What limits would you put on yourself if you did an adult animated series?

T

tommy_sangihe

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It seems with animation aimed that adults, beyond broadcast standards and practices, it's anything goes, with no limits. But if you were to do such a show (for Adult Swim, Comedy Central, what have you), what limits would you put on yourself and your staff? Me, I would:

1. Not allow any character to describe anything as "gay" or the r-word. It annoys me in real life, not to mention suggests a limited vocabulary.

2. No taking the Lord's name in vain, or general mocking of religion. I may be an agnostic, but I respect people's right to believe. Not to mention it's pretty juvenile how most shows do it. If you're going to criticize religion, do it thoughtfully.

3. No excessive bathroom humor. I'm not a fan of fart jokes, or jokes involving other bodily functions. Just because we all do certain things, doesn't mean we should dwell on them.

4. Pop culture references would be relevant to the plot/situation at hand for the characters. That goes without saying, don't it?

What say you all?
 
Lack of swear words that aren't Damn, hell, and bloody. I'd prefer to use swears that can at least seem a little tasteful when used in the proper context. (Hunchback of Notre Dame is an example,)

Lack of scenes where a woman does sexual poses for the male audiences unless I would have a sexy male pose for them alongside. Women watch TV as well.

Have a plot that isn't that easy to figure out while not being rock hard.

No use of blood unless the wounds get real severe, and even then I won't stoop to the exaggerated anime levels of blood.

Though that might qualify for my rules of all cartoon ages.
 
Indeed.



I actually would do this once in a while.



Yeah, huge problem there.



This too.

My limits would be:

-Not to be too preachy with morals (I do plan on having some morally atheistic episodes, but not that morally)

-limit swearing down to a minimum, Damn and Hell primarily is the maximum unless otherwise noted.

-Limit the limited animation, granted while it'll still sneak in, it want it to be rather lively and smooth, unlike some other shows... (Family Guy, I'm looking straight at you)

-limit the violence, again, unless noted or if it's meant to be comedic.

-Limit pop culture references to a minimum. Though it'll be rather hard since I want Tony Stark, a Bionicle character (Vorax), the Pac-Man Ghosts and three characters from an Anime (this case being eX-Driver) in the series *though to be fair, I'd ask for permission first*. Beyond the characters in question, most references are mostly either homages or parodies and are kept mostly in check and limited to a fair extent.

-No jokes about Peter (a swordfish) and his nose looking like a... you know. Only exception would be in an argument or a character being rude and boastful.

-While on the subject, Sex Jokes are kept to only one character (Sam, a Stickman) due to his personality.

-And finally, definitely no on screen deaths. I'm going for a comedy, not a drama. Only exception would be if the character being killed are the Ghosts *technically impossible* or a robot character. Blood or a gruesome aftermath can be seen though.

Not a lot of restictions due to the nature of the comics I'm making based with these characters, but still a fair amount anyways.
 
I... wouldn't limit myself, to be honest. Not the way you guys are. I've never cared for excessive gross out humor, swearing, or sexual innuendo, but quite frankly, I've found myself laughing at all of those when done well.

Sometimes a fart joke out of the blue is the best thing, others a simple painfully lame pun does the trick. When it comes to action, I like good fight choreography and prefer not to rely on buckets of blood - but sometimes buckets of blood are HILARIOUS.

I'd just keep the writing smart and avoid relying on formulas. Know the limits of the character, and when to push those limits. How over the top do I want a comedy scene? Or should it be quiet, sneaky comedy? How subtle should a touching moment be? Is it a serious fight, or a stupid fight? How much emotional impact should there be? Is the moment ruinable? Should it be ruined? There's a thuuuumb tack under my hiney.

SO MANY THINGS TO CONSIDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The only limitation would be whether or not it makes the story better. In a comedy, all that matters is that it's funny. In a drama, all that matters is that it's interesting. In an action story, all that matters is that it's visually dynamic.


I don't believe in holding anything back for any other reason.
 
I'd apply the same rules for an adult animated series that I use for my writing style in general:


  • No excessive swearing beyond the occasional "damn" or "hell". To me, substituting the really bad swears with wacky sound effects is funnier.
  • I'd avoid topical humor and a ton of jokes and stories relating to now. No turning current events and top news stories of the day into episode plots. Today's topical reference is tomorrow's dated reference.
  • No mocking of God and/or religion. I fall firmly into the "to each his own" philosophy; I wouldn't want others making light of my belief system, so I wouldn't mock anyone else's.
  • No jokes on politics, politicians or political ideologies, unless I could do so in an abstract way, like creating fake characters and parties. Same reasoning as with religion: my political views are my own business, so I'm not going to make my show a soapbox to spout my views or to decry anyone else's.
  • There'd be very little, if any, jokes about gross bodily functions. Yeah, we all do them, but that doesn't make any and every reference or depiction of them funny. I'd avoid frat-boy/locker room humor at all costs.
  • I don't need to put a restriction on blood or violence since my show would be a comedy, not an action show.

-But aside from those things, anything goes. Talking animals and other sentient creatures, wild takes, and far-out stuff like robots and magic powers would be fair game and likely to be depicted. Adult audience or not, I'd want to push the envelope and make my shows as cartoony as possible. I don't do animated reality.
 
If I were creating a more mature animated series I would put extreme emphasis on strong storytelling and characters. In the end that is what really matters and makes a series memorable. I think somewhere down the line adult got eqauted with, making a series as dark and grim as possible, loading it up with gratitious violence, and making it as vulgar as possible. My series will have none of these cliches.

I also agree with Silverstar. Politics is best to be left out of animation. And I also despise bathroom humor.
 
I would:

- Limit the blood.
- No (or very little) pop culture refrences
- Avoid potentially contraverial topics like religion
- No swearing above "hell" or "damn". Maybe as far as "ass" but only if it is used to mean "buttocks" and not part of an insult.
- No over the top sex scenes/references.
- No drugs addicts. Maybe a few jokes, but I don't want any of my characters to be crackheads or anything
 
I wouldn't do anything inappropriate at all. My cartoon would probably be TV-G, but more aimed at adults then children, focusing on more adult situations.
 
I agree with that about calling things gay. Back when I was in high school people would call thinsg gay and I didn't know that "gay" was another term for stupid... Whenever somebody would say something or somebody was gay i thought they mean tthe sexual meaning. Now, the R-word, I'm not against using, especially to make fun of others.



I agree with that one.



I don't think bathroom humor is as funny as I used to think. I think I'd only use bathroom humor if I thought the bathroom/gross-out humor had some kind of quality to the joke. Of course I do think eating or drinking body functions is quality humor.

Aside from those, I would limit any gay characters or jokes, only using them if neccessary. And I'd want to avoid humor based on current events as much as possible (though considering cartoons take months to complete, it would be hard to make current event jokes).
 
Yes. And the reason for this goes back to the mindset of "all animation = kids' stuff." So the only way you can get adults to watch animation is to take refuge in vulgarity or violence. Because then adults can watch it and not feel like they'll get made fun of for it.

If I was making a show, I'd want to make a cartoon that appeals to adults, but also isn't drastically inappropriate.



This, definitely.



I dunno about this one. Does anybody actually care if somebody says "oh my God"? I live in the south, and even I've never heard anybody freak out over it.

But on the subject of mocking religion, I doubt I would. Maybe subtle jabs, but never complete mockery.



Yes yes yes yes for the love of pete, THIS. Funny how so much of the "adult" animation has the most juvenile humor. Most of the humor in my show would probably come from situations and dialog. Think Home Movies...



I also agree here, not because I dislike pop culture references (I'm a huge South Park fan) but I wouldn't want my show to revolve around them or get dated because of them. I'd exile any Family Guy-type jokes...

I wouldn't have any over the top violence on my show. Any action wouldn't go past something you'd see on The Powerpuff Girls. Not a fan of unnecessary amounts of blood.

As far as swearing goes, if it's on Adult Swim, then I'd allow for damn, ass, and hell. Those aren't that bad in my eyes.

No in-your-face political messages, either. I don't want to be annoying.
 
Why limit gay characters? Would you say to put a limit to black characters or Jewish characters?

My only limit would be it has to be good. Almost any content can work in the proper context; that same content in another context could be offensive or stupid. Quality and sensibility are the rule, as it should be for all entertainment.
 
No limit... do whatever I feel is necessary to make a good show; don't rule anything out and open your mind to everything keeping all options on the table.
 
For one, I am annoyed that so many modern sitcoms seem to have to have gay regular characters. I guess it is funny if it's a misunderstanding, but I'm straight and proud of it. Sure, some gay characters can be funny (Smithers from The SImpsons, Herbert from Family Guy), and my opinions on celebrities don't change if I learn they are gay. I feel there's more for me to say, but some things are easier to think about than explain.

With black and jewish characters, I'm not sure. I don't really think jewish stereotypes are very funny. But I don't think I'd write any regular character as any specifically stated religion. There's one idea Ive had for an adult animated series for years, and I've never really thought about a black character (especially back when I started to learn about classic cartoons being censored due to blakc stereotypes). Somehow I feel like if I did include black characters they'd be written like white characters.

Now that I think more about it, whether in live-action or animation, I think I'd be more likely to include characters of other races and ethnicies if the actors happen to be those races or ethnicies. Race and religion shouldn't really matter.
 
You know that sounds kind of bigoted, right? Now, if you're annoyed with so many gay STEREOTYPES, that's different, but if a character just happens to be gay, what's the problem?
 
Yeah, I plan on having a Gay character (Pinky of the Pac-Man Ghosts, though not overtly so) and a Black character (Mr. Thompson, a teacher) as recurring characters. So I wouldn't really put a limit on it.

But then again, I'm talking about a series that stars a swordfish, a crustacean, a stickman, two potted plants with exaggerated proportions, four killer ghosts, a Marvel Superhero, some Scorpion-man-thing and numerous other people and creatures in a (fictional) town that's in Arizona with a Lion as a mayor.

Now tell me if that sounds like a premise that sounds absurd. Cause I know it is.
 
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