Animated Films - Embarassed to watch them...why?

[ksheehan88]

I'm 28 and I love cartoons and animated stuff!

I watched Sausage Party last week (NOT a children's film!!) it was epic.

My favourite Disney Princess is Ariel, always has been and when I feel sad or down I usually watch The Little Mermaid, all snuggled up in my PJs and Duvet.

Cars, Toy Story, Bugs Life, Monster Inc... List is endless.

Watership Down has been a favourite since I can remember!

Spongebob, Breadwinners, Harvey Beaks... those kind of cartoons on Nicktoons are hilarious, and full of adult jokes.

What makes me cringe to watch and I find embarrassing to like is stuff like Sam and Cat, Victorious, I-Carly - all the modern equivalent of stuff I watched as a 9/10/11/12 year old... Sabrina, Kenan and Kel, Hang Time.

 

[Mr Allen]

I'm a BIG fan of all the old animated Disney classics, from Bambi, Dumbo, Jungle Book, Snow White, all the classics especially Beauty and the Beast, because I am kind of in love with Belle.

I'm a little concerned about the forthcoming live action Beauty and the Beast movie though, don't get me wrong Emma Watson was great in Harry Potter, but I don't think she's quite got the looks to be Belle.

 

[Adora]

I'm a BIG fan of all the old animated Disney classics, from Bambi, Dumbo, Jungle Book, Snow White, all the classics especially Beauty and the Beast, because I am kind of in love with Belle.

I'm a little concerned about the forthcoming live action Beauty and the Beast movie though, don't get me wrong Emma Watson was great in Harry Potter, but I don't think she's quite got the looks to be Belle.

Im both excited and wary of the live action beauty and the beast while the actors have said in interviews that the movie will be what fans of the original expect it to be plus we will find out more on the characters I'm still a bit apprehensive on belles portrayal by Emma Watson,Belle is one of the Disney princesses I related to the most due to her being considered weird by the other villagers I just hope they do keep their promise and stay true to the spirit of the story and hope Emma Watson gives belle justice.

 

[Newt]

Anything that has a major focus on Princesses I've honestly never been into full stop, which is no surprise considering I'm a male. The ones I remember having on VHS were Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmations, Jungle Book, Fox and the Hound, Hunchback, Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis and Lilo and Stitch. Like I said, I was probably bigger on Pixar more than anything, whether it was both Toy Story films, A Bug's Life or Monsters, Inc. There were still a bunch of Disney features from back in the day that I shouldn't have missed out on, like Robin Hood, The Rescuers, Hercules and (most baffling of all) The Lion King just to name a few. I may have to play catch-up some day.

As far as my taste in "action movies" is concerned, I wouldn't say it's lowest-common denominator stuff like the Transformers films (as much as I enjoy them in the right state of mind). I prefer more old-school stuff like your Die Hards or Lethal Weapons, very often a classic Eastwood or Schwarzenegger flick. Also like myself some Scorsese or Tarantino from time to time.

 

[Axeman52]

Yeah I'm the same when it comes to disney, except that I like the classic style animation better than the pixar stuff. The princess stuff never really appealed to me either. The only ones I really remember seeing as a kid were Jungle Book, Snow White (kinda the original disney princess movie... but... that one's special, being the first feature length thing they ever did), Lady and the Tramp, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, and The Lion King - I think I saw the live action version of 101 Dalmatians rather than the animated one.

For me, The Lion King deserves its own paragraph - I did see it when I was a kid, but only once, because I didn't like it! Never watched it again until it was on at Christmas last year and only because that's what I do at christmas - I watch whatever christmas movies are on TV with my cousins, and it was either that or Frozen. Didn't really want to watch either of them but saw The Lion King as the lesser of two evils. Now it's my favourite movie - Watching it was something of a revelation to me that now has me obsessively deconstructing it and in doing so I'm learning a lot about what goes into producing something like that.

 

[Mr Allen]

Yeah I'm the same when it comes to disney, except that I like the classic style animation better than the pixar stuff. The princess stuff never really appealed to me either. The only ones I really remember seeing as a kid were Jungle Book, Snow White (kinda the original disney princess movie... but... that one's special, being the first feature length thing they ever did), Lady and the Tramp, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, and The Lion King - I think I saw the live action version of 101 Dalmatians rather than the animated one.

For me, The Lion King deserves its own paragraph - I did see it when I was a kid, but only once, because I didn't like it! Never watched it again until it was on at Christmas last year and only because that's what I do at christmas - I watch whatever christmas movies are on TV with my cousins, and it was either that or Frozen. Didn't really want to watch either of them but saw The Lion King as the lesser of two evils. Now it's my favourite movie - Watching it was something of a revelation to me that now has me obsessively deconstructing it and in doing so I'm learning a lot about what goes into producing something like that.

Lion King was a classic IMO, and then they did Lion King 2, which had even better songs and everything, just ignore the third one, it was basically a rehash of the first one and not a true sequel.

 

[Newt]

Lion King was a classic IMO, and then they did Lion King 2, which had even better songs and everything, just ignore the third one, it was basically a rehash of the first one and not a true sequel.

I had Lion King 2 on VHS, but the straight-to-video sequels tended to be a miss, so I can hardly see myself revisiting it.

 

[Axeman52]

I had Lion King 2 on VHS, but the straight-to-video sequels tended to be a miss, so I can hardly see myself revisiting it.

It's not bad for a straight-to-video release. I think the plot is kinda contrived, with regard to how it follows on from the first one, and the production isn't really up to the same standard. But as a stand alone movie that's not being compared to the first one's plot and production values, it's pretty good, in my opinion.

 

[OkRad]

I do not like cartoons for the same reason I prefer non fiction books to fiction. I do not mind cartoons that are based on real like Maus, the cartoon about the Mice in Auschwitz. Chilling and horrifying.

 

[annannannann]

Animation Age Ghetto - TV Tropes

Here's an interesting tvtropes article about the phenomenon. Personally I love animation, be it western or eastern, on TV as a series or a movie, and everything in-between. I'd like to think most people under the age of 30 don't see anything inherently childish about animation anymore, and that it's only slightly older folks who still cling to that notion...but idk, stigmas take a while to die, so it might be some time until people can view live-action and animation on the same level.

 

[gregmcph]

Nothing wrong with simple uncynical joy from a film.

My wife and I went to see Sing! That silly singing animals movie. And it was fun and silly. And the theater was full of little kids laughing and carrying on. Singing along, some even got up and danced a bit. It was all rather wonderful.

I miss the days when my kids were small and we'd be in the middle of all that.

 

[Newt]

Animation Age Ghetto - TV Tropes

Here's an interesting tvtropes article about the phenomenon. Personally I love animation, be it western or eastern, on TV as a series or a movie, and everything in-between. I'd like to think most people under the age of 30 don't see anything inherently childish about animation anymore, and that it's only slightly older folks who still cling to that notion...but idk, stigmas take a while to die, so it might be some time until people can view live-action and animation on the same level.

Oh how I love TV Tropes. That page makes a really good point to be honest. Personally, I don't think animation should be considered "childish" at all. I love things like South Park and grew up on the whole medium of things like Pixar and old Looney Tunes cartoons, so why I feel this way has always been a mystery to me.

If you lot were curious, here's a Watchlist I put together of some stuff that I should probably give a look.

Watchlist: Animation

 

[Axeman52]

My brother's 30 years old and he's got this type of attitude towards everything except family guy and south park, where he thinks things are childish. I think I mentioned The Lion King in front of him and he said "ugh, things with cartoony talking animals are a load of crap" and I said "Brian from Family Guy is ok though?" and he said "Yeah but that's different! family guy isn't for 7 year olds"... He also used to make fun of me for watching Spongebob Squarepants when I was 17-18, little does he realise, I still watch it sometimes now I'm 27 and I still enjoy it!

In my immediate family it's only really my dad who I can talk to about stuff like this without having to hear all the "why do you still like all this childish stuff?" kinda remarks, he just gets frustrated with how much attention I pay to small details he would never have even considered and finds it to be too much to hear about all at once!

To a certain extent all good quality animated shows will appeal to adults on some level, because I think that it's a requirement for the people who are producing it to have a certain level of pride in their work that they simply won't have if they themselves do not get some level of enjoyment out of the end result of the thing they are creating - and if they don't really care very much about the end product, what incentive do they have to ensure that it's the best quality work they can deliver? This is part of the reason why I hate it when I see things like, disney movies labeled as "kids movies" or cartoon network shows labeled as "kids shows" - it seems almost disrespectful to the creativity and skill of the adults who put these things together, and the amount of work that they put into it.

 

[Lord Riot]

I love the Disney Pixar films, they are good stories and do have humour that grown ups will find funny as well. I've even welled up watching some, like Ballerina. And I'm desperate to go and see Sing, but I'm not in a good place with my wife so it's hard at the moment even though we have an 8 year old daughter who loves coming to the cinema. I've seen all the animated films with her, it's great. And the cinema is good as we can have a family day out without my wife and I having to speak much, so it reduces the risk of yet another argument!

 

[Lord Riot]

Oh how I love TV Tropes. That page makes a really good point to be honest. Personally, I don't think animation should be considered "childish" at all. I love things like South Park and grew up on the whole medium of things like Pixar and old Looney Tunes cartoons, so why I feel this way has always been a mystery to me.

If you lot were curious, here's a Watchlist I put together of some stuff that I should probably give a look.

Watchlist: Animation

Good list! Some of those bring back memories! Big Hero 6 was good wasn't it. I wouldn't worry if 'society' deems something childish, just try and do what you enjoy. It's no more childish watching cartoons than watching crap like x-factor or some random celebrities on an island pretending they don't really have full medical and culinary back-up off camera! Now those are fake. At least a lot of the cartoons have an underlying good message while also being entertaining!

 

[Allicat]

Gst95: Oh my god. You listed my favoritest movie ever. No one I talk to knows Fantastic Planet even exists, much less has seen it. And Wizards! Another one in my top ten.

Best list ever *grin* In fact, the only movie I would add to that list if it were mine would be the animated Hobbit movie.

 

[Bolletje]

I turned 31 last week and mostly got presents related to Adventure Time. Some people had a bit of a laugh about this at my birthday party because 3 out of 15 gifts didn't have cartoon characters on them. They didn't get the attraction but shrugged, said they know I'm a huge nerd and are just happy my friends know what I like. And I got to go home with sweet loot.

 

[Destinyz12]

Maybe it's because we grew up in different cultures (me and the OP)- I'm from New York, but around here it's actually pretty common for adults to still enjoy animated movies, especially the Disney classics and older Pixar stuff like Toy Story. I know a good amount of people that even go down to Disney World in Florida at least once a year or so, because they are such big fans, most of them around my age (32 years old). My dad also had always enjoyed all the animated classics, from his own childhood to my childhood, and even into my own adulthood.

I still really enjoy certain animated movies myself, and am definitely not ashamed or embarrassed of it, mostly ones from my childhood-particularly Disney and Don Bluth films(and a lot of Dons films have so much depth to them that generally will go over a kids head so watching them as an adult brings on a whole new perspective of them). As an animal lover, most of my favorites involved animals as the main characters- such as The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Bambi, Dumbo, The Aristocats, Oliver and Company, The Fox and the Hound, An American Tail, and The Secret of NIMH. I also enjoy some of the films in more recent years, such as Finding Nemo, Happy Feet, and Shrek. A lot of the current movies have jokes intended for adults that go right over kids heads, which I enjoy as well.

 

[Newt]

First off, thanks again for all the input everyone, it helps to have discussion with like-minded people.

Secondly, I haven't made much progress into getting over this issue, but I have had thoughts about it from time to time. There was a stop-motion film I saw in animation class recently named Mary and Max. It had a very "cutesy" look and feel to it, but a lot of issues like alcoholism, death and neglect were explored. I took a relatively big liking to it overall.

I think that when I'm watching something as part of a class of people with similar interests, I kind of just take what I'm watching in and enjoy it. I'm still confused about this whole issue however, maybe I need to speak to my tutors about this, they might be able to give me some insight. Definitely appreciate all the responses.

 

[Ambi]

Hello, I'd just like to say I'm a new member here, but I don't expect to be a regular poster as I've learned to cope with my AS in recent years.

However, there is one bizarre issue I have that I've never been able to understand. I think it would be worth noting that I am a MASSIVE film fanatic in my early 20s. I've pretty much grew up on films of different kinds of cinema for as long as I can remember. As a child, I was mostly exposed to what you'd expect. It was mostly kids fare, usually of the Disney/Pixar/other animated variety, and that changed to a few actioners and comedies in my early teens. Let's just say that I was in love with these movies for years, and even built up a collection of Pixar's work on DVD, and became fascinated with the whole medium of animation.

As I started to get to my mid-teens however, things started to change. I quickly moved on from that, and instead fed my movie habit with a diet of crime and action-thrillers from the 70s, 80s and 90s, basically quite iconic and more "adult" movies that I had missed out on as a child. It wasn't just that however, trying to revisit stuff I liked in my early years has always given me this awkward feeling. It usually depends on the film, but putting on anything of the aforementioned variety may result in this feeling, where I'll start sweating heavily and get a horrible itch in my scalp. It's hard to describe it really, but maybe it's something in my mind telling me that I'm too old for this kind of stuff? It's happened for the past 5-6 years or so and it's beginning to bug me. What I'm basically trying to say is, I want to watch whatever I want without feeling anxious or embarrassed by it (for whatever reason), I don't want to feel like I'm too "old" for something just because it doesn't have tough-guy gangsters, hard-boiled cops and violent shootouts in it.

I've recently started taking an interest in animation again, and have started a course on it at my university, but this irritating feeling still continues to be a problem. It's sad as well because there's still lots of great animated fare out there that I want to see (like various Disney features), but just because it's not some R/18-rated action/horror/crime flick with a 100+ on-screen deaths or uses of the f-bomb, the thought of doing so just makes me anxious.

Why do I feel like this? Is there any way I can curbstomp it once and for all? I hope you all can give me some input.

I would search youtube for videos made by adult fans of these types of movies.....when you all the hardcore adult fans of these things going on and on about what they love and why the love it, then maybe it will cause you less anxiety to watch them yourself. I sometimes just get sucked into random youtube things, and one recent one was adult lovers of Disney - I mean diehard fans.