Topic: Are light-hearted adventure shows a new trend in cartoons?

Between Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, later episodes of FiM, Wander Over Yander, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, and the upcoming Star Vs. the Forces of Evil. Are whimsical, adventure/mystery Dramedies becoming the new trend in cartoons? The 80s was toy commercials, the early 90s was buddy comedies ala Ren & Stimpy, and the late 90s and 2000s was action and fighting. So, is the adventure dramedy the new big thing?

Not really. Just like in live action, cartoons have different genres. It just depends on what you prefer to watch.

That said, we are seeing something of an action/drama cartoon dark age. Most content in that category isn't very good.

I hope so. The world's been getting even poopier than it used to be the last few years, these lighthearted kids' shows are a great distraction.

It would be nice, cartoons with actual plots and characterization are rare. Even rarer are those that don't try to go the dark (for a kid's show) route.

The problem is when you call cartoons "kid's shows". Young Justice is dark, but it's also not a kid's show.

Last I checked, it's still PG. That's all I meant by "a kid's show."

So then we can also group shows like Monk and I Dream of Jeannie as "kids shows" too then. They are both PG as well.

I'm sorry, it just really peeves me when people classify PG cartoons as "kids shows" regardless of how mature the themes or content is.

I feel like there has been a renewed sense of the establishment of quality in children's shows beginning in 2010. After the bad taste 2009 left in my mouth.

@iKahn

If you don't think Young Justice is a kids show, then your brain is broken.

It might appeal to a general wide audience, but it is most definitely targeted and intended as a kids show.

You really need to get over your insecurities about this "issue" of things being labeled as "for kids".

No it's not. It never was. No cartoon that has amassed a wide audience, save for maybe Pokemon, was designed for kids. Look at interviews. They all created stories in an animated medium, and a network labeled them for kids because some grown men can't accept animation as a general medium. Batman TAS, The Powerpuff Girls, Phineas and Ferb, Dexter's Lab, etc were all shows designed to entertain anyone, not just kids.

"Kid Friendly" =/= "For Kids". The Cosby Show was a kid-friendly show, but I doubt anyone would say it's a kid's show (because it's live action). Now there ARE animated kid's shows. "Ultimate Spider-man" is probably the biggest example of this, but there are many others. In that show, the content is geared towards selling toys and making young kids laugh. The content is targeted at kids.

The ONLY thing "kid-friendly" about Young Justice are the checklist of items you see on media ratings labels. No language, alcohol, or overt sexual content. The content of the stories are very obviously aimed at a Teenage and Young Adult audience. I have a kid sister. She would either find the show boring, confusing, or both. This was even reflected from a business perspective, as the show was cancelled because it didn't sell toys despite high viewer ratings. You know who doesn't buy toys? Teens and Young adults.

I do get that some people mean "kid-friendly" when they say "for kids", but that NEEDS to stop. It proliferates and worsens the stereotype that certain kinds of content aren't for "real adults", and people who enjoy them are either "immature" or "a child at heart", or anything similar. It's not my own insecurity. I'm happy enjoying the shows I enjoy. It has to do with it limiting the content available.

As someone who frequently wants to see animated series destroy the "for kids only" stereotype without having to resort of adult cartoons being 22 minutes of pointless shock humor I have to say...

you are being dumb. Stop being overly sensitive. It's a kids show. "Family show" if you prefer.

Do something worthwhile with your time and deal with the actual issues of people treating kids as idiots and that only by being MORE ADULT111!! alone can we achieve maturity.

People keep saying "it's a kids show" and not offering anything to back it up aside from "It's PG and it's animated". If someone can actually rebut my points instead of saying "you are being dumb", that'd be great.

I'm not sure how I feel about your latter point. On one side of things, I understand that, even though they aren't very deep or intelligent, shows that "treat kids like they're stupid" are still enjoyable and simultaneously cheap to make. On the other side of things, I would absolutely love more cartoons that I can enjoy, but at the same time, I don't want cartoons to be labeled as a media "for children", no matter how intelligent children's content is.

I only meant that it's appropriate for kids. Kids aren't stupid. I watched and enjoyed Monk when I was 10, and I don't recall there being any content that I wouldn't want a 10-year-old to watch in the episodes I saw (I do believe there were some TV-14 episodes I wasn't able to view). Having watched anime, I can assure you that it brings a whole new meaning to word "dark", especially as far as animation is concerned. Call me when Young Justice starts dealing with rapists and decapitators, and maybe I'll change my tune.

Oh I see what you are saying. I agree with you about Monk. It's very much a family friendly show (aside from one episode where Monk is asked to talk about his sex life).

I really need to get into Anime. But then again, there is a lot I need to get into. Maybe when I finish Justice League and start and finish Avatar, I'll get started on Death Note.

LOL times infinity. Man that was funny line. There are, and were, kid's shows that are live action and they are called just that. I know, shocking.
I don't even get what is your problem. Argument that "animation = kids" was years ago, probably in times when you were not even planned and guess what, animation =/= kids. If you are so insecure with yourself by watching kids shows or people calling it that, then that's your own problem that you can't enjoy something. With your problem you are like at least 20 years too late.

The content of the stories are very obviously aimed at a Teenage and Young Adult audience

Wrong. It was way, way too safe to be "obviously aimed" at teens and "young adults" and at the same time it was too serious for kids. That's the problem and that's why the toys didn't sell. It just wasn't that big of a hit. With the toys you could be right... Problem is, McFarlane begs to differ.

You want a show obviously aimed for teens, then at least mention the real ones, like for example Regular Show or Cow & Chicken.

I can say that yes, you can find ignorant parents not knowing what is there on TV, thinking anything animated is for kids. I will say that there are also idiots rating the damn things. G/PG doesn't always mean something is for kids.

I know there were and are kid's shows that are live action. Disney Channel has tons of them. But there are also child appropriate shows that weren't specifically targeting kids, and no one considers those shows for kids. I'm not insecure about anything, and I'm aware the stereotype in question has been addressed a billion times over. I will happily continue to watch cartoons no matter what other people think (I was going to go rewatch Big Hero 6 alone because no one I knew wanted to watch it). But the reality is that we don't live in a bubble. When use the term "kid's show" to describe something that is not necessarily targeted at kids, it perpetuates the stereotype. That stereotype affects the content that is produced.

Young Justice was a big hit. Viewer ratings were relatively high (2nd season averaged 1.9M viewers per episode). Warner has gone on record saying the show was cancelled due to a lack of toys sold. In regards to the "target audience", you are comparing an action/drama show to two comedy shows, that's not really a valuable comparison at all. You aren't going to expect a serious show aimed at teens and young adults to be filled with innuendoes and mature humor (though YJ does have some awesome occasional innuendos). What you would expect is mature themes and the fighting not pulling punches. There is blood, villains fight to kill, and most storylines handle things that would resonate with a teenage and young adult audience.

I'm not comparing anything. And the point still stands - RS is specifically aimed at teens/young adults, like it or not, it's a fact. It has nothing that kid's show should have. I can't remember any blood in YJ, but I didn't watch all episodes, so I don't know. If there was, then it was clearly a mismanagement and completely missing the point on Warner side. For kids, it was too serious and barely anything for them to enjoy it. TMNT is a smash hit because it has balance. Power Rangers to some degree. From what I know, Ben 10 series is a hit too not only for kids. Teens enjoy some epic plots from outter space, and kids some jokes for them and all the colors. That's important. YJ wasn't anything like that.

I know this is going off topic, but has Death Note become required watching or something? The few times I've seen someone getting into anime these past few years, it's always one of the first things they seem interested in watching, which I don't get, as I personally didn't care for it.

Then again, I've come to see I have different tastes than the usual anime fan it seems, so in that case ignore my crazy rambling ;P

I never said RS wasn't aimed at teens/young adults. But you did compare the two; you used RS as a benchmark of an animated show aimed at Teens and Young Adults, but the benchmarks vary from genre to genre. YJ has blood when blood makes sense to include. When someone is stabbed or nicked with something sharp, they bleed. You wouldn't see it if you just watched a few episodes. But yes, Warner did mismanage the series, because they put a show that wasn't for kids on a network for kids television. The hired producers known for their more mature themes, they saw a storyline that was not really for kids, but they put the show on Cartoon Network and set the show in a business model meant to sell toys.

TMNT, Power Rangers, and Ben 10 are different in that they are a bit more oriented towards children.

I guess the problem is that meant to say "family show", but I grew up in an age where "Family shows" and "kid shows" are synonymous. I will agree that's a problem, perhaps the main one hindering western cartoons right now, along with televisions' general lack of genres (Mystery, action-comedy, episodic comedy, and occasionally "action-drama"[though they're usually still episodic except in rare cases] make up the vast majority of cartoons, and western live-action doesn't have much more) and cheap animation...

It's an action show that's way more of a battle of wits than a battle of brawns, so people are more willing to believe that there's more to it than mindless action, therefore making it a "required watch" for someone looking for something different, which is why many turn to anime. It's the same thing with Full Metal Alchemist, and I have no complaints.