I’ve said in the past how much of a fan of animation I was. As a medium, it is incredibly versatile and expressive in a way live action film or tv isn’t. One of my favorite directors of all time, Guillermo del Toro, recently said the following about his recent adaptation of Pinocchio on Netflix: “We wanted to show that animation is not a genre for kids. It’s a medium. Animation is film, animation is art, and it can tell stories that are gorgeous and complex, and that feel handmade by humans for humans.”

Now that is a take I can wholeheartedly agree with. There is definitely a stigma (one that is slowly getting pushback) that says that animation is “childish” or “just for kids”, and when they aren’t for kids, they are usually viewed as relying on vulgar humor like South Park, Family Guy or Rick and Morty. This phenomena has been dubbed the “animation age ghetto” by TV Tropes.

Now I find this view to be a rather myopic look at an entire art form. So how exactly did we get here?

Animation in film had much of its development alongside live action counterparts.

Animated features got their breakthrough with Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. While other animated features existed beforehand, this movie was tremendously successful with praise from contemporary critics.

The 1940s saw several animated features fail at the box office due to World War II cutting off many of the foreign markets for films. This also discouraged companies from putting out animated features.

Animation did enjoy a bit of a boost from the US government as wartime propaganda to encourage purchases of war bonds and collecting scrap metal for the war effort.

The 1940s were a successful time for the theatrical shorts shown before movies to set the mood for the audience (a tradition that Pixar still likes to do occasionally). This is where a lot of the Looney Tunes characters debuted, where new Disney characters were added, and works like the Fleischer Superman cartoons debuted.

But this golden age of animation would see its decline in the 1950s and 1960s. Limited animation and cost cutting measure made producing animation for television much easier. While theatrical shorts would often depict violence and innuendo not suitable for children, tv would be frequently targeted at children in time slots such as early morning, weekday afternoons, or early evening.

Many adults were disinterested in the low quality of much of this programming with only children able to really tolerate it. This was likely not helped at all by television being marked at the time as something to keep the kids distracted and quiet.

Outside of the USA, Japan was seeing the rise of anime with works like Astro Boy (1963), Kimba the White Lion (19651966) and Speed Racer (1967). Anime would also make its way to Europe and have an impact on animation studios there (we’ll get back to that).

The 1970s did see a rise in adult oriented animation, a notable example being Fritz the Cat from 1972, a movie based on comic books by Robert Crumb. The film was the first animated feature to receive an X-rating. This movie was written and directed by Ralph Bakshi wanted to break animation away from being seen as a medium for children and saw the potential for animation to be used to tell more dramatic and satirical storylines with larger scopes. Bakshi would go on to make other animated films including Wizards (1977), The Lord of the Rings (1978), and Fire and Ice (1983).

The 1980s are often seen as a low point in American animation with formulaic television series that largely existed as toy commercials including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and The Transformers. Part of these product driven series was a response to the success of Star Wars and the toyline produced by Kenner, but federal deregulation also had a hand in these series as well. Ronald Reagan deregulated advertising at the start of the 1980s, before, there were several guidelines such as a minimum of 14 hours of programming for children of all ages throughout the week, no commercials during the children’s shows, and hosts on children’s shows could not sell. Shows would also have to disclose when a commercial was beginning (this is where the “we’ll be right back after these messages” came from).

With no more regulations, this is why the 1980s saw an explosion of toys, cartoons, fast food and junk food.

Now that isn’t to say some of those shows didn’t have some merit, Transformers had many contemporary sci-fi authors penning scripts and some episodes depicted heavy topics about war such as the episode The Golden Lagoon (granted there were also a ton of episodes that were really, really stupid. Looking at you B.O.T., you know what you did).

Outside the US, Europe would begin introducing shows such as The Smurfs, Snorks, Inspector Gadget, and Danger Mouse. While Japan would see an explosion of anime based upon manga including Fist of the North Star and Dragon Ball. The 80s also saw the rise of several theatrical animated features including proto-Studio Ghibli film Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind (1984) and the violent post-apocalyptic cyberpunk anime Akira (1988).

The late 80s in America saw a renaissance in animation with series like Mighty Mouse (produced by Ralph Bakshi) recapturing the feel of older American cartoons, and movies like the live action/ animation gestalt Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, a movie that also harkened back to older toons.

The rise of MTV in 1981 also popularized music videos as a medium with several involving animation.

But the biggest game changer to come out of the 80s was in April of 1987 with The Simpsons.

For those of a certain age, it can be easy to forget how much of a juggernaut The Simpsons was. What began as a short sketch for The Tracey Ullman Show (ask your parents…or maybe your grandparents at this point?), was soon incredibly ubiquitous. The 90s in particular had the “Bartmania” phenomena with the character Bart Simpson being seen everywhere on t-shirts and advertising. The Simpsons was a show that could be enjoyed by a variety of people from all ages. There was slapstick and sight gags for the kids, but also sassy humor and witty dialogue that older viewers could enjoy. I mean, I don’t think a single day goes by that at least one Simpsons reference or line pops into my head as being appropriate for a given situation.

The Simpsons was a definite trend setter and other shows skewed to an older audience debuted like Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, The Critic, Futurama, and Family Guy (also Fish Police, but nobody remembers that….yes not even you!).

The 90s were also a period of success for Disney, such that the era is referred to as the “Disney Renaissance”, this is where classics like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan, Aladdin, and Hercules got their start.

Television was also revitalized in the 90s with the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon featuring many different and diverse animated series. But on the television side, Cartoon Network that really pushed animation for a generation. The 24-hour cable network showcased many old Hanna-Barbara and Looney Tunes series before eventually introducing original programing thought the Cartoon Cartoons series. Cartoon Network would be the home for many popular series such as Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, The Powerpuff Girls, and Ed, Edd n Eddy.

To further cement its influence, Cartoon Network also introduced a generation to anime via their Toonami block of programming with shows like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Voltron, Robotech, Tenchi Muyo, Ronin Warriors, Big O, Outlaw Star and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing all showing during the block. Toonami also featured a midnight run of series with more blood and violence than its daytime counterparts.

The one-two punch of Toonami and the rise of the internet helped to put a dent in the perception of animation as being strictly aimed at a younger audience. The internet itself allowed animators and artists of all stripes to share their work in ways that could never happen before.

While animation aimed at children and families still persists, there is certainly a movement that sees the medium for what it is. The stigma still exists, I know people in my life who won’t watch a series on recommendation simply because it is animated. The Academy Awards still sees fit to push animation off into a separate category seemingly so it doesn’t competed with what they deem to be “real film”, a take that ignores animation growing up alongside film as a medium.

These blanket statements on animation have really irked me because there is so much good content out there that people are ignoring. It is the same feeling I get when someone says they won’t watch a film because it is in black and white or because it is in another language. Why would you cut yourself off and limit what media you could be seeing? It makes little sense to me, but I’d encourage anyone reading to give animation a chance. Some of the deepest and most heartfelt stories are told via animation. So I’ll end this long winded column with a call to action. Go watch more animated content, ask your peers what is good. Animation is made up of so many genres and styles that I guarantee you’ll find something appealing.