I agree animation shouldn't just be for children and that western animation has this issue of either being for kids whose worst nightmare is their math homework or comedies for jaded adults.
I don't see anything wrong with adults enjoying kids cartoons. Or wanting more animation for adults.
The problem in my opinion is them trying to hijack what's meant for children. My little pony being the most well know example.
And worse animators making things, not for children , but man children.
The woke cal arts crowd only makes cartoons for young adults all while deluding themselves they are "educating" children with woke shit. Then then they love to bitch once the network, to the shock of no one, cancels them in favor of shows kids actually watch.
Say, to this day I still doubt Steven Universe was actually mainly loved kids. More like it was sustained by adult viewers and maybe kids in their late teens if we are generous.
And this is from someone that agrees SU actually had a lot of great things in it's favor like some good music.
It's creepy when man children get all mad when literal children oriented companies like Nickelodeon or Disney don't cater to them. Instead they should just prove there is a market for adult animation so companies try to make more adult shows.
Or to be blunt. " Disney adults" and those of a similar ilk, they need to grow up.
Here's an interesting checklist that I made that seems to encapsulate every excellent animated children's film/series (from top to bottom of importance):
- Entertaining for the child
- Inspirational for the teenager
- Relatable for the adult
Let's give a good example.
The Incredibles is considered to be one of the best animated films of all time, because it fulfills all 3 points of the checklist. All the action and humor is paced well for the child to be entertained throughout the film. The children, once grown up to be teenagers, will notice the themes of the rivalry between fitting in and being special and working together as a family, and also noticed the mature elements that Syndrome committed mass genocide on the Supers and a lot of people actually die in a PG film. Then you got the struggles that Bob and Helen Parr go through that resonates so much with adults. However, the last two points are prioritized less than the first point, and that creates a successful chemistry that is memorable for the audience. All three things contribute to a great animated story for the animator to tell.
Let's give some bad examples. The stereotypical animated children's film (like
Boss Baby,
Storks,
Uglydolls) is geared towards ONLY to the first attribute, and that's okay. The problem? The stories are forgettable and exist out of an algorithm based on money. If the child grows up and rewatches it, he won't laugh at the slapstick or the jokes, he'll/she'll be bored throughout, but no harm caused. Most children's animation series nowadays (and films such as
Turning Red) in networks like Cartoon Network or Nickolodeon only fulfill the last one or two attributes, and that's an issue, because it creates an echo-chamber for the adult (primarily in regards to the animator) to dwell because the series is acting as a reinforcer to his or her views. If that viewpoint starts to infect the second viewpoint, then the animation becomes propaganda, in which the main goal of the animator is to lecture the viewers of his thoughts and opinions, and without entertaining them, would ultimately create a toxic environment full of ultra-bitter shippers and fans. This is why if you're making a children's film, you gear it to the child first (which I hope that Bluey stays to do so), and then you can implement the themes that you want to put out.
The whole purpose is intent on why the animation is what it is. This is why early Pixar films are the best, because animators like Lasseter wanted to tell a story to children. This is why Ghibli films are one of the most memorable, because Miyazaki wanted to tell a story to children. If you want to go further, Oshii wants to tell a story to society, with the entertainment based in the visuals, music, and action in a way that relates to the audience. And let's be honest here. These animators and their audience of manchildren who are angry that animation is mainly catered towards children are not interested in telling a good story. What are these animators going to create that appeals to them, with most of them are stuck up in their West Coast hive mindset, because they're creatively bankrupt. Toro is right that animation is a medium of storytelling, but nobody treats it like that. Animation to the new wave of Western animators is a way to either preach or fantasize. This is why animation is growing stale, including both Western animation and anime. Animators for anime just watch to draw girls with tits. Western animators just want to create a hugbox for their self-inserts.
