Everyone remembers waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. This memory is a staple of almost every person’s childhood. And for many, the act of enjoying cartoons remains forever suspended in the early years of life. Consuming animated media isn’t very appealing to many adults. 

To be blunt, they are missing out. 

There is a rapidly evolving genre called “adult animation”. When most people hear these words, they think of famous 90’s and early 2000’s shows like Family Guy, South Park, The Simpsons, or even Beavis and Butt-Head. 

These shows have given adult animation a bad reputation among serious media consumers, as these shows are comedies where each episode is usually self-contained. In adult animated comedies, there is no larger narrative to contribute to, which turns many people away from the genre.

But times have changed. Lately there has been a slight shift away from comedies to animated shows that discuss serious topics and have actual, overarching plots.

BoJack Horseman, which premiered in 2014 and concluded in 2020, is a brightly-colored, animated show with a cast of both talking animals and human characters. At first glance, this show may look like it’s for children, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. 

The show follows the main character Bojack, and his life as a washed-up actor from a famous 90’s sitcom. Serious issues such as alcoholism, drug abuse, terminal illness, mental illness, sexual abuse, and childhood trauma are brought up in nearly every episode. The audience also sees realistic depictions of what causes these issues, and how people deal with them. 

Netflix’s Arcane, a two-season animated series that premiered in 2021 and concluded just last month, tells an extremely convoluted story with serious topics. It follows a wide cast of connected characters as they navigate living in, or running, a city where drug abuse, police brutality, political corruption, and class inequality are major issues. In the show, there are also discussions of ethics relating to the usage of powerful new weapons. 

The show integrates these topics into a fantasy setting where steam-punk aesthetics and magic come together to form a unique viewing experience. In-depth commentary on these topics matched with Arcane’s revolutionary visuals and fantasy world-building give adults hours of entertainment. 

Bojack Horseman and Arcane are just two examples of visually unique animated series with a larger plot to contribute to. Other adult animations, such as Invincible, Blue Eye Samurai, Love, Death & Robots, and The Legend of Vox Machina are just a few other highly praised shows worth watching. 

Animation is a unique medium that allows audiences to experience stories that wouldn’t come across as well in live-action. This medium has had a reputation for being either silly cartoons for kids or mindless entertainment for bored adults. Both of these statements have been disproved thanks to the countless adult animated narratives released in the past two decades. 

So, consider pressing play on that “popular cartoon” your friend has been telling you to watch.