Cartoon form an integral part of growing up. Often, they bring up fondest childhood memories. There was a time when the cartoons meant watching Tom and Jerry bicker and make up, the noble hero Captain Planet come to the rescue of Mother Earth and the silly symphonies with Mickey Mouse and friends. With growing age, the slapstick comedy only finds space in the occasional guilty pleasures and humour takes a different form all together.
However, cartoons and comics never come with an age bar and have always had their appeal irrespective of the age group.
Welcome to the world of cartoons, where one-year old Stewie Griffin with a very sophisticated smooth accent mouths, “Mother, life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you're gonna get. But your life is like a box of active grenades!”
It's not just the children but cartoons have a market for adults too and not necessarily of the explicit kind. Cartoon shows like Family Guy , South Park , Futurama , The Simpsons have a loyal fan base with their tongue-in-cheek humour and spoofs. “These shows are deliberately offensive. Whether it's current events, popular culture or the everyday things in life, they make fun of them in the most ridiculous manner. They are almost like a parody of life. Since they are in the form of cartoons nobody takes them seriously,” explains says 26-year-old Mukti Kulkarni, a fan of Family Guy .
Though the contents of these shows are not suitable for children or family viewing, the appeal lies in their politically incorrectness and in-your-face humour.
“These shows openly talk about religion, gay marriages, public policies, the censor board and nothing is out of bounds. It is done in such a way that you can't feign shock but just laugh with them,” says Ashish Mitra, pointing out that in shows like South Park , the main characters are kids who are made to deal with adult situations which actually add to the quirkiness.
“Some of the jokes might appear vulgar or raise eyebrows but one can ignore all that since it is done in a very comical manner,” stresses student Smrithi S. Kumar explaining the cult status of some of these shows.
However, despite their growing popularity, some critics have raised objections against the profanity and violence that is sometimes used in these shows. The shows have faced their share of law suits.
Not just animated shows but comic strips like Dilbert , Between Friends and Japanese anime have a huge adult market. “I can never get enough of Asterix. Comic book characters are easy to connect with and you can just forget everything and let your hair down and enjoy the humour without pretending to be a responsible adult,” says 24-year-old Charu Madan, an avid lover of Calvin and Hobbes.
As Seth Macfarlene the creator of animated sitcoms like Family Guy , American Dad says, “We're careful to be edgy and funny but not horrifyingly so.”
The cartoons, according to Macfarlene, will have viewers as long as their jokes remain palatable for their audience.
