Simple really, most animated stories, regardless if they were films or shows, were directed at kids or families for several decades. Sure, there were exceptions, like anything made by Ralph Bakshi, but for the most part if it was animated it was seen as for kids and the few that weren't were made as graphic as possible which resulted in many of them over compensating or at least feeling like they were (again see Ralph Bakshi).Frustration wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 8:42 pm I've never understood why animation is stigmatized in the West any more than I understand why puppetry is stigmatized despite Jim Henson's efforts to make art for grownups. You have to lean far into "adult" territory, a la Avenue Q, before grownups will pay any attention to puppetry drama.
I can't help but wonder if the generation of people raised with Sesame Street will be more openminded... but there still aren't any examples beyond AQ, I notice.
I guess most people are highly conventional, obedient to the preconceptions of their culture, and fairly prejudiced in general.
CGI has been able largely dodge this stigma thanks to presenting more "Mature" works in it's early years like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within which, while not a great film was one a film that aimed to be more realistic in it's designs and have a tone that took itself seriously without a hint of silliness. And while Pixar was making hit after hit other filmmakers were using CGI in live-action for characters that couldn't be done practically or just took less time to make in a computer.
The same thing can be seen with Anime as while many shows and movies coming in were being altered to fit with the Western view of animation it didn't take long for West to realize the treasure trove of great stories that took itself seriously and told deep and powerful stories with smart plots and engaging characters. Yet, at the time same time Anime was just as capable of being as silly as western animation yet the fact that films like Perfect Blue, Akira and others stories were offered at the same time as silly stories like Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball showed everyone what anime was capable so there was less of a stigma to it.
To look at Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, they were making stories that were for everyone AND ones made more exclusively for adults but had divided their time between the two equally so the name Pratchett and Gaiman were seen as names that were to be taken seriously but saw that they could still make things "for kids" just as good. By contrast Jim Henson, despite being just as capable of telling stories that could be dark and mature, will likely only ever be seen as the creator of the Muppets and Sesame Street. And as far as I know he never came to hate those series he was frustrated that no one saw the potential in puppeteer storytelling, a fact that annoyed George Lucas as well given when he tried to get Frank Oz an Oscar Nomination but was refused because Oz was a puppeteer and therefore couldn't be taken seriously as a nomination.
It's mindset that has been dying down but its likely always going to be there because of how somethings are engraved into our culture. Take LGBT Representation which has gotten a LOT more main stream attention yet some still view such behavior as a moral wrong and the fact that queer characters are even allowed HOLD HANDS, is still called forced and unearned but that is being seen as less normal as time goes by with more people being open to queer rep and many straight people being supportive of those stories.
But it's still a long way before it will be seen as completely normal and making anything animated, queer or using puppetry will still have that stigma.
