Season 28 now, and has been renewed through Season 30.

Where is the "both" option?

Like any other form of entertainment, there is some intended for difference audiences and others able to be enjoyed by both kids and adults.



That said... If cartoons were just for kids and were not a thing adults should enjoy, then no one would like cartoons and no one would take up careers making them, and then none would exist for anybody.

When I was a kid in the 80's and 90's it was very rare for adults to watch cartoons, again not counting stuff like The Simpsons or other adult comedies. I remember when I started becoming a teenager you were told to "grow out of cartoons" and even kids in school generally mocked people who still watched cartoons in middle school.

Seriously, if you said back in the 90's that 30+ year old adults would still watch cartoons for themselves and enjoy them, not with their kids or anything, they would have been looked down upon as, "losers with no lives" or "people who never grew up and live in neverland like Michael Jackson."

It's amazing how this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I guess it must be a change in the norms of society or it's because todays adults are my generation, and now we know we can watch animation. Meanwhile our parents generation looked at cartoons as, "kids junk."

Not everyone is/was like that though. My mom still enjoys animated films like Disney movies, Secret of NIHM American Tail, etc. And she used to watch cartoons with me on Saturday mornings on occasion too. So some older gen folks DO enjpy them. Its all a matter of what they like or whether they can appreciate it as a medium. Some do even in my parents' generation.

Tell us more about your views on Fox, & Family Guy.

I don't live in America so I don't watch Fox or know much about it. Family Guy, not my type of show.

Like a holy goat? :lol:

Exactly. Or a baby lamb.

Didn't you say you live in Pakistan, or was that someone else? How do you watch American cartoons there, through the internet I assume? They don't air this stuff on TV in your country, do they?

Born in Pakistan, live in New Zealand.

Actually, when I was growing up in Pak, there were heaps of cartoons. It was running behind schedule compared to America, but we still had Pokemon, tmnt 2k3, dragonball z, justice league, teen titans, SpongeBob and so on.

In New Zealand, there are a limited number cartoons airing but I don't watch that many anymore so no biggie. Tmnt Nick airs reruns here alot and a few shows like mlp fim and SpongeBob are also the most frequent cartoons if you don't have Sky TV, which I don't.

Not to mention, many decades ago back in the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc. lots of adults watched cartoons. Betty Boop wasn't made for kids nor were all of those WW2 propaganda bugs bunny and mickey mouse cartoon shorts. My grandma told me back in her day people would go to the cinema to watch the news, since in the 30s-40s people didn't have TVs at home yet or was very rare unless you were rich. Cartoon shorts would also get shown.

I'm not so sure if you're assuming Pakistan doesn't have access to American entertainment or if you're assuming that people in Pakistan can't even afford to own TVs.

I'm just surprised they air American cartoons in foreign countries. Are they aired in english over there or dubbed in other languages?

It's weird how only Japan and the U.S. (or Canada) produce their own animation, but every other country in the world doesn't make their own cartoons, just borrows ours.

Your bubble keeps getting smaller and smaller.

Huh dude, aren't you aware of how big Hollywood and American tv in general are? Your country has the most powerful entertainment industry in the world.

And dubbing varies by country. In major countries like Spain, Italy, France and Germany they dub everything including live action movies. In Smaller European countries like Portugal, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Sweden, Finland they only really dub cartoons and they haven't always done that.

I'd never want to watch a dubbed live action movie/tv show. And I don't like watching dubbed cartoons/anime either.

I just find it weird only two countries in the world provide the majority of animation. U.S. for cartoons and Japan for anime. Like...what the hell are all the other countries doing? I mean I'm sure there are some cartooons made for Russians, or France, but it's rare.

Ofc other countries have their own cartoons but it's either not as easy for them to export them or they just make them for their domestic market. Hell even lots of Japanese anime isn't exported either or games for that matter.
Not to mention smaller countries have lower GDPs and thus their entertainment industries have lower production values meaning they can't just sh*t out cartoons after cartoons like USA does every year.

France has Astrix the Gaul but that is the only one i can think of ATM.

The UK still produces a lot of animated TV shows. They're mostly for small kids though.

I'm just glad that when the 2k3 and Nick TMNT shows aired in the UK, they didn't change it to "Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles" like they did with the original show.