Adult Swim, as its name implies, has been known as a channel out to prove that animation is not just for kids. The channel is most well known for rude and crude comedy cartoons and violent anime, but it has also showcased many titles that showcase the artistic merit of adult animation rather than just being a place for shock cartoons. Lately, Adult Swim has been going through a bizarre trend involving the addition of children’s cartoons to it’s schedule, a controversial and bizarre move indeed punctuated by the recent addition of children’s action cartoon Invincible Fight Girl. The question this raises is if this recent trend is going against Adult Swim’s mission? My answer is, generally it hasn’t gone well. Now if only there was a Network that aired Cartoons for children where these shows could air…
Well, to be fair, Adult Swim had an interesting tradition in its early days of airing children’s cartoons of dubious quality such as the Chuck Norris and Mr. T cartoon (and two live action shows in Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Saved by the Bell). These seemed to be more for their so bad it’s good camp value and seemed to fit in with Adult Swim’s fratboy humor vibe. It seems like it stuck out more when they started airing children’s cartoons that were actually well made.
The trend that started in the early 2010s and is still going on now is Adult Swim’s tendency to air Cartoon Network’s cancelled or abandoned children’s action cartoons such as Thundercats 2011, Sym Bionic Titan, and Beware the Batman in the mid 2010s and Unicorn Warriors Eternal, My Adventures with Superman, and currently Invincible Fight Girl as the 2020s wave of children’s action cartoons. So far, it seems like only one of these clicked with an adult audience and that title was My Adventures with Superman. The 2010s wave was extremely controversial and there were a great many complaints sent to Adult Swim’s Toonami block for airing these shows. Being in college when these shows aired, I kinda found the kid stuff as something to watch while waiting for the actual adult cartoons to come on. I think it is safe to say that these children’s action cartoons have, with the exception of My Adventures with Superman, been rejected by the adult audience (it’s too early to make a call on Invincible Fight Girl).
I think there is only one real excuse to put children’s programming on Adult Swim: nostalgia. Nostalgic attachment to Superman as a character went a long way in making My Adventures with Superman a hit and generally the reason why Adult Swim fans were actually initially excited for the nostalgia block Checkered Past, which showcased 90s-early 00s Cartoon Network shows. Complaints seem to be more for its execution than its concept, as it seems some are tiring of the same episodes rerunning over and over. Adult Swim did attempt to put 2010s Cartoon Network show Adventure Time on the schedule, but it only lasted a month. Being that I was an adult throughout the 2010s, it’s not nostalgic to me, but time is marching to the point where 2010s kids will grow up and have nostalgia for it.
Really, this article is actually not to lambast Adult Swim, but the real culprit behind making these children’s cartoons air past the bedtimes of their target audience, Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network has continuously dumped every action cartoon onto Adult Swim’s lap. There is speculation that Cartoon Network wants to be more preschooler friendly and that is why they are toning down their content, but they still air tons of reruns of “big kids” comedy cartoons with sometimes edgy humor and innuendos. Maybe they are abandoning action cartoons because parents are more likely to complain about violence rather than crude humor that’s too subtle for little Jimmy to understand.
Well, I do remember all the panic over the violence in Cartoon Network shows of the 90s and 00s, and I don’t think those shows corrupted me. Streaming service Max has been marketing these shows to kids, and this is probably where most kids are watching them. Really, it’s weird that Adult Swim is airing kid shows, but it seems like the adult audience can just ignore them and enjoy the stuff that Adult Swim is known for. They are still making adult cartoons. I am just hoping that upcoming allegedly Cartoon Network bound action cartoon Iyanu stays on Cartoon Network, so kids can see it before midnight.
I don’t care if a show is made for adults or children, I only care if it’s good. Invincible Fight Girl is very good; it doesn’t need “adult” content to succeed.
Also did you just say Sym-Bionic Titan didn’t click with adults? Have you been to our forums? Sheesh.
Well, the Toonami audience threw a fit and sent Demarco lots of angry messages on his Ask.FM, whether it be because those shows were kids shows or because it was an American cartoon. Really, Sym Bionic got the least amount of angry messages and Beware the Batman the most.