Personally, I feel it is a very wrong notion that cartoons are only for children. In fact, I shall venture further to say that adults can enjoy cartoons much more than children. When Walt Disney made the first animated movie, he expected full – grown people to pay to watch it. The television show Looney Tunes was intended to be watched by adults. There are a large number of cartoons deemed inappropriate for children and if we were to include Japanese cartoons in our count, this would exceed the number of cartoons appropriate for children. Let me suggest a cartoon for adults.

Tom and Jerry and the Looney Tunes, if I may. Apart from the mindless violence which perhaps appeals to children, these shows were full of cultural references and a pun or two in the right place. As children, we do not understand many of these because of our limited knowledge of the world. Certainly, if one watches a “children’s” show or movie again, which one had seen years ago, they may find the dialogues greatly funnier because on growing older we understand hidden meanings, malapropisms, ironies and parodies.

The world of cartoons is full of gems and I should recommend everything that Hanna – Barbera ever produced for fear of missing out on anything. Then, of course, apart from these, there are cartoons with more mature content. I will mention Generator Rex as an example. The plot is very deep, the characters have shades of grey and are not invincible like those in Tom & Jerry. This is similar to the difference between a book by R.L. Stine and one by Sidney Sheldon.

However, we cannot truly find shows that appeal to adults only in America. For that we must travel westward from America, where cartoons are called ‘anime’. Resisting personal opinion, American and Japanese cartoons both have charms of their own and cannot be compared to one another. In Japan, cartoons are not moderated for children and adults can find content made specifically for them. To name a few, Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are popular anime.

All in all, I, one day would like to see that people shed this belief that cartoons are for children, because in the process they are losing on some great literature.