Up The Rabbit Hole: Examining the stigma surrounding adult animation in western cinema, and how television and the rise of alternative media may be leading to a shift in cultural acceptance of adult content in animation.

Up The Rabbit Hole: Examining the stigma surrounding adult animation in western cinema, and how television and the rise of alternative media may be leading to a shift in cultural acceptance of adult content in animation.

Glen Noctor

Submitted to the Faculty of Film, Art and Creative Technologies in candidacy for the BA (hons) Degree in Animation (DL832)

Submitted February 2016

Declaration of Originality This dissertation is submitted by the undersigned to the Institute of Art Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire in partial fulfilment of the examination for the BA (Honours) Animation. It is entirely the author’s own work except where noted and has not been submitted for an award from this or any other educational institution.

_____________________ Glen Noctor

Acknowledgements

Thank you to my thesis tutor Tom Kennedy for all your help and advice throughout this process; to Sherra Murphy, for supervising this project, and for everything I learned in your classes; to Michael Connerty, for showing me so many of the films I reference within this work; to Caolan for proofreading (and to Cormac, in spirit) – I owe you a debt of blood; to Caoimhe for helping me so much even with your own deadline looming; to my parents for supporting and tolerating me for all these years; to the IADT library staff, for doing a fine job; and to Ralph Bakshi and company, for making it interesting, Keep it up.

ABSTRACT

Animation has been around as a medium and an industry for over a century, but – through a series of unfortunate events in the interim years – has come to be known in the Western world almost exclusively as a children’s medium. This thesis will be examining how and why these associations came to be, the reasons why adult themes and concepts are so stigmatised and rarely seen in Western cinematic animation, and looking at the strides that adult cinema, and the creators thereof, have been making to counteract them ever since. I will be examining the history of animation, and film censorship; the success and failure of cinematic adult animation in practice, and the dawn of mainstream adult cinema during the American New Wave movement; as well as the influence of television and emerging forms of alternative media as influences on adult animated cinema. The culmination of these points will be a discussion on the nature of animation as a medium, and how it can never be realised to its full potential unless it breaks free of the shackles that tie it to the past.

Table of Contents

Introduction___________________________________________________ 1

Chapter 1____________________________________________________ 4

-History and Roots

Chapter 2_____________________________________________________ 11

-Cinematic Adult Animation in Practice

Chapter 3 ____________________________________________________ 19

-Television and the Rise of Alternative Media

Conclusion ___________________________________________________ 30

List of Works Cited ____________________________________________ 31

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INTRODUCTION

Over the past century animation has grown to be be a staple of Western culture, but at some point in its history it became almost exclusively associated with children's media. This thesis aims to examine why adult themes and concepts have become so stigmatised in Western cinematic animation, and how this is changing in the modern era. I have researched academic journals, books, and historical documents to examine the history of animation, censorship, ratings, and adult media in the context of this topic in order to build a solid foundation. Upon this I will expand with information about specific events, individuals, movements and films in the history of Hollywood and animated cinema in an attempt to discuss how the opinion of both the animation industry and the viewing public –with regard to adult content in animation – has changed over time. I will write about what caused these changes, and what their implications are; on both the current state – and the future – of Western animated cinema, with regard to its portrayal of adult content. For the purposes of this thesis the term “Western” will follow the traditional definition which mainly encompasses Europe and North America1; though I will be constricting this definition further by focusing mainly on English speaking countries. I will be referencing and discussing non English speaking Western countries such as Germany and France, but only insofar as to how they have affected the demographics on which my focus lies. From my research it seems to be commonly accepted that there is enough of a cultural disparity in the way these countries view animated cinema for them to be categorically segregated within this discussion2. I will occasionally take examples of films from other non-“Western” countries to compare or further examine Western attitudes, or when examining how these films and cultures may have, historically, impacted Western views of animation. Many of my points will focus entirely or almost entirely on America, which is a consequence of the majority of commercial Western animation historically originating in Hollywood and the industry thus becoming Americanised, a point which I will later discuss. My usage of “cinematic animation” refers specifically to animated films, both feature length and short, which have received a commercial cinematic release. Similarly when referring to “broadcast”, “television”, or “televised animation”, I refer to productions that were created specifically to be broadcast on television, including cable television. My usage of the term “alternative media” will encompass any form of film media that does not fall into either of the 1 2

Western. Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016. Neupert, Richard. French animation history. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.

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previous two categories, though it will primarily include services such as Netflix Streaming and Amazon Video, and public media funding platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. When I use the terms “adult”, as in “adult themes and concepts” and “adult content”, I am referring to anything that would be considered unsuitable for children – both by official and national ratings organisations, and by other measures such as public opinion polls – as these sources have huge influence in the film industry. My usage of “adult” when referring to media, as in “adult cinema” and “adult broadcasting”, however will refer to content which was/is marketed towards adults as a primary audience. I will also be further defining the various types of content that can fall under the term “adult content” within the thesis, as it can vary from explicit adult material such as pornographic content, explicit language, and violence; to more subtly adult content like politics, depression, death, and poverty. I intent for this thesis to reflect not just what is officially or legally defined as adult content, but also to take into account what may be considered “adult” for social and historical reasons, as I believe the absence of this type of content is also very relevant for this topic. There is evidence that virtually all forms of adult material are stigmatised in Western animation, though it is clearly far more severe with the explicit, as seeing topics like death and depression tackled in animated films is not unheard of; though always treated with extreme care and sensitivity. The “stigma” which I refer to concerns all of the factors which make it either difficult or impossible to produce an animated feature film which contains adult material. These factors include legal restrictions such as ratings boards and censorship; historical implications, and public opinions on the matter; as well as financial issues such as the high monetary risk involved in an adult production. The idea of children and childhood will be one that I discuss frequently within the thesis, as one of the key ideas within my topic is the public’s perception of animation being a medium for children. When I refer to “children” I will follow the traditional biological – and common public – definition, which cites a child as being a person of an age between birth and puberty, as this is the age group which are most often cited by opponents of adult media 3,4.

3 4

Child. Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016. Parents Television Council – Home. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.

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I have chosen several films to discuss and examine as examples for the points I will be making. Ralph Bakshi's Fritz the Cat5 is one of the rare examples of an adult animated film that had a successful Western cinematic release. I will be examining this film and the public's reaction to it, as well as looking at how it was made, and the problems that Bakshi may have faced when producing such an explicit animated feature. The animated documentary Waltz with Bashir6 will also be examined as an example of a different kind of adult animated film. This documentary film – containing violence and brief nudity – primarily deals with political and psychological issues, and will be used to show how animated documentaries are not constricted by traditional ideals of animation, and to ask why this is. This is also another example of an adult animated film with a cinematic release, although it seems that it being a documentary changes the public perception of it to be more adult oriented, regardless of medium. This is something I will expand upon when discussing the film. When discussing adult televised animation I will discuss programs with varying levels of maturity from the past several decades to show the increasing acceptance of television as a medium to adult animation. These will include such programs as Animaniacs7, The Ren & Stimpy Show8, The Simpsons9, and South Park10. I will also examine the plethora of adult animated series produced in the last decade to to show the steep incline in production of this material, and it's increasing acceptance and public approval, though there remains a notable lack of serious and dramatic content in this area. I will also write of the creation and success of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut11 and how both televised media and more recently alternative media are changing how we view the medium of animation – and more specifically how it is directly affecting cinematic animation.

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Fritz the Cat. Dir. Ralph Bakshi. Perf. Skip Hinnant, Rosetta LeNoire, Ralph Bakshi. Cinemation, 1972. Film. Waltz with Bashir. Dir. Ari Folman. Perf. Ari Folman. Sony Pictures Classics, 2008. Film. Animaniacs. Prod. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell. Fox Kids. 1993. Television The Ren & Stimpy Show. Writ. John Kricfalusi. Perf. Billy West. Nickelodeon. 1991. Television. The Simpsons. Writ. Matt Groening. Perf. Dan Castellaneta, Phil Hartman. Fox. 1989. Television. South Park, Writ. Trey Parker, Matt Stone. Perf. Isaac Hayes. Comedy Central. 1997. Television. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. Dir. Trey Parker. Perf. Matt Stone. Comedy Central Films, 1999. Film.

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CHAPTER 1 -History and RootsAnimate [verb an-uh-meyt; adjective an-uh-mit]: 1: To give life; make alive: "Prometheus stole fire from heaven to animate his clay men"12

12 Animate. Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

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The history of animation is a long and storied one. There is a strong argument to be made that it stretches back as far as the Palaeolithic era, where our early ancestors used the flickering light of a camp fire to create the illusion of life in their primitive drawings on cave walls 13,14. More conservative historians will place it with the magic lantern shows of the 17th century, or the phenakistoscope, zoetrope, and praxinoscope devices of the 19th century15. The 20th century and the dawn of animation on film is where these opinions converge to the unanimous decision that this is where the era of modern animation begins; this is the beginning of an art form and an industry that would span the world over and undeniably alter our perception of entertainment for the next hundred years. There are ample examples of risqué and adult oriented content in many forms of premodern animation 16, and even in the early years of modern animation, but such content tapers away into obscurity throughout the 20th century, which begs the question: What happened to change the public perception of animation so dramatically? Early modern animation was a thing of spectacle, designed to be viewed by crowds in theatres and cinemas. Films like Émile Cohl's Fantasmagorie and Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur and The Sinking of the Lusitania had a wide audience appeal. Cinema as a whole was still young and these spectacles drew huge crowds, offering people shows unlike anything else available to them at the time. . In the next few years animation would become more popular among the masses with serialised productions like 'Betty Boop' and 'Popeye the Sailor' from the Fleischer brothers and Otto Mesmer's 'Felix The Cat'17. These works were popular among a varied audience but did not shy away from risqué content, namely in the case of 'Betty Boop'18. It was around this time that animation began to show it's potential as a lucrative industry. Up to this point developments in the animation industry had come from throughout the Western world, in France, Germany, England, but from this point on a burgeoning animation industry, well established film industry, and a booming economy centralised a lot of the major entertainment industry development in America 19. It was also around this time that animation began to find its place in society, and many beloved characters such as Felix the Cat and Betty Boop that would go on to be household names and help to cement 13 Lorenzi, Rossella. Stoneage Artists Created Prehistoric Movies. Discovery, 8 June 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2016 14 Starr, Muchelle. Stone Age cave art: the world's first animation. CNET, 18 Sep. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2016 15 Musser, Charles. The emergence of cinema: The American screen to 1907. Vol. 1. Univ of California Press, 1994. Print. p.15-55. 16 Jones, David J. Sexuality and the Gothic Magic Lantern: Desire, Eroticism and Literary Visibilities from Byron to Bram Stoker. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 17 Fleischer, Richard. Out of the inkwell: Max Fleischer and the animation revolution. University Press of Kentucky, 2005. p.51-56. 18 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.19-20 19 Neupert, Richard. French animation history. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. p.1-2.

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animation as an ingrained part of Western society. Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Cartoons were two of the first animation empires to emerge from this new industry, and they would go on to be one of the key forces in shaping the future of the entire medium of animation20. Walt Disney Studios was founded by Walt and Roy Disney in 1923 and came to have more of a focus on the creation of media for children21. Walt Disney was a very religious man and a staunch conservative, later getting involved in McCarthy's Red Scare and the House Un-American Activities Committee22. He also held views which were anti-pornography and he heavily promoted the protection of children from adult content, famously being quoted as saying "Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children,"23 One story that is frequently passed around amongst the animation community postures that while attending a company dinner, thrown in celebration of his 35th birthday, Walt – as a joke – was shown an explicit animation created by two of his animators which portrayed two of his characters performing sexually explicit acts. Walt feigned amusement, complimented the animation, and exclaimed that he would like to meet the men responsible for the drawing and congratulate them personally. Two animators sheepishly stood and approached Disney, where they were immediately told to back their belongings and leave because they were fired. He subsequently had every copy of the film destroyed. The first recorded telling of this story appears in Marc Elliot's 1994 book Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince24, which has been heavily criticized for inaccuracies, and that makes it's value as a lone source worrying; but stories such as this are extremely common of Walt Disney, with this particular example being repeated in the 1995 documentary “Secret Lives” Walt Disney25, and indicate how pervasive Disney's views and personal life were – and still are – amongst the public. Warner Bros. Cartoons, originally Leon Schleisinger Productions, was formed in 1933 as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment. This studio was in direct competition with Disney with their serialised 'Looney Tunes' and 'Merrie Melodies' series'. Warner Bros. productions, while still being whimsical and suitable for children, had less of a deliberately child-friendly air about them. Their content was anything but explicit, but they did not shy away from adult jokes and references that would be received only by adults26. Fleischer Studios, which would eventually be succeeded by Paramount 20 Smoodin, Eric Loren. Disney discourse: Producing the magic kingdom. Psychology Press, 1994. 21 Smoodin, Eric Loren. Animating culture: Hollywood cartoons from the sound era. Rutgers University Press, 1993. p. 15-17 22 Smoodin, Eric Loren. Animating culture: Hollywood cartoons from the sound era. Rutgers University Press, 1993. p. 159-160 23 Goldner, Elliot M., et al. A concise introduction to mental health in Canada. Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2011. 24 Eliot, Marc. Walt Disney: Hollywood's dark prince. Harpercollins, 1994. 25 “Secret Lives” Walt Disney. Dir. Joseph Bullman. Twenty Twenty Television, 23 Feb. 1995. Television. 26 Stabile, Carol A., and Mark Harrison. Prime time animation: television animation and American culture. Psychology Press, 2003.

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Animation were also producing a great deal of content at the time, but did not go on to have quite such a profound impact on the medium as Disney and Warner Bros.. The first set of Hollywood regulations which would go on to affect not only the future of adult content in animation, but cinema as a whole, arrived between 1922 and 1930 with the formation of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (later known as the Motion Picture Association of America or MPAA) and the subsequent election of Presbyterian elder Will H. Hays as its president. The wider film industry in its short history thus far had gained a huge public following, but also garnered quite a lot of negative attention and a reputation for being morally corrupt through various scandals and the publishing of several risqué films27. Those of religious or conservative persuasions began to question if they should be associating and funding such a morally bankrupt pack of scoundrels as Hollywood was shaping up to be. With the introduction of dozens of film censorship bills across America there was growing pressure on Hollywood, both political and social, to clean up their act or risk their empires crumbling around them. This, of course, is where Hays comes in. Throughout the 1930s Hays would, with the collaboration of executives from some of the largest studios of the day, go on to create and enforce regulations of the film industry. The first notable collection of these regulations, published in 1927, were the '”Don'ts” and “Be Carefuls”' a list of themes and images that film-makers were advised to either treat with “good taste” or forgo altogether28. Shortly after this, in 1930, a more thorough code with more power and a more in-depth review system was published; known officially as the Motion Pictures Production Code, but often colloquially referred to as “The Hays Code”29. This film code would remain active until 1968 and have a profound effect on both the film industry as a whole and more specifically on the animation industry. Before the introduction of this code it was not uncommon for animation to include adult jokes and innuendos, or even directly explicit material, but all of these virtually disappeared in post-code animation. One of the more notable changes were those made to the Fleischer Bros. character Betty Boop, including the lengthening of her skirt, desexualising of her appearance, and removal of any promiscuous content such as nudity and perceived bestiality30. It seemed that the effect of the film codes was more visible on animation than other forms of cinema, likely due to live action stories of the day having more depth through dramatic and serious content, 27 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.9-12 28 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.12 29 United States. Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. A CODE TO GOVERN THE MAKING OF MOTION AND TALKING PICTURES. By Will H. Hays. N.p.: MPPDA, 1930. Print. 30 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.20-23

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and non-explicit adult themes, whereas these elements were not present in animation; which meant that the code led to the removal of virtually all adult content from animation, leaving behind only the whimsical and child friendly material. In the decades following the introduction of the Film Code there was a great deal of development in the animation industry; perhaps due to the popular animated content of the time being quite suitable to a heavily regulated environment. By the end of the 1950s animation had become a global phenomenon, and an extremely lucrative business. By this stage animation had a huge public appeal and many prominent characters had become household names, such as Felix the Cat, Betty Boop, and Mickey Mouse. Animation was undeniably on the rise, and none were so willing or able to take advantage of this as Walt Disney Studios. Disney had worked hard in the interim years to make themselves, in the mind of the public, not only an inherent part of animation as a medium, but an ingrained element of American society31. This had a huge impact on not just America, but the entire English speaking Western world due to the coming Americanisation of these cultures32. It appears that Disney's very child-friendly approach to animation was to become the norm according to public opinion. Weather it was intentional or not Disney had radically altered the tone of animation, and the weight of the Walt Disney Corporation would not be easily shifted. With the 60's came the era of the Baby Boomers and with it a period of rapid economic growth and social development. This new generation arrived just in time to see the fall of “Old Hollywood”, as explained by Simon Hitchman in is 2013 article on the subject, '"Old Hollywood" was losing both money and audience share at an alarming rate and the aging studio bosses, out of touch with the tastes of the new baby boomer audience, were at a loss as to what kind of films they should now be making” 33. This new wave of consumers wanted more than traditional Hollywood could give them, and so looked elsewhere, leading to a rise in the popularity of foreign films such as French and German cinema, one of the key variations of which from American cinema of the time was their proclivity for risqué content34. The inspiration and new ideas provided by these films, combined with the counter-culture attitudes of the era, and the convergence of a new generation of young directors and film-makers looking to make their mark and have their voices heard lead to the 31 Smoodin, Eric Loren. Animating culture: Hollywood cartoons from the sound era. Rutgers University Press, 1993. 32 Stephan, Alexander, ed. The Americanization of Europe: culture, diplomacy, and anti-Americanism after 1945. Berghahn Books, 2005. 33 Hitchman, Simon. A HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEW WAVE CINEMA. Part Three: New Hollywood (1967-1969). newwavefilm.com, 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2016 34 Biskind, Peter. Easy Riders Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. Simon and Schuster, 1999.

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movement which would become known as The American New Wave, or “New Hollywood”35. Roman Polanski, one of the more influential and notable directors or this era, was quoted in an interview around this time saying, “The old people are dying slowly [...] the representatives of the puritanism and religion and other organisms which were restricting. The young people are quite different, they demand different things; “Make it new” they say, “Make it different.”. This movement was a boon to the film industry, revitalising it and opening up boundaries to themes and content that had previously been unheard of. A combination of this new found cinematic wanderlust and the abandonment of the Film Codes by the MPAA, in favour of the Film Rating System, lead to a period of far more mature and experimental film making; resulting in to the development of films such as The Graduate, Harold and Maude, The Godfather, Easy Rider, and Midnight Cowboy; all seen as important pieces of film history, and influences on prominent filmmakers that would follow in their footsteps. The works from this era of cinema were also one of the key driving factors in the creation of the R and X ratings by the MPAA, which paved the way for explicit and otherwise adult oriented films. Fortunately this development did not sidestep the animation industry, and there was an uncharacteristic upturn in underground and unconventional animation. This was exemplified by Ralph Bakshi's underground hit 'Fritz the Cat' – the first animated film to receive an X rating from the MPAA 36. Here we see some of the first examples of animation being respected as an industry and medium in it's own right, and beginning to integrate itself more closely with the film industry as a whole thanks to the doors opened by the 'New Hollywood' movement. It is clear then, approaching the modern era, that consumers wanted more from cinema – with animation being no exception – and that the changing perceptions of the medium along with the restructuring of film regulations made it easier than ever before for film-makers to realise their artistic vision and deliver this content. The public was beginning to become desensitised by the flow of ever more risqué content, which led to both a greater acceptance, and demand – and supply and demand were the core tenets of the capitalist systems with which Hollywood and the animation industry had come to be so closely tied. This was a huge step forward for adult animation, and would later be remembered as a boon to the survival and thriving of the modern animation industry as a whole, but the baggage that animation carried from it's past would be neither quick nor easy to 35 Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. Dir. Kenneth Bowser. Writ. Peter Biskind. Fremantle Corporation, 2003. Film. 36 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.81-84

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unload. Even though great strides were made in this era they barely scratched the surface of the public's perception of animation. Thus we arrive at the next stage of our journey, an examination of cinematic adult animation in practice. From humble beginnings through to the changing tide of the modern era, to ask the questions: Where did adult animation come from, and – more importantly – where is it going?

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CHAPTER 2 -Cinematic Adult Animation in Practice“What the hell is wrong with freedom, Man? That's what it's all about.” -Dennis hopper in 'Easy Rider'37

37 Easy Rider. Dir. Dennis Hopper. Perf. Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson. Raybert Productions, 1969. Film.

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Time and time again it has been shown that there are two things that humans, by their very nature, simply cannot resist: sex and money. It should come as no surprise then that examples of explicit and risqué animation can be found for almost as long as animation as a medium has existed38. Examples of burlesque shows and strip teases can be found even in early magic lantern shows and primitive zoetrope devices, but even pre-code film animation had it's share of risqué material – as with previously mentioned cases such as the editing of Betty Boop to remove content seen as “promiscuous”. This practice was not uncommon, with many animations in this era being edited or banned due the use of nudity, foul language, the portrayal of banned acts and substances, and a plethora of other unsavoury depictions and themes39. One of the first and most well known examples of truly explicit animation on film was Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure, produced in 1928. Though presented in a typical cartoon style of the era this film featured explicit nudity and sexual acts throughout. The film ended up never receiving it's initial release due to controversy surrounding it's content, likely due to the fact that it was produced just two years before the introduction of the Film Code, which shows that even before the creation of the Code, Hay's work with the MPPDA was already well set in motion and public opinions at the time had quite a conservative leaning. Despite this the film was apparently a hit amongst the animation community towards whom it was targeted, according to an account from Disney animator Ward Kimball, “The first porno-cartoon was made in New York. It was called "Eveready Harton" and was made in the late 20's, silent, of course—by three studios. Each one did a section of it without telling the other studios what they were doing. Studio A finished the first part and gave the last drawing to Studio B.... Involved were Max Fleischer, Paul Terry and the Mutt and Jeff studio. They didn't see the finished product till the night of the big show. A couple of guys who were there tell me the laughter almost blew the top off the hotel where they were screening it.”40 Even though doubts exist about the legitimacy of this and similar claims it goes to make an important point about the era – even if the public and the government ratings boards were staunchly against adult content, opinions within the animation community remained positive. This is important; because, while the viewing public drove the demand, the animators and film-makers were still the content creators – and history shows us that their wildest desires will not be quelled simply by a lack of demand. Steve Russel of Klasky Csupo once stated that, “A Storyboard Jam isn't common on shows that allow people to get out frustrations in the actual work, but on cutie kid shows, everyone draws naked women going bonkers 38 Jones, David J. Sexuality and the Gothic Magic Lantern: Desire, Eroticism and Literary Visibilities from Byron to Bram Stoker. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 39 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.18-34 40 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.12

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on giant cocks in their spare time. Inevitably, through loathing of the project, they start a storyboard jam where a continuous story evolves from artist to artist as they hand around the papers. Everyone gets a turn to do their worst with the characters.”41 It seems only natural then that over the next thirty years, as the Film Code remained in effect and the animation industry continued down it's foam padded path to Disneyfication, a bustling underground animation scene would develop and thrive. These communities, mostly American, were comprised in part by independent artists, but a huge amount of them were formed by industry professionals who either wanted to blow off steam from their conservative and constricting studio jobs or who had become disillusioned with the consumerism and restrictive nature of the studio system entirely and focused their efforts towards the more expressive and emotive film-making opportunities offered by these unrestricted underground communities42,. These communities were tepid and mostly insular up until the 60's, but the repealing of the Hays code opened the floodgates for the release and distribution of both American and Foreign animation unrestricted by regulations or censorship. John Magnuson's Thank You Mask Man and Marv Newland's Bambi Meets Godzilla are fantastic, and very different, examples of the animation in circulation at this time that could never have seen the big screen under previous regulations. The first strides into animated adult feature films also came in the 50's and 60's with the waning of the Film Codes. There were limited Western examples outside of America, such as the English 'Animal Farm' produced by Halas and Batchelor in the 50's – which curiously is also said to be the first British animated feature film with a cinematic release –, but most of the development in this era was still focused heavily around America. While films like the X-rated Midnight Cowboy were blazing trails in live action cinema, directors like Ralph Bakshi were making trails of their own in animation. Early in his career Bakshi was heavily involved in traditional animation and worked for several well known studios – such as Terrytoons – but like many animators before him he grew jaded with the system and wanted more creative freedom and to escape from what animation had become – famously quoted as saying “grown men sitting in cubicles drawing butterflies floating over a field of flowers, while American planes are dropping bombs in Vietnam and kids are marching in the streets, is ludicrous."43 His new works such as 'Heavy Traffic' offered a taste of gritty realism in animation, while, now cult classic, Fritz the Cat was the first animated film to 41 Ressel, Steve. Steve Ressel's Livejournal. Web blog post. Livejournal, 2011. Web. 20 May 2011. 42 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.92-102 43 Barrier, Michael. Funnyworld Revisited: The Filming Of Fritz The Cat, Part One, (Reprinted from Funnyworld No. 14, Spring 1972). Michaelbarrier.com. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

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receive an X rating. These films, though they had their share of critics and detractors, were critical and financial successes, even though they did not see as wide a release as even an X-rated live action film would44. It is clear then that Ralph Bakshi, patron saint of adult animation, found unprecedented success from the most unlikely of sources with his free love feline; but how did Fritz come to be such a breakout hit; why, to this day, has there never been a resurgence of cinematic adult animation to nearly the same scale; and just what was the cultural significance of Fritz? Bakshi came up during the 50's and 60's and attributes his style to several events and movements of the era. He worked at Terrytoons on serialised children's animation for almost fifteen years, and after all that time of being so restricted and restrained on productions that he felt were intellectually dishonest he needed to move on and make something that he believed was real and honest, that didn't hold back, and treated the viewer with respect45. He once said of this period, “I couldn't stand lying to kids any more [...] I couldn't stand doing all this garbage, that I considered garbage at the time, or got to be garbage. Y'know, stuff that's not real, and stuff that's not ethnic [...] I'm a film director now, why can't I call an animated character Italian? Why can't I draw a black guy? I mean what is going on here?”46 His concerns were driven and compounded by that state of the world around him; the Vietnam war was in full swing and the country was up in arms about it, there were riots in the streets, and racial conflicts in ghettos across the country47. These concerns overlap with those of many other great and influential directors of this period, such as Roman Polanski, Peter Bogdanovich, and Dennis Hopper. Bakshi was channelling the American New Wave movement into animation and this alchemy was creating something new and exciting for the animation industry. Bakshi was also influenced greatly by the rapidly growing underground comics scene in America, and between the total freedom from regulation and the wild counter-culture attitudes it's not hard to understand where he saw the appeal – especially coming from animation48. One of the prominent figures of this scene was Robert Crumb, creator of the original Fritz the Cat comic upon which Bakshi's film was based49. Though Crumb ended up being dissatisfied with how the film turned out 44 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. 45 Gibson, Jon M., Chris McDonnell, and Ralph Bakshi. Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. Universe Pub, 2008. 46 Wizards: Ralph Bakshi – The Wizard of Animation. Prod. John Mefford. Perf. Ralph Bakshi. Sparkhill Productions, 2004. Short. 47 Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. Dir. Kenneth Bowser. Writ. Peter Biskind. Fremantle Corporation, 2003. Film. 48 Wizards: Ralph Bakshi – The Wizard of Animation. Prod. John Mefford. Perf. Ralph Bakshi. Sparkhill Productions, 2004. Short. 49 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.81

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due to Bakshi's treatment of some elements from the comic50,51, the film certainly embodies the counter-culture movement of the era and its radical ideas on society, sex, rebellion, and freedom; drawing parallels with many other radical films of the time such as Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider. It was not merely the fact that Fritz was X-rated that was revolutionary, but these ideas of culture and society which it conveyed in a manner that had never been seen before. Ralph Bakshi wanted to make animation that was real, to break the bonds that held it back, and though he may not spurred an immediate revolution, he certainly left his mark and paved the way for those who would carry on his legacy. The frustration and intentions of Bakshi, as well as the limitations of animation, during this era were summed up nicely when he said, “It's my medium! Why am I locked out of all these wonderful areas?”52. Though it didn't change the world overnight, Bakshi's success proved that the animation market and the viewing public was opening up to adult animation. Despite this positive reaction these successes proved to be unprecedented for the time, and did not go on to revolutionise and modernise the animation industry as many so desperately hoped. Bakshi fell into controversy over racism with a later film, 'Coonskin' - ironically a film about the injustice of racism in America – and all but retired from adult animation to pursue other projects. For the next thirty years there were occasional resurgences of adult animation in theatres – films such as the titular 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' pushed the boundaries of it's PG rating, and independent animators such as Bill Plympton received limited theatrical success with their short films. while a new wave of animated documentaries appeared to be exempt from the traditional standards of animation – but to this day nothing has reached the scale of Bakshi's legacy. It becomes clear then just how pigeon-holed the medium of animation had become, and that it would take more than a few independent successes dig it out of it's hole. The full acceptance of adult content in Western animation would take either the support of a major player in the industry, or a complete restructuring of how the industry worked. Though adult content in these Western markets was still struggling, it was par for the course in many non-Western animation industries. Japan, for example, acts as a perfect foil for American animation; exemplifying these foreign producers, with a booming animation industry – known

50 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p.81 51 Gibson, Jon M., Chris McDonnell, and Ralph Bakshi. Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. Universe Pub, 2008. p. xlviii 52 Wizards: Ralph Bakshi – The Wizard of Animation. Prod. John Mefford. Perf. Ralph Bakshi. Sparkhill Productions, 2004. Short.

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locally as anime – dating back to the turn of the 20th century53, almost as far as those in France and America. The key differences between Japanese animation and Western animation is its history. Animation in Japan saw less government regulation outside of officially sanctioned political works, and many animations here were smaller and cheaper productions which served to provide more freedom to the film-makers54. Popular big budget anime works such as 'Akira' began to bring Japanese animation to the American public in the 80's and 90's55. Many Americans – who would later be realised as the roots of a sizeable American subculture group – instantly fell in love with anime and consumed all they could find, while others were wary or even disgusted with this new media and the adult content it brought with it, including a sexually explicit and pornographic subsection of anime known colloquially as Hentai. Anime would eventually go on to help introduce and normalise a good deal of Americans with adult animation, though the general public was to remain either wary or completely ignorant of it. As shown by its usage thus far, “adult” is a word with a great deal of implication behind it, and a great variety of meaning; especially when it comes to popular media and animation. Depending on the context it can indicate something as benign as a serious dramatic story or something as explicit as pornography and extreme violence, with a great many shades of grey in-between. Most of these themes can be neatly bundled into three categories – the overt, which includes explicit content such as pornography and graphic violence; the emotional, which covers themes such as death, depression, mental illness, drug abuse, and relationship issues; and the subversive, which includes the likes of politics, religion, and social ideas. All of these themes have appeared in animation to varying degrees and all three are encompassed in my definition of adult content as applied to adult cinema. Emotional adult content is the type most frequently expressed through animation, with death, mental health, and relationship issues appearing relatively commonly even in children’s media, though always treated with the greatest of care and sometimes diluted to the point of losing all meaning in the name of staying “family friendly”. Subversive adult themes rarely appears in animated cinema unless they are extremely simplified, and when they do it is generally within animated documentaries, which tend to eschew the traditional bounds of animation though their imposed realism anyway. The most elusive if the three, the overt, is almost unheard of in animated cinema – excepting a few notable outliers.56 53 Sieg, Linda. Japan finds films by early "anime" pioneers. Reuters, 27 Mar. 2008. Web. 12 Feb. 2016 54 Clements, Jonathan. Anime: A History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 55 Newitz, Annalee. Magical Girls and Atomic Bomb Sperm: Japanese Animation in America. Film Quarterly 49.1 (1995): 2–15. Web... 56 Australian Law Reform Commission. Classification-Content regulation and convergent media: Final Report. No. 75. ALRC, 2012.

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This topic also returns us once more to the important notion that documentaries seem to fall outside of the boundaries of what is suitable for traditional animated content. Thanks to this exception – which is likely due to the fact that documentaries are generally viewed as a genre for adults, and that they only relatively recently started to incorporate animation in the mainstream – documentary film-makers and consumers are one of the few branches of cinema to truly respects animation as a medium in and of itself and take it without implication or restriction.57 Waltz with Bashir is a prime example of an animated documentary with adult themes and visuals which merely uses animation as it's medium – a tool in it's creative arsenal. It must be asked; why does documentary film-making escape the draconian ideals of the animation industry? Apart from the reasons previously mentioned, it must be noted that animation is an incredibly powerful tool in documentary filmmaking. This is exemplified within Waltz with Bashir, showing how animation can be used to play with the viewers perception and distance from reality. Animation can distance an audience from a serious topic to juxtapose and examine the content within; or it can draw an audience into events and periods from which no real footage remains in a way not previously possible, such as in the 1995 documentary Abductees58 where animated sections are used to visualise first-hand accounts of alleged alien abductions. Annabelle Honess Roe, author of Animated Documentary, writes “Animation can also, through its nature as a medium that can be realised in multiple formats, techniques and styles, convey questions regarding forgetting and remembering, knowing and not knowing, the past.” and “Unlike photographic media, which seem to highlight the distance of the past as an instant that cannot be recaptured, animation is a way to weave oneself into history and bring oneself into proximity with that which is temporally distal.”59 These reasons can be taken to show how powerful animation is as a medium, but also to show that it was only through necessity that it could eschew it's traditions for documentaries. This once more can be taken to show that the weight of animations history is what is holding it back, and only once this perceived prestige can be shed or circumvented will it be able to move forward. We can clearly see then just how ingrained the negative connotations of animation are. Through every step of it's history factors worked against it to relegate it as a children’s medium and a lower form of entertainment, and even through the smash hits and critical acclaim of adult cinema during the American New Wave it couldn't break away from these ingrained notions. As stated previously, it seems that the full acceptance of adult content in Western animation would take either the support 57 Adams, Beige. When Docs Get Graphic: Animation Meets Actuality”. Documentary.org, 2009. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. 58 Abductees. Dir. Paul Vester. Speedy Films, 1995. Short. 59 Roe, Annabelle Honess. Animated documentary. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

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of a major player in the industry, or a complete restructuring of how the industry worked. This, fortunately, may not be as far fetched as it may sound according to the direction of recent cultural trends. It appears that the saviour of adult animated cinema may come not from within it's own ranks, but from it's competition, both old and new, and from movements that have been coming to a head for years now. Let us take a look at how television and the rise of alternative media may be poised to have a positive and lasting impact on adult animation, and more specifically on adult animated cinema.

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CHAPTER 3 -Television and the rise of Alternative Media“The times they are a-changing; y'know what I'm saying?” -Ralph Bakshi60

60 Wizards: Ralph Bakshi – The Wizard of Animation. Prod. John Mefford. Perf. Ralph Bakshi. Sparkhill Productions, 2004. Short.

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Just as the arrival of foreign films and a new generation of inspired directors led to the breakout of adult live action cinema with the American New Wave, so too may the prevalence of televised and alternative forms of media lead to adult animation hitting the big screens. History shows that when it comes to media, the consuming public vote with their wallets, and an industries morals often run only as deep as its pockets. Those who want this content need only make themselves sufficiently heard for adult animation to make the transition from small screen to big, and these new elements are shaping up to be the town crier of this new generation of consumers. Cinema has had it's share of underground and independent hits when it comes to adult animation, as we have seen, but they always proved to be exceptional cases. Television, both rival and companion to cinema in ages past, has recently been proving itself, in the grand scheme, to be the more progressive of the two. With adult animation abound in broadcast media, one question pleads to be answered: What caused such a clear rift in the content of two, ostensibly quite similar, platforms? There are a number of key differences between cinema and television. From the first magic lantern shows to Eadweard Muybridge's simple motion studies, all film media during the primordial era of film-making was projected, and thus required a screen. It logically followed then that when film began to amass a following there should be a venue dedicated to this new medium. Cinema was born of this; originating as little more than a venue, it would be the public's only source of film for many years. Commercially available television on the other hand appeared much later, appearing in the 1930's but not gaining widespread popularity until the 40's when the public was already well accustomed to cinema, and early television had little original content so film re-runs were frequent61. Cinema was a thing of spectacle and wonder, an event more-so than just a platform; whereas television was a more mundane and casual form of entertainment, to be enjoyed in the home as you pleased. It was also decided that television should be regulated on similar grounds to radio, inherently separating it from cinema. These factors meant that by the 40's cinema was a hugely ingrained part of society with many set expectations and implications, while television, a new platform, could forge it's own path while still feeding off of the legacy of cinema. It is a logical notion to consider that there was a possibility of television becoming more associated with cinema during its inception, more similarly controlled and regulated; but when examining the history of television and the positive changes its systemic differences from cinema have led to it can certainly be seen as a positive distinction. Television was regulated by many organisations in various countries, but the most relevant to 61 Kompare, Derek. Rerun nation: How repeats invented American television. Routledge, 2006.

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Hollywood and Western animation was the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, which was set up in 1934 to regulate American broadcast media. As written by Assoc. Professor Michael O'Malley, “The FCC had the right to restrict content -- to censor obscene material, to require balance and "fairness" in political programming, and to insist that a certain percentage of each broadcast week be devoted to what it termed "public use."” and “In the 1950s, as today, the FCC also prohibited "obscene and indecent" material. Programming is considered obscene if "the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material appeals to the prurient interest; that the material describes or depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner; or taken as whole, the material lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value." Indecent programming was defined as "patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium and describes sexual or excretory activities and organs." Obscene programming was prohibited at all times in the 1950s, but "indecent" programming was allowed at certain times, typically after hours when children went to bed. The meaning of "indecent" has tended to change over time. In the 1950s, for example, TV programmers would not show a married couple sharing a bed. Married couples, in 1950s TV-land, slept in separate beds. The subject of indecent programming is still unsettled, as any listener of drive-time commercial radio knows.”62 From these quotes, as well as official FCC documentation63, we can clearly see that the regulations of television were, though perhaps just as puritanical as those of cinema in their intent, considerably more vague and open to interpretation. This, combined with a hint if tolerance shown by their exception for “indecent” programming at certain times, were two of the first steps on the road to the embracing adult content on television. Later development would come with the spread of cable television and premium cable, wherein viewers could more easily find “indecent” content due to a lack of FCC regulations of these systems. These regulations do not apply here due cable television being a subscription based content and the requirement of special equipment to access this programming, therefore technically falling outside of the FCC's jurisdiction64. In time this would prove itself to be a notable boon to cable television in its competition with terrestrial networks, and as a consequence drive traditional networks to attempt to loosen their restrictions on adult content. Cable's popularity and influence continued to grow – reaching over 50 million viewers by 1990 – and the platform was no stranger to animation, housing two of the giants of broadcast animation; Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, which launched in 1977 and 1992 respectively.

62 O'Malley, Michael. Regulating Television. Georgia Mason University. April 2004. Web. 08 Feb 2016 63 Media Bureau Official Documents. FCC.gov, 2016. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. 64 Program Content Regulations. FCC.gov, 09 Dec. 2015. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

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One of the first examples of broadcast animation that pushed the boundaries of acceptance was 'The Ren & Stimpy Show', broadcast by Nickelodeon in 199165. John Kricfalusi, the creator of the show, had previously worked with, and credits his success to, Ralph Bakshi; and is quoted as saying “He saved me. He saved the business for cartoonists.”66 The show was an immediate hit, but was also a source of great controversy67. The show was pushing the boundaries of adult animation while still being broadcast on a children's network, much to the chagrin of many parental organisations, but even with this looming controversy and lack of educational content in the show Nickelodeon decided to carry on with production. Kricfalusi was quoted as saying, "...no other network would have stuck their necks out that far and even put the show on the air. I tried to sell it to every network – they all turned it down thinking that I was insane with a show like that – they were pretty brave to put it on."68 Terry Thoren of Klasky Csupo said that Kricfalusi, "tapped into an audience that was a lot hipper than anybody thought. He went where no man wanted to go before – the caca, booger humor.”69 This shows that not only was there an emerging market for this kind of material, but also that networks were becoming more willing to test the waters by funding and publishing these shows. Though the show was eventually cancelled it had a lasting impact on the culture of adult animated television. 'Beavis and Butthead' creator Mike Judge credits Nickelodeon and Kricfalusi with opening the doorway for his show, saying, "'Ren & Stimpy' played on MTV for a while and was a big success. They used that as a justification to pay for this."70 Kricfalusi would go on to resurrect Ren and Stimpy years later as an adult only show, surfing on the wake of adult animation that its original run had helped to leave behind – again reinforcing the profound impact it had on the industry. There were several programs that followed in the wake of 'The Ren & Stimpy Show' and presented similar risqué humour and adult themes, but the next big step in adult broadcast animation would not come until 2001 with the launch of Cartoon Network's adult oriented programming block: Adult Swim. This network was launched with the intent of providing animated content oriented towards adults using Cartoon Network's later broadcasting hours – previously wasted due to the vast majority of their target audience, children, being asleep. Adult Swim's roots can be traced back to 65 The Ren & Stimpy Show. Writ. John Kricfalusi. Perf. Billy West. Nickelodeon. 1991. Television. 66 Kricfalusi, John. John Kricfalusi. Interview by Tasha Robinson. A.V. Club. Onion Inc., 04 Mar. 2001. Web. 28 Jan. 2016. 67 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p. 148-149 68 Kricfalusi, John. John Kricfalusi Interview. Interview by Nick Digilio. WGN Radio, 2003. Web. 29 Jan. 2016. 69 Zimmerman, Kevin. Not just for kids anymore. Daily Variety, 23 Mar. 1995. Web. 19 Dec. 2015 70 Cerone, Daniel. COVER STORY : New Kings of TV's Toon Town: In an era when product tie-ins lead to new series, and not vice versa, Nickelodeon has hit paydirt with a plan some might call Looney Tunes: Hire bright animators and let them do (almost) anything they want. LA Times, 17 October 1993. Web. 20 Jan. 2016

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one of the first late night, adult oriented programs that cartoon Network ever produced; Space Ghost Coast to Coast, first aired in 199471,72. Space Ghost was created by Mike Lazzo – head programmer of Cartoon Network and operator of Adult Swim to this day – and became huge success. The show was developed by Lazzo's studio Ghost Planet Industries which would later become Williams Street Studios and, thanks to the success of Space Ghost, end up producing all of Adult Swim's original series. Many of its original shows – such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law, and Sealab 2021, – gained a huge cult following, and many of their more recent shows – such as Metalocalypse, Robot Chicken, The Venture Bros., China, IL, and 'Rick and Morty' – have gone on to see unprecedented success in the last ten years. This network, more than any that came before it, has set a precedent for the acceptance of adult animation on television and even crossed the boundaries from television into cinema with the production of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theatres in 2007 – a feat which had not been achieved by an adult animated film since the 1999 release of the 'South Park' film 'South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut'. While all of these elements were working hard on the recipe for explicitly adult animation, mainly using the freedoms provided by cable television, another more subtle path was being explored on commercial broadcast networks. For years now mainstream children’s animation had gotten away with slipping in the odd subtle adult reference – a nod to the parents watching at home with their oblivious children, and a way for writers and animators to express themselves in a very limiting system. Some shows such as 'Animaniacs' would go on to become famous for this – and there is an argument to be made that these shows were both a symptom of a generation of animators who were raised on adult cinema, and also that they were one of the factors that helped to desensitise the current generation of consumers to adult animation. The epitome of this type of subversive adult content came in 1989 with the release of 'The Simpsons'73, also notable as one of the first examples of prime time animation on a non child-oriented network. 'The Simpsons' was truly a show for all the family; suitable, appropriate and marketable for children of all ages, yet packed to the brim with references, themes, and humour designed to resonate with adults74. The show was created by Matt Groening, and owes its production – and perhaps a good deal of its creative freedom when it comes to the aforementioned adult content – to its origin as a 71 72 73 74

Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Dir. Mike Lazzo. Cartoon Network, 1994. Television. Lee, Cricket. [Adult Swim]: A (not so) Bried History. Geek Nation, 02 Feb. 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2016 The Simpsons. Writ. Matt Groening. Perf. Dan Castellaneta, Phil Hartman. Fox. 1989. Television. Alberti, John. Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the possibility of oppositional culture. Wayne State University Press, 2004.

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popular short on 'The Tracy Ullman Show'75,76. From its inception the show was a runaway hit, being one of the Fox networks' first big successes, and it quickly became an inherent part of the pop culture revolution of the 90's – adult themes and all77. The shows popularity and mainstream appeal seemed almost to make people forget it was an animated show at all. Merchandise sold in record numbers across the world; much of it featuring Bart Simpson, by this stage already a beloved household name, and his catchphrases such as “Eat my shorts!” and “I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?” – of which both the language and attitude were virtually unheard of in mainstream animation to date. They introduced not only a great deal of adult humour; but also dealt with a lot of very serious emotional adult topics such as death, relationship issues, poverty, and other issues of American suburbia; as well as offering occasional subversive adult content such as political satire or mockery of the American education system78. In fact virtually the only type of adult content they shied away from was the explicit, and even that was mentioned at times. 'The Simpsons' went on to become one of the most popular animated shows in the history of television, and is widely regarded as one of the instruments of the coming age of adult television. Thus we see how adult animation came to be accepted on television, but the effects of this development were so profound that they even managed to breach the mighty walls of Hollywood, with the trojan horse of this metaphor being none other than 'South Park' – Comedy Central's controversial foray into adult animation. 'South Park'79 was one of Comedy Central's first animated shows, preceded only by 'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'. The show was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone as a college project before being picked up commercially. It was explicit, vulgar, unapologetic, and quickly became an explosive success. Between 1997 and 1999 its viewer-ship had grown to over 6 million, with one concerned reporter writing in his 1998 article, “The foulmouthed "South Park" is a sensation, and last week's episode, in which the character Cartman's father was revealed, won the highest ratings of any entertainment series in basic cable's history.”80 with regard to a recent episode. There was a great deal of controversy surrounding the show, which seemed to push every boundary it could reach, but it's popularity continued to grow undeterred. This popularity, combined with the social foundation laid by other adult animated programs, came 75 The Tracey Ullman Show. Writ. James L. Brooks. Perf. Tracey Ullman. Fox, 1987. Television. 76 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p. 144 77 Alberti, John. Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the possibility of oppositional culture. Wayne State University Press, 2004. p. xvii 78 Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden animation: Censored cartoons and blacklisted animators in America. McFarland, 2004. p. 144-146 79 South Park, Writ. Trey Parker, Matt Stone. Perf. Isaac Hayes. Comedy Central. 1997. Television. 80 Associated Press. The growth of trash TV concerns media watchers. The Augusta Chronicle, 05 May 1998. Web. 06 Feb. 2016.

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to a head in 1999 with an achievement thus far unheard of in animation, as previously mentioned, with the production and release of 'South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut'81 – the first ever adult animated film with a theatrical release based on a broadcast animation. This was a landmark achievement for both adult animated cinema and television, as well as animation as a medium. Amusingly, when considering the history of adult animation and the difficult journey animators had undertaken to get to this stage, – and perhaps poignantly – some of the key themes in the film are; censorship, free speech, and unjustified parental outrage. The film also employs a heavy satire of the MPAA – with whom Parker and Stone battled constantly to get the film an R rating instead of the toxic NC-17; which by this stage was considered a much harsher rating than it once was, and almost guaranteed that a film would be a commercial failure due to impaired critical appeal, a reduced number of potential theatres, and negative connotations resulting from the annexation of it's uncopyrighted predecessor – the X rating – by pornography studios.82 Since this release, and its wild success, there have been a handful of films that successfully followed this same path to a cinematic release, such as; 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theatres' in 2007, and to a lesser extent 'The Simpsons Movie'; with more planned for coming years, showing that it was more than just a lucky break. Beavis and Butthead Do America followed a similar path to a theatrical release three years before South Park, but with a PG-13 rating – while still notable as having appealing mainly to adults and teenagers – it falls more in line with the Simpsons than the explicitly adult South Park. This was a huge step in setting a positive precedent for the development of adult animated films, and South Park, along with the films that followed, showed that with enough support media could cross traditional content barriers, even across platforms. Bigger, Longer, and Uncut was truly the exception that proved the rule of adult animation; showing that it was still possible to make an adult animated theatrical release, but at the same time proving how difficult it can be and requiring an enormous following built on a different platform just to jump-start production. All of this was a huge leap forward for adult animation, and in the past ten years there has been yet another shift; not in the public acceptance of a given genre in film, but in the very nature of film production itself; with the introduction and rise of two online services: Netflix Streaming and Kickstarter, which would go on to see many other similar services springing up in the wake of their success. Netflix was founded in 1997 as a service to distribute DVD rentals by mail as an 81 South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. Dir. Trey Parker. Perf. Matt Stone. Comedy Central Films, 1999. Film. 82 Sandler, Kevin S.. The Naked Truth: "showgirls" and the Fate of the X/NC-17 Rating. Cinema Journal 40.3 (2001): 69–93. Web...

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alternative to rental stores like Blockbuster. They were hugely successful, delivering their billionth DVD in 2007, roughly seven and a half years after their delivery service began; which was quoted by one Texas newspaper as being “...about seven months less than it took McDonald's Corp. to sell1 billion hamburgers after opening its first restaurant in April 1955”83. Shortly after this milestone sale the company made a move that would go on to revolutionise the broadcast industries, and even have a notable impact on cinema, with the release of their streaming service – an entirely new media platform in direct competition with both television and cinema. As if this wasn't radical enough; they expanded their business further in 2011 by beginning to finance and distribute their own original programming, starting with David Fincher's House of Cards, and expanding constantly ever since. Similarly to television before it Netflix has been extremely proactive with the production and publishing of adult animation; seeming to have no qualms with hosting even the raunchiest material television had to offer, as well as funding and producing several of their own animated adult programs such as 'Bojack Horseman' and 'F is for Family' since 2011. They have not yet introduced any animated adult films, but show no resistance to the idea by hosting popular adult films such as 'South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut', and the 2009 cult classic 'Mary and Max'. These platforms are shaping up to be quite hospitable for animation indeed, and it's not just independent or low budget production. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, recently got involved with Netflix to produce a new original animated show84. This shows that these platforms are becoming appealing even to the biggest industry names who could easily get involved with any traditional network of their choosing. While rarely directly influencing Hollywood and generally keeping their productions exclusive to their own platform, there is a clear competition between the two entities – with Netflix offering an alternative and more progressive source of media – and as can be clearly seen throughout the history of cinema; nothing drives development faster than stiff competition and the introduction of new and alternative media to the market. Netflix has only released one of their productions theatrically, Beasts of No Nation, and that came with a great deal of controversy; with most major cinema chains in America boycotting the release due to Netflix's disregard of traditional cinematic release regulations by airing the film on their own platform simultaeously85. This can be taken as a sign of Hollywood's reluctance to change in the face of these developing new platforms, though if 83 Beck, Rachel. Netflix reaches milestone with delivery of 1 billionth DVD. The Victoria Advocate, 26 Feb. 2007. Print 84 Littleton, Cynthia. 'Simpsons' Creator Matt Groening In Talks with Netflix For Animated Series. Variety, 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 21. Jan 2016. 85 Greenberg, Julia. THEATRE OWNERS ARE FURIOUS ABOUT NETFLIX'S NEW MOVIE. Wired, 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 Jan. 2016

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the popularity of streaming media continues to grow then they will likely be forced to coexist or risk becoming irrelevant just as the big studious of the 1960's did during the American New Wave movement86. Netflix also poses a threat to television networks, but since all they can do to compete is either make more compelling content or become streaming services themselves there is a strong possibility that television will be replaced by streaming services entirely in the near future; a theory supported by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who was quoted as saying that he believes all television will be online within ten to twenty years87,88. Hastings also shows very positive ideals of protecting creativity that serve as a foil to the overbearing Hollywood system, saying that they will never release the viewership ratings for their shows publicly as, “Once we give a number for a show, then every show will be benchmarked off of that show even though they were built sometimes for very specific audiences...There is a very natural inclination to say, ‘Relative to this show, this show is a failure.’ That puts a lot of creative pressure on the talent.89” Kickstarter on the other hand presents a brand new solution to the funding, and perhaps publicising, of film media. This website was founded in 2009 and quickly gained notoriety as creators flocked towards the opportunity to independently fund their projects. Since it's inception over 250,000 projects have been funded, including many films and series – with the 'Mystery Science theatre 3000' revival and the 'Veronica Mars' film being included in the top ten most funded projects of all time, with over 5 million dollars each90. Unlike Netflix this platform clearly has no qualms about working with the film industry, with over 150 films funded through the website receiving a theatrical release so far91. This platform also has a clear and direct influence on adult cinematic animation, with Eric Powell and David Fincher's 'The Goon' receiving funding in 201292, and Charlie Kaufman's emotional stop motion film 'Anomalisa' receiving funding, also in 2012, with a successful theatrical release in 201593 – both films being branded with an R rating. Kaufman's film 86 Biskind, Peter. Easy Riders Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. Simon and Schuster, 1999. 87 Long, Stephanie Topacio. NETFLIX 2.0? HBO TO FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ITS STREAMING RIVAL. Digital Trends, 16 Feb 2016. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. 88 Stevenson. Abigail. Netflix CEO: All TV will be Internet in 10-20 yrs. CNBC, 20 Sep. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. 89 Koblin, John. Netflix's Opaque Disruption Annoys Rivals on TV. The New York Post, 17 Jan. 2016. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. 90 Most Funded. https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/most-funded. Kickstarter, 2016. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. 91 Film & Video. https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/film%20&%20video. Kickstarter, 2016. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. 92 The Goon” Movie... let's KICKSTART this sucker!!!. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/624061548/the-goonmovie-lets-kickstart-this-sucker/description. Kickstarter, 2012. Web. 04 Jan. 2016 93 Anomalisa. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/anomalisa/charlie-kaufmans-anomalisa/description. Kickstarter, 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.

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is incredibly noteworthy, not just for being one of the first adult animated films funded through this new platform, but also for being one of the only non comedic adult animated productions, a further barrier to animation as a medium which remains difficult to breach to this day. Other notable artist to adult animation who have successfully availed of Kickstarter include Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi, who used the website to fund his latest animated show Cans Without Labels, which follows in the footsteps of his previous work; and adult animation legend Ralph Bakshi, who used the platform to fund his latest animated short film The Last Days of Coney Island, which similarly revisits his roots for the first time since the 70's. During his Kickstarter pitch video Bakshi stated, “My pictures, done 35 years ago with spit and the blood of my great studio artists are still playing everywhere. Y'know, it's time to do more. The net offers me the freedom of not having to fight any-more.”, sarcastically adding “Wow, what a concept”, and following it up with, “I need your help. Help me do something for animation that isn't driven by making you happy and stupid.”94 These comments perfectly exemplify Bakshi's ideas about animation, his struggles to see his visions realised all those years ago, and brings us full circle to show how these new media platforms can circumvent all of those problems of the past as long as they are supported. Bakshi has been the star of this journey and virtually personifies the adult animation industry, to this day fighting for the medium and moving with the times as we progress. Similarly to Matt Groening using Netflix as a platform, these examples also show that even well established artists find these new services such as Kickstarter to be a very valuable service. Even if current successes are still somewhat limited, all of these developments have extremely positive implications on the future of adult animation. It is clear then that television, and even more-so the emerging forms of alternative media, are much more receptive to adult animated content than cinema, and that if recent trends – and the history of the film industry – are any indication of things to come then there is likely to be a radical shift in the near future. Even in it's current state animated cinema has progressed a great deal with a combination of the positive influence from television, constant development from adult animators, and more recently the support from alternative platforms such as Kickstarter. Aside from these points one of the main issues that remains, and one of the more damning indications of the lack of respect for animation as a medium, is the virtual absence of non-comedic adult content – though even this is currently improving with works like Anomalisa setting a positive precedent. There has 94 Last Days of Coney Island. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ralphbakshi/last-days-of-coney-island0/description. Kickstarter, 2013. Web. 13, Feb. 2016.

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undeniably been a historic upturn in adult animated cinema in the last ten years, with many productions currently in the works or in the process of looking for funding, and after a long history of peaks and falls it seems as though we may finally be approaching the top.

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CONCLUSION It is clear then, if nothing else, that adult animation has had a rough journey to get where it is today. Its future uncertain, it drags itself forward. It is weighed down by the baggage of one hundred years of forced ideology and corporate exploitation, bloodied from its denied attempts to rise up, and yet it moves. The future remains uncertain, though the sun crests over a distant hill, and storm clouds have broken. It no longer walks alone; two young companions appear to accompany the weary behemoth, and onlookers that once shunned it seem to gaze more intently with each passing day. Times are changing. Though I have spoken here of adult animation, simply creating more adult content remains but a consequence of this journey. The “adult” element of this discussion discuss serves merely as a metaphor for the baggage that animation as a medium is burdened with, and as the most visible limit that we can push in our attempts to break the arbitrary barriers and cut loose the weights that hold it back. Such draconian restrictions as there are currently in place show that animation is not respected as a medium, but unjustly pigeon-holed into specific genres. Adult content happens to be one of the best ways of pushing the boundaries of the medium and making people realise that their previous perceptions of it were false. Only when the boundaries have been broken can animation be looked at as a blank canvas, one upon which can be painted using the entire history of animation and film, but without any of it being a necessity. This is how other, more respected mediums are viewed – to the extent that painting, another artistic medium, was my first thought as a metaphor for an idealistic animation industry – and it is how it must be if we are to ever realise the full potential of animation. Nothing is excluded by the creation of a blank slate; all of the previous possibilities still exist, but so do infinitely more, and an infinite combination of them. To relegate animation to the genre of children's entertainment is comparable to defining all of painting to simple caricatures. Even if they are mastered and made to be as beautiful and complex as can be, there is still an entire world of possibilities being arbitrarily relegated to at best obscurity, and at worst oblivion.

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