Girl centered/targeted cartoons would be unsuccessful: Founded or unfounded?

S

SummerLovin

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http://www.rabroad.net/forums/showthread.php?t=264197

Back in this thread we discussed cartoons that were rejected not because the premise was new and would possibly fail, but premises that were a proven success and thus didn't make sense for said premise to be rejected.

In this case, I'm talking about programs that feature a female protagonist. Disney, Cartoon Network and Nick seem to be unwilling or hesitant to greenlight programs that center around said gender protagnist on the grounds that it would most likely be a failure. Nick seems to be willing to go outside the safety zone with Nicktoons acquiring WinX Club and whatever network airing the miniseres Avatar The Legend of Korra (though it could just be reassuring to them due to Avatar being in the title).

But I find it to be an unfounded belief.

1. Shows like She-Ra The Princess of Power got at least an additional season, indicating a strong interest in the show.

- She-Ra went from 65 to 93 episodes.
- Jem lasted from 85 to 88 with three seasons with a total of 65 episodes. And in the middle portion of the decade, it was pretty seldom that a cartoon would make it over 26 episodes.

2. Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel and Cartoon Network each had a successful girl centered program:

- Nickelodeon had The Wild Thornberrys which ran for a good five years with 91 episodes and even a theatrical movie.

- Before Phineas and Ferb, the first Disney Channel cartoon to break the 65 episode rule was Kim Possible which had a strong following, and made it to 87 episodes. Ran from 2002 to 2007. And heck, Lilo & Stitch got a good 65 episode run and a few movies.

- Powerpuff Girls was definitely a ratings hit back in the day, and even got a theatrical movie (granted the movie didn't perform well, the fact that it even got a chance for a theatrical release says a lot). And I'm pretty sure that Sailor Moon did quite well for Toonami.


So if not for these occurances, I could possibly get behind the idea that cartoons targeted to the female audience or cartoons with a strong female lead would be a failure.

Your thoughts?
 
Eh, these days Cartoonnetwork seems to be all "we are purposely targeting a male demographic for teh advertising" so i get it with them i guess.

Anyway, i don't really agree about Disney or Nickelodeon being hesitant to make female led shows, they make plenty of girl centered shows, unless you mean girl centered cartoons, if so il just counter that neither of them seem to be at all interested in making cartoons at all these days IMO.
 
Well, I don't think it could happen, today for a few reasons, outside of a educational programming. Today's male viewer seems to be used, to male leads, accomplishing things and growing as well, being funny and entertaining. Today's female viewer seems to be use to the typical stereotype that, girls are suppose to be girlie and act stuck-up while, also acting mature, shows such as Hannah Montana and Shake it Up! seem, to reinforce this idea. Shows, with female leads doing adventurous things like Sabrina:The Animated Series, Totally Spiez!, Atomic Betty, Sailor Moon, or Winx Club have been successful with me, and I've known girls to watch these shows on a regular basis. I'm not sure, if the female audience of today would give it a chance, there so use to Disney Sitcoms, but I wouldn't know, since Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, or Nicklodeon hasn't given the idea a real chance, but Nicktoons is with the premiere of Winx Club soon. So, why I am unsure of the idea, I have a feeling it will work.
 
Well technically, shows like iCarly and Wizards of Waverly Place have female leads, and those seem successful, but they're live-action, so they don't really qualify.

That new My Little Pony might qualify, though it seems way more popular with the non-female audience from what I've noticed. Maybe they're just more noticeable.

Anyway, it is quite strange that they don't think animated fare targeting girls or starring them wouldn't be successful. Even 4kids found some success with their girl shows back in the Fox days, since DoReMi, Mew Mew and Winx Club were consistently strong performers on the block. I even recall that the only reason they dropped Mew Mew was because they couldn't find a partner to distribute licensed products, which is why they dropped it halfway.
 
Yeah, I never really agreed with the idea that girl centered programs wouldn't be successful. There have been quite a few really successful girl centered series in recent years like Hannah Montana, even though I've never really watched much of it, and Kim Possible. Kim Possible was popular enough to warrant a fourth season after it ended with So The Drama due to fan campaigns. I totally forgot about Nick's The Wild Thornberrys though and that's a pretty good point.

Though, nowadays, I don't really see a lot of girl centered cartoons. Both Nick and Disney have a couple of live action series that appeal to the female audience with active female leads, but I can't really think of any recent cartoon series that they've had that was girl centered. They did air Totally Spies, but I'm not sure how successful that is, even with its spin-off series. As for Winx Club, while it isn't too popular in the U.S., from what I've read, it's pretty big in Italy with having over a hundred episodes aired thus far and two movies released in theaters in amazing CGI, based on the press-release images I saw for both movies.
 
Well, I know the DC/WB guys seem to be hesitant to give a female superhero her own movie for the same reasons, so I imagine their animation departments are under the same edict.
 
I dont understand why people seem to think that a show with a female lead must automatically be aimed primarily at a female audience. Nobody assumes that all shows with male leads are aimed primarily at males.
 
That's why I specifically refered to the programs as girl centered to begin with. Heck, aside from She-Ra, it seems like the shows I've listed are for the general audience.


Incidentally, how is My Little Pony performing anyway? I mean I'd think that if the show could be a ratings success on a network that not many people have access to, then maybe it would disprove the idea that cartoons featuring girls or targeted to girls are a definite failure.
 
I rather doubt it... I think the network executives would sooner conclude that My LIttle Pony's success came more from its name brand recognition rather than being a genuinely well written show... I think we are gonna need more ORIGINAL cartoons with female leads to disprove the idea. And i mean a lot more since the ones we got are too few and far inbetween to get executives to think otherwise

Y'know i think i recently read that this was an issue for lauren faust... she's been trying for a long time to start a girl's show of her own but executives turned her away because of the idea that girl shows don't work. My Little Pony was the only shot she had to make a girl show and she took it (though another reason she took it was because she liked the toys when she was a kid)... likely the reason hasbro did this because they knew they could sell it
 
Sure, but that's 7 cartoons that didn't just do ok/good, but pretty well.

I mean Powerpuff Girls was pretty much CN's top show at the time (even boasting more ratings than Ed, Edd and Eddy). Plus, it and The Wild Thornberrys got theatrical movies. And even in a time when it was somewhat common for a cartoon series to get theatrical movie, it still couldn't have been an easy thing to accomplish.

And at the time, Disney had a pretty strict policy on episodes. 65 being the highest amount allow. And up until P&F, it was the girl centered cartoon which got more episodes.

As for She-Ra and Jem. Up until the later portions of the 80s, it was pretty common for many cartoons to see an early end at 13-26 episodes. So to get 65 or 93 episodes isn't something to overlook.
 
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