How do you think the networks could persuade the audience that cartoons are cool?

N

nicey

New member
Note: I'm starting this thread now because of the thread regarding Negativity in Animation and the thread in the DCAU forum that talks about the hypotheticalness of Batman The Animated Series remaining in primetime. Plus I've needed to get this out in the open for sometime.

We've had discussions before about how the general public doesn't give a hoot about animation and how there's little demand for it. My stance on that and I know others share it, is that the networks misread the general audiences opinion on animation (they chalk it down to viewers disliking the medium).

My stance of course is that the general audience doesn't necessarily dislike the medium, but they avoid watching it because of the stigma that animation is for children and 40 year old virgins. I mean logically the only thing that should determine your viewing habits is Personal Preference, yet many people choose programs based off Peer Pressure.

1. Yes I know that people in general watch Family Guy, American Dad and Simpsons, but that's not really a big surprise considering they have adult content. The only exception I see in King Of The Hill. Otherwise those same viewers would watch programs that have subtle adult overtones, containing an all age appeal (i.e. Freakazoid, Pinky & The Brain, Gargoyles, Batman The Animated Series, Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, The Spectacular Spider-Man) as much as they do their dramas, sitcoms and reality shows.

2. Yes I'm aware that adults watch many of Disney's Live Action sitcoms despite them being targeted to tweens, but that's due to them having glamourous actors/actresses.

As long as it has a famous actor/actresses and/or adult content, then it's considered acceptable by social standards.

Yeah, I'm aware that my thread border's on the theme "What if the world was a better place?" but:

Let's just say that the networks factored peer pressure into one of the many reasons why their audiences don't watch cartoons. And for the sake of discussion decided to use perception to draw more viewers into animation (cause we all know that the general public won't back down from peer pressure anytime soon). My ideas:

1. Using the Disney Channel for an example. I've always suggested that they could have marathons of some of their highest rated cartoons hosted by their sitcom stars. Not only that but having the cartoons that feature voice work from said stars (such as Cole & Dylan Spouse, Raven Symone, Kyle Massey, Ashley Tisdale, etc). Because whether some viewers like animation or not, they're likely to give said show a try if it features their favorite actor/actress.

2. Not sure which channel could try it, but something of a series or short series of interviews that showcase celebrities that have a fondness for animation (I believe Mark Hammil enjoys the medium for one, and Robin Williams is an anime fan I believe. These are just examples though). Cause while sterotypes don't die, it would lessen the perception that adults who view animation are 40 year old virgins who failed at life.

3. A minor one, but generally when an adult character on a sitcom enjoys something like animation, that character is portrayed as a goofball who has no place in society. And again, people eat sterotypes up as fast as Mickey eats cheese, so the thing to do is having an adult character with an interest in animation portrayed as a humored, but reliable and senible individual.

Again, I know this is the equivilent to asking "What if the world is a better place?" but I just felt I needed to ask this question.
 
if there were cartoons made for the general audience (closesT I see is simpsons) kids watch it and adult watch it and teenS can enjoy


but we only sEe most cartoon made for kids IN AMERICA!
 
They could try a publicity stunt. Works for many live action shows.

I mean, they could just have something that looks straight out of their animated shows.
 
Take away live-action studios and make it so the only way to make shows or movies is by using animation.

That's the only way I see it working effectively in society.
 
The networks can make "cool" cartoons. Celebrities aren't going to get the mass audience to watch old cartoons that for the most part weren't written to appeal to it. Of course, the mainstream networks suck and would rather keep on giving us reality TV and bad sitcoms instead of innovating.
 
But how would my suggestions be ineffective? As long as you convince the audience that animation is cool, they'll give it a shot whether it's for kids or not.
 
Disney's been doing your first one (LA VAs in cartoons) but it, and the rest of the suggustions don't seem like it'd make animation have mainstream appeal to the casual person. You'd be hard pressed to get the average people to watch a cartoon about the exact same thing they can see in a live-action show. Which is why Family Guy and Spongebob are so popular, they can't really be done in real life.

Unless there was no LA alternative, people will always pick the LA crime-drama to the animated one. So if LA didn't exist, they'd have to choose animation.
 
Nether can Justice League/Justice League Unlimited or Gargoyles.

As far as Disney goes, they only do the first one to a minimal degree (ala commercial mention). I'm talking about a full blown marathon with the actor actively participating in it.



Not that simple. I mean, when most posters on here recap those around them criticize them, the reasons for criticism pertain to:

- "Not being cool".
- "I'd be embarassed if people knew I watched this".

Again, the majority of the viewing audience care more about the perception of those around them rather than letting themselves be entertained. To put it simple when the mindset of those who don't like animation are more along the lines of:

- "If I watch cartoons, then my parents, friends and the peace corp will never let me hear the end of it".

As opposed to

- "Just doesn't do anything for me".



That's why the majority of people rush into sex or do drugs, because they want to gain the approval of those around them.
 
My point of view is this. People enjoy something or they don't. I enjoy animation, and have never been given any attitude or ridicule about it. Never.

I have never been a victim of peer pressure either, and find it to be a cop-out idea. If someone doesn't watch something because their peers would make fun of them, then I would consider those people to be spineless sheep anyway.

My point is, if you enjoy something, enjoy it. No need to worry about what anyone else think. But, if the majority think animation is juvenile, their loss. I don't care, you shouldn't either.
 
Believe me, I'm in agreement with that. I don't bow to peer pressure either. Your statement is entirely logical, but as we know people tend to shove logic out the window when it comes to decision making.

Incidently, you've brought up the subject on how people don't like to read or to educate themselves? That's partially because being book smart read isn't seen as a good thing, but considered by the public to reek of nerdyness. To them coolness is being able to talk like a surfer or reading a teen magazine, not being able to quote Shakespeare or name all of the countries presidents.



Noted, but I as I've said, the topic crossed my mind sevral times and I felt the need to let it out.
 
From the look of this, I feel that you're completely labeling that everyone follows the status quo, gives into peer pressure, don't have any logic when making decisions and that the general public doesn't like to educate themselves because of how being book smart is looked down upon. If that's basically what you're saying, wow. That's seriously categorizing all of the general public. Just wow.

Not everyone gives into peer pressure. I honestly never did. I was made fun of for liking some cartoons, like Pokemon, when I was little, but that didn't make me go and watch South Park or The Simpisons when everyone was watching it and telling me what to do. Also, most people are fully capable of making logical decisions. That includes teenagers and kids. Does everyone make logical decisions all the time? Of course not, but that doesn't mean that every person throw logic out the window every time they make a decision.

There are people who also like to be book smart. Some people feel more comfortable with enjoying learning, such as myself, and honestly don't care what people think of them. Some people made fun of me when I did homework during recess, but that didn't make me go and join up with them to climb over fences and do goodness know what to the nearby houses. Besides that, I think talking like a surfer died out at least ten years ago, in terms of being seen as cool, and the same goes with most teen magazine, except probably Disney related ones.

Keep in mind that being looked "cool" by peers is practically irreverent. Most of the people, basically kids in elementary school through high school if we're talking about peer pressure, that kids want to seem "cool" to aren't going to see them again after they finish that particular school. What's the point in trying to look popular to people who based their opinion on you on what you like anyway?

I just wanted to get this off my chest because it felt to me that you were labeling the general public with actions that only some people do. Of course, not everyone follows what I've described either, but I made sure to mention how some people, or most people, depending on what I was specifically talking about, perform choices, not saying that everyone does it this way.

As for the topic at hand, I'm honestly not sure with what you mean by the term "cool"? If you mean cool by everyone likes it, so it has more of a general public approval cartoons, then I think that it's more important to enjoy the cartoons for yourself, not because other people like it. There are plenty of cartoons that I watch that aren't as publicly approved of, such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! DM/GX and most of the cartoons on Nick and CN that I watch but I forget the names of them at the moment, but I honestly don't care. This also goes back to my whole thing of categorizing people and since I've already covered that, I won't repeat myself.

Personally, I think what networks should do is to actually give more promotions for their cartoons. Think about it. Disney has made High School Musical and HM so popular in part because of the huge promotion they gave to each of them. If most networks did that amount of promotion for their cartoons, or somewhere around there at least, the chances are good that they would turn out better profits. While not all networks that air cartoons have stopped promotions for their shows, I think a good amount of them have reduced the promos in recent time. That's just what I think, but that might not work out for a business mindset in the long run.
 
I'm saying the majority of the general public cave into PP, not everyone. I'm sorry if I was unclear about that.



I'm full aware that there's no point in trying to look cool or glamourous to those types of people, but the fact is that there are people who do care about what others think.



I certainly do not care if anyone approves of my viewing choices if that's the impression you got. As for the definition of cool I was going for, you got it right.
 
To get back on topic:

Networks do have the unfortunate job of having to second-guess what people might like; that's why shows get canned at the start of the season, the signals weren't read correctly. Ultimately it comes down to how comfortable the network is in risking their hard earned money on a show that might not do well. Comedies and dramas are fairly safe bets, but animation? Bit of a leap of faith for almost all the networks. FOX is the exception, and look where animation got them, billions of dollars over the last 20 years.

If the networks are going to persuade the audience that cartoons are cool, they're going to have to start at the beginning, i.e. kids, right now. The objective would be to capture their attention now and hold it until they are adult. In the past, once a kid outgrew Saturday morning cartoons they were out of luck in terms of animation. Offering a full choice of cartoons aimed at all ages would be the ideal outcome, which is what I would like to see one channel in particular implement. Unfortunately, the pay-off for an idea such as this would be at least 15-20 years in coming .
 
Horrible horrible ratings also factor in. If something just bombs badly in the ratings - and you were a network programmer who valued his job - you'd probably cancel a ratings bomb too.
 
I think most of the people I know - in my age group, at least - like animation on one level or another. Certainly I've never been made fun of when I mention that I like it, and I've never seen anyone else being treated differently.
 
For my coworkers' case, don't think there's anything that'd get them to view animation differently---since they don't care at all about animation and generally seem to loathe it outright/think it's "just for kids" or is "just crude" (including stuff like "The Simpsons"). The only cartoon they seemed to like was one of those Disney cheapquals (one of the Cinderellas) or the occasional Pixar film watched with their godkids/grandchildren (my coworkers are all middle-aged to elderly age-wise)...
 
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