The Kid In All of Us: Demand for Adult Animation Is On a Roll

If you thought you left cartoons behind with your childhood, most major streaming platforms might have a thing or two to …

The post The Kid In All of Us: Demand for Adult Animation Is On a Roll appeared first on TV Fanatic.

If you thought you left cartoons behind with your childhood, most major streaming platforms might have a thing or two to say about that.

Quietly, deliberately, one animated series after another is becoming the next big offering, whether it’s Netflix’s Castlevania and Arcane series or Prime’s The Legend of Vox Machina.

From a distance, Bojack Horseman seems like a bizarre Indie cartoon straight out of left field.

However, it has remained above 90% throughout the six seasons in critical and audience reviews. How’s that for a horse that walks on two legs and carries on conversations?

As it turns out, high-quality, well-written animated shows are a boon for streaming platforms. This is especially true, considering 60% of adults between 18 and 49 watch them.

Not bad. With the increase in video game adaptations, some of which are becoming animated narratives, the kid in you has every reason to celebrate.

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Adult Animation is No Longer Fringe Entertainment

When the adult animation conversation crops up, most think of Arcane, maybe Bojack Horseman, King of the Hill, and The Simpsons.

Those are good examples of popular animated TV shows, especially The Simpsons, which feels as if it’s been running since the Eisenhower administration.

However, Vox Machinas and similar shows are growing in popularity. Arcane, Human Resources, Castlevania, Love, Death, & Robots, South Park, Big Mouth, Inside Job, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Bob’s Burgers are both animated and excellent shows.

Arcane Season 2 will air in November, and if it continues the formula that made Season 1 such a hit, it will drive the ratings in the right direction. Castlevania, another Netflix animated series based on the video game, is an interesting combination.

Arcane and Castlevania exemplify very successful animated adaptations as we shift from the age of superheroes into an era of video game adaptations.

Arcane is based on Riot Game’s highly popular MOBA, League of Legends, while Castlevania is a Nintendo mainstay dating back to the original console.

The Legend of Vox Machina isn’t a console derivative, but it does come from a real-life streaming D&D session.

If nothing else, studios don’t have to worry about attracting adults with animated adaptation releases of popular video games rather than live-action.

Video Game to Adult Animation

Looking at the numbers, it seems like a no-brainer. With 60% of all adults indulging in cartoons to one degree or another, 76% play video games on at least one platform, according to a 4-year Statista survey.

What better combination can a studio ask for? It’s certainly playing out well with the handful that currently exist. There’s also an inherent benefit to such an adaptation.

No one has to worry about who will play the roles of such and such. No matter who fills Kratos’s boots in Amazon’s upcoming God of War series, some will complain—perhaps many.

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An animated version removes that from the table while retaining everything that makes the game such an intriguing story.

Comic book adaptations also do well. You can’t claim that DC or Marvel got their start on consoles and PC, but they each have their fair share of hits.

While many video game adaptations are going live-action, there’s an excellent argument to make that some will do very well in the adult animation category.

For instance, Red Dead Redemption is a must for live-action, but Hades, Baldur’s Gate, and Mario Bros are perfect for animated adaptations.

That’s not to say they can’t do well as live-action, but devils, vampires, and plumbers are easier to connect with as cartoons. These games are immensely popular, and it’s hard to imagine an adult animation adaptation failing right out of the box.

What Do Adults Find Attractive About Animated TV?

Fun and innovation. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, at least psychologically.

The entertainment industry often makes the horrible mistake of thinking massive CGI effects will boost its box office returns.

That’s never been the case. People love stories, especially complex and rewarding stories. The Arcanes and Bojack Horsemans of the world don’t reach peak fandom because they look cool.

Honestly, Bojack Horseman has the animation of a five-year-old child hanging upside down from a tree, trying to finger paint on a cardboard box. It doesn’t have to look great; it only has to “be” great.

Adult animation shows have every tool for success that their live-action counterparts do.

Embracing the cliche Field of Dreams quote, “If you build it, they will come,” even though that’s not the actual quote of the movie.

That old Mandela Effect is playing tricks on us again.

But the quote fits here, as it’s absolutely true. Imagine the percentage of the world’s population that enjoyed playing League of Legends on PC or its mobile counterpart, Wild Rift.

The number may seem large, but it’s a microscopically tiny percentage.

Many who love Arcane have never heard of League of Legends. That’s a testament to the show’s captivating story. The animation looks fantastic as well, but that’s always secondary to a good story.

Demand for Adult Animation is Outstripping the Supply

According to Parrot Analytics, demand for adult animation, especially on Max, Hulu, and Netflix, is outstripping supply.

Don’t think that sort of thing goes unnoticed in entertainment circles.

There are 100 adult animated series in the pipeline. That’s a 50% increase over last year (2020). And, fully 40% of those are non-comedy genre series. Literally, I’m showing forty series, that’s a jump from 3 to 40 in a one-year period.

-John Evershed, CEO of High Concentrate

The above quote was made in 2021. John Evershed is the CEO of High Concentrate, a company that helps production studios develop animated content.

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This was a little over three years ago, and that pipeline is only growing larger.

Kid’s animation is a global commodity, but adult animation is rapidly catching up, with more and more to come.

Evershed wrote a white paper on adult animation, and his conclusion was simple: Adult animation is the fastest-growing animation category, and there is little to no ceiling.

Studios like Max, Fox, Hulu, and Netflix are placing more emphasis on adult animation as a result of Evershed’s and similar findings. It’s not as if Evershed is the only person who sees the writing on the wall.

If you love animation, regardless of what genre you prefer, it’s a fantastic time to be alive!

What do you think about adult animation?

Is there a particular category or show that you want to see on the small or big screen?

Leave us a comment and let us know!

The post The Kid In All of Us: Demand for Adult Animation Is On a Roll appeared first on TV Fanatic.