Paint Drying Rant #1: AnImAtIoN iS fOr KiDz 🤡

Oh boy, you have no idea how much I’ve been waiting to do this! I wanna dedicate a rather loooooooooooong rant about this topic that always grinds my gears whenever I hear my absolute least favorite statement uttered and quoted by human society, “AnImAtIoN iS fOr KiDz” or “StOp cRiTiCiZiNg KiDz AnImAtIoN, iTs NoT fOr YoU”. Any one of these terms or implications that us “grown adults” should just not get mad at animated films targeted towards kids despite them being bad or poorly received is enough to piss me off and I HATE that this thinking mentality has become the norm, and many people especially on Letterboxd have echoed the same sentiment. Anybody who says this statement comes across as ignorant people who devalue, or delegitimize, the art of animation that’s lived and prospered for not only years but CENTURIES. Like going back to the 19th century (1800s) animation has long existed in the form of zoetropes or praxinoscopes or thaumatropes before they advanced to cel shading animation and now digital animation. This medium existed LONG BEFORE all of us were born and were exposed to our favorite cartoons as children. Here’s a little fun fact, did you know back in the early 1900s cartoons like Betty Boop was actually made for adults in mind due to her being a sex symbol in animation. Hell did you even know that in old school cartoons they’d even have adult jokes or have adult references. Should I even mention DISNEY of all companies had WWII propaganda cartoons? I can go on and on.

I just wanna make a disclaimer now, this rant is not targeting those who are fully aware that animation is not just for kids and consume the medium either for artistic purpose or entertainment value. Nor is it targeting non-animation fans who respectfully express why it’s not for them but don’t tell us we shouldn’t care. There’s nothing wrong with saying that you love watching animated content and maybe you don’t care about the flaws you notice and just watch it because it’s comforting to you; at the same time, there’s also nothing wrong with admitting that animation as a whole is not your cup of tea despite trying to get into it (even though I’d argue you’re missing out on so many great animated content, but in the end that’s your prerogative). It’s one thing to enjoy animation yourself knowing that it’s not just for children, it’s made for everyone, it’s a win-win, but it’s a whole nother story if you specifically tell us animation fans (regardless of our age) that we shouldn’t get mad or shouldn’t care if an animated movie is awful because of poor storytelling, bad humor, terrible animation, lots of plot holes, unlikeable characters et cetera et cetera, basically flaws that could apply to live action films made for adults as well.

There are 2 examples that inspired me to do this, there was one instance when in my Minions review (anyone who’s read it will know exactly what I’m talking about), a particular user commented out of nowhere and complained to me (like a 40 year old manchild mind you) that I shouldn’t criticize it because it’s not made for me, it’s for kids. And get this, he proceeds to turn around and ACTUALLY CRITICIZE Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (gave it a 3/10), y’know A LIVE ACTION KIDS FILM!!!!!! OH EXCUSE ME I’M SORRY IF IT’S ANIMATED THEN THAT’S WHERE YOU DRAW THE LINE BUT IF IT’S A LIVE ACTION FAMILY FRIENDLY FILM THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THAT’S OKAY???????? Man, talk about hypocrisy!!!!!! It was a gigantic mess of nothing but back and forth debating but that’s not where it stops. Another instance that also got my blood boiling and REALLY ticked me off is a popular review for Saving Bikini Bottom, a user stated and I quote "😨Why are the reviews for this so angry? I didn't think it was all that funny but it's a movie for CHILDREN about a talking squirrel🐿️.
Relax, weirdos🧘‍♀️. Sandy Cheeks can't hurt you.🙅‍♀️ It’s a lil laughable for adults to be this pissed off😆." End quote.

Ok… no offense but there’s SO MUCH wrong with this review alone. Ironically doesn’t it sound laughable that you’re getting mad at us for panning bad animated movies and then you do a surprised Pikachu face when we tell you that’s asinine. There’s acknowledging that an animated movie is flawed yet you can overlook its problems, and then there’s straight up being a pretentious asshole by telling us we shouldn’t get mad at a Spongebob movie that’s so bad it now belongs on the Anti-Letterboxd Top 250 list or why it belongs on many people’s worst movies of 2024 list, because it’s only made for children, when keep in mind we watched the series as kids too and grew up with it over the years. We don’t like seeing our favorite cartoon characters get poor treatment in the form of awful, cash grab movies. How is it that people can get away with saying this yet everyone’s okay with shitting on the Borderlands movie, like literally I hear nobody telling others that they shouldn’t get mad at it because “it’s not made for you, it’s made for gamers, therefore you shouldn’t criticize it”. Like seriously how is it that when talking about film this statement just magically and conveniently comes up yet correct me if I’m wrong but I almost NEVER hear this statement when talking about video games, or books/comics, or music even.

I, along with everyone else, hate it when others tell me or my friends that animation is just for kids and that we shouldn’t apply the same praise and criticisms over there as you would live action films targeted towards mature audiences. Like where are you going with this statement? Do you just expect us to like every single animated film out there and just say they’re good just because kids watch them? Do you expect us to automatically say Marmagofuckyourself (Marmaduke 2022) is good, or Megamind vs the Doom Syndicate is good, or Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild is good because it’s for kids? For some reason we get weird looks from people when we say we watch animated content because of this frustrating stigma surrounding it. It’s even more frustrating when even some of my family members tell me the exact same things without realizing how preposterous they sound.

Enough with the intro, here are my reasons why the statement, Animation is for kids, is a weak argument and just does NOT work when critiquing films. First off I should state the obvious, animation is made for everybody, just like how films are made for everybody, regardless of the demographic. To quote Guillermo Del Toro “Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre for kids. It’s a medium”. The reason why so many animated films are great and still stand the test of time, let’s pick Pixar for example, is because their films are made for BOTH kids and adults in mind. They have so much substance and material to keep children entertained with colorful and distinct visuals while keeping adults engaged with its creative storytelling, profound message or three-dimensional characters you can relate to. Also keep in mind, adults work on these films, not children, they’re responsible for making all these films for our entertainment by pouring all their blood, sweat and tears to let them even see the light of day. So to argue that we shouldn’t care enough to praise it or criticize it just because it’s not filmed with a camera on set is objectively a bad take. Oh and a little side note, if even kids (judging by teenagers who also review films on Letterboxd) say that any certain animated movie is awful, that should say a lot as well and further invalidates that argument.

Another reason it’s not just for kids is these people forget adult animation exists, you also have to take into account anime exists as well. Chainsaw Man for instance is definitely NOT for kids, I'll tell ya that much! This is one of the reasons I made my Animation is NOT for Kids list, to showcase that there is a market for this. There are people my age, or younger and older, who love seeing animated content made for adults in mind, case in point any Ralph Bakshi films or any Adult Swim cartoons. Yes I’m aware they have their own problems and how they have their own stigma by the animation community, that’s a whole different topic I’m not gonna dive into (unless you want another Paint Drying review of that), but nonetheless this right here is another proof why it’s completely false to say animation is only for kids and again comes off as completely ignorant.

Furthermore, I cannot imagine myself living in a world where animation never existed to begin with and we’d never get amazing movies such as Zootopia, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, or Wreck It Ralph. Why do I bring these up in particular? It’s because animation is able to easily accommodate these stories about a talking sponge and starfish who go out to Shell City to bring back a king’s crown, a police officer bunny who moves to a brand new city that delves into social commentary about prejudice between prey and predator, or a video game movie about a bad guy who wants to be seen as a hero and be revered as someone special. Let me tell you, I would NEVER wanna see these done in live action because I wouldn’t wanna subject myself to seeing either uncanny to horrid CGI visuals of talking animals, or people looking goofy in costumes that’d be more appropriate in a cosplay convention. These stories could NEVER work behind a camera as there’s so much you can do with that tool when instead you can go wild with your imagination and explore infinite possibilities with the power of animation. Hell would you guys even want to see a live action version of any Studio Ghibli films, to those of you who said no, you’ve proven my point exactly.

Finally, this statement doesn’t work in the slightest because if you truly believe that animation is something that nobody should criticize or hold to the same standards that you would to films like The Dark Knight or Pulp Fiction. Then let’s apply this same exact logic to superhero films, or video game movies. I don’t think anybody would like it and immediately call you a dumbass if you told people who criticized Suicide Squad 2016 that it’s just a comic book movie for comic book nerds, therefore you shouldn’t criticize it because it’s not made for you. Everyone hates that film because it’s just an awful movie regardless if you’re a fan or not. Or again going back to Borderlands, you would sound so stupid if you told everybody they shouldn’t criticize it for being a bad movie because it’s not made for you, it’s made for the fans of the games. But guess what, if even the fans hate that movie, you know you did something very wrong. Do you guys see how stupid that sounds when you read it? My point is, it sounds stupid to tell us we shouldn’t care about criticizing bad animated films that come out almost on a daily basis. I don’t know why we’re living in a world where these double standards in film criticism exist, it should just be common sense to talk about whatever type of fucking film you want regardless.

So in the end guys, those are my reasons why animation is NOT just for kids and why I wish people would stop saying otherwise. I am just sick and tired of hearing this statement over and over again. I wanna reiterate I’m aware not every single person thinks this way, but to those specific groups of people who think this, I suggest you do your research, learn about why it’s not just a genre but it’s also a medium that’s meant to be appreciated by everybody. Maybe only then will it increase your IQ points and you maybe won’t get clowned on by people like me. Hell, we have good examples of even preschool TV shows that are universally beloved by everyone, such as Bluey for example, because of good writing and positive messages that universally resonate with everybody. There’s nothing wrong with animation being geared towards children and adults, as a demographic just gives you an idea of who it’s trying to appeal to. It does NOT mean anyone older than the intended age can’t enjoy it as well, and if anyone says otherwise just ignore them. I’m sorry for the rambling but I just really wanted to get this out of my system, I know nobody’s gonna read it but I might as well just share what I need to share. I hope this commentary will at least click with someone and that they learn a thing or two from it. Do you guys agree with my take or do you think I am overreacting? If you say the latter then feel free to shut the door on your way out.

I will say it once again for the people in the back, animation is NOT just a genre for kids, it’s a medium for everybody. If you made it this far, thank you for reading, it means sooooo much to me!!! I apologize if it's this long 😭🙏🏼