Adult animation is animation that is targeted at adults. For western audiences, the primary reason for a program to be described as "adult animation" is adult humor. Popular programs such as FOX's The Simpsons, Futurama, American Dad! and Family Guy contain humor that some parents might find unsuitable for children. However, adult humor can be innocuous as well, and simply above an average child's ability to appreciate, as is the case in many early theatrical cartoon series, such as Looney Tunes and Popeye, as well as in many modern television cartoon series, such as Animaniacs, The Powerpuff Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants. These cartoons will often contain slapstick comedy for children, but also jokes which can be appreciated only by older audiences, such as pop-culture references, political satire and sexual innuendos. Some animated series, such as Max Fleischer's Betty Boop cartoons of the 1930s and Nickelodeon's Ren and Stimpy series, walk the line between both types of adult humor.
Content
Graphic violence is a consideration; many Japaneseanime contain graphic violence, such as Akira and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but also some western programs, such as HBO's Spawn and MTV's Æon Flux, contain violence which is considered unsuitable for children.
Nudity is not commonplace among American animated programs, but it can be a consideration in some theatrical releases.
Strong sexual content is another template of adult animation.
Many films, such as the works of Ralph Bakshi, contain all of these factors, and some examples of "adult animation" were originally released with the X rating in the United States.
Another reason is that a program or movie might contain animated pornography. This is virtually unheard of in American television, but there is a growing section of the population which consumes domestically produced direct-to-video animated pornography, and imported programs and movies from around the world. Animated pornography is produced worldwide, but the best known variety is the Japanese genre, known as Hentai.
It should be noted that prior to the advent of television in the late 1940s, animated films in general were not seen as being primarily for children. In other words, animation that might be viewed upon as "Children's entertainment" today, such as the early Disney films or the aforementioned Looney Tunes films for example, was originally intended for adults and children alike.
List of programs which are considered to be adult animation
Below is a list of programs which might be considered "adult animation" due to one or more of the above reasons. Note that this list only contains programs which are solely intended for an adult audience (and are promoted as such) and not programs that are intended for children and adults alike.
Television
Note "commissioning network" mean the network that supplied the bulk of the capital to produce the series, and therefore has a lot of power over it. This is almost always the first network to screen a series.
Russia
US
UK
