How Our Parents Ruined Animation For Us

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

You have just discovered an amazing piece of entertainment, whether it be a show or a film. As a result, you want to enjoy this experience with your friend. Naturally, you approach them with intense excitement. You WANT them to enjoy what you had the privilege of watching. You KNOW they would enjoy it. If they only gave it a chance.

They may even be halfway into the idea of watching...

..until they learn that it's animated.

Then at the speed of lightning withers away what little excitement they had.

They'll tell you something like, “Oh it's a cartoon? Okay....” (with the flattest enthusiasm ever).

However you think, “Hold up.”

This friend is a gigantic fan of shows like “South Park” and Family Guy.” Therefore, it seems like they DO have space for animation in their life. What gives, then?

Suddenly I had a realization.

The common person (in The West) is conditioned only to appreciate roughly two types of animation, and I'll describe those types below:

1.) The “Simpsons” clone- You know what I'm talking about. The sorts of adult animated comedies commonly broadcast on FOX whether it be Family Guy or even Comedy Central's South Park.

2.) “Family-friendly” animation, such as Disney, Pixar, or Dreamworks.

Depending on the person, they may not even be able to appreciate “family-friendly” animation. Some may dismiss the medium altogether. Let's look at a film like “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.” This is a movie regularly considered great my many people. However it did not reach the success of its live-action predecessors. It was a film that gradually developed legs at the box office due to its astounding word-of-mouth. Why did it take so long for the public to embrace it?

Simple.

It was animated.

That is literally it.

Have you ever thought about why 2019's Lion King remake exists? (Beyond money).

Think about it.

It tells nearly beat from beat the same story from the 1994 animated film.

You may something like, “It would be cool to see what it'd look like with real lions.”

Except they weren't real lions.

Everything you saw in that film was made by a computer.

In fact, it was every bit as animated as the 1994 animated film.

So why spend a crazy amount of money to animate an almost complete copy of the original film? Why bother with the entire ordeal? So that we could see “real lions?”

The answer?

The common adult believes that animation is beneath them.

Oh sure, they may enjoy Pixar films in the moment so that they bond with their niece, or they may laugh at the immature absurdity of Peter Griffin. However when it comes to truly appreciating the craft of animation...they remain closed off to a bewildering degree.

What is the source of this dismissal?

Where on Earth does it come from?

Well when you truly dig deep, it likely comes from whoever raised you.

As children, we tend to emulate whatever our parents do. We silently take note of how they act and how they talk. Our child brains then takes that and sees it as the standard for how to go about life.

So think about it.

If Mom and Dad are dismissive toward animation...

…wouldn't you be too?

Now they may take you to the latest animated film because it's considered age-appropriate. However did Mom and Dad truly marvel at the animation? Did they speak about the tremendously hard work that the artists must have done? Is it a movie that they earnestly talked about at the dinner table? What about with other grown-ups?

OR

Was it a movie where Mom and Dad were huffing and puffing to take you to see? Maybe they never talked about the movie afterwards. You may overhear them complaining to other grown-ups about being forced to see whatever animated movie was out there. Thus you may have internalized it as annoying to your parental figures.

Let's take it a step further.

As you get older, you start to treat those animated films in much the same manner as your parents did. You huff and puff when your younger sister needs you to take her. You'll complain about it to your friends who have “outgrown” cartoons. In order to be more of a grown-up, you may hope that your parents even overhear this. Oh, but what's this? Dad is laughing at an episode of “King of The Hill?” I thought cartoon were for kids. Oh...but that's different. That's an ADULT cartoon.

I guess that's okay for me to like.

You start to watch shows like Family Guy or Futurama. Those shows are cool. Not like those lame Disney movies.

What about an adult cartoon that isn't a comedy?

Suddenly you may be slower to watch it.

It doesn't fit the paradigm for that was modeled for you.

You don't know why you don't want to watch it. All you know is that you don't feel like it.

It may feel weird. It may feel off-putting.

You just don't know.

If you are like the common layman, there is a good chance that you have been conditioned to only like a narrow definition of animation.

Your parental figures likely contributed to your dismissive feelings toward the medium. After all, your kid self wanted to be grown up. If the grown ups around you aren't enthusiastic about the medium of animation, why would you be?

Therefore my parting words are this:

Be skeptical of your animation biases. Question them. Examine them.

When you're watching that animated Disney movie, “Am I in the present moment, or am I too busy trying to be a grown-up and acting like I'm too good for this?”

When watching something that doesn't fit within your animation parameters, ask: “Is this film/show truly weird...or is it just something I'm not used to.”

Perhaps you simply need to broaden your horizon.

The potential for animation is limitless. Why try to shove it inside of a box?

Maybe animation just isn't for you, and that's fair too.

At least question why.

Hopefully it's not an answer like, “Because I'm too old for it.”

That would be such a waste.