From spectacles such as Up!, to anime’s that touch our hearts like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, the best stories are often told through animation. They tell stories of super heroes, flying houses, princesses, and fairy tales; yet there is a preconception that these forms of entertainment are meant for children. Animation provides a medium to get across messages and themes that transcend the barriers of age. Whether you are a nine-year-old seeing a movie for the first time, or a parent taking his daughter to the theater, anybody can have a memorable experience if they are open to it. That being said, not everybody is. This begs the question, what is it about certain animations that make it appeal to a variety of age groups?
Humor is a great way to appeal to multiple ages, if done correctly. There is a certain subtly that needs to be used when trying to incorporate humor into an animation that can appeal to multiple age groups, one animation that comes to mind is Phineas and Ferb. What seems like a harmless children’s cartoon actually doubles as a clever satire on popular culture. A great example is the episode Tip of the Day where the main point of the episode is Phineas and Ferb spreading the word about the tip of the shoelace, which they discover is called an “aglet”. They then make a pop song about aglets, which doubles as a parody of modern music. At the same time the evil scientist has a video of him as a teenager that goes viral, again making fun of the internet age. Both instances in this episode provide humor on a child and adult level simultaneously.
Animation is a timeless art, that can affect a person in any stage of life. All you have to do is be open to the experience. You can never be to old for cartoons, in fact I feel like you love them more with age. As a college student, I find myself watching a significantly larger amount of animation than I did when I was a kid. I appreciate it more, the hard work that the artist put into a character or scene, the story that the writers spend years trying to create, and even the beautiful music that composers put together. No matter the age, animation is something that can, and should, be enjoyed by people of all ages. Through this class, I know my love for animation will only grow, and even though I may grow older, I will never out grow animation.
titotot 
You make a lot of good points here. Another I would like to add is the feeling of nostalgia you get when watching something animated. When you watch something that you used to watch all the time growing up, it makes you think of the “good old days” where things were simpler. In a way, animation is a way to transport us back to our childhoods, but that doesn’t mean animation is a children-only medium. When you re-watch some of these animated shows and films like Phineas and Ferb or Animaniacs as an adult, you find that there were a lot of adult jokes that you missed growing up but can now appreciate. Not to mention there is a lot of animation for adults, like The Simpsons, Family Guy, all of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, and so forth. So I agree, you never grow out of animation.
I completely agree with you that Animation transcends age. However, I pose a question to you. Do you think that adults would be less inclined to watch cartoons if they had not watched them as a child? For me, cartoons offer me entertainment as an adult but also a taste of my childhood, which is part of the appeal for me. If we had not been brought up on a culture of Saturday cartoons, and were being introduced to them for the first time as an adult. Do you think would we have the same opinion of cartoons that we do now, or would we view them as childish? I view animation as an art form and a cherished childhood memory and adult pastime, but if you or I did not have the exposure to cartoons as a child how would this change our perspective of the art form as adults. It is just a question that came to me while reading your post.
I am glad I surfed the posts prior to writing mine, because mine would have looked strikingly familiar to yours!
Animation is fun, but can also be sad, evil, bloody and sexy. It is for the viewer to decide which genre is right for them. Growing out of cartoons? Never, not in my opinion. Growing up to cartoons, yes. I watched many a cartoon, and still remember the feelings that I had when I was a tyke watching on Saturday Mornings or after school. I got the same feeling two days ago when Mars Attacks!! came on the movie channel. Not a full out animation, but still a great cultish film with time honored CG animation. I think that when we lose that nostalgic feeling is when we have grown out of cartoons, which I hope is never.
I agree with you and Emily. I think that animation is an art form that should be appreciated, not frowned upon for being “childish”. As for her question, if we weren’t exposed to cartoons as children then perhaps we wouldn’t have this concept that it is ONLY for children. I watched cartoons all my life and my passion for animation only grew with time. It was actually one of the reasons why I became interested in film! I wanted to know how to make films that captivated audiences and how to create long-lasting characters that viewers can connect with. Animation has a lot to teach us about storytelling and character development. I don’t think I’ll ever be too old for cartoons and I don’t really think that that is something to be ashamed about.
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