Why did every popular movie once get a cartoon regardless of whether or not the original movie was family friendly? And why did this trend stop?
Why did every popular movie once get a cartoon regardless of whether or not the original movie was family friendly?
Back in the 80's unless it was like an erotic thriller, most popular movies would be watched by a family anyway. "Adult" movies(besides porn) back then meant dramas and serious thrillers, things a kid wouldn't have interest in.
>unless it was like an erotic thriller
Someone hasn’t seen Intimate Compromise: Casino Nights Seductions: The Animated Series.
Yeah, the PG-13 rating was created specifically because parents kept bringing their kids to PG films and then complained that they were too violent or sexy or whatever.
>Back in the 80's unless it was like an erotic thriller, most popular movies would be watched by a family anyway.
If you had shit parents, maybe.
>"Adult" movies(besides porn) back then meant dramas and serious thrillers, things a kid wouldn't have interest in.
Or graphic violence, like the series in OP's pic. You know, even as a kid, you could tell that there was something off about other kids whose parents would let them watch R-rated movies.
I'm sorry your parents were the ones who were calling in complaining about Dungeons and Dragons, man. Mine were able to discuss things with me as a person.
Also
>Rambo
>Graphic violence
First blood is probably the most mature and traumatizing of the series but none of them get gore on the same levels of horror movies.
Rambo IV was violent as frick but that didn’t come out yet.
I wish whoever owns this show would just upload it to youtube already. the dvds have been out of print for a fricking decade and the onky other means I have of watching it are watchcartoon sites.
mgm own the rights to Robocop but the cartoon was made by Marvel Animation Group
Meaning its currently locked in Disney's vault.
>and why did this trend stop?
in short, Hollywood stopped making action protagonists with universal appeal. the closest they've come to a john matrix or a robocop in recent years is probably john wick, and even then, I cant imagine there would be much demand for john wick kids toys. frankly I dont know what grabs kid's attention these days when it comes to toys. I guess thats why fidget spinners and slime became all the rage in recent years.
>John Wick Cartoon with kid friendly plotlines
"Quick! John Wick! Viggo is gonna use his pollute-a-tron"
>I guess thats why fidget spinners and slime became all the rage in recent years
Slime, silly putty etc. have been a thing since like the 1970s.
>fidget spinners
It ain't 2017 anymore, boom boom.
Just give John Wick a laser gun and have him fight a Cobra like organization and you are set. It’s not rocket science.
With a team of multiracial assistants?
You give them all laser guns. Even the nerd handing the computers and comms.
Little kids love John Wick, most of them know him from fortnite.
Source: very loud nephew
The real reason was to sell toys, having a recognizable name attached to the cartoon would increase toy sales. The trend stopped because cartoons created solely to advertise a toyline started showing diminishing returns in America.
The Real Ghostbusters toyline was fun.
But would kids really want to buy toy soldiers more just because they have the title of a movie their parents would never allow them to see?
In fact, wouldn't having the title of an R-Rated movie make parents unwilling to let their kids have these toys?
Potentially. Buuuut...
Yes. There was a huge uproar years ago when Toys R Us sold a toy of Walter White from Breaking Bad.
Thats why most licensed toys are explicitly aimed at teens and adults these days.
>Why did every popular movie once get a cartoon regardless of whether or not the original movie was family friendly?
Toys.
>And why did this trend stop?
Toys don't sell as much as they used to.
The weirdest was James Bond Jr., who wasn't actually Bond's son but his nephew.
Because movies back in the 80s and 90s practically begged to have action cartoons made about them. All kids knew Rambo, even if they weren't old enough to watch the movie. Just slap Rambo onto a G.I. Joe style plot and boom, toy friendly cartoon. Robocop basically was a cartoon. Just take out the ultra violence and swearing and you have a superhero origin. Same with Toxic Avenger. And Ghostbusters was the story of four guys setting up shop as ghost removal experts who use lasers to fight the paranormal. How is that not a genius cartoon idea?
The big problem we have now is that nobody is smart enough to create an idea like Ghostbusters that isn't Ghostbusters.
>And Ghostbusters was the story of four guys setting up shop as ghost removal experts who use lasers to fight the paranormal.
Funny thing is, Akroyd never intended on kids liking it. It just sorta happened.
That's kind of the point. So many great ideas for adults had crossover appeal for kids. You just needed a cool character, some cool gear and a cool villain. What was the last movie to create something as fun as ghost catching backpacks or black suited alien fighters or cyborg policemen?
>What was the last movie to create something as fun as ghost catching backpacks or black suited alien fighters or cyborg policemen?
Uhhhhh....Starship Troopers maybe?
> Funny thing is, Akroyd never intended on kids liking it. It just sorta happened.
Dude just had the most toyetic idea, helps that the theme song is an ad already.
We improved. We now have decent cartoons that aren't based on movies.
Mind you, we had some fun! But it shouldn't have been the norm.
Because kids wanted to see those violent movies but didn't have a reliable way to have access, because the internet didn't exist. So cartoon producers saw a marketeable audience that was excited about the IP, so they sold them a family version they could watch. It didn't matter if it had shit to do with the original movie, how could they know, they weren't allowed to see it.