For many decades, American television animation came in primarily two varieties, comedy or action, with seemingly little room for a third genre. The two fandoms had a significant rivalry and would rage whenever a network emphasized one of the big two genres at the expense of the others. Despite this rivalry, there is a bizarre trend that seems to ignite division among these rival factions. That trend is creating action adaptations of comedy cartoons and comedy adaptations of action cartoons. Rick and Morty: the Anime is an action/drama adaptation of a comedy cartoon that has been despised by fans of the original comedic work. So the question is: why are these made, and can such a genre shifting adaptation work?
Admittedly, the opposite trend of comedy adaptations of action cartoons is probably even more widespread. Of course, I am going to talk about the most infamous example of this in 2013’s Teen Titans Go! Action cartoon fans hated this comedic version of the Teen Titans, but despite that hate, it has had far more episodes and a theatrical movie, which the 2003 action based Teen Titans cartoon never got. It might be because fans interpreted this series as insulting the 2003 cartoon, or action cartoon fans just not liking comedy. Probably one of the biggest reasons for its hate is the timing of its airing. It aired during a wave of mass cancellations of action cartoons on Cartoon Network, and seemed to be a symbol of the network’s favoritism towards comedy cartoons.
Despite this hate, Teen Titans Go! has really been a success that
hasn’t been duplicated. 2019’s Thundercats Roar seemed to be an obvious attempt to recapture the lightning in a bottle of Teen Titans Go!, but that ultimately failed. 2016 had a comedy-based Ben 10 reboot that is far less iconic than the 2005 original.
So why did Teen Titans Go! succeed whereas other comedy reboots failed? The 2003 cartoon was already far more comedic than its source material, the 1980s Marv Wolfman/George Perez comics. The entire cast had wacky traits, and Teen Titans Go! just exaggerated these traits. Humor is very subjected, but clearly kids found Teen Titans Go! funny and Thundercats Roar not funny. Since my childhood was during the era of the 2003 cartoon, I can’t really speak for how 2010s kids reacted to this one, and I personally found the series weird, very weird in fact. Teen Titans Go! doesn’t desecrate the original and it is fine that it exists, even if those born before 2000 are less likely to “get” it.
The opposite trend, (actionized reboots of comedy cartoons), has been more rare, but arguably even more contentious. The 2000s were a time when action cartoons were dominating cable and Saturday mornings and Warner Brothers seemed to think the Looney Tunes would be more popular and hip with the kids if they tapped into this zeitgeist. 2005’s Loonatics Unleashed was despised by comedy cartoon fans in much the same way action cartoon fans hated Teen Titans Go! Unlike Teen Titans Go!, its target audience soundly rejected it. Action cartoon fans didn’t heed it any mind either as it seems to have been overshadowed by the tons of beloved action cartoons from the era. It was all in all, a mediocre product forgotten by time.
It would have seemed that Loonatics Unleased both started and killed the trend of actionizing comedy cartoons, but a new fad emerged. This phenomenon is the “X the anime phenomenon.” Terminator, Tomb Raider, and tons of other Western properties are going to get Japanese animated adaptations or American adaptations aping Japanese animation styles. America has long associated anime with action cartoons, even if genres other than action exist, and most of them have been action cartoons. That is except for the series that seems to be the second coming of Loonatics Unleashed.
Adult Swim has issued what seems to be a threat to comedy fans by stating their exploration of turning their comedy properties into action anime. Rick and Morty: The Anime is a serious drama series with bizarre, abstract storytelling which is way at odds with Rick and Morty. It arguably has sins that Loonatics Unleashed didn’t indulge in, like having very little humor at all, instead of awkwardly combining comedy and action. The action is very poorly done, created by one of the most hated anime studios of all time. The reception of the show seems to be that it is really boring and that Rick and Morty without humor is like a car without gasoline: it doesn’t work. If ratings are high enough, we may get Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies, and who knows what else adapted into action anime. Thankfully, the creator of Smiling Friends does not seem interested in chasing this fad.
My belief is that action cartoons are beloved for their action and comedy cartoons are beloved for their comedy. Trying to make a franchise into something it’s not doesn’t work. If Rick and Morty: The Anime were an action-comedy hybrid, it might have actually worked as it kept the comedy. Plus, the original cartoon does have action scenes. When Loonatics Unleashed failed, it seemed to be a hint that the whole concept of an actionized comedy cartoons was doomed to fail, and it seems like Adult Swim didn’t learn their lesson from this earlier, forgotten failure. As for comedy reboots of action cartoons, Teen Titans Go! seems to lightning in a bottle that cannot be replicated. It seems that the trend of trying to create the next Teen Titans Go! has thankfully faded. In essence, keep action cartoons action and comedy cartoons comedy. Please Adult Swim, don’t continue with remaking your comedies as action cartoons.
