Cartoons CAN be Mature!

[Just_A_Glitch]

Moral Orel. Especially the second and third seasons. That show is.... Just goddamn.. It's the bleakest show I've ever seen on cable TV.

This 1000 times over. There is so little hope in that show.

And it introduced me to the Mountain Goats!

 

[HumpinHop]

Moral Orel. Especially the second and third seasons. That show is.... Just goddamn.. It's the bleakest show I've ever seen on cable TV.

Yep yep, I still record every episode when AS decides to run through the seasons again. The final episode was soul-crushing.

As for cartoons being mature, someone earlier said it was a medium like any other, so of course there are many progressive or intelligent cartoons to contrast the kiddy shite. Justice League was one shining example:

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Despite what some people thin, swearing and gross-out humor is NOT mature.

But there have been cartoons like "Batman the Animated Series", "Samurai Jack", and "Avatar: The Last Airbender", which handled mature elements... well, maturely.

Nowadays, all we got are bland children's cartoons and "mature" cartoons with immature humor. *SIGH*

 

[Hollock]

People think cartoons are made only for kids because of:

• A. A lot of people's minds going to Disney when they think of cartoons.
  B. When cartoons became especially expensive/too difficult to make in the 60s and 70s, they started cutting corners in animation and writing. So basically there was a brief time where the most visible cartoons to most people were just for kids (as in only kids could like that crap).

 

[Drakmeire]

There Snip

I wouldn't really call Hellsing mature. Yeah, it's violent, but explicitness and maturity aren't the same thing. Hellsing is an action show, that's it. It appeals to immaturity because it's cool but thematically simplistic.(I'm not going to comment on Elfen Lied, just because I'm not very fond of it)

I'd count anime like Monster, Samurai X, Berserk, Code Geass or Fullmetal Alchemist as mature much more readily, because they explore mature, relevant themes(By most standards, if not always mine. FMA, Monster, I'm looking at you)

I do agree with you on all the series you brought up,I just wanted to post the most shocking clips and would have posted a scene from monster but youtube is a bit skimpy on clips. if you notice. I even made fun of my own choice in Hellsing by saying it's mature in violence and nothing else, I'd call it a guilty pleasure but by no means "Deep".

 

[Drakmeire]

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.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Mature as in adult story about serious and disturbing content?
Mature as in just bucket loads of blood and guts and tentecale rape?

Both these have been around for about 20 plus years. Urotsukidōji is just plain fucked up with monsters with 200 metre penises and crazy stuff.

Plus Watership Down is just plain disturbing.

 

[Kimarous]

I'm one of those people who saw the topic title and thought "We're still having this discussion? I thought we settled this misconception years ago." I'd give examples, but people have already listed the best ones.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Uh... yeah, of course.

Fritz the Cat springs to mind almost immediately. But also Batman TAS, Avatar the Last Airbender.

Also, mature can mean a whole lot of things. Princes and the Frog by Disney deals with selling your soul (as did The Little Mermaid) it features on-screen death and a man getting dragged into hell. It's not exactly kiddie playtime fun. Just because Disney has become known for Bowdlerisation doesn't mean they can't be mature.

I tend to separate things into three categories.

Kids Only: Dora the Explorer. Yes adults can watch it, but they will take nothing more away than what the kids do.

Family friendly: Everyone can take something different away from it. The kids will get the bright colours, simple plotlines and fun characters, and adults can see subtler undercurrents of characterisation, and also references to other media that kids would have no way of knowing about. (My Little Pony: FiM features a reference to Sylvester Stallone as Rocky. What six year old girl is going to get that?)

Mature: Only for adults. The content of these cartoons is too violent, sexual or otherwise unfit for people below a certain age. Family Guy, Fritz the Cat, quite a few anime shows I could mention like Elfen Lied or the latter half of TriGun.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Anyone who says cartoons can't be "mature" has obviously never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion.

EDIT: Yes, I know that NGE is anime, but come on, how many Americans over the age of 40 actually bother to make the distinction?

 

[Worgen]

Cartoons are considered childish because most animated cartoons were made for children. This dates back to Dr. Seuss and other cartoonists that directed their works toward children.

actually it dates back to the 50s when cartoons really became for children, they always had a kind of childish bend here in the states but if you look up tex avery cartoons then you will see that they could be enjoyed by all but the 50s was when we imposed a great amount of self censorship on pretty much everything so cartoons and movies became much more g-rated and cartoons got much more kiddie over here

 

[Dinnerman]

South Park. Sure, there might be a significant abundance of toilet humor, but truly, it's one of the most philosophical things I've ever come across. There's always a message, and it's always a good one. And, of course, there's The Animatrix, which is better than the actual Matrix Trilogy by far. And hell, even Halo Legends.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Anyone who says cartoons can't be "mature" has obviously never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion.

EDIT: Yes, I know that NGE is anime, but come on, how many Americans over the age of 40 actually bother to make the distinction?

Well, I'm not that old (18 BTW), but I get what you mean. I suppose I should have said Western Animation in the OP, since that is more what I was aiming for in discussion.

 

[funguy2121]

I recently found a very interesting animated short film called "Tales of the Black Freighter."
Bloody, disturbing, extremely well animated and very good voice acting by Gerard Butler made up an experience I've never seen in Western Animation before.
So I wonder why people continue to assume that Cartoons can't be mature. That it is all just "kiddy" stuff. If anything, the existence of this short film would prove that statement false. So what's up with the stigma against Cartoons and content featured in them? Can you name any other cartoons that deal with mature issues?

People assume that cartoons (here meaning probably the same thing you mean, anything playing on Cartoon Network until Adult Swim comes on) are childish because, by and large, they are childish. My Little Pony is incredibly hyperactive and childish. Inuyasha is, for the most part, very childish. Even my beloved Cowboy Bebop isn't incredibly adult.

 

[AdamRBi]

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, Samurai Jack, 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.

 

[Alar]

My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic. Mature is not only blood, violence and seriousness. MLP is a very mature show.

You are not helping the cause with that statement. :|

 

[SpaceBat]

Of course cartoons can be mature. I mean, I grew up with the Batman: The GODDAMN Animated Series, which I still find to be the best cartoon of all time.

 

[Folksoul]

Cartoons can be mature? No shit. I dare anyone who says otherwise to watch "Felidae" with their children.

It's a cartoon with TALKING CATS! Why wouldn't it be for kids?

Your aghast horror after watching one of Francis' dream sequences will be all the proof I will ever need. Spread the word. This is one of the best movies I've ever seen, animated or live action. It's on youtube. Please do yourself a favour and look it up. I preferred the subtitles and original German dub myself, but I've also heard good things about the English dub. It's a film noir murder mystery involving suicide cults, and oddly creative way to perform abortions, with TALKING CATS.

*Warning* movie with adorable TALKING CATS contains heavy gore... and anatomically correct cat sex. *Not* furry porn, actual cat sex.

Felidae Part 1 (subs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjCt_YGSGGY

Tvtropes page "What Do You Mean It's Not For Kids?" has all sorts of stuff like this, and it's also how I found "Felidae."
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlerax1116nu5ji?from=Main.WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids