Adult animation, also known as mature animation, and infrequently as adult-oriented animation, is any type of animated motion work that is catered specifically to adult interests and is mainly targeted and marketed towards adults and adolescents, as opposed to children or all-ages audiences.
Animated works (includes animated films, television series, and web series) in this medium could be considered adult for any number of reasons, which include the incorporation of toilet humor, nudity, sexual content (either explicit or suggestive), graphic violence, profanity, dark comedy, political themes, or other thematic elements inappropriate for children and/or younger viewers. Works in this genre may explore philosophical, political, or social issues. [1]
Some animated productions are noted for their complex and/or experimental storytelling and animation techniques, the latter with many distinct styles have defined such unique artistry. [1]
Adult animation is typically defined as animation that skews toward adults. [2] [3] [4] [5] It is also described as something that "formative youths should stay far, far away from" [6] or has adult humor [7] [8] and comes in various styles, [9] [10] [11] [12] but especially sitcoms and comedies. [13] Some have stated that it refers to animations with "adult themes and situations", which uses "explicit language" and make jokes that adults, and occasionally teens, are "more likely to understand" than others. [14] On television, such animations often run in the evening, but they are not generally pornographic or obscene. [15] [16] AdWeek called adult animation "animated projects aimed at grown-ups, not kids." [17] They also focus on issues that adults handle, [18] and have cheeky, and occasionally crass, humor "that has no limits—bouncing between funny and offensive," while evoking a "balance of reality and fantasy". They may also contain violence or sexual themes. [19] [20]
International animators and filmmakers were among the notables of adult animation works: [21] [22]
Some television channels and their segments or blocks that focused on broadcasting adult animation:
Several highly-acclaimed adult animated films and television series were immensely recognized by international organizations and critics. They influenced animators and filmmakers over the course of the late-20th century and into the 21st century, catering such important artistic and narrative structures with mature subject matter. [21]
Conversely, several works have been largely ignored by many detractors for their depiction of graphic subject matter and sensitive topics, such as violence, race, gender, and sexuality. They still show a bias towards live-action and raunchy animated sitcoms, compared to early pioneers. However, the result is a new audience that is ready for narratively-sophisticated adult animated works and a new crop of creators exploring the adult animation space. This development allows creators to continue challenging the perceived limitations of animation. [23]
Many animators and adult animation fans, both international and non-Disney respectively, boycotted the Academy over remarking that animation was synonymous with "kids" during the 94th Academy Awards in 2022. The award for the Best Animated Feature was presented by three actresses who portrayed the Disney princess characters in live-action remakes of their respective animated films: Lily James ( Cinderella ), Naomi Scott ( Aladdin ), and Halle Bailey ( The Little Mermaid ). While introducing the category, Bailey stated that animated films are "formative experiences as kids who watch them," as James put it, "So many kids watch these movies over and over, over and over again." Scott added: "I see some parents who know exactly what we're talking about." [24]
The remarks sparked controversy and triggered most employees and filmmakers working in the animation industry as infantilizing the medium and perpetuating the stigma that animated works are strictly for children, especially since the industry was credited with sustaining the flow of Hollywood content and revenue during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. An addition to the controversy was that the award for Best Animated Short Film (the nominees for which were mostly made up of shorts not aimed at children) was one of the eight categories that were omitted in the live broadcast; some speculations suggested that the speech played a role in the decision to not broadcast the award. [24] [25] The winner for the Best Animated Short award was The Windshield Wiper , a multilingual Spanish-American film which is considered adult animated, [26] while another nominee in three categories: Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature Film, and Best International Feature Film, was Flee , a PG-13 rated animated documentary about an Afghan refugee.
Phil Lord, co-producer of one of the nominated films, The Mitchells vs. the Machines , tweeted that it was "super cool to position animation as something that kids watch and adults have to endure." The film's official social media account responded to the joke with an image reading: "Animation is cinema." [27] [28] A week later, Lord and his producing partner Christopher Miller wrote a guest column in Variety criticizing the Academy for the remark and how Hollywood has been treating animation. The column commented that "no one set out to diminish animated films, but it's high time we set out to elevate them." Alberto Mielgo, director of The Windshield Wiper, later gave an acceptance speech for the Oscar: "Animation is an art that includes every single art that you can imagine. Animation for adults is a fact. It's happening. Let's call it cinema. I'm very honored because this is just the beginning of what we can do with animation." [25] They also suggested to the Academy that the category should be presented by filmmakers who respect the art of animation as cinema. [29]
Another factor is that numerous animated films have been made for older audiences or with ranges of PG-13 or more, for those including South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut , The Triplets of Belleville , Persepolis , Waltz with Bashir , Chico and Rita , The Wind Rises , Anomalisa , My Life as a Courgette , The Breadwinner , Loving Vincent , Isle of Dogs , I Lost My Body , and Flee . Most of them were nominated in various categories, though none have won until The Boy and the Heron , officially rated PG-13 by the MPA. For the 22-year history since the inauguration, it became the first adult animated film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards; all the previous winners were either rated G or PG. [30]
The Academy Awards of Merit, commonly known as the Oscars or Academy Awards, are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the American and international film industry".
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for the best animated film. An animated feature is defined by the academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, a significant number of the major characters are animated, and animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the running time. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first awarded in 2002 for films released in 2001.
The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931–32, to the present.
The term independent animation refers to animated shorts, web series, and feature films produced outside a major national animation industry.
The History of Canadian animation involves a considerable element of the realities of a country neighbouring the United States and both competitiveness and co-operation across the border.
An animated sitcom is a subgenre of a television sitcom that is animated instead of being filmed live-action, and is generally made or created for adult audiences in most cases. The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants, South Park, and Family Guy are four of the longest-running animated sitcoms.
Atomic Cartoons, Inc. is a Canadian animation studio founded in 1999 by Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Olaf Miller, and former Warner Bros. Animation employee Rob Davies. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, it produces service animation for a wide variety of clients, as well as creating its own properties. Since 2015, the company has been owned by Thunderbird Entertainment.
Titmouse, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Los Angeles, California founded in 1999 that develops and produces animated television programming, feature films, music videos, title sequences, commercials, and short films. The name is derived of the titmouse, which serves as the company's mascot.
Cartoon Saloon is an Irish animation film, short film and television studio based in Kilkenny which provides film TV and short film services. The studio is best known for its animated feature films The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner and Wolfwalkers. Their works have received five Academy Award nominations, their first four feature length works all received nominations for Best Animated Feature and one for Best Animated Short Film. The company also developed the cartoon series Skunk Fu!, Puffin Rock, Dorg Van Dango and Viking Skool. As of 2020, the studio employs 300 animators.
Mark Justin Roiland is an American voice actor, animator, writer, and producer. He co-created the Adult Swim animated sitcom Rick and Morty, for which he voiced the protagonists Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith in seasons 1 through 6 from 2013 to 2022, as well as Hulu's Solar Opposites, in which he voiced the main character, Korvo, in seasons 1 through 3 from 2020 to 2022, until both networks severed ties with him in 2023. He had also voiced Earl of Lemongrab in Adventure Time, Blendin Blandin in Gravity Falls, and Oscar in Fish Hooks. He founded the animation studio Justin Roiland's Solo Vanity Card Productions! and the video game studio Squanch Games, though he resigned from the latter in 2023.
Adult Swim is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Showcase Television, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily airs animated and live-action comedies targeting a teenage and young adult audience. Its branding is licensed from the Adult Swim programming block broadcast by Warner Bros. Discovery's Cartoon Network; it is the first full-time television channel to use the "Adult Swim" brand.
Rick and Morty is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadventures of Rick Sanchez, a cynical mad scientist, and his good-hearted but fretful grandson Morty Smith, who split their time between domestic life and interdimensional adventures that take place across an infinite number of realities, often traveling to other planets and dimensions through portals and on Rick's flying saucer. The general concept of Rick and Morty relies on two conflicting scenarios: domestic family drama and a misanthropic grandfather dragging his grandson into hijinks.
Christy C. Karacas is an American animator, writer, producer, director, voice actor and musician. He is known for creating Superjail! and Ballmastrz: 9009 for Adult Swim and directing the Cartoon Network series Robotomy. He is also a guitarist of the rock band Cheeseburger.
Alberto Mielgo is a Spanish director, artist, and animator. His accolades include an Academy Award, four Emmy Awards and two Annie Awards. Mielgo was an Art Director at Disney's Tron: Uprising (2013) and made his debut as a director with animated short film "The Witness" (2019) created for Netflix anthology: Love, Death & Robots.
Robin Robin is a 2021 stop-motion animated musical short film produced by Aardman Animations, created and directed by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, and written by Ojari, Please, and Sam Morrison.
In the United States, before the enforcement of the Hays Code, some cartoon shorts contained humor that was aimed at adult audience members rather than children. Following the introduction of the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system, independent animation producers attempted to establish an alternative to mainstream animation. Initially, few animation studios in the United States attempted to produce animation for adult audiences, but later examples of animation produced for adults would gain mainstream attention and success. Adult animation in the United States includes shows with superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy elements. Some of the most prominent animations with these mature/adult themes include Aqua Teen Hunger Force, BoJack Horseman, South Park, Family Guy, Mission Hill, and Archer, along with other adult animated television series, feature films, and animation in other forms which helped the genre expand over the years, beyond animated sitcoms.
Arthouse animation is a combination of art film and animated film.
The Windshield Wiper is a 2021 Spanish-American computer-cel adult animated short film directed and co-produced by Alberto Mielgo alongside Leo Sánchez. The film won the award for Best Animated Short Film at the 94th Academy Awards.