The Rarity Of College In Animation

[SweetShop209]

Where Are All The College-Set TV Series?

'Grown-ish,' 'Dear White People' and 'Deaf U' are TV shows set at college. Showrunners and execs posit why so few such series exist.

variety.com

I found this interesting article about the rarity of college settings in television shows, so I figured this would be an interesting topic to talk about in animation. Let me explain.

For any show that has a school setting, you often have somewhere between preschool to third grade (preschool shows), elementary to middle school (most TV-Y7 rated shows though PG shows can also have this), or high school (most TV-PG shows, though TV-Y7 shows can also have this). What about college settings though? How often do you have a college setting play a huge role in a show? The answer is not that much. Most kids shows generally don't go beyond high school at most. Heck, even adult shows don't go beyond high school (like with Family Guy) or it shows the characters already out in the world and trying to get by in life (like Close Enough, which focuses on young adults with their similarly aged friends and their kindergarten aged daughter).

I think there are a few exceptions, but they do have some wrench thrown into them. One is Winx Club, a show that does take place at Alfea College, and the characters are about 16-17 for the most part. However, it's worth noting that the show is made in Italy, meaning that it's probably more normal for 16 year olds to go to college compared to America where the minimum is usually 18. Plus, Winx Club is a magical girl, action show about fairies, something that's probably less difficult to market than a straight college show.

A character example would be Isabel on Elena Of Avalor, where she attends some college classes starting in "Class Act", but it only shows up a few times. Plus, she's also a child, and it's explicitly mentioned how she's much smarter than kids her own age, as in elementary school, where she usually goes to school.

You could also see this in The Loud House, where Lori has had less screentime due to being in college, and many of the "oldest sister" conflicts have been given to Leni.

I want to bring up some interesting quotes from this article that might explain why showing college in television (and for the sake of this thread, also animation) is rare.

"While many audiences are comfortable in the recognizable settings of high school hallways and white-collar cubicles, college campuses may not be as appealing or intimate, especially for those who haven’t attended university."

"Additionally, “Grown-ish” showrunner Julie Bean says college-age adults often experience internal conflict, based on ideological growth and existential reckoning, which can be difficult to portray on screen in an accurate and compelling manner. In high school settings, however, visually interesting drama is ripe for the picking."


“It’s very easy to do a fish-out-of-water story in high school,” Bean says. There’s a “protected bubble of college, sort of this utopia that you live in for those four years, that people just think, ‘Well, there’s not enough conflict there’ or, ‘What are the stories you’re going to tell besides the love stories or the partying? College is going to class, drinking, partying and so forth.’”

What do you think though? Why is college a rarity in animation? What do you think could be done about it?

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

There have been some shows that dealt with college like Undergrads which ran a couple of seasons on MTV. Heck even the MTV Spider Man actually had Peter in College though yeah that was corresponding with the movies at the time but hey first movie did have him high school so if you somehow consider that show "canon" that was the first time that take on Spidey was in College.

But yeah those are rarities and though you will see episodes of shows like Futurama and Simpsons and Family Guy and American Dad (the later of which does have Hayley at least in College or at least did at the start of the show and sometimes remembers that) it never is the focus for that long. Likely because College may actually not be as universal an experience for everyone as regular school and work are thus less of a chance for people to connect with some of the joke set up or opportunities. Or likely because a lot of college subject matter even more then high school and middle school are more tabuu to really cover for kids shows and something adult shows don't really mine much material out of.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I feel like college wouldn’t have the same “closeness” as high school. A large university would have several tens of thousands of students, but in high school you would have your home room.

 

[JoeMabbon]

You can have characters screw-up, act out, and generally behave badly in public schools or the workplace without having them get expelled/fired. In college, that behavior wouldn’t be tolerated (unless they’re obscenely wealthy).

 

[Red Arrow]

There is also Big Hero 6: The Series.

I feel like college wouldn’t have the same “closeness” as high school. A large university would have several tens of thousands of students, but in high school you would have your home room.

Yeah but cartoons focus on one group of friends, one class at most.

You can have characters screw-up, act out, and generally behave badly in public schools or the workplace without having them get expelled/fired. In college, that behavior wouldn’t be tolerated (unless they’re obscenely wealthy).

I have no idea if this exists at all in the USA, but my city (Leuven) is a university city and the university buildings are all over the place. So you can go to lectures and in between you can hang out in the city. Most students don't live on campus, but at a "kot" with random other students (who all study something else).

So yeah, you can't misbehave on campus but you can still misbehave between lectures. Before covid-19, I heard at least one amulance every Thursday evening. (because binge drinking = kewl, apparently) And most professors don't mind if you don't come to their lectures ("Please don't come if you are just going to talk."). Especially on Friday morning, the auditoria can be pretty empty.

Whereas in highschool, you couldn't even forget to bring your book to class or it would lead to detention.

"While many audiences are comfortable in the recognizable settings of high school hallways and white-collar cubicles, college campuses may not be as appealing or intimate, especially for those who haven’t attended university."

This is an interesting argument because American highschools (as portrayed by Hollywood) are completely alien places for most of the world. Jocks? Cheerleaders? Do those people actually exist? When I was 15/16, half of my class were people who had chosen for extra P.E. classes, but they were nothing like the highschool jocks on TV, just your typical teenage boys with ADHD. Cheerleading is not a common sport here and I have personally never seen it in my life.

 

[Eurbane]

In Dexter's Laboratory, Copping an Atitude. Dexter went to College and eventually got back to elementary school at a very young age.
and we can't forget about the Blue's Clues episode where Steve goes to college because after he went to college he started Blue prints detective agency. Steve first announced that he wanna to go to college in Blue's School shortly before Joe arrived.
and In the Go diego Go episode the Bobo's mother day: I found out that Daisy just came from college and that is very understandable because I don't why how that happened.

 

[Pooky]

Zazoo U, from 1990 on Saturday Morning Fox, got some great reviews but only lasted 13 episodes and fell pretty far into obscurity soon after. Not exactly a realistic depiction of higher education though, or anything else for that matter.

 

[Dantheman]

This is an interesting argument because American highschools (as portrayed by Hollywood) are completely alien places for most of the world. Jocks? Cheerleaders? Do those people actually exist? When I was 15/16, half of my class were people who had chosen for extra P.E. classes, but they were nothing like the highschool jocks on TV, just your typical teenage boys with ADHD. Cheerleading is not a common sport here and I have personally never seen it in my life.

Having went to public high school in the Midwestern United States, I can at least say jocks and cheerleaders existed, but it wasn't like they wore their uniforms to class, even on game days. I don't think any teacher would've allowed it.

 

[Red Arrow]

Having went to public high school in the Midwestern United States, I can at least say jocks and cheerleaders existed, but it wasn't like they wore their uniforms to class, even on game days. I don't think any teacher would've allowed it.

Can you imagine that I had classmates who dreamed of doing their final year again in an American highschool? And they weren't even nerds! American highschools look like mythical places to us where everyone sings and dances and there is drama every day and people slap each other in the face because drama

I don't see why you couldn't make a college series like that. I mean, it already happened in the movie "Legally Blond". That was basically a highschool movie set in college.

I think it ultimately comes down to this: cartoons are "for children" and children think of college as something very far away in their lives.

 

[Pooky]

Tiny Toons was technically a high school series set in a college ("Loonaversity") even though the the characters generally seemed like pre-teens.

 

[Perla Magica]

In Dexter's Laboratory, Copping an Atitude. Dexter went to College and eventually got back to elementary school at a very young age.

I remember that episode. This was the only time Dexter has experienced the college year.

 

[Zanneck]

I'd like to see more series in the college setting if it means doing something different, honestly. Either that, or just continue making much less shows about going to school, since it's such a boring setting to mine anything from after awhile, please and thank you very much.

 

[cheril59]

I remember that episode. This was the only time Dexter has experienced the college year.

"Party now, study later!" That Dexter had such bad timing during his stay.

 

[Rick Jones]

I think it has a bit to do with the demographics that they aim the cartoons at. When the 7 to 12 age group were still getting adventure shows that primarily featured adult protagonists, having several Spider-Man series that starred a Peter Parker who was enrolled in college didn't seem so crazy. Once the powers that be decided that was unrelatable, we've only seen a Spider-Man that requires a reboot once he crosses the high school graduation stage.

It might just be me, but I have always felt that American animation aims for the kids they can still sell toys to (4 to 12), skips over the teenagers and then aims for the 18 to 49 demographic. A show with a college base would probably aimed at the teen and young adult demographic, and since they're passed over, we get a lot of shows that skip over the period of time between high school and career and family.

I felt like this was who MTV really went after with their animation, so we got shows like Undergrads or Spider-Man the New Animated Series. We saw shows like Daria, that weren't set in college but dealt a lot with college. When the WB tried their hands at animation to match their shows aimed at teens, we were getting stuff like Mission Hill that featured characters fresh out of college. The last show based at a college that I could think of was China, Il maybe. Before that, it was probably the Goode Family, but that was about parents who worked at a community college. Anyway, I think that having more cartoons aimed at that one age group but opened away for more college based shows, but who knows. There was a reason that a show like Undergrads only got one season back when viewership was a lot higher.

Having went to public high school in the Midwestern United States, I can at least say jocks and cheerleaders existed, but it wasn't like they wore their uniforms to class, even on game days. I don't think any teacher would've allowed it.

I feel like the most accurate media portrayal of the jocks I personally knew from high school (at least when I was in Virginia) was probably a character like Chalky from Doug. They had to care about grades, in order to play or get into college, more than a lot of their fellow students. Varsity jackets were a thing but the coaches usually made them wear a shirt and tie on gameday. The only time I'd see a cheer uniform or a jersey during school was at pep rallies.


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[Eurbane]

Did i forgot to mention that Didi from the Rugrats went to college to learn more about childcare?

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

It's the same reason why nobody wants to touch middle school as a setting unless you're making a children's show. High School is an overused setting for a reason, it's the easiest setting to write. It's the time of many firsts. First car, first job, first time in bed. And the various adolescent cliques and tropes are instantly recognizable in High School. High Schoolers are also old enough to be relatable to adult viewers, while still being young and aspirational enough to children and middle schoolers.

It's one of the most versatile, universal settings in Fiction. Other settings for adolescent life such as Middle School and College are harder to pull off as easily. College is that messy period where you're not really a teen anymore, but not really an adult either, so it's difficult to write stories that would be universal. And no sane adult wants to be reminded of middle school, which is why it's hardly used outside of children's entertainment. Not to mention, unlike High School kids, Middle Schoolers can't drive or work in most retail settings, so their world is inherently smaller as well.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

We really do need more college-set cartoons, if I'm being honest.

 

[Zanneck]

It's the same reason why nobody wants to touch middle school as a setting unless you're making a children's show. High School is an overused setting for a reason, it's the easiest setting to write. It's the time of many firsts. First car, first job, first time in bed. And the various adolescent cliques and tropes are instantly recognizable in High School. High Schoolers are also old enough to be relatable to adult viewers, while still being young and aspirational enough to children and middle schoolers.

It's one of the most versatile, universal settings in Fiction. Other settings for adolescent life such as Middle School and College are harder to pull off as easily. College is that messy period where you're not really a teen anymore, but not really an adult either, so it's difficult to write stories that would be universal. And no sane adult wants to be reminded of middle school, which is why it's hardly used outside of children's entertainment. Not to mention, unlike High School kids, Middle Schoolers can't drive or work in most retail settings, so their world is inherently smaller as well.

That kinda explains why something like Craig of The Creek stands out to me in this area. Well, it's just a good show on its own, not otherwise fitting this subject that much.

We really do need more college-set cartoons, if I'm being honest.

It's all about doing it well, honestly. And I'm down for something different, so why not?

 

[Sam the Cartoonist]

Chloe from We Bare Bears is in university with some episodes revolving around collegiate issues though she was a child prodigy character, making her more of an inspirational figure for the show's target audience.