“Hey, I have a show you’d love,” I say, and I see my friend’s eyes light up at the prospect of some juicy new content. “It’s an animated series…”
You probably know what happens after those four words. The friend’s eyes lose their glow, and they possibly start glancing around the room for something else to glom onto. Perhaps they say they don’t want to watch a cartoon. They “aren’t into animation.” No matter what you throw at the wall, it won’t stick.
Perhaps you’re lucky, reader, and have a social circle firmly entrenched in the wonderful world of animation. I’ve got a fair few friends who enjoy the occasional animated adventure and a few who happily watch thousand-episode anime series for breakfast. But many of my comrades range from being extremely wary to outright against animation.
What’s a writer to do, then, when he can’t understand why people—people who love live-action stories and consume them in large quantities—bristle at the prospect of watching an animated show or movie?
Conduct a survey, of course.
I sent a survey about animation to thirty of my closest friends and family members. I received 21 responses, many of which were incredibly thoughtful and revealing. Below, I aim to use their responses to answer two questions: (1) Why do people balk at animation, and (2) Are there shows/movies that can change their minds?
Let’s Look at the “Data”
Before we go any further, I’d like you to understand that this was a pretty homogeneous group of responders: Most are Midwesterners in the 25-34 age range. So take all of my “findings” with a heaping pile of salt. Also, please note I am about the furthest thing from a market research expert, though I did consult my father-in-law, who makes his living in the field, while constructing the survey.
Here’s a rundown of some key questions. Later, I’ll include longer-form answers from individual participants to help us make more sense of these results.
Gut reaction time: in general, do you enjoy animated TV shows and movies?
- 85.7% Yes
- 14.3% No
Good start!
1 being “not at all” and 5 being “I love it and watch it frequently,” how much would you say you enjoy animated movies and TV shows?
- 1: 9.5%
- 2: 0%
- 3: 23.8%
- 4: 38.1%
- 5: 28.6%
This is more encouraging than I expected. It shows that most respondents enjoy animation to some degree, if and when they watch it.
To the nearest 10%, what percentage of animation do you think is geared specifically to kids/young viewers?
- 0%—0% of respondents
- 10%—0% of respondents
- 20%—4.8% of respondents
- 30%—14.3% of respondents
- 40%—9.5% of respondents
- 50%—14.3% of respondents
- 60%—9.5% of respondents
- 70%—23.8% of respondents
- 80%—23.8% of respondents
- 90%—0% of respondents
- 100%—0% of respondents
I included this question to gauge preconceived notions about who animation is for. The answers fell right where I expected. The vast majority of respondents believe most animation is geared toward kids.
Considering recommendations from friends and family, critical reception, general buzz/word of mouth, how likely are you to watch an animated show or movie recommended to you? 1 being “not at all” and 5 being “almost certain.”
- 1: 0%
- 2: 14.3%
- 3: 19%
- 4: 23.8%
- 5: 42.9%
Here’s another hopeful answer. People seem generally likely to accept a recommendation and give animated content a try.
To the nearest 10%, what percent of movies and TV shows you watch would you say are animated?
- 0%—0% of respondents
- 10%—28.6% of respondents
- 20%—14.3% of respondents
- 30%—23.8% of respondents
- 40%—4.8% of respondents
- 50%—14.3% of respondents
- 60%—4.8% of respondents
- 70%—0% of respondents
- 80%—4.8% of respondents
- 90%—4.8% of respondents
- 100%—0% of respondents
I’d be floored if anyone said 0% or 100%, so that checks out. The 10-30% range contains most responses, though, and it makes more sense with the context of the next question added.
Which type of content do you watch more?
- Live Action: 57.1%
- Animation: 14.3%
- Both equally/don’t care about the format as long as it’s entertaining: 28.6%
Live action comprises the majority of viewing for most people, and the result didn’t surprise me. It lines up well with the question above, which shows people tend to dedicate a small portion of their viewing time to animation.
In general, (in terms of both animation AND live-action), which of the following formats do you prefer?
- Movies/specials (one-sitting viewing experiences): 4.8%
- TV/streaming series (episodic viewing): 61.9%
- Both equally: 33.3%
Tangentially related, but I thought this question would help hone recommendations for animation-hesitant viewers.
What does it all mean?
These quick-hit answers helped confirm most of my gut impressions about people’s attitudes toward animation. They generally prefer live-action, believe animated shows/movies are mostly for kids, and will only give something a try if they hear buzz about it.
That said, there’s still a cadre of people within my responder pool eager to gobble up animated goodness, so it’s not all bad news.
Beyond these data points, I included various questions with open-ended response fields, and that’s where people really shared how they felt.
Relationships to Animation
I first asked responders to describe their relationship to animation. Some offered paragraph-long depictions of their Saturday-morning cartoon binges growing up.
“I was a TV kid through and through,” says Dylan. “I always knew animation and it was always something I loved and didn’t really think about. I would watch the Power Rangers kick butt, then switch to SpongeBob SquarePants without missing a beat. These were entertaining, funny shows, and I didn’t care how they looked.” No surprise, then, that Dylan is one of my most animation-savvy friends. I credit him with getting me into Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which is now an all-time favorite.
Others echo Dylan’s thoughts.
“I grew up with animation, and have enjoyed watching animation grow up with me,” says Ian. “I couldn’t have imagined, watching 2D Saturday morning cartoons in the 1980s, that the artform would evolve to the point where the 3D characters in Monsters, Inc., for example, would be covered in hair that I could practically feel just by looking at the screen.”
Bonnie notes how animation was crucial to her upbringing: “I feel like I have grown up with animation. My family is Asian and my parents and other family members introduced anime/chibis/kawaii characters into my childhood at a young age. It was also a way for us to bring in more Asian culture into our Americanized home.”
“Growing up” appeared as a phrase in many responses to this question, though the connotations differed. One friend‚ Jacob, who actually inspired this article during an hours-long conversation we had about animation—uses it differently.
He says: “I loved [animation] as a kid and then I ‘grew up’ in a sense and started watching live action. I know in my heart that this is an immature view of the genre, but with so many things on my watch list, animation falls to the back-burner.”
There’s a through-line here. On one end of the spectrum, you have folks who grew up watching animation, then stopped. On the other end, folks who grew up with animated content simply never left it behind. But, as with any spectrum, there are lots of identities filling in the spaces between those two extremes.
“I watch animation right now because I have a toddler… I’m not opposed to it, just haven’t watched anything I’m super excited about,” says Amanda.
Colin, meanwhile, says: “I enjoy Disney/Pixar movies and some comedic animated shows, but I almost never watch or particularly enjoy dramatic animation.”
Then Richard (the same father-in-law who helped me build the survey), brought up an excellent point: “Not a big fan unless the animation only plays a supporting role to live action, like Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy.” For some, animation becomes more palatable when it’s nestled in an existing live-action property.
Rounding out the responses are a few one-word answers: “Positive,” says Julia. “Pleasant,” says Heather, a self-proclaimed Disney fanatic. “Nostalgic,” offers Chris, potentially hinting that he grew up with animation like many others.
Everyone has a different relationship with animation. There are some opinions that will be hard to change. It’s okay, after all, to simply not like something and seek out content you do enjoy. However, many responders, like Amanda above, expressed tepid interest in animation with the potential to grow, were they to find the right show or movie. I’ll dive into recommendations further down in the piece, but for now, I want to explore what makes people feel one way or the other about animation.
Likes & Dislikes
By far the most common “like” among the people I surveyed is animation’s limitless potential.
“Animation allows shows to accomplish things that could not be done on the budget of a comparable show,” says Wu. “Multiple varied locations, fantastical backgrounds, massive crowds, and more aren’t possible in live-action except at a huge cost. This lets animated works be more ambitious in the kinds of stories they are able to tell.”
Possibilities. Animation is chock-full of ‘em, and those who enjoy the format seem to appreciate that aspect.
“You are not constrained to the real world,” says Matt.
“Fantasy and mythology are not cheesy when it’s animated,” says Sher.
Only one person couldn’t drum up any “likes.” That same ol’ pesky-but-lovable father-in-law dropped a “Not much” in response to this question. Sadness!
Pushing boundaries, limitless possibilities, and untethered storytelling. The vast majority of responses mentioned these ideas in some form or fashion.
Dislikes cover a much larger range.
“It is hard for me to emotionally connect to animated characters and believe their story arcs,” says Jacob.
Jim, however, doesn’t like the way others react to animation: He dislikes “that other people think it’s childish.”
More short answers enter the fray here, citing such dislikes as “Anime,” “potty humor,” “weird moving mouths,” and “it can be very gory.”
Chris says: “There are no problems with animation. There are many problems with bad stories and shallow characters.” Bingo, Chris.
“Some of it drags on too long and becomes too overwhelming to get into,” says Cameron, probably referencing Naruto, One Piece, and similar long-running anime. “Some great animation series are hundreds of episodes long and I hate starting shows that I know I’ll never get closure on.” (Okay, he’s definitely talking about One Piece.)
Here’s where I, as the writer of this article, insert my opinion! I believe everyone’s answers here are valid and should be appreciated.
I also believe, based on some of the responses, that many responders count animation out after one or two bad experiences without accounting for the vast pool of content available to them.
I have a hunch. I think many folks tend to lump “animation” into a single, nebulous genre, and it’s hard to break from that way of thinking. For that reason, they tend to bounce off and break away from animated content. Part of the problem could indeed be the gargantuan volume of content. How can you seek the kind of content you like when you’re unfamiliar with the format and there are thousands of shows? It’s a big hurdle, and I understand that.
Barriers To Entry
Speaking of hurdles!
Truthfully, most seem content to live in their chosen world, whether it includes animation or eschews it. A few reasons beyond the dislikes above popped up as barriers to the world of animation, though.
“I’m not a big fan of animated shows that lean into crudeness,” says Julia, citing Family Guy, South Park, and similar shows.
Stacy says “Potty humor,” and you bet she was the same person who said it above. But others disagree. Michael noted such shows as his favorite animation to watch. He just wants a good, stupid laugh.
“Dubs vs. subs,” says Dylan. “Sometimes I want to watch a show as I’m doing something else. If it’s an animated show with subtitles I have to read, I’ll have to hold off till I can give it my full attention.”
Matt brings up a point I want to reiterate before we dive into recommendations. “Now that I’m an adult I would enjoy animation more if there was more targeted to adults. The adult animated series tend to lean heavier in comedy, which is great, but I’d also like to see more dramas.”
[There are still a few sections to go until we reach the end of this discussion, dear readers, but please feel free to skip down and add your favorite animated dramas to the comments immediately, so Matt can get started right away!]
Animation vs. Live Action
Near the end of the survey, I asked responders to talk about the differences between live-action and animated content. I wanted to establish a foundation before asking everyone for animated recommendations, hoping they’d think about what makes animated content unique. They didn’t disappoint. Forgive the long quoted sections here; they gave me some good stuff!
Here’s Ian again: “The key difference is that animation automatically invites the audience to question the rules of whatever it is they’re watching. Live-action films/shows (even ones that rely heavily on CGI and take place in fantastical realms/distant times) are definitionally grounded in known reality. The decision to use animation as a mode of storytelling implies that anything can happen—from relatively mundane acts like a sinister lion leering in murderous jealousy (see the difference between the 1994 2D Lion King and the “photorealistic” remake that, while technically animated, was constrained by the musculature of real-life animals), to the bloodlessly comic exaggeration of Roger Rabbit having a fridge dropped on him while rescuing a baby in the opening of Who Framed Roger Rabbit). The best animation establishes rules and sticks with them (even if the parameters are fairly extreme). But the illusion of all animation is that, at the outset, we’re invited to believe that there are no rules—that reality itself is up for grabs.”
Like Ian, Christina cites two Disney films in her response: “Animated features can get away with a lot more creative freedom without taking the viewers out of the experience compared to live-action ones. For example, besides the obvious differences between the Aladdin animated movie compared to the live-action [remake], there was more creative freedom that kept watchers in the universe while Aladdin was in the desert entering the tiger’s mouth [Cave of Wonders] or jumping from rooftop to rooftop, whereas the live action was more constrained due to the limitations of live-action being more grounded in reality.”
The freedom allowed to animators by virtue of their chosen format creates a wealth of riches when it comes to artistic style.
“The ability to represent multiple locations, strange-looking characters, and large crowds is much more economical in animation,” says Wu. “This allows animated shows to have a wider range of styles. Animation also allows artists to emphasize certain aspects of characters to evoke emotion. Like how anime characters have large eyes or how Popeye has beefy arms and a face made of rubber. In live-action, we expect people to look more-or-less ‘normal.’”
“Animated shows can do anything,” says Richard, simply.
With those things in mind, I asked participants to recommend animated shows or movies, imagining the person they’re talking to doesn’t have any experience with the format.
Recommendations & What to Look For
Thus far we’ve discovered a few things. First, people’s reasons for liking or disliking animation are as varied as people themselves. Two people who grew up liking cartoons can hold completely opposing views on the format in adulthood.
Second, animation fandom or lack thereof can be polarizing, but it doesn’t have to be. People who enjoy animation tend to watch a lot of it. Those who don’t will staunchly avoid it. There’s plenty of room in the middle for the animation-hesitant to change their minds. Whether they’re scared of the sheer scope of animated media or worried they won’t connect with the characters, there are loads of shows and movies that can convince even the most jaded animation detractor to make an exception.
“Absent any other context, Spirited Away or Kiki’s Delivery Service,” says Wu. “I can’t imagine even the most ardent anti-animation person not enjoying those. Also if they are into comic book things, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is probably the best superhero movie. Also, snarkily, pretty much every CGI-filled superhero blockbuster is basically an animated film already. It’s just animated to look like reality.”
Ian drops a few recommendations as well: Akira, for action fans. Up for “breathtaking visuals and heartbreaking storytelling.” Richard Linklater’s Waking Life for “art house types…[it’s] a deeply weird, stream-of-consciousness walkabout, rendered in a variety of rotoscope animation styles.”
Mike recommends a few fandom-specific options: “Clone Wars if you like Star Wars. Any of the DC animated Universe if you like superheroes. It’s easy to jump in when you already know the world.”
A handful of shows and movies popped up in multiple answers. In no particular order, they are:
- Avatar: The Last Airbender, a franchise I’ve written about numerous times, and a recommendation I wholeheartedly endorse.
- Cowboy Bebop
- Spirited Away
- Death Note
- The Simpsons (a classic for a reason, many responders note)
- Pretty much any Pixar movie
If you started reading this piece as an animation fan, I’d wager a guess you aren’t surprised by any of these recommendations. To expand the pool, let’s look at a few responses to my final question—If you were to watch any animated content, what would you look for?—and recommend a series or show based on those criteria.
From Wu, who I know is already an animation fiend: “Since there’s already the problem of ‘too many things to watch,’ what gets me interested is word-of-mouth recommendations and prestige, i.e. knowing the studio/artists who created it. While watching something animated, I’m looking for the same things I ask of any media. What is this trying to say, is what it is saying worthwhile, and how well does it say it? The animation may or may not be part of an answer to all three of those questions.”
To him, I recommend The Secret of Kells, first recommended to me by my friend and media curator Andrew. It subverts animation norms and tells a story about self-discovery and expression. At 90 minutes, it’s well worth the investment.
Jacob: “I would want to be taken on an adventure. Animation has a limitless sort of creative scope to it and so I would want something that takes me into a universe that live action could never do.”
See the recommendations above, Jacob—namely Avatar: The Last Airbender and Cowboy Bebop. But for you, I’d also recommend Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. If you aren’t emotionally invested and in for the adventure by episode four (FMA fans, you know the one), I’ll give you your money back. I also throw Netflix’s The Midnight Gospel out there, which features an animated adventure paired with deep philosophical discussion each episode.
Matt wants something “Light and fun!”
I offer Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, a musical series set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by massive mutated animals. For a full primer, you can read my post begging people to watch it!
Mike: “Mostly entertainment or expansion on worlds I like. I also like to see things that are already completed/easy to follow in the background.”
I know Mike’s tastes perhaps better than anyone who responded to my survey. For him, I recommend Harley Quinn, which expands on the world of Gotham and is, in my opinion, one of the freshest takes on a villain in recent memory.
From Christina: Something entertaining and light at heart. Something with a good story that makes me feel good after watching.
Easy peasy, Christina! Kubo and the Two Strings will tick those boxes. It’s a criminally underrated animated film with an uplifting story and plenty of entertaining ideas.
“I’d want a large fantasy element and humor,” says Sher.
Disenchantment all the way. Matt Groening’s signature animation style and humor shine through in this Netflix series, and it’s a perfect blend of appreciation for fantasy worlds and comedic takedowns of their conventions and clichés. Amazon Prime’s The Legend of Vox Machina might also work for your criteria.
Amanda asks for “something that teaches me something/something insightful. Maybe approaches a topic in a way live action can’t?”
Amanda, BoJack Horseman is your show. You will laugh. You will cry. Your heart will break even as you giggle at a stupid pun. No animated series analyzes friendship, mental health, grief, toxicity, and fame like this one can.
Cameron asks for “something with strong character development and emotion throughout. Light-hearted shows are nice at times, but I love getting the strong emotional attachment to characters.”
Here, I recommend the anime Ranking of Kings, which has a cutesy pastiche but offers deep explorations of characters, their motives, and what they’ll do to achieve their goals. It’s an amazing story.
From Bonnie: “Uniqueness in their characters and faster storyline, great art/visual effects, deeper character development (I like knowing their backstories), and to see character growth.”
Made in Abyss, another anime, is an excellent arc for both of the main characters. It has a cute, distinct style and a heartbreaking story. Worth the watch!
“A unique story I haven’t seen before,” says Andrew. But here’s the problem, reader: More than half of the shows or movies named in this article are things Andrew recommended to me. Imagine a person who has seen pretty much everything on the planet. Now recommend something new and unique to him. This is not just a thought exercise; I’m hoping you’ll chime in with ideas in the comments!
Where Do We Go From Here?
The ball’s in your court, hesitant animation viewers! My DMs are open, and I’m ready to take you on an animation journey.
Truth be told, I’m still on that journey myself. I only recently started appreciating anime, and I still have all sorts of animated cultural touchstones on my To Watch list. By writing this piece, I hope I can bring more people into the conversation and relish the joy of discovering a new favorite animated show or movie along the way. There are so, so many great animated stories not named above that deserve their time in the spotlight, too.
I don’t know whether I’ll change any minds, going forward. Perhaps I’ll ask some of the friends and family who participated in this “study” to watch one animated show or movie each, then discuss in depth with them and come back with another piece diving into their thoughts. Until then, I’ll keep seeking out the best and brightest gems of the animated world.
***
Now, readers, I turn it over to you! What insights have you gleaned about animation in conversations with friends and family? What series or movies would you recommend to even the most animation-resistant people in your life? Have you had any success in converting the hesitant into the eager? Please share your stories and recommendations in the comments. I’d love to hear them!
Cole Rush writes words. A lot of them. For the most part, you can find those words at The Quill To Live or on Twitter @ColeRush1. He voraciously reads epic fantasy and science-fiction, seeking out stories of gargantuan proportions and devouring them with a bookwormish fervor. His favorite books are: The Divine Cities Series by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, and The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
