Which genre is/was more popular with kids: action or comedy?

Based on what I liked in general as a child and what my young nieces and nephews watch on a daily basis, comedy is the preferred genre, at least with American audiences.

Most children's entertainment in the last 50 years tend to be more comedy oriented than action oriented.

when I was a kid, the Warner Brothers "Looney Tunes" Cartoons re in their golden years. The comedy was rather sophisticated so the kids had to think upwardly to "get it". The art and voices were excellnt and the stories were often a bit over kids heds , so they loved em.

Then, when the sixyies and later decades arrived, cartoons were amazingly "dumbed down" with the exception of a few erly versions of "Rocky the Flying Squirre" or "Dudley Do-Right".

A far as cartoons in Wurope and elsewhere, Ive been pretty critical of Manga style cartoons. I find them very bland with low quality art and silly childish story lines. EU cartoons, Im not aware of any other than the later claymation work of "Wallace and Grommet" Which were rather high quality.


The best though were still the Loony Tunes of the late WWII through the mid 1960,s THEN EVERYTHING was later designed for the 5year old mind.

In my estimation all the really good stuff was merely action /comedy, with the evil biy of VIOLENCE that made all cartoons the target for helicopter parents and "ComicCode Regulations" turning good fun into mindless crap.

I havent seen any really good cartoons of the goldn yers . The fully adult cartoons (like SOuth Park) totally ignore a kids market and are mostly light porn.

I suppose the "Simpsons" which began in the late 1980's as a fill-in for a Brit comedienne remains one of the very few well-done action comedy cartoons that has flourished into the present over regulated society.

Danger Mouse and Count Duckula are both Fantastic British cartoons.

Rastamouse is pretty good for little kids.

I liked Duckula but not so much "Dangermouse"

There’s a new series of Danger Mouse voiced by Alexander Armstrong.

So all the action cartoons that were popular had a niche following? They only appealed to an esoteric lot?

Cartoons like G.I. Joe, He-Man, Thundercats, Transformers, Voltron, Captain Planet, Bionic Six, Power Rangers, Mr. T's and Chuck Norris' cartoon shows, Gargoyles, the classic DC and Marvel Comics cartoons, etc.?

And adventure comedy.

Most of those were popular because they were basically 30 minute toy commercials. A few of them (Transformers, GI Joe) started out as toy lines then they got animated shows.

What about TV action cartoons from the '40s, '50s and '60s?

There were barely any cartoons, if at all, on TV during the 40s and 50s.

With the 60s, there were still more comedic cartoons: Scooby Doo, Flintstones, Jetsons, etc.

The action cartoons of Popeye the Sailor Man made a connection because of how hot and sexy Bluto/Brutus was. Plus the constant sexual innuendo with Popeye and Bluto/Brutus wanting to date Olive Oyl.

Every cartoon gains a following. Sometimes it's due to comedy, sometimes it's about action and other times a bit of both.

Then there are the cartoons which are fashioned/structured as real life.
From yesteryear, Where's Huddles, about the day to day life of
(American) football player Huddles and his cohorts.



then there was the early 70s cartoon, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. It focussed on the ins and outs of life for a conservative businessman and his family.

I know there were a few primetime adult cartoons on TV in the '70s. I've heard of Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. I recall watching a few episodes on Cartoon Network. There was also a series called The Dogfather and some funny animal parody of All In The Family. I forgot what that was called.

There was some primetime adult-oriented series or TV special based on the B.C. comics strip (the strip about cavemen) I recall seeing as a kid.

The Flintstones and The Jetsons were originally primetime shows and were originally aimed at adults.

I recall looking at and reading a few action comics as a kid. When I was in grade school my class and I went on a tour of Marvel Comics HQ in NYC as part of a field trip.

I recall owing an issue of Atari Force as a kid. Atari consoles were popular when I was young and of course that comic series was designed to sell Atari consoles.

I didn't really express an interest in action comics till I was in art school.

There were two TV specials based on B.C. One was a Thanksgiving special and the other was a Christmas one.

The one I watched was probably the Thanksgiving one.

Speaking of action comics that were themed around video games and/or video game consoles there was a series of Captain N: The Game Master comics that were out when I was a kid. A remember a local toy store was selling issues of it but I never bought any.

Let me act excited...

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...never mind, can't get there.

"Get excited". I know something about animation history. I wasn't expecting you to "get excited".

I don't know too much about TV cartoons aimed at kids that were produced before the '80s that were full of innuendos, except maybe Rocky and Bullwinkle, but TV cartoons aimed at kids from the '80s and '90s were sure full of them.

I didn't notice that there were innuendos in some of these cartoons until I read articles about it.

The cartoon makers knew older audiences were watching these shows.

Theatrical cartoon shorts like the Popeye ones are another story.

I think the sexual innuendo is often in there for two reasons.

1) the writers are adults
2) a way to gain interest from adults who are often watching with their child/children. It keeps them from boredom. Children are not aware of or interested in that stuff, just the way the characters interact and basic story.