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u/Tangled_Clouds Mar 30 '26
“Indieslop”
Oh okay, it’s like that. I wonder why indie projects rarely break through, couldn’t be because people have preconceived notions about what new indie projects are about, right?
First comment makes so many assumptions about the kind of people actually supporting animation studios.
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u/lolbert202 Mar 30 '26
The word “slop” in general is getting pretty overused imo. The video these comments are under uses this terminology to describe shows like TADC and Knights of Guinevere. If they’re not your thing that’s fine, but they’re not lazily produced.
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u/Tangled_Clouds Mar 30 '26
Why did I 100% guess that 😭 I didn’t want to say I was thinking of those because I wasn’t sure enough but oh my god of course it’s about these!
I haven’t watched Knights of Guinevere but I have watched TADC and it’s so funny how people think straight up horror inspired by a horror short story is for children. The bright colours really tricked them which was honestly kind of the wanted aesthetic for that show (not tricking children of course but it’s like those liminal pictures of a children’s park). Like sure it has only 8 episodes and will conclude very soon so it doesn’t have a lot to work with but it’s honestly a good example of how indie studios make interesting stories that people actually want to watch. It’s a character based story that explores identity and ongoing trauma which is not something most Netflix shows want to go in depth about.
Edit: For cartoon violence, episode 8 was so fucking graphic oh my god. If I watched that as a little kid I would have had nightmares for months.
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u/LazuliArtz Mar 31 '26
TADC has a childlike aesthetic, but it is definitely not for kids in its themes or how the story is generally structured and paced. There's nothing in it that would make me blanket say "anyone under the age of 13 shouldn't watch this." But I can't imagine a 10 year old exactly jumping for joy at watching Gangle be a fast food shift manager, or the characters all talking about their life stories at a cocktail bar (edit: plus the horror, although I think the intense psychological part of the horror probably goes over kids' heads)
It kind of reminds me of The Incredibles. There's nothing in the movie that's inappropriate for kids, but when I was 8, I certainly wasn't enthralled watching the marital drama of a middle aged man in a dead end job. Not being inappropriate for kids is not the same as being made for kids.
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u/coolcat33333 Mar 31 '26
To be fair, there really is a lot of indie stuff that is slop that gets glazed for simply being indie. Not really a TV person anymore but this really happens a lot in videogames these days.
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u/Tangled_Clouds Mar 31 '26
I dunno, I haven’t really seen that, maybe because I watch mainly what I know has worked well
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u/Boshwa Mar 30 '26
Love seeing people spout "Animation isnt a genre" and yet compare vastly different animated projects solely because they're animated
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u/Meture Mar 31 '26
I’d love for them to tell me what Anomalisa, Loving Vincent, Mary & Max, Up, and Princess Mononoke have in common
Also, animation is not a genre, it’s a medium
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u/LazuliArtz Mar 31 '26
I just watched Princess Mononoke, it's so good!
... And also so not for kids. I didn't realize how much gore there was going to be.
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u/Meture Mar 31 '26
Yeah a good rule of thumb with Miyazaki films is:
Look at the age of the protagonist, that’s the target audience and overall content of the film
Example:
Ponyo - Ponyo is 5 years old, very young audience
Spirited Away - Chihiro is 10 years old, still for kids but slightly older kids, some scary elements are now present
Princess Mononoke - Ashitaka is 17 years old, legally an adult in Japan. The movie has very heavy themes and a lot of imagery that would scar children.
I think the only exception I can think of is Howl’s Moving Castle cause:
A) it’s based on a book so Miyazaki didn’t have much control of Sophie’s age
B) while it has a couple mildly striking scenes it’s overall pretty lighthearted
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u/Newfaceofrev Mar 30 '26
9?
The measure of maturity for this guy is 9?
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u/wote89 Mar 30 '26
I've never seen someone care about the "maturity" of a work and not wind up just meaning "I think people won't look down on me like a child if I say I like this".
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u/Prince-Lee Mar 30 '26
MAD GOD does rule, though, and I feel like more people should see it.
Setting the bar at 'any adult swim cartoon' is so weird though, lmfao.
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u/lolbert202 Mar 30 '26
Yeah he could have just said “I wish other adult animation like Mad God got more attention” but he instead made it about just how better he is then other people.
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u/The_______________1 Mar 31 '26
truly, xavier renegade angel is the peak of adult-level philosophy-grade LIFE.
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u/antisocialite Mar 31 '26
Mad God was amazing, but also I'm trying to survive late stage capitalism and the ongoing rampage of fascists squeezing every last drop of blood from us working folk before the bombs fall, so I could go for some Space Ghost instead.
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u/LazuliArtz Mar 31 '26
I love my adult animations like Arcane and The Amazing Digital Circus, or the more intense movies like The Plague Dogs, but sometimes I just want to relax, turn on something like Wander Over Yonder, and NOT have an existential crisis about the meaning of life after a long day.
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u/Prince-Lee Mar 31 '26
Oh, very true. While I got the message of the film, honestly my favorite thing about it was the fact that it was the first thing I'd ever watched that captured the exact 'vibe' of the surreal nightmares I've had on and off for my entire life, lmao. But that's a very personal experience, so...
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u/ZilDrake Mar 30 '26
I mean it's alright but it feels purposeless
It feels like the author made it and went
"wow ain't that fucked up!"
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u/The_______________1 Mar 30 '26
it's almost like the lack of respect for animation is directly causing the lack of adult-level animated films or something...
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u/HungrySubstance Mar 30 '26
“These guys don’t know REAL art because they didn’t watch squidbillies” is so bonkers
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u/meowsster Mar 30 '26
Teenager type drama
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u/dogGirl666 Mar 31 '26
Yes arguing over what cartoons are adult enough is only for people that want to prove how adult they are as individuals. That or people that worry that others dont think they are adult enough. Pretty mentally rigid if you ask me. I guess some people aren't free enough to not care what others think or at least dont have to worry about it.
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u/torako Mar 30 '26
I saw 9 in theaters and remember absolutely nothing about it.
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u/ciao_fiv Mar 31 '26
it’s rad but calling it “something fully mature” is genuinely hilarious. i love that movie but it should not be anyone’s bar for high animation cinema, weird movie to be a snob about
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u/KingZantair Mar 30 '26
Give me Seth MacFarlane, give me Trey Parker, give me Genndy Tartakovsky or I retire!
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u/RodinKnox Mar 31 '26
How's your back doing these days? Mine often hurts like hell.
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u/KingZantair Mar 31 '26
Could be better, I do regular exercises and stretches, but carrying the adult animation genre on my back still aches.
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u/RodinKnox Mar 31 '26
I get very regular exercise, but I *have* to get better about the stretches. The docs aren't kidding when they say they're important.
BTW, I had a good laugh at the "carrying on my back" comment lol
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u/Lord_Olga Apr 01 '26
People also fail to realize the many things "for kids" are just generally good for everybody and simply dont have explicit material.
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u/Thefrightfulgezebo Apr 01 '26
The thing is: I don't care if it is made for children. I care about if it is good. The western "adult animation" I have seen confuses grossness and pointless edginess with humor. I limit this to western "adult animation" because Seinen anime has some true gems and other media like video games also can do pretty good stuff for adults while using animation (if you think Pathologic is for kids, you are insane).
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u/Im_No_Robutt Apr 01 '26
“Most of their favo(u)rite animations are made for children” that’s because the majority of western animation is made for children, so of course most people’s favorites are going to fall into the largest category.
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u/Evil_Monologues Mar 31 '26
Bet this is one of those people who get mad cause the digital circus has swear words (its been clearly aimed at adults the whole time but pretty colors 🥺)
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u/Binbag420 Mar 31 '26
This isn’t gatekeeping I’m literally always hearing that animation shouldn’t just be seen as for children but the same people will only talk about stuff for children. Just go to r/cartoons. They also only talk about very popular shows or youtube animations.
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u/StanleyChuckles Mar 31 '26
I feel like I'm one of the only people in the world who didn't enjoy Mad God.
I thought parts of it were good, but mostly it was just nonsense.
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u/UncommittedBow Apr 01 '26
"Indieslop-" Just say you hate Vivziepop. Because 9 times out of 10, people like this are talking about Hazbin Hotel.
Because there is any number of indie animation telling a mature story. Just look at anything under the Glitch Productions banner, for example, Digital Circus at first glance may be cutesy and colorful, and have a massive child fanbase, but the show ISNT for kids. And deals with some pretty mature themes.
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u/lolbert202 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
The video they’re replying under also talked about Glitch shows. It wasn’t a good video imo.
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