Since the discovery of Avatar: The Last Airbender and it’s sequel The Legend of Korra, I have become rather intrigued with the children’s animated series genre. I used to shun them away because they were for “kids”, not knowing how accessible they are to anyone and everyone. Since then, I have watched Young Justice, and a boatload of Netflix animated productions which haven’t failed to entertain.
Like most people, what stopped me before was the stigma associate with watching children’s content. An analogy that always lingered in my head was every time I looked to watch something in the genre, I would think about buying a children’s toy at the store. Clearly this is all in my head and something that appears nonsensical. I am glad to have gotten over it. Part of what fueled this change in framing was how commonly accepted it is to read children’s books. Not just the usual like Harry Potter, but some of the most popular books in the world are middle-grade fiction. Wonder by Rodrigo Palacio is among my favourite books – it had a target audience of 10 year olds.
The fact that the target audience for a lot of these works are young people makes the story a lot more accessible. Sometimes, my brain is not ready or willing to watch something as complex as Westworld or Game of Thrones with it’s nuanced and always rotating cast of characters. Most of these series have episodes that are 20 minutes long and is less of a commitment. The time limitation helps because the story for each episode really needs to be cut down in order to make sense and flow. It is like watching on easy mode, but without sacrificing and investment in character or story.
With these sort of shows, my expectations are often so low that I often am surprised by how much I end up enjoying them.