Cartoons Aren't Just for Kids

In today's pop culture, it would be almost impossible not to mention the dethroning of The Simpsons. Fox's favorite animated family has been replaced by the sensation that is Family Guy - that's how much of an impact such shows can have on an era. Cartoons, of course, are a medium of comedy. However, the recent abundance of genre crossing animation has made it difficult to place cartoons in a different category: some of them feature intense action, others engrossing love stories. The continuation of the surge in popularity Japanese animation has been receiving only helps bring more programs overseas. Now more than ever, the American populace are embracing anime, although it's interesting to note that some Japanese cartoons found their way to the U.S. as early as the 1960s. (Gigantooor!) Bookstores are even setting aside specific shelves for the Japanese graphic novels or manga.

Most of the MTV generation should remember that there were a few cartoons that aired on the doomed channel. Of course, the groundbreaking humor of Beavis and Butthead (oh par with Frasier), however, there also was the more notable Aeon Flux. Not only was this one of the first tastes of widely broadcast animation noir, it seemingly ushered in some adult themes with a media familiar to every child - animation. Not to say that Tom & Jerry is a bad show, it's just that with every new generation of kids, more issues that are "important" to said generation are being exposed through cartoons. Take the "Bratz" franchise and the commercial and the soon-to-be-released movie. What's more pressing nowadays for a 12 year old than her lip gloss and mobile phone? Every age group has their pivotal, well-known characters. For some, it may be Bugs Bunny, or Mickey Mouse, others Johnny Quest and Hadji, or now, Ash and Misty.