United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

are largely dominated since the 1970s, influenced several countries to produce

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

films and television series independently over the years, most notably the United Kingdom, China, France, Spain, South Korea and

the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...

Americas

Canada

Adult animation has slowly moved forward in Canada. From 2002 to 2003, ''

Clone High ''Clone High'' is an adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence for MTV. It premiered on November 2, 2002, in Canada, and January 20, 2003, in the United States. Set at a high school popu ...

'', a Canadian–American adult animated sitcom, a parody of

teen drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

s such as ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college. It aired from January 20, 19 ...

'' and ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

'', first aired in its entirety on Canadian cable network

Teletoon at Night Teletoon at Night was a late night programming block that aired on Teletoon. It primarily carried adult animation and other programming targeting teen and adult audiences. Teletoon had carried programming targeting teen and adult audiences du ...

between 2002 and 2003, later debuting on MTV. After controversy regarding its depiction of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, which prompted hundreds in India to mount a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

in response, MTV pulled the series, which had been receiving low ratings. Additionally, ''Clone High'' attracted mixed reviews from television critics upon its premiere, but it has since received critical acclaim and a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

. Some critics described it as having a "silly premise" and noted that it was short-lived. From 2004 to 2007 ''

Tripping the Rift ''Tripping the Rift'' is an adult CGI science fiction comedy television series. It is based on two short animations published on the internet by Chris Moeller and Chuck Austen. The series was produced by CinéGroupe in association with the S ...

'', an American/Canadian adult animated science fiction comedy television series, which aired in Syfy, then airing on channels of other North American and International broadcasters, aired on

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

and

. It also aired in France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, and Central Europe. In 2008, Anchor Bay released the 75-minute unrated ''Tripping the Rift: The Movie'' on DVD on 25 March 2008. The series was described as "strange riff on

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

", with one reviewer saying that while the show has "some out-of-date CGI animation," it mixes spoof of sci-fi with

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

and

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

From 2007 to 2008 an American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

television program by

Adam de la Peña Adam de la Peña is an American actor, comedy writer, producer, and director. Career De la Peña started his career writing for '' The Man Show''. From there he continued to work with Jimmy Kimmel's Jackhole Productions, writing for '' Cran ...

, titled ''

Code Monkeys ''Code Monkeys'' is an American adult animated sitcom by Adam de la Peña. Set in the early 1980s, it follows the adventures of fictional video game company GameaVision. The show ran for two seasons, from 2007 to 2008, on G4. Plot The plot ...

'', which follows the adventures of fictional video game company GameaVision, ran for two seasons, from 2007 to 2008, on G4 and

G4 Canada G4 was a Canadian English-language specialty television channel owned by Rogers Media. The name was licensed from NBCUniversal, whose parent company Comcast formerly owned a minority stake in the channel. Based on the U.S subscription networks ...

. The series was described as being an "arcade-themed comedy," while having a style of "lude ic stoner humour" while having visuals of a distinct flavour. In 2005 a British–Canadian adult

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

about a British high school in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, titled ''

Bromwell High ''Bromwell High'' is an adult animated series about a British high school in South London. It first aired on Teletoon in Canada and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom (incomplete run). It is a co-production between Hat Trick Productions in the UK ...

'', aired on

in Canada first, then had an incomplete run on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in the United Kingdom. It was a co-production between

Hat Trick Productions Hat Trick Productions Limited is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. The company's logo is depicted as a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat inste ...

in the UK and

Decode Entertainment WildBrain Studios is the in-house television studio arm of Canadian entertainment company WildBrain based in Vancouver, British Columbia, which was established in 2016 as DHX Studios. History In January 2016, DHX Media announced that they woul ...

in Canada. It was originally to be entitled ''Streatham Hill'', but was renamed ''Bromwell High'' in January 2005. Streatham Hill is a real London suburb, while Bromwell is fictional. Reviewers stated that it made fun of living in a London suburb while "delivering a surreal and outlandish viewing experience", parodying British culture itself, having simplistic but edgy humour while staying a "wholly original" animation. In 2016 ''

Secret Path ''Secret Path'' is a Canadian multimedia storytelling project including a ten-song music album, a graphic novel, an animated television film, and instructional materials. Released on October 18, 2016,multimedia storytelling project principally developed by singer-songwriter and writer

Gord Downie Gordon Edgar Downie (February 6, 1964 – October 17, 2017) was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer, poet, and activist. He was the singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from ...

. ''Secret Path'' told the story of

Chanie Wenjack Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack (January 19, 1954October 23, 1966) was an Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) First Nations boy who ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School, where he boarded for three years in Kenora, Ontario, Canada. He died of hun ...

, who died at age 12 in 1966 after escaping an

Indian residential school The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by various Christian churches. The scho ...

in Northern Ontario. The project included an animated television film on the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

written and directed by Downie, a concept album and concert tour, a graphic novel, and instructional material. In March 2019 '' Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series'', a spinoff of the ''

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary television sitcom created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer park resi ...

'' series, began streaming on Netflix. CBR would describe it as "the animated successor to beloved Canadian comedy icons" and stated that any continuation of "this Nova Scotian raunchiness is always appreciated." Later, in July 2020, it was announced that a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the series is in the works at MTV Studios with the original creators Lord, Miller, and Lawrence returning. Specifically, the Adult Animation Unit of

ViacomCBS Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

was said to be at work on rebooting shows like ''

'' and ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

''. In November 2020 Chris Robinson of

Cartoon Brew Cartoon Brew is an animation news website created by Amid Amidi and animation historian Jerry Beck that was launched on 15 March 2004. Cartoon Dump It also created '' Cartoon Dump'', a weekly podcast showing poorly made TV cartoons featuring ' ...

wrote an article about the animation scene in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario. Within the article, he argued that while Canada has put out fine animation on TV for years, it has "never produced a series" which is just as "timeless and popular" as ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' and ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. He also stated that adult animations tend to be "very Canada-specific" like ''

Corner Gas Animated ''Corner Gas Animated'' is a Canadian adult animated sitcom, created by Brent Butt. The series is a revival of the live-action sitcom ''Corner Gas'', which was originally broadcast from 2004 to 2009. The show premiered on April 2, 2018, on The Com ...

''. However, Robinson quoted George Elliott, president of Elliott Animation, who stated that outside of adult animation, "many Canadian shows have found global success."

Chile

In 2018 ''The Wolf House'', also known as La Casa Lobo, by filmmakers Cristobal León & Joaquín Cociña, who both work in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

, Chile. premiered. It was described as "a stop-motion tour de force, staged as a single sequence" while having a strong "allegory about Chile's inglorious ties with German."

United States

In the United States, before the enforcement of the

Hays Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as th ...

, some cartoon shorts contained humour that was aimed at adult audience members rather than children. Following the introduction of the

Motion Picture Association of America film rating system The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictur ...

independent animation The terms independent animation or indie animation refers to animated shorts, web series, and feature films produced outside a major national animation industry. United States In America, working independent animators included Mary Ellen Bute ...

producers like

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (; born October 29, 1938) is a Mandatory Palestine-born American retired animator and filmmaker, known for his fantastical animated films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent anim ...

(known for the 1972 adaptation of

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

's creation ''

Fritz the Cat ''Fritz the Cat'' is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a "supercity" of anthropomorphic animals, it focused on Fritz, a tabby cat who frequently went on wild adventures that sometimes involved sexual escapades. Crumb began drawing ...

'') attempted to establish an alternative to mainstream animation. Initially, few animation studios in the United States attempted to produce animation for adult audiences, but later examples of animation produced for adults would gain mainstream attention and success. Adult animation in the United States includes shows with superheroes, sci-fi, and fantasy elements. Some of the most prominent animations with these mature themes include ''

'', ''

BoJack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated tragicomedy television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron Paul. Set primarily in ...

'', ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'', ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also branded with different #Alternative titles, alternative titles for seasons 8–11), is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night progra ...

'', ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

'', ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'', '' Big Mouth'', ''

Rick and Morty ''Rick and Morty'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated science fiction Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadvent ...

'', ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...

'', ''

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 theatrical film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy/martial arts TV movie starring Billy Za ...

'', and ''

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

'', along with other adult animated television series, feature films, and animation in other forms which helped the genre expand over the years.

Asia

China

For years education in

adult animation Adult animation is an animation used for films and television series that is catered specifically to general interests and is mainly targeted and marketed towards adolescents and young adults, as opposed to children or all-ages audiences. Ralph ...

within

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

fostered "practical talents" in the country's animation industry. In 2017, the Chinese animated

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

film directed by Liu Jian, ''

Have a Nice Day Have a nice day is a commonly spoken expression used to conclude a conversation (whether brief or extensive), or end a message by hoping the person to whom it is addressed experiences a pleasant day. It is often uttered by service employees to c ...

'' premiered. It was first shown in the main competition for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

at the

67th Berlin International Film Festival The 67th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 18 February 2017 with Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as president of the jury. '' Django'', directed by Etienne Comar, opened the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the ...

in February 2017. It is Liu Jian's second feature film, following his debut ''

Piercing I ''Piercing I'' () is a 2010 Chinese animated film directed by Liu Jian. Plot Due to the financial crisis, many factories in China are forced to close their doors in late 2008. Zhang Xiaojun loses his job in a shoe factory. One day, a supermarke ...

''. The film, mostly done by Liu himself, took three years to complete.专访│总投资不足1000万，《大世界》凭啥斩获金马奖最佳动画长片？
每日经济新闻. 27 November 2017. The film was withdrawn from the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

in June 2017 at its producer's demand as it did not have proper governmental clearance to be screened internationally.

Strand Releasing Strand Releasing is an American film production company founded in 1989 and is based in Culver City, California. The company has distributed over 300 auteur-driven titles from acclaimed international and American directors such as Apichatpong W ...

distributed the film in US while Memento Films International handled additional territories including the UK,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. The film has been licensed to screen in more than 30 countries. In

, the premiere of the film took place at the Pingyao International Film Festival in early November 2017, with a guest appearance by Chinese film director

Jia Zhangke Jia Zhangke ( zh, s=贾樟柯, born 24 May 1970) is a Chinese film and television director, screenwriter, producer, actor and writer. He is the founder of Pingyao International Film Festival, dean of the Shanxi Film Academy of Shanxi Media Co ...

, who praised the film as a milestone in Chinese animation. The film won Best Animation Feature at the

54th Golden Horse Awards The 54th Golden Horse Awards () took place on November 25, 2017 at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, ...

. The film was later described as revealing a "dark side of China's modernization" and called subversive.

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, like the rest of

, has been involved in adult animation for years. One of these animations is the recent film, ''

No.7 Cherry Lane ''No.7 Cherry Lane'' () is a 2019 adult animated film directed by Yonfan, with animation by Zhang Gang. A Hong Kong-Chinese co-production, the film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. It ...

'', which has been described as "dense with literary and classic cinema references" and called the first venture by

Yonfan Yonfan (born 14 October 1947) is a Hong Kong film director and photographer. Biography He was born in Wuhan, Hubei, Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China. As the Yang family emigrated from mainland China, they lived first in Hong Kong ...

into

itself.

Iran

The French and Iranian film, ''

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

'', based on comics of the same name has been described as an "adult-oriented story." The film features various LGBTQ characters. At one point in the film,

Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi (; ; born 22 November 1969) is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel ''Persepolis (comics), Persepolis'' and Persepo ...

lives for some time in a communal apartment with eight gay men in

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Additionally, Marjane's boyfriend Fernando (named Enrique in

the comic ''The Comic'' is a 1969 American Pathécolor comedy-drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Carl Reiner. It stars Dick Van Dyke as Billy Bright (which was the original title of the film), Michele Lee as Bright's love interest, and R ...

) reveals to her that he is gay.

Japan

Adult animation is known in Japan as . Anime and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

targeted to young men are called

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word means "youth", but the term " manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Manga Times'' and '' Weekly Man ...

, whereas those targeted to young women are called

josei , also known as and its abbreviation , is an editorial category of Japanese comics that emerged in the 1980s. In a strict sense, ''josei'' refers to manga marketed to an audience of adult women, contrasting ''shōjo'' manga, which is marke ...

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

cofounder

Toshio Suzuki is a Japanese film producer. He is a founder, chairman, and former president of Studio Ghibli. Early life Suzuki was born in Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture in 1948. In 1967 he enrolled at Keio University and graduated with a degree in literature ...

remembered that until the end of the 1970s, animation was primarily considered as a medium for families and children. Suzuki said that this changed with the release of ''

Space Battleship Yamato is a Japanese science fiction anime series written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975, totaling u ...

'', opening up the range of audiences for anime. Ghibli's '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' was produced with a more mature audience in mind, and many fellow studios were doing the same thing in the early 1980s. ''Akira'' is seen as a pivotal film in the

Japanese cyberpunk Japanese cyberpunk refers to cyberpunk fiction produced in Japan. There are two distinct subgenres of Japanese cyberpunk: live-action Japanese cyberpunk films, and cyberpunk manga and anime works. Japanese cyberpunk cinema, also referred to as Ex ...

genre and inspired many adult-oriented cyberpunk anime.

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

cited ''Ghost in the Shell'' as a source of inspiration for ''Avatar'', and called it "the first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence." Ghibli movies were spread to a U.S. audience with distributors like

GKids GKIDS is an American film and television distributor owned by Toho International. Based in New York City, GKIDS releases mostly international animated films and television series to North American audiences, as well as American films by indepe ...

. Others stated that anime changed by the "increasing importation of Japanese animated adult erotic fare" beginning in the 1990s. Animated works of an erotic nature have come to be described in western fandom as ''

hentai Hentai () is a style of Pornography in Japan, Japanese pornographic anime and manga. In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exist in a variety of media, including artwork and video games (commonly known as ''eroge''). The developme ...

'', the Japanese word for "perverted", while in Japan they are more likely to be referred to as or . Although some associate all anime with sexual content, hentai only makes up a very small portion of the Japanese animation industry. As the result of the misconceptions about Japanese animation, some video stores outside Japan have classified children's anime as for adults only. While the adult animation market exists primarily through direct sales, like mail-orders to customers, and wholesale to speciality shops which cater to animation and comic-book fans, the legal framework in Japan and the United States regarding the regulation of obscene and pornographic material is overall rather similar. Many video stores have also categorized all adult-oriented animation as "anime", including the works of Bakshi, the French animated film ''

Fantastic Planet ''Fantastic Planet'' (; , ) is a 1973 animated science fiction film directed by René Laloux. Its allegorical story, about humans living on a strange planet dominated by giant humanoid aliens who consider them animals, is based on the 1957 nov ...

'', the Canadian animated film '' Heavy Metal'' and the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

television series ''

Todd McFarlane's Spawn ''Todd McFarlane's Spawn'', also known as ''Spawn: The Animated Series'' or simply ''Spawn'', is an American adult animated superhero television series that aired on HBO from 1997 through 1999 and reran on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming b ...

''. In the case of ''Spawn'',

Todd McFarlane Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic-book creator, best known for his work as an artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horror-fantasy series '' Spawn,'' as well as bein ...

directly listed

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

as an influence, particularly

Katsuhiro Otomo is a Japanese Mangaka, manga artist, screenwriter, animator, and film director. He first rose to prominence as a pioneer founder of the New Wave (manga), New Wave in the 1970s. He is best known as the creator of ''Akira (franchise), Akira'', bo ...

's '' Akira'', and stated his hope that the show would help encourage the rise of adult animation on North American

networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

. This in part led to the involvement of the Japanese studio Madhouse in the production, in an attempt to "combine" the Eastern and Western styles. Some of the earliest manga magazines were aimed at adults, and this provided a prime source as the basis for adult anime works. Manga marketed towards adult men are known as ''seinen'', while those marketed towards adult women are known as ''josei''. ''

Weekly Manga Times is a Japanese weekly manga magazine for men published by Houbunsha since November 1956. The publisher claims it was Japan’s first weekly manga magazine, and the magazine is published every Friday. While its name resembles that of its sister m ...

'' began publication in 1956, and would be followed by ''

Weekly Manga Goraku is a Japanese weekly manga magazine published since 1968, by Nihon Bungeisha. The magazine is published every Friday. Serialized works Listed alphabetically by title. *''69 Denashi'' (Yasuhito Yamamoto) *''Ad Boy'' (Makoto Niwano) *''Aisu Otoko ...

'' (1964), and ''

Manga Action is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Futabasha. It is currently published twice a month, on the first and third Thursday. The magazine was originally formed as and began publishing weekly from July 7, 1967. It is considered the fir ...

'' (1967). Anime works based on seinen manga include ''

Berserk Berserk (meaning "very angry" or "out of control") may refer to: * ''Berserk'' (manga), a Japanese manga series by Kentaro Miura ** ''Berserk'' (1997 TV series), the first anime television series adaptation of the manga series ** ''Berserk'' (2 ...

'', '' Golden Boy'' and ''

Tokyo Daigaku Monogatari is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuya Egawa. It was published in Shogakukan's '' Big Comic Spirits'' from 1992 to 2001, its chapters were collected in 34 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The story follows, high schooler Naok ...

''. In the case of ''Golden Boy'', while it has been positively received by English-language reviewers, it is widely known for its mature content, as the OVA features instances of partial female nudity, orgasms, and female masturbation, and the manga becomes almost pornographic starting in the second volume. On the other hand, reviewers predicted that ''

'', otherwise known as ''Tokyo University Story'', would have "sexually-oriented material" but would not be pornographic. In 1969

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

and

Eiichi Yamamoto was a Japanese film director and screenwriter of anime. He is known for directing the Animerama film series conceived by Osamu Tezuka. Yamamoto directed ten films between 1962 and 1986. His 1973 film '' Kanashimi no Belladonna'' was entered in ...

released '' Senya Ichiya Monogatari'' (千夜一夜物語) the first of a trilogy of animated feature films with much sexual imagery aimed at an adult audience. It was dubbed and released in the United States as '' One Thousand and One Arabian Nights''.

and

collaborated on the second film in the Animerama series '' Kureopatora'' (クレオパトラ) released in the United States as '' Cleopatra: Queen of Sex''. This film was described by some as a time-travel farce which portrayed

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

as a "cigar-chomping, American-style politician." The third film '' Kanashimi no Beradonna'' (哀しみのベラドンナ) was directed by

alone. It entered the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

but did not achieve commercial success. In addition, mockbusters: Maruti Gekiga, Ukiyoe Senichiya ( マル秘劇画浮世絵千一夜, The first animated film to receive the R-18 in Japan), Do It! Yasuji's Pornorama ( ヤスジのポルノラマやっちまえ!!, based on the erotic gag manga by Yasuji Tanioka) was released, but did not achieve commercial success either, with failure of films like this leaving a big stigma in the animation industry and the movie industry, with adult animation disappearing from the Japanese market until at least the 1980s. The film was also called pornographic, with female staff, most of whom were in their 20s, embarrassed as female genitals appeared frequently during production.Katsunori Yamaguchi and Yasushi Watanabe, "History of Nippon Animation Films" Yubunsha, 1977, p.317 The film was also dismissed as "foolish" by Japanese animation researcher Yasushi Watanabe and by movie historian Junichiro Tanaka as a "silly poor piece of writing." The North American

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

channel has been airing adult-oriented anime series via

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

on Saturday nights: ''

Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise (company), Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, ...

'', ''

FLCL is an anime created and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, written by Yōji Enokido, and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which consisted of Gainax, Production I.G, and King Records. The series tells the adventures of the ...

'', '' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'', ''

IGPX refers to two American-Japanese anime series co-produced by Production I.G and Cartoon Network. The first is a "microseries" consisting of five 5-minute episodes, and the second is a 26-episode animated series loosely related to the first. ...

'' and ''

Space Dandy , is a 2014 Japanese comic science fiction anime television series produced by Bones. The series follows the misadventures of Dandy, an alien hunter who is "a dandy guy in space", in search for undiscovered and rare aliens with his robot ass ...

''. Four of the Japanese TV networks have similar late-night anime blocks:

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

's ''

Noitamina is a Japanese programming block on Fuji Television devoted to anime, originally broadcast every Thursday late night/Friday morning from 0:45 to 1:15 JST. It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical you ...

'', and

Mainichi Broadcasting System JOOY-DTV (channel 4), branded as or (formerly known as from 1959 to 2011), is a Japanese television station serving as the Kansai region key station of the Japan News Network, owned-and-operated by a subsidiary of MBS Media Holdings with ...

's '' Animeism and Anime Shower''. As for the Noitamina timeslot, it was expanded from half an hour to a full hour in 2010, with Fuji TV and

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

announcing an agreement that allows Funimation to

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

series from the noitaminA block in North America within an hour of their airing in Japan. From October 2012 to March 2013, the first season of ''

Psycho-Pass ''Psycho-Pass'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese cyberpunk psychological thriller anime television series produced by Production I.G. It was co-directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani and Katsuyuki Motohiro and written by Gen Urobuchi, wi ...

'' aired on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

. A writer of ''The Seahawk'' noted that while adult animation in the United States is largely comedic, Japanese series like ''Psycho Pass'' show a different aspect in the range of adult entertainment. In 2021 Nick Creamer of ''Crunchyroll'' argued that children's animation in Japan can handle almost all the topics which appear in "late-night anime," even exploring them with "more nuance and grace" than those which are "adult-oriented." Later that year, the

Association of Japanese Animations The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA; , ) is an industry group consisting of 52 affiliate animation production companies. AJA's duties AJA's scope of duties are to work on various issues concerning the Japanese animation industry, w ...

stated, in a report, that Japanese animation would be challenged by

adult animation in the United States In the United States, before the enforcement of the Hays Code, some cartoon shorts contained humor that was aimed at adult audience members rather than children. Following the introduction of the Motion Picture Association of America film rating ...

, writing: "Hollywood has finally advanced into the realm overlapping with the adult animation market that had been Japan's monopoly. If this trend shifts into high gear, the existence of Japanese animation may be questioned again."

Korea

Adult animation began arising in the 2010s, much like

Yeon Sang-ho Yeon Sang-ho (born December 25, 1978) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He gained international popularity for working his adult animated films '' The King of Pigs'' (2011) and '' The Fake'' (2013), and the live-action film ''Tr ...

, known as directing a live-action zombie film ''

Train to Busan ''Train to Busan'' () is a 2016 South Korean action horror film directed by Yeon Sang-ho, written by Park Joo-suk, and starring Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee, and Kim Eui-sung. The film mostly t ...

,'' directs his film debut in the 2011 film '' The King of Pigs,'' depicts their subject matter such as the realistic portrayal of

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior younger than the statutory age of majority. These acts would be considered crimes if the individuals committing them were older. The term ...

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

, violence, and poverty. Yet, he continued to make animation targeted at adults with dark, controversial themes that brutally and incisively explore human nature and social realism. His first film, along with his works, '' The Fake'' (2013) and ''

Seoul Station Seoul Station () is a major railway station in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The station is served by the Korail Intercity Lines and the commuter trains of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. Services KTX Seoul Station is the terminus of m ...

'' (2016), is much praised for its animation and themes due to his influences by the works of Japanese anime and manga artists,

Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido, and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art Univer ...

and Minoru Furuya. Another adult animated film ''

Leafie, A Hen into the Wild ''Leafie, A Hen into the Wild'' (), also called ''Daisy, A Hen into the Wild'' in English-speaking countries, is a 2011 South Korean animated drama film which depicts the freedom, will and instinctive motherly love of a hen as she raises an adopted ...

'', was responsible for South Korea's increase in legitimacy in the animation industry. In November 2020, it was announced that Locus Corporation, founded in 2009, creating many "influential and internationally renowned films," was being rebranded, with a new set of animations, such as ''Running Man: Revengers'', ''Toemarok'', and ''

Yumi's Cells ''Yumi's Cells'' () is a 2021 South Korean television series directed by Lee Sang-yeob and starring Kim Go-eun, Ahn Bo-hyun, and Park Jin-young. Based on the eponymous webtoon, it is a cell-based psychological romance that unravels the daily l ...

''. The CEO of Locus, James Hyungsoon, stated that part of the company's business plan was to produce "top-quality family animated films" while also expanding the "Korean animation industry with teenage and adult-oriented animation," along with series for

preschoolers A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...

and young kids.

Philippines

Adult animation in the Philippines become the largest turning point in the film industry, ranging from the regime under Martial Law administered by then-President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

to the ongoing golden age of the Philippine filmmaking in the 21st century. The first feature-length animated film for a one-time television premiere was ''Tadhana'' (1978), showcased a satirical, humorous and poignant view of the Philippines' history of

Spanish colonization The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It a ...

. Despite being a premiere that never rereleased again in the future, it is among one of the many films in the Philippines released under regime and martial law during the

Marcos era Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) *Marcos family Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson ...

which lasted until the 1986 revolution. In 1980 onwards, experimental filmmakers or aspiring animators such as Roxlee have continued the use of adult-oriented themes in animated short films.

Europe

Britain

In 1954, a British film studio

Halas and Batchelor Halas and Batchelor was a British animation company founded by husband and wife John Halas and Joy Batchelor. Halas was a Hungarian émigré to the United Kingdom. The company had studios in London and Cainscross, in the Stroud District of Glou ...

produced an animated adaptation of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's novel ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

'', with funding from the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and film producer Louis de Rochemont. This film is believed to have been one of the earliest examples of British and adult animation, Another Interesting show was

Sarah and Duck ''Sarah & Duck'' is a British animated children's television series created by Sarah Gomes Harris and Tim O'Sullivan, and produced by Karrot Animation for the BBC. Though designed as a story-driven animation primarily targeted at 4 to 6 year o ...

which was Cancelled in 2017 and like the book it is based on, is meant to be a satire of

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

with characters serving as analogues to figures from the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, as argued by Orwell himself, due to his hostility to Stalin and his policies since the 1930s. He also described it, in his essay "

Why I Write "Why I Write" (1946) is an essay by George Orwell detailing his personal journey to becoming a writer. It was first published in the Summer 1946 edition of '' Gangrel''. The editors of this magazine, J.B.Pick and Charles Neil, had asked a selectio ...

" (1946), as the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole". As it was produced during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the film was brought to the silver screen thanks to promotion from the CIA and the

Office of Policy Coordination The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was the covert operation wing of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Created as a department of the CIA in 1948, it actually operated independently until October 1950. OPC existed until 1 A ...

, while it was banned in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, like its source material. For many years it had been problematic to import films that did not meet the approval of the

United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal in ...

. In 1972, the Customs Service refused entry of a short film titled ''Sinderella'', depicting scenes of

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

between characters based upon ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'', ''

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" () is a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European Fable, folk tales. It was later retold in the 19th-century by the Broth ...

'', ''

Puss in Boots "Puss in Boots" (; ; ; ) is a European fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for his penniless and low-born master. The oldest written telling version ...

'', ''

Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an impudent old woman who enters the forest home of three anthropomorphic bachelor bears while th ...

'' and ''

Prince Charming Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character archetype who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales ...

''. The film was seized as obscene material, and its distributor filed a court case and an appeal in 1974 but lost both. In England Martin Rosen directed two animated features based on the novels of

Richard Adams Richard George Adams (10 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist. He is best known for his debut novel ''Watership Down'' which achieved international acclaim. His other works included ''Maia'', '' Shardik'' and '' The Plague Do ...

: ''

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natur ...

'' in 1978, and ''

The Plague Dogs The Plague Dogs may refer to: * ''The Plague Dogs'' (novel), 1977 * ''The Plague Dogs'' (film), 1982 adaptation of the novel {{disambiguation ...

'' in 1982. Both films deal with adult themes: ''Watership Down'', the negotiation of leadership to organize an exodus away from persecution, and ''The Plague Dogs'' on animal testing. For ''Watership Down'', the film has received a mostly positive critical reception, with an 82% 'Fresh' rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 34 reviews, while the critical consensus on the site says the film is "aimed at adults perhaps more than children" and is a "respectful, beautifully animated adaptation of Richard Adams' beloved book." As for ''The Plague Dogs'', it was praised for its visual style, while others believed that the film was downbeat due to an unhappy ending. Currently the film has a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 7 reviews with an average rating of 7 out of 10. ''

Pink Floyd – The Wall ''Pink Floyd – The Wall'' is a 1982 British live-action/animated musical surrealist drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 studio album '' The Wall''. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist ...

'', an adaptation of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

of the same name, was highly

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

ical and symbolic imagery and sound are present most commonly. The film is mostly driven by music and does not feature much dialogue. The film is best known for its imagery of mental isolation, drug use, war,

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

, dark or disturbing animated sequences, sexual situations, violence and gore. Despite its turbulent production and the creators voicing their discontent about the final product, the film generally received positive reviews and has an established

. Reviewers praised the film for its "stunning vision of self-destruction" while others called it "unrelentingly downbeat and at times repulsive" It earned two British Academy Awards: Best Sound for James Guthrie, Eddy Joseph, Clive Winter, Graham Hartstone and Nicholas Le Messurier, and Best Original Song for Waters. and "unremitting in its onslaught upon the senses." Gilmour stated (on the "

In the Studio with Redbeard ''In the Studio with Redbeard'' is a North American radio program, produced and hosted by Dallas, Texas, based rock and roll disc jockey Doug "Redbeard" Hill. The show is a weekly hour-long "rockumentary" interview with music program which look ...

" episodes of ''The Wall'', ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' and ''

On an Island ''On an Island'' is the third solo studio album by Pink Floyd member David Gilmour. It was released in the UK on 6 March 2006, Gilmour's 60th birthday, and in the United States the following day. It was his first solo album in 22 years s ...

'') that the conflict between him and Waters started with the making of the film. Gilmour also stated in the documentary ''Behind The Wall'' (which was aired on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in the UK and

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

in the US) that "the movie was the less successful telling of ''The Wall'' story as opposed to the album and concert versions." Later, although the symbol of the crossed hammers used in the film was not related to any real group, it was adopted by

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

group the

Hammerskins The Hammerskins (also known as Hammerskin Nation) are a neo-Nazi group formed in 1988 in Dallas, Texas. Their primary focus is the production and promotion of white power rock music, and many white power bands have been affiliated with the group ...

in the late 1980s. In terms of the animation, even before the original Pink Floyd album was recorded, the intention was to make a film from it. The original plan was for the film to be live footage from the album's tour, together with

Gerald Scarfe Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born 1 June 1936) is an English satirical cartoonist and illustrator. He has worked as editorial cartoonist for ''The Sunday Times (UK), The Sunday Times'' and illustrator for ''The New Yorker''. Scarfe’s other work in ...

's animation and extra scenes, and for Waters himself to star.

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

did not intend to make the film, as they did not understand the concept. Later,

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...

convinced Waters and Scarfe that the concert footage was too theatrical and that it would jar with the animation and stage live action. After the concert footage was dropped, Seresin left the project and Parker became the sole director. In 1986 England produced yet another politically themed animation, '' When the Wind Blows'', which recounts a rural English couple's attempt to survive a nearby

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can prod ...

and maintain a sense of normality in the subsequent

fallout Nuclear fallout is residual radioactive material that is created by the reactions producing a nuclear explosion. It is initially present in the radioactive cloud created by the explosion, and "falls out" of the cloud as it is moved by the ...

. The film stars the voices of

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

and

Peggy Ashcroft Dame Edith Margaret Emily "Peggy" Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991) was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was determined from an early age to become ...

as the two main characters and was scored by

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

of ''Pink Floyd''. The film is a hybrid of traditional and stop-motion animation. The characters of Jim and Hilda Bloggs are hand-drawn, but their home and most of the objects in it are real objects that seldom move but are animated with

stop-motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animation, animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appe ...

when they do. In the United States it was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on 11 November 2014 by Twilight Time in a limited edition of 3000, and in the United Kingdom, a dual-format release containing both the DVD and Blu-ray version was released on 22 January 2018 by the BFI. Severin Films released another Blu-ray of the movie in the United States through their Severin Kids label on 21 April 2020. In 2016 '' Ethel & Ernest'' was broadcast on television on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. Some critics called it a "placid, exquisitely observed chronicle of an ordinary English marriage." In November 2020 the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' reported that an adult animated comedy named ''The Prince'' was coming soon to

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

. They described it as a show which will poke "fun at the British monarchy...lampoon ngvarious royals."

Denmark

In 2011 the animated

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

comedy film ''Ronal the Barbarian,'' parodies the barbarians and other stereotypes of the

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of Romance (love), romance, Magic (fantasy), magic, and the supernatural are also ...

fiction,

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

s and

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

such as

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

and the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' class, with nods towards the 1980s fantasy boom and its association with

traditional heavy metal Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...

. In 2021 '' Flee'', an animated documentary film was based on a true story that follows a refugee named Amin Nawabi, who shares his hidden past for the first time, by fleeing his country to Denmark for his safety. Sommer noted: "I had early development sketches of the main character where he was more stylized." The film had its world premiere at the

2021 Sundance Film Festival The 2021 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 28 to February 3, 2021. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 15, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Utah, the festival combined in-person screenings at the Ray ...

on January 28, 2021, where it won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary section. Film festivals and critics garnered more critical acclaim for its thematic content and depiction of Afghanistan and are considered one of the most highly acclaimed and award-winning animated documentaries since ''

Waltz with Bashir ''Waltz with Bashir'' (, translit. ''Vals Im Bashir'') is a 2008 adult animated war documentary film written, produced, and directed by Ari Folman. It depicts Folman's search for lost memories of his experience as a soldier during the 19 ...

'' (2008), which results in a spiritual successor. Flee makes history at the Academy Award records, which was selected as the Danish entry for the

Academy Award for Best International Feature Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, where it received a nomination, along with nominations in the Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature categories, making it the first PG-13, adult animated, foreign-language, and animated documentary film to be nominated simultaneously. It also received many accolades, mainly for animated and documentary categories including the recipient of

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

and Annie nominations, winning the latter for Best Animated Feature – Independent.

Central and Eastern Europe

In 2018 ''

Chris the Swiss ''Chris the Swiss'' is a 2018 Swiss animated documentary film directed by Anja Kofmel. It was screened in the Critics' Week section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Susanne-Marie Wrage as German Narrator / Voice Anja * Megan Gay as ...

'', a Swiss animated documentary film directed by Anja Kofmel, premiered. It was screened in the

Critics' Week Critics' Week (), until 2008 called International Critics' Week ('), is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. History Critics' week was created in 1962, after the French Syndicate of ...

section at the

2018 Cannes Film Festival The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett served as jury president for the main competition. Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, fo ...

. It was described as a war animation which combines live-action interviews, newsreel animation, and more to focus on the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. Then, in October 2020

Alex Dudok de Wit Alex Dudok de Wit is a British journalist and writer. Biography Dudok de Wit is the associate editor at the ''Cartoon Brew'' magazine, and has written for several other publications, including ''Sight and Sound'', ''The Independent'', and ...

of ''

'' wrote about the CEE Animation Forum, held virtually from 6 to 8 October, which he called "a seedbed of interesting European animation," noting that six features were pitched to potential partners and buyers, half of which were for families, with the other half being for "older audiences." In the latter was ''Igi'', a Georgian feature produced by Natia Nikolashvili, ''King Wray'', a Romanian part produced by Anton Groves and Damian Groves, and ''The Black Swallow'', a French feature produced by Louis-J Gore. While the Groves brothers and Gore were looking for co-producers, Nikolashvili was looking for "financial and creative partners."

France

In 1973 Rene Laloux directed '' La Planète sauvage'' based on the French science fiction novel '' Oms en série'' by

Stefan Wul Stefan Wul was the '' nom de plume'' of the French science fiction writer Pierre Pairault (27 March 1922 – 26 November 2003), born in Paris. Biography He was a dental surgeon, but science fiction was his real passion. Most of his books reflec ...

. It has been televised in the United States and United Kingdom as ''Fantastic Planet'', and several DVD editions have been released. The first foreign animated feature to receive both an X rating and wide distribution in the United States was '' Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle'', a French-Belgian film. A dubbed version, which featured new dialogue performed by American actors and comedians such as

John Belushi John Adam Belushi ( ; January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, singer and musician. He was one of seven ''Saturday Night Live'' cast members of the first season. He was arguably the most popular member of the ''Satur ...

Adolph Caesar Adolph Caesar (December 5, 1933 – March 6, 1986) was an American film and theater actor. Known for his signature deep voice, Caesar was a staple of off-Broadway as a member of the Negro Ensemble Company, and as a voiceover artist for numerous ...

Brian Doyle-Murray Brian Murray (born October 31, 1945), better known by his stage name Brian Doyle-Murray, is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has appeared with his younger brother, actor/comedian Bill Murray, in several films, including ''Caddy ...

Judy Graubart Esther Judith Graubart (born October 5, 1943, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a regular cast member of ''The Electric Company'', the pioneering children's show from the 1970s produced by th ...

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...

and Johnny Weissmuller Jr., received an R rating. According to distributor

Stuart S. Shapiro Stuart S. Shapiro is a producer, writer, director, and Internet entrepreneur. Shapiro began his career as an independent film distributor in 1974 by starting International Harmony which distributed cult classics '' TunnelVision'', Neil Young's '' ...

, the X rating hurt the film's distribution, but the dubbed version "took the bite out of the film. It lost its outrageousness." ''Tarzoon'' was banned by the New Zealand Board of Censors in 1980. In July 2018

Balak Balak son of Zippor ( ''Bālāq'') was a king of Moab described in the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible, where his dealings with the prophet and sorcerer Balaam are recounted. Balak tried to engage Balaam the son of Beor for the purpose of c ...

's independently animated series, '' Peepoodo & the Super Fuck Friends'' began airing online on the show's website. The series, produced by French animation company Blackpills, consists of

comedic Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...

sexual education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth control, sexual healt ...

cartoon shorts for those over the age of 18. It is the second series produced by the animation studio Bobbypills. After a campaign of

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

, a second season began production.

Germany

In 1990 ''

Werner – Beinhart! Werner – Beinhart! (English title: ''Werner and the Wizard of Booze'') is a 1990 German live-action/ adult animated comedy film which was based upon the successful German comic Werner by "Brösel". Production Shooting took place in Kiel, F ...

'', a German animated film based on the comic book sold 4.9 million tickets, making it the third most successful movie in theatres in Germany in 1990, and one of the highest-grossing German films in the 1990s with a gross of $24 million (€19.7 million). The film contains animated sequences that are embedded in those of the

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

sequences, which form the background story. Between 1996 and 2011, four more animation film adaptations were made based on the Werner comics. ''

Felidae Felidae ( ) is the Family (biology), family of mammals in the Order (biology), order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ). The 41 extant taxon, extant Felidae species exhibit the gre ...

'' is a 1994 German adult animated horror/mystery film directed by Michael Schaack, written by Martin Kluger, Stefaan Schieder and

Akif Pirinçci Akif Pirinçci (; born 20 October 1959) is a Turkish-born German writer who is best known internationally for his novel ''Felidae''. After a highly controversial speech for the Pegida movement in 2015, he had his contracts cancelled and works d ...

, and based on Pirinçci's 1989 novel of the same name. Produced by Trickompany, the film features the voices of

Ulrich Tukur Ulrich Tukur (born Ulrich Gerhard Scheurlen; 29 July 1957) is a German actor and musician. He is known for his roles in Michael Haneke, Michael Haneke's ''The White Ribbon'', Steven Soderbergh, Steven Soderbergh's ''Solaris (2002 film), Solaris' ...

Mario Adorf Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, am ...

and

Klaus Maria Brandauer Klaus Maria Brandauer (; born Klaus Georg Steng; 22 June, 1943) is an Austrian actor and director. He is also a professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar. Brandauer is known internationally for his roles in '' Mephisto'' (1981), ''Never Say Never ...

. The story centres on the domestic house cat Francis and the grisly feline

murders Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

taking place in his new neighbourhood. In a review, Eric Hansen of

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

said the film lacked screen time for the plot, and that it needed more to avoid confusion. Hansen complimented the voices behind Francis and Bluebeard, but criticized

's voice-over as a "by-the-numbers performance."

Russia

Soyuzmultfilm Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Unioncartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm, ''Unionchildcartoon'') is a Russian animation studio, produ ...

, a Russian

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animation, animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales ...

based in Moscow, which was launched in 1936, the studio has produced more than 1,500 cartoons. began specializing in the creation of animated

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

feature films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

and short films. The studio made films in a wide variety of genres and art techniques, including

, hand-drawn, 2D and 3D techniques. This included cartoons for an adult audience like ' in 1954 by , ' the same year by and

Boris Stepantsev Boris Pavlovich Stepantsev (; 7 December 1929 — 21 May 1983) was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator, artist and book illustrator, as well as a vice-president of ASIFA (1972–1982) and creative director of the Multtelefilm animati ...

, and ' in 1955 by and

Roman Davydov Roman Vladimirovich Davydov (; – 17 September 1988) was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator, artist and educator. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1979).''Sergei Kapkov (2006)''. Encyclopedia of Domestic Animation. — Moscow: Algo ...

. The studio also produced ' in 1957 by , and ' in 1957 by Yevgeny Migunov. The latter film was shot entirely in a way that was innovative for that time when films were done conventionally. In November 2020 it was announced that Premier, the video platform of

Gazprom-Media Gazprom-Media () is a Russian media holding company established in January 1998 as a subsidiary of Gazprom Media Holdings. It and its parent company are subsidiaries of Gazprom, a large Russian oil and gas company founded in 1989. The group owns ...

, and the TV channel 2x2 had begun a partnership which would produce adult animation while "working with well-known Russian and international companies." At least three animated series will then be released in 2021 and 2022. The Director of 2x2, Denis Vsesvyatsky, was quoted as saying that this will open a "new era in the adult animation industry in Russia" as they look for potential partners, while the CEO of Premier, Ivan Grodetsky, described "connoisseurs of adult animation" as a new audience for the platform in an attempt to attract new users. In December 2020, Russian artist Prokopiy Ulyashov, 27, re-imagined ''

'', a mature animated series, styling them as "characters from famous Soviet animation series and cartoons."

Spain

In 2015 '' Birdboy: The Forgotten Children'', a Spanish animated

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

-horror

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

film, premiered. It followed the titular character, Birdboy, a shy outcast in a post-apocalyptic society, and Dinky, a teenage mouse runaway fleeing her desolate island home. The series was also described as a film which dissects social ills in Spain in a "funny, sad, sweet, macabre, and surgeon-sharp" manner. It was later said that Alberto Vázquez, who created ''Birdboy: The Forgotten Children'' and later, ''Homeless Home'', was at the forefront of adult animation itself. Also, ''Birdboy'' won Best Animated Feature at the 2016

Goya Awards The Goya Awards () are Spain's main national annual film awards. They are presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. The first ceremony was held in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Ar ...

, Vázquez scored a historic win by simultaneously receiving the prize for Best Animated Short (''Decorado'', which was also honored at Cannes). In June 2020 a trailer was released for Vazquez's next feature film, '' Unicorn Wars'', which is an adult animated film about the gruesome war between teddy bears and unicorns, or as the teddy bears call them, devils.

Oceania

Australia

Various adult animations have premiered in Australia. In 2001, Canadian-Australian co-production ''

John Callahan's Quads! ''John Callahan's Quads!'' (or simply ''Quads!'') is an adult animated television series produced by Nelvana. It was created by and based upon the work of John Callahan, who also created another Nelvana-produced cartoon, '' Pelswick''. The show a ...

'' was produced, a comedy cartoon television series which aired on SBS and

. In 2016,

Working Dog Productions Working Dog Productions (originally Frontline Television Productions Pty. Ltd.) is a film and television production company based in Melbourne, Australia. It was formed in 1993 by actors Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy, Tom Gleisner, a ...

series ''

Pacific Heat ''Pacific Heat'' is an Australian adult animated sitcom co-created by Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, and Tom Gleisner. The series is a Working Dog production for Foxtel's The Comedy Channel. The series, which was first commissioned by Foxtel in Febru ...

'', an animated comedy sitcom, was released on

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) was an Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Services ( ...

and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In 2020, Melbourne animation company Stepmates Studios produced an animated sitcom ''

Regular Old Bogan ''Regular Old Bogan'' is an Australian animated sitcom that premiered on 7mate on 26 October 2020. It is created by Mark Nicholson and Sebastian Peart from Melbourne Production company Stepmates Studios. It aired on 7mate as part of their "Ani-Ma ...

'', which has been described as Australia's answer to ''

'' and aired on

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

. It was later released on

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

in August 2021. Another animated comedy series, '' YOLO'', is an Australian-American co-production that also premiered in 2020 and was created by Michael Cusack, airing on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

and Stan. It has since been renewed for a further two series. In 2023, comedy sitcom series ''

Koala Man ''Koala Man'' is a superhero animated sitcom created by Michael Cusack for Hulu. Developed by Cusack, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit, the series premiered on January 9, 2023 on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ in Australia. the series ...

'', also from creator and developer Michael Cusack, was released on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

and

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. Stop-motion animated film ''

Memoir of a Snail ''Memoir of a Snail'' is a 2024 Australian adult stop-motion animated tragicomedy film written, produced and directed by Adam Elliot. It stars the voices of Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Eric Bana, Magda Szubanski, Dominique Pinon, Tony Arms ...

'', directed by

Adam Elliot Adam Benjamin Elliot is an Australian animator and filmmaker based in Melbourne. Established as an independent auteur of minimalistic narrative-driven films in animation, all of his films have generally use of tragicomedy genre with themes ...

, premiered in June 2024 and received positive reviews. Other examples include ''

Murder Drones ''Murder Drones'' is an Australian adult independent-animated web series created, written, and directed by Liam Vickers and produced by Glitch Productions. The pilot episode premiered on Glitch's YouTube channel on October 29, 2021. The remain ...

'' and ''

The Amazing Digital Circus ''The Amazing Digital Circus'' is an Australian adult animation, adult Independent animation, independent animated web series created, written, and directed by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions. The series follows a group of humans ...

'', created by

Glitch Productions Glitch Productions (also known simply as Glitch; formerly Glitchy Boy or Glitchy Boy Productions) is an Australian independent animation studio based in Sydney, New South Wales. The studio was founded in 2017 by producer Kevin Lerdwichagul an ...

, which are both available to watch on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Family film '' Combat Wombat'', released in October 2020 from the '' Tales from Sanctuary City'' franchise, had been described by one critic as an "entertaining and surprisingly adult movie".

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * {{cite book , last=Orwell , first=George , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=teKmBAAAQBAJ , title=Why I Write , date=2014 , publisher=Penguin Books Limited , isbn=978-0-14-198060-7 Adult animation