Uses and Target Audiences

Different ways animation is used in media landscape 

• Entertain younger audiences
• Market towards kid
• films
• programmes

Since its inception, animation has been used in many different forms of media, including:

Television programmes

Children’s animations

Film, across many different genres

Advertisements

Anime and manga

Online and viral

Films and TV

Traditionally, animated content is associated with younger audiences. Television programmes such as

Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny, and Disney films from Snow White to Frozen, have been largely

pitched at children.

However older demographics also enjoy cartoons as they were brought up watching them so they are

reminiscing their youth and enjoy remembering their childhood through these cartoons when they 

we're first on.

Disneyfication

The transformation (as of something real or unsettling) into carefully controlled and safe

entertainment or an environment with similar qualities.

The French philosopher Jean Baudrillard has called Disneyland the most real place in the US,

because it is not pretending to be anything more than it actually is, a theme park. He writes:

“Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all

of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyper-real

and of simulation.”

subsidiary-a company controlled by a holding company. e.g. Pixar

Disney Pixar is a good example of a Disney subsidiary that appeals to a wide demographic with

films like Up and Wall-e appealing to all age groups.

British Television – Puppetry and Stop Motion

Animation was popular for children in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s.

A number of children’s shows featured puppetry and stop motion.

Shows included Bag-puss, Clangers, Button Moon, The Magic Roundabout and Postman Pat

Bag-puss was stop animation and used toys to make the programme 

button moon was the same and postman pat was also stop motion but in modern times its now cgi.

The Simpsons and Family Guy

It could be argued that The Simpsons paved the way for shows like Family Guy, due to the adult jokes

embedded throughout the series.

When it was first devised, Bart was the main focal point for the series, with his recognisable

catchphrases (eat my shorts; don’t have a cow, man; cowabunga). The creators even went as far as

releasing a single.

Matt Groening and the other writers of the show soon realised, though, that Homer should become

the focal point, and that the target audience for the show was not children, even

though that they

might have been the original aesthetic.

In a sense – alongside manga – The Simpsons did much to change the landscape of

animation, inspiring a new wave of adult animation.

The Simpsons was cel animation

The Rise of Manga and Anime in the West

Ukiyo-e (Floating World)

Japan has a long history of erotic and violent art, dating back at least as far as the

Edo period (1603-1868).

Graphic Novels and Comics

It’s common to see people (mainly men) reading graphic novels in Japan, rather than novels. These

are often very violent, erotic, or contain sexualised violence. This has given rise to the term ‘hentai’,

referring to overtly sexualised characters and sexually explicit themes and images.

Manga vs Anime

Manga is a Japanese word that roughly translates as ‘comic’ – the term generally refers to books and

comics. Films and moving image are commonly referred to as anime, though many people

erroneously use these interchangeably.

Confusingly, DVD and VHS covers often feature the word ‘manga’. 

The rise in popularity of manga and anime in the West has meant that perceptions of animation as 

medium have shifted. 

Once the exclusive domain of children’s content, animation now has a much broader appeal,

depending on the technique and genre.

Increasingly, animation features adult content.

One of the first big anime hits was Akira (1988), set in post-apocalyptic Tokyo.

Their target audience is teenagers aged 13-18

Influence on Television

At the same time, Japanese and American

animators started working together in the 1980s to

produce some hugely popular television shows for

children.

Titles included Transformers, He-Man,

Thundercats and Ulysses 31. These are fondly

remembered by children of the ‘80s. The influence

of Japanese artists is clearly evident.

Studio Ghibli

Japanese anime isn’t all hentai sex and violence, though. 

Perhaps the best-known animation studio outside of Disney is Studio Ghibli, a Japanese company

known for beautifully-drawn feature films with underlying messages, such as critiques of

environmental pollution and the Japanese sex industry (both found in Spirited Away, a popular film

amongst a wide range of audiences, including children).

Other Uses: Advertisin

Animation is often used in advertising.

Nick Park’s Creature Comforts, for example, were used to advertise heating, while

cereal products 

often use animated characters, such as Tony the Tiger. 

Online and Viral

VoD services such as YouTube and Dailymotionhave become hubs upon which

online and viral animation shorts and webisode comics can be found. 

These are produced by amateurs who use such distribution channels to showcase

their talents.

Short animated gifs can also be found on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Video Games

During the production of video games, as with animation in 3D films, actors wear motion capture

equipment, which charts their movements.

It could be argued that video games are one

of the largest platforms for animation.

e.g. super Mario bros, just dance and cod