A Study of Periphery Demographics in
animated TV shows citing as examples,
Batman: The Animated Series, SpongeBob
Squarepants and My Little Pony: Friendship is
Magic
Module Number:! SAE3200
Date Submitted: !
27.03.2012
Award Name:!
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) Digital Film
Making
Course:!
BFM1010
Name:!
Christian Daniel Claus
City:!
Munich
Country:!
Germany
Word Count: !
15,281
Weighting:!
100% Theory
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Table of Contents
Declaration of Authorship! !
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p. 4
Chapter 1 – Introduction!
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p. 5
Chapter 2 – Basics! !
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p. 7
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2.1 What is periphery demographics?! !
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p. 7
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2.2 What is Animation?!
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p. 8
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2.3 Animation and Parents!!
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p. 9
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2.4 Batman The Animated Series!!
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p. 10
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2.4.1 About Batman: The Animated Series!
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p. 10
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2.4.2 Other Batman series!!
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2.5 SpongeBob SquarePants!
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p. 11
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p. 11
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2.5.1 About SpongeBob SquarePants! !
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p. 11
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2.5.2 Dissecting the Character!
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p. 12
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2.5.3 Stories and Adults! !
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p. 13
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2.6 My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic! !
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p. 14
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2.6.1 About My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!
p. 14
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2.6.2 Bronies!
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2.6.3 Equestria Daily and Popularity !
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2.6.4 Hate and Fear!
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p. 16
Chapter 3 – Method! !
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3.1 Approach!!
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p. 18
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3.2 Reasons for research methods!
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3.3 Planing and creating the survey!
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p. 19
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3.4 Planing and creating the interview! !
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p. 23
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Chapter 4 – Execution!
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4.1 Conducting the survey!!
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4.2 Conducting the interviews!
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4.3 Analysis of the results! !
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p. 35
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5.1 Interpretation of survey !
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5.2 Interpretation of interviews! !
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p. 54
Chapter 5 – Results! !
Chapter 6 – Summary!!
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p. 61
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6.1 Summary of the results!
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p. 61
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6.2 Comparing original thesis and results!
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p. 62
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6.3 Further research approaches and personal opinion !
p. 63
Works Cited!
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p. 64
Annex!
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p. 65
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- Interview Transcript
- Surveys
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Declaration of Authorship
I certify that the work presented here is, to the best of my knowledge and
belief, original and the results of my own investigations, except as
acknowledged.
Christian Daniel Claus
4
Chapter 1 – Introduction
This thesis paper will discuss and analyse the effects of periphery
demographics in animated television shows using examples from three:
Batman: The Animated Series (1992), Spongebob Squarepants (1999) and My
Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010). For the purpose of this paper the series
will be shortened to Batman, SpongeBob and MLP: FiM. The series will only be
in italics when referring to these particular series. If referring to another series it
will be noted.
A periphery demographic occurs when any form of entertainment which is
aimed at a target audience, for example, boys from ages 8 to 12 and is enjoyed
by the target audience and additionally a substantial number of a different ,
unexpected, group of people. In this example it would be adults older than 20
years old. This phenomenon can be found in any kind of entertainment; this
paper will focus on animated TV shows aimed at children, mainly because of
the stigma associated with an adult admitting to being interested in such a
show.
The success of childrenʼs animated TV shows is sometimes determined by
the estimated number of viewers but mostly by the amount of associated
merchandise sold. If more people are fans of the show, no matter what
demographic, the number of viewers and amount of merchandise sold will
increase. Thus periphery demographics should always be in the minds of
producers and creators of childrenʼs shows. By analysing and discussing the
above named shows as well as mentioning and comparing many others, this
paper will determine whether periphery demographics is an element of luck or
decision.
Many writers, directors and scholars believe that the story and well
developed characters are very important in any entertainment medium, be it
film, television, plays or novels (see Chapter 2). Therefore, if people are
universally attracted to interesting stories and well developed characters they
should be able to enjoy any medium with these elements, even a 25 year old
male watching an animated TV show aimed at 6 year old girls.
5
With this in mind, the thesis was created, which is as follows:
“Story and well developed characters in an animated TV show make it
enjoyable even to people outside the target audience.”
To prove or disprove this thesis, this paper will investigate three different
successful animated TV shows from within the last 20 years (as mentioned
above). Each of the selected TV shows has fans outside of the original
demographic. The aim is to isolate the reasons for the periphery demographics
of each show. These reasons will then be compared to other animated TV
shows that do not show signs of periphery demographics and the results will
prove or disprove whether there are certain elements that are required to make
a show accessible to people outside of the target audience or not.
The following chapter will quickly teach the reader all information needed to
follow this paper. It will encompass a summary, background and current state of
each of the three animated TV series and give background to animation,
periphery demographics and how a typical parent would view an animated TV
series. The third chapter is the method. Here the reader is explained how the
investigation will be handled, what questions should be asked, what interviews
should be conducted and how the information will be gathered. Then, the
discussed methodology will be executed in the fourth chapter. This chapter will
describe the information gathering, as well as the hurdles that were overcome
and the surprises which presented themselves. These experiences and
information will then be analysed in the fifth chapter, results. Here all questions
established in the third chapter will be answered using the gathered data from
the fourth chapter. The final chapter is the summary. After considering all results
a final verdict will be reached and compared with the initial thesis. Depending
on the outcome, the original thesis will then be edited, rewritten or left
untouched. Regardless, a suggestion for further study will be made on the
subject at the end of this paper.
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Chapter 2 – Basics
2.1 What is periphery demographics?
Periphery demographics is when the intended demographic and a
substantial number of a completely different demographic enjoy the same
series. It is very important that the original demographics enjoys the series as
well, otherwise it would be a failure in identifying a demographic. This can be
found in many areas. In video games, for example, an adult may enjoy playing a
math game that was designed for his children, or a child might enjoy an adult
game like “Railway Tycoon.” One of the most famous examples of periphery
demographics is the “Harry Potter” series. The seven book series was initially
intended for children, but was enjoyed more and more by adults. This periphery
demographic could have started by a parent reading his children a Harry Potter
book as a bedtime story. Then, as the parent begins to read the book more and
more, he becomes interested in it as well and eventually becomes a fan himself.
The term “periphery demographics” was coined by a website called
tvtropes.org. Its goal is to find tropes, which “are devices and conventions that a
writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience membersʼ mind
and expectations.” 1 The website has 23,072 tropes (as of December 2011) and
is constantly increasing in size. One of these is, as an example, “Hero Stole My
Bike” where a character, during a chase scene steals a random bystanderʼs
bike (or other mode of transportation) in order to catch the villain quicker.2
Periphery demographics arenʼt defined as such in the industry, however it
does exists in the minds of the creators. For example, Craig McCracken the
creator of Powerpuff Girls and Fosterʼs Home for Imaginary Friends, states:
1
2
www.tvtropes.org 04.12.2011
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeroStoleMyBike 04.12.2011
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“With Powerpuff Girls I wanted to make a show like Adam Westʼs Batman
series, where a kid could watch it for the action and adventure of it and an adult
could watch it for its silly campy silliness. Fosterʼs [Home For Imaginary Friends]
was just the opposite: I wanted to make a show where kids and adults could
enjoy the exact same thing at the exact same time, very much like the Muppet
Show was for my family and me.”3
Although he does not define it, McCracken found it important to create
Fosterʼs in a way that catered to both adults and children at the same time. His
show did end up being a commercial success, even outside the target
demographic. However, it did not find the same success outside the target
demographic as his wifeʼs show MLP: FiM.
2.2 What is Animation?
The definition of the word animation can be found in the origin of the word.
“Animation” comes from the latin verb animare, which means “to give life to.”2
This is what animation aims to do in any medium, it can be 3D animation, stop
motion animation, or traditional animation. No matter what method is used for
animation, the basic principle is always the same; bringing a lifeless character
to life by showing movement with the use of multiple pictures in succession.
The oldest form of animation has been found to have existed 5,200 years
ago in Iran3 , in the form of a bowl. When given a spin, one would see a goat
jumping to grab leaves from a tree.
Walt Disneyʼs Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) is often regarded
as the first animated feature film, however, there had been many animated
features produced prior to Disneyʼs film but they never found the same success
and many do not exist anymore.⁠ The first animated feature was El Apóstol
made in 1917 in Argentina but as stated above, does not exist. The earliest
1
Murray Joe, Creating Animated Cartoons with Characters, 2010, p. 108
Wells Paul, Understanding Animation, 1998, p. 10
3 http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/oldest-animation-discovered-in-iran/, 27.12.2011
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existing film is Adventures of Prince Achmed made in 1926, eleven years before
Walt Disney made his.
2.3 Animation and Parents
Parents have always been concerned with the influences their children get
from television. This is not limited to animated TV shows, but any show. Their
main concern is about the values that are being taught by the characters on
screen. When delving into a more serious animated TV show, like Batman, it is
understandable why so many parents found the seriousness of the series to be
troubling. Batman often dealt with crooks dealing drugs, using real weapons or
even killing. The images of Batman being shot at by real bullets or the “badguys” coming across as very convincing can shock a parent. However, the
problem with a lot of parents is that they see the worst of the show and
immediately dismiss it. If they would watch Batman they would realise that the
hero, in this case Batman, never killed, was always on the side of justice and
never doubted the law. This is what made Batman appealing to children
(Chapter 2.4).
Tod Polson, who has worked for both Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon
said in an interview for this paper that, “they often said that at Cartoon Network
[…] ʻweʼre making just babysitters.ʼ Itʼs like parents can feel free to leave their
kids there and just let them go.” 1 Polson went on to say that he believes it to be
important that parents do join their children in watching their TV shows and one
way to do that is to make the story accessible to both parents and children. Like
Spongebob. “I love shows like Spongebob, they have great subtext for adults
that are way over the kidʼs heads, but itʼs still fun for the kids.”2
What Polson just described was periphery demographics. Even though he
did not use the term, he finds it important to include the parents in the planning
of the show, so that TV doesnʼt just become “a babysitter.”
1
2
Interview with Tod Polson, 27.10.11
Interview with Tod Polson, 27.10.11
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2.4 Batman: The Animated Series
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2.4.1 About Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series began in 1992 and changed the world of TV
animation. It was the first childrenʼs animated TV show to have real guns,
explosions, fights, in short: they took their audience seriously, even though their
demographic was primary school boys. Through this it is not surprising that
many teenagers or even adults enjoyed the show. The themes were dark and
edgy, the designs were magnificent and the stories and characters were
interesting. However, the credit for this change in Batmanʼs image goes to the
1989 live action film Batman directed by Tim Burton. It was in this film that
Batman had his first popular appearance as the caped crusader we know today.
Most fans agree that this film was “much more like the hero created by […] Bob
Kane in issue No. 27 of Detective Comics.”1
The production and airing of the episodes happened in different orders. The
first episode produced was “On Leather Wings” but the first episode aired was
“The Cat and the Claw: Part I.” This makes it difficult to know which order the
series was intended to be seen. For the purpose of this paper, we shall assume
the order in which the series was aired is the correct order.
“The Cat and the Claw: Part I” aired on September 1992 and was not an
origin story the main character, Batman, but rather the origin story of
Catwoman. This trend continued throughout the series. The villain of the
episode would be introduced through their back story and Batmanʼs origin story
was not shown until the episode “The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne” which
aired a full month after the begin of the series. It must also be mentioned, that in
this episode, not a lot of the origin was actually explained, and the series never
had an episode dedicated to the origin of Batman. This could come from the
Tim Burton movie, which already explained the origin, or the fact that almost
everyone, even without having seen an episode of movie of Batman knows
Bruce Wayneʼs tragic story.
1
Bates Billie Rae, Batman: The Animated Series, a BRBTV Report, 2006, Loc 49 (Kindle)
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With the success of Batman, many more animated Batman series were
developed, together with many animated and live-action movies. Through this,
Batman has become the most successful character in the DC universe.
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2.4.2 Other Batman Series
Batman has gone through many different types or series. Each new one
being just as successful as the last. Some of these series include Batman
Beyond, a direct sequel to Batman The Animated Series where the aged Bruce
Wayne acts as a mentor to the new, improved, high-tech Batman, or Batman
Brave and the Bold, a funnier, more child-friendly series with a catchphrase
slewing Batman battling ridiculous villains. Batman has always found popularity,
no matter what series or what generation.
2.5 SpongeBob SquarePants
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2.5.1 About SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants was created in 1999 by Stephen Hillenburg, a
marine biologist, who describes his own show as “born out of [his] love of Laurel
and Hardy shorts.” 1 This can definitely be seen in the dynamic between
Spongebob and his best friend Patrick. From the first episode on, more and
more audiences began to drift towards the show. The children enjoyed the
innocence and stupidity of the situations whereas adults could enjoy the adult
humour sprinkled in.
The series reached its peak of popularity after the third season. It was at this
time that the feature film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released and
was intended to be the end of the series. The movie guest starred A-list actors
such as Scarlett Johansson, Alec Baldwin and David Hasselhoff which ended
1
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2009/07/_tom_kenny_who_voices.html,
16.02.2012
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up grossing $85 mil in the US alone.1 After seeing the popularity of the film,
Nickelodeon quickly renewed Spongebob for a fourth season. Hillenburg
resigned as show runner, changing almost the entire creative team behind the
show. Most importantly, many of the original writers left, leading to numerous
older fans believing the quality of the show deteriorated. However, the series is
as popular with its target audience as it was twelve years ago and continues to
be renewed season after season.
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2.5.2 Dissecting the Character
As mentioned above, characters are very important in keeping an audience
interested in a series. Many creators note that once a character is fully
developed and good, the audience will stay engaged and tune in2 . This is
without a doubt the case with SpongeBob.
In the pilot episode of SpongeBob, “Help Wanted” we are introduced to the
title naming character, SpongeBob Squarepants and all other main characters.
SpongeBob is on his way to apply for a job at the Krusty Krab, a fast food
restaurant owned by Mr. Krabs. Fuelled with encouragement from his best
friend Patrick, SpongeBob bursts into the Krusty Krab asking for the advertised
job. Inside we meet Mr. Krabs and Squidward, SpongeBobʼs neighbour who
hates him. Oblivious to this, SpongeBob asks Squidward to vouch for him.
Squidward, of course persuades Mr. Krabs to not hire SpongeBob. Thus, Mr.
Krabs gives SpongeBob an impossible task of finding a hydrodynamic spatula,
promising him the job if he can complete it. After SpongeBob leaves the Krusty
Krab in search for the non-existing device, the establishment is overrun by
thousands of anchovies, demanding service. The two canʼt handle the sea of
anchovies and are ready to give up when SpongeBob flies in with a
hydrodynamic spatula and saves the day by frying up enough Krabby Patties to
feed every anchovy. Mr. Krabs, with a wheelbarrow full of money happily gives
SpongeBob the job to Squidwardʼs despair.
1
2
www.imdb.com, 16.02.2012
Levy, David B., Animation Development From Pitch to Production, p. 8
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This episode perfectly describes each of the main characters and the
dynamics between them. Mr. Krabs is a cheap restaurant owner who is only
motivated by money. Squidwardʼs job is to comment on the odd activities of
SpongeBob and Patrick. And as mentioned above, SpongeBob and Patrick are
Laurel and Hardy.
Most people see SpongeBob as dimwitted, but as Hillenburg comments,
“SpongeBob is a complete innocence — not an idiot.”1 This is reflected in the
situations SpongeBob gets himself into. For example in the episode “Life of
Crime” SpongeBob and Patrick call Mr. Krabs out for stealing several items. He
quickly makes the excuse that he only “borrowed” them. Later, SpongeBob and
Patrick see a balloon salesman, but have no money to buy one. So they decide
to borrow it with full intention of bringing it back. However, the balloon pops and
the two believe they are now criminals and must hide from the law. Here, it is
not dimwittedness that drives the character, but innocence. SpongeBob
believes everything everyone tells him, much like a child would. This is why the
audience can see SpongeBob as a fun, incorruptible character.
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2.5.3 Stories and Adults
As dimwitted as many of SpongeBob and Patrickʼs antics are, there is
always a lesson to be learned. Donʼt steal (“Life of Crime”), donʼt lose
confidence because one person doubts you (“Pickles”), a little competition is
good, too much can be bad (“Employee of the Month”). Even though these
stories were meant for children they can apply to adults as well. As with many
“family films” such as Toy Story, Despicable Me, or Shrek there are always
jokes that go over the childʼs head specifically for the adult audience.
These stories and the characters that live them are the main reason why
adults enjoy SpongeBob. Most adult fans agree it is a nice change from the
chaotic and negative world.
1
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2009/07/_tom_kenny_who_voices.html,
16.02.2012
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The stories are very compelling, yet simple and the characters drive them.
Therefore, if a parent would watch the series with their child, they can easily find
it enjoyable. Since the stories mostly revolve around issues that can be found in
real life a parent can relate, even if they canʼt relate to the actions taken by
SpongeBob.
Even President Obama has commented that he is a SpongeBob fan and
watches it with his daughters.1
2.6 My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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2.6.1 About My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
MLP: FiM is a text book example of periphery demographics, and is so far
the only series in the franchise that has found success with adult males. The
series began in fall of 2011 and follows the adventures of Twilight Sparkle, a
unicorn who studies magic under Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria.
Twilight is introduced as a pony who takes her studies far too seriously and
therefore does not have any friends. The princess asks her to oversee the
preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. While in Ponyville,
she has to take a break from her studying and make some friends. One after
another, she meets five ponies with whom she goes on an adventure with to
find the Elements of Harmony, the only way to defeat the evil Nightmare Moon
who has taken Princess Celestia captive.
Although the first two episodes deal with rescuing the princess, most of the
episodes involve learning lessons about friendship without a “bad guy.” Usually
these conflicts are examples that are relatable to the viewer, summarised at the
end of each episode with Twilight writing a letter to the princess telling her what
she learned about friendship.
With the advent of the second season, the dynamics changed slightly. After
a new villain was defeated, every one of the main six ponies learned a lesson
about friendship. Princess Celestia subsequently wished for each of them to
1
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2009/07/_tom_kenny_who_voices.html 16.02.12
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write her a letter when they learn a lesson in friendship. With this new dynamic
in place, new episodes could revolve around other main characters without
Twilight Sparkle being involved, which lead to massive character growth in the
other ponies.
The fundamental idea of a series like MLP: FiM is the characters. The
audience is intended to relate to the characters and situations. When the letter
is written at the end of an episode, it signifies the lesson the viewer is meant to
take away from the episode. Since everyone enjoys good characters and well
written stories, is it any surprise that bronies exist?
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2.6.2 Bronies
A brony is a fan of MLP: FiM. It is a portmanteau of the worlds “bro” or
“brother” and “pony.” It used to be a word to describe only the adult male fans of
the show, where the adult female fans were called “pegasister.” However, the
name “pegasister” did not stick and was quickly dropped. Now, every adult fan
of the show is called a brony.
Bronies have become an important role in the success of MLP: FiM. The
term was first coined on the website “4chan” when the series first aired. Many
users began posting about it ironically, but this sparked an interest in more and
more people. Eventually those only slightly interested became fascinated by the
show and became real fans, calling themselves bronies.1
The biggest testament to broniedom occurred on the 15th of November, 2011
when the Pirate Party in Berlin couldnʼt decide on whom they wanted to
delegate to the committees of the House of Representatives. The parliamentary
secretary stood up and requested “PonyTime.”2 Now, the Pirate Party of Berlin
uses ponies to calm each other down when discussions get too heated. The
Chairman of the Pirates, Philip Brechler comments, “It helps. It relaxes the
1
2
www.knowyourmeme.com/memes/brony, 09.02.2012
http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/dlfmagazin/1630017/ 09.02.2012
15
whole atmosphere, it makes people more reasonable. Everyone calms down,
thinks about something else, watches childrenʼs TV.”1
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2.6.3 Equestria Daily and Popularity
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Equestria Daily is a blog started by Shaun Scotellaro (Sethisto) as a hub for
all fan-related MLP: FiM content. As many fans enjoy writing fan fiction, drawing
art, creating games or editing their own PMVs (Pony Music Videos) it is not
surprising that it took only two months for the site to reach a million hits.2 Ever
since then, the views have not stopped increasing. As of mid-February
Equestria Daily has 117 million hits, increasing at about a million hits a day.
This website is a perfect example of how dedicated and interested bronies
are, not only in the show, but also in everything related to it. Many bronies have
the complete collection of the MLP: FiM McDonaldʼs Happy Meal toys. Some
buy every episode on iTunes after they air on TV. Even the MLP: FiM toys are
being bought by bronies.
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2.6.4 Hate and Fear
As mentioned above, there is a stigma associated with an adult male
enjoying a TV show for young girls. This is apparent through the outcries from
many news outlets in America, especially Fox News, even linking MLP: FiM to
terrorism by saying “There are worse hobbies for a young lad to have, you
know, terrorism.” 3 Not only do the right-wing news outlets attack MLP: FiM but
also the feminist Ms. Magazine blog calls the show “Homophobic, Racist and
Smart-Shaming” 4
One would assume that a feminist magazine would
encourage the diversity of the characters and seriousness in a show made for
children. One of the many examples is how there isnʼt a black pony in the main
1
http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/dlfmagazin/1630017/ 09.02.2012
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/03/1000000-hits-zomg.html, 09.02.2012
3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi27530dDCc, 09.02.2012
4 http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/09/my-little-homophobic-racist-smarts-shamingpony/ 09.02.2012
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cast and that the ruler of the world is white. Additionally, one scene shows the
guards of the princess as a darker colour. This leads the website to claim that
MLP: FiM teaches girl (among other things) that, “Magical white ponies are
suited for leadership; black ponies are suited to be servants.”1 Yet, if one
analyses the main cast, one would notice the colours are distributed through
basic colour theory. Therefore the ruler of the world, who is seen as
distinguished, classy and pure is coloured white. Since black has strong
connotations with mourning and in cartoons evil, it is not surprising that the “bad
guy” of the first two episodes is a black pony called Nightmare Moon.
The problem with a lot of the detractors of MLP: FiM is that they do not study
the series completely but still pass judgement on it based solely on the
preconceived notions they have. However, many people who are sceptical at
first are drawn to the series, like a self-proclaimed feminist who after watching
just one episode was compelled to watch the entire season. In her article, she
praises the series by commenting,
“My Little Pony gives children of all sexes – and adults too – a broad range
of meanings to draw from on what it means to be a girl, what it means to be an
individual, and what it means to be friends. And for that, I love it.” 2
1
http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/09/my-little-homophobic-racist-smarts-shamingpony/ 09.02.2012
2 http://globalcomment.com/2011/welcome-to-the-herd-a-feminist-watches-my-little-ponyfriendship-is-magic/ 09.02.2012
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Chapter 3 – Method
3.1 Approach
This thesis is one that cannot be proven through literature alone. A majority
of the information on this subject comes from online sources and lies in the
opinion of people. The discussions, the fans, even the term “periphery
demographic” could not have existed without the internet. However, since online
sources can be unreliable1 and in order to balance this paper, interviews and
surveys were conducted.
The surveys were be distributed through the webpage reddit.com, which is a
“source of all that is new and popular on the web.”2 Each series discussed in
this thesis has its own “subreddit” or page on which only information for the
particular interest can be found. It is in these subreddits where the surveys have
been posted. Each subreddit has subscribers, which gives a good estimate of
how many people will be able to access the survey. As of today, the SpongeBob
subreddit has 814 subscribers, Batman has 7,231 and MLP: FiM has 22,047.
Additionally, interviews were conducted in the animation university
“Animation Workshop” in Viborg, Denmark. The interviews were conducted with
students of 2D and 3D animation and teachers who are active or have been
active in the field on television animation. These interviews will give insight to
the production of an animated series and how big a role demographics have.
The results of the surveys and the interviews were evaluated and compared
to each other. The goal was to find what audiences enjoy about an animated
childrenʼs series and to compare it to how series are developed as well as to
find if those elements are discussed during production or not. Those results will
be compared to the thesis and a conclusion will be reached.
1
2
Tomkinson, John, Study Skills for the International Baccalaureate, 2006, p. 44
www.reddit.com/help/faq 21.02.2012
18
3.2 Reasons for research methods
A majority of the research information is available online, however the
sources are not always credible. Also, hardly any literature exists on this
specific subject, so it is important to find credible sources elsewhere. Since the
thesis rests upon opinions of audiences, fans and professionals, two social
methods of research have been chosen: survey and interview.
The interviews will be conducted to acquire further understanding on how
demographics play a role when creating a cartoon for children. As cartoons are
created by adults, it is essential, for the thesis, to understand how much
influence of the adultʼs experience goes into the creation and whether this
would attract other adults to the show. Above all else, the interview was chosen
over a survey because users in the internet are anonymous, which means
anyone can claim they are an animator, making an experience based survey
incredible. Additionally, interviews allow for adaptability when describing
processes or idea for further questions never considered.
The distribution of the surveys on the internet can be debatable. On one
hand, the same anonymous users can claim they are a fan even when they are
not and thus ruin the credibility. On the other hand, the survey can be widely
distributed to fans all around the world and since the subreddit of each series
can be considered to be a fan page, a place where non-fans would not dwell,
one can be sure the participants are all true fans. Also, the questions posed are
specifically chosen to either prove or disprove the thesis, making an interview
unnecessary. All in all, the wide distribution and large numbers of potential
participants make a survey the preferred choice of research.
3.3 Planing and creating the survey
To prove or disprove the thesis, we must find how many people enjoy the
show, how often they watch the show and if they buy merchandise. As stated
above, an animated series success is mostly determined by the amount of
merchandise sold. If this is not a factor in periphery demographics, there would
19
be no reason for a producer to use it in developing an animated series. Also, we
must note what type of person becomes interested in these series in order to
determine if only people who are already fans of animation can enjoy childrenʼs
animated TV series or if anybody can.
For this survey, the three selected animated TV series, Batman, SpongeBob
and MLP: FiM will have their own surveys since each series has its own type of
fans. Batman, being the oldest series will have questions relating to past
experiences with the series. SpongeBob, although still running, will have two
types of fans. One group will enjoy the post-Hillenburg episodes, whereas the
others only enjoy the Hillenburg era episodes because of the supposed drop in
quality. With MLP: FiM the fans are the only ones who have gotten media
attention and are a massive group of people. It is also the most recent series,
with every weekly episode being heavily discussed online.
A few questions will be altered depending on what series is being surveyed,
however most questions will stay the same. The minimum of participants
needed for each survey will be 50.
Q1 and Q2 Gender/Age:
Since some people do not wish to disclose their age and gender in a survey
they should always be the last questions.1 So that if a participant closes the
survey, one still has the other answers. However, its importance for this
particular thesis in determining demographics allows them to be placed as the
first questions. If a participant should feel uncomfortable in disclosing their age
or gender, there will be a “I wish not to disclose” option.
Q3 How long have you been interested in animated TV shows?
It is important to identify how many fans of the show were fans of animation
prior to enjoying the series. This would determine whether periphery
demographics occur only in fans of animation, making a potential series more
easily marketable to a periphery demographic.
1
Bell Judith, Doing Your Research Project, 2010, page 148
20
Q4 When did you begin to watch […]
This question will be different depending on the series. SpongeBob and
MLP: FiM will be similar, since both shows still air new episodes to this day. The
answers will include different milestones of the series, for example, after
Hillenburg left for the SpongeBob questionnaire.
The Batman questionnaire will ask at what age the participant was
introduced to the series in order to simply assess if they were in the target
demographic. Because the question does not ask in what year they began
watching, the participant could have started watching the series this year, but
still be within the intended demographic from when Batman first premiered in
1992.
Q5 and Q6 Do you enjoy other animated TV shows, other than […]
The intention of this question is, once again, to show how many of those
surveyed enjoy animation as a whole and the follow-up question, for those who
answer “yes” determines whether these are adult cartoons (Family Guy, South
Park) or childrenʼs cartoons. Through these questions we can find if those in a
periphery demographic are regularly in a periphery demographic or if the series
in question is an exception.
Batman only: Do you watch other Batman series […]
Since Batman is a franchise and spans many different series, movies,
games, etc. It is important to know whether the fans of Batman: The Animated
Series are a fan of Batman generally, or just a fan of Batman. These answers
will be compared to the ages, to see if they, despite their age still watch a
Batman series or if they keep a nostalgia alive by only watching Batman: The
Animated Series.
Q7 What attracts you to […]
To further understand the reason for enjoying a show that is not directed at
those surveyed, this question is asked. With the multiple choice answers, we
can specify which exact element is vital in creating a series to include the
21
periphery demographic. Each series will have its own set of answers,
depending on what makes the series unique. For example in Batman one of the
elements is “adult themes” and in MLP: FiM it is “being a fan of the old series.”
Q8 Do/did you regularly watch […]
This question determines how dedicated the audience member is when it
comes to watching the series. Since TV ratings matter when deciding a shows
success, it is important for a producer who intends on involving periphery
demographics to know whether those in the periphery demographic will also
watch the show regularly.
Q9 What […] merchandise do you own?
As commented many times before, childrenʼs animated TV shows are
usually twenty minute commercials for toys. This is why it is important to know
whether those in a periphery demographic will buy merchandise or not.
Series dependant questions
Each series is different from another, one follows a dark, brooding man
dressed as a bat, another follows six colourful ponies with tattoos on their flanks
and the last follows a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea.
With MLP: FiM the questions focus on the internetʼs role in the brony
phenomenon and also in the media hyped stigma in being a brony.
Batman, being the oldest series also has to be treated as such. Especially
with the modern popularity of the character through the new Playstation 3
games “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and “Batman: Arkham City” as well as the
Christopher Nolan films, many fans might have become fans of Batman by
coming into contact with the character more recently. Itʼs questions focus on,
not only the past of Batman but also the other Batman series.
SpongeBob has a split fan-base because of Hillenburgʼs leaving. Since most
fans claim that the series became worse after Hillenburg left, the questions
reflect it accordingly.
Each of these questions will be discussed in depth in chapter 5.
22
3.4 Planning and creating the interview
The interviews will take place at the “Animation Workshop” in Denmark and
will be held with students and their teachers. Since the teachers have worked
professionally in animation, their questions will differ from the studentʼs
questions. Luckily, the students of the 2014 graduation class recently completed
a longer project called the “escape project.” Their assignment was to create a
five second film, based on an idea they had for a longer running film or series.
The students were divided into groups and worked as if in a professional
environment. They had to make all the choices that go along with creating a film
or episode. Using this project, some questions will inquire about demographics
and if demographics were decided upon or naturally evolved during the
production. The same questions will be asked to the teachers, who can use
their experience on professional projects.
The questions for the interviews all have the same basis: finding out what
role demographics play during a typical production. As Jeffrey Scott mentions in
his book Writing for Animation, “Your initial audience is not the viewer of the
cartoon but the story editor or producer who is going to buy your idea.”1 This
suggests that animators or writers will write for the adult demographic as well,
which needs to be investigated in the interviews.
Also a couple open ended questions will be asked on their personal
preferences when it comes to animated TV series. Each participant will be
interviewed separately with a week. Since the questions do not follow a strict
pattern the questions will be presented here as types of questions.
Personal experience
The creators of animated childrenʼs TV series are adults. This being the
case, their personal experiences will come from their adult life, which, when
reflected in their work, can attract other adults to the stories because they can
relate to character, stories or situations. By asking the interviewee how often
they use personal experience when creating a character or story, one can
1
Scott Jeffrey, How to Write for Animation, 2002, p. 37
23
determine if this plays a role or not. The teachersʼ professional experience will
provide an interesting insight since they can indicate how much influence every
worker has in the final product.
Escape Project/Most recent project
Using the recently concluded “escape” project, this question serves to
identify when or whether demographics were discussed during the production.
The professionals will be asked about their latest project and how and when
demographics became present to them. There will be a difference between the
two answers, since the professional is required to know whom the project is
intended for and the student, having no audience, will not be considering
demographics. If the demographic has not been considered, the interviewee will
be asked what demographic they believe their project to have. It is very likely
that the demographic, if not considered from the beginning, will lie within their
own.
Seeking employment within their own demographic
Many creators such as Hillenburg comment, “I […] make a show that Iʼd like
to see on the air,”1 which begs the question whether a future employee would
actively seek employment in a series within their own demographic. With this
question, one can analyse the affect a demographic has on the creators of the
series. As a result, the quality of a show can deteriorate depending on how
interested the creator is himself.
Young girlsʼ shows
Girl shows have always been associated with Barbie, My Little Pony and
anything else pink and sweet. The most common comment is that girls are
against conflict, and thus interesting stories cannot be written.2 This question is
intended more for the professionals, since they know, for example, how much
consideration they must have towards a female audience when creating a boysʼ
1
2
Murray Joe, Creating Animated Cartoons with Characters, 2010, p. 53
Interview Humphrey, 25.10.11
24
show. By asking this question one can identify not only what the interviewee
thinks about female representation in cartoons, but what their stance is on
typical female shows such as My Little Pony.
Parents and Cartoons
TV is being used more and more often as a babysitter, when it could be an
enjoyable family activity. This question will present the intervieweeʼs opinions on
the importance of parents joining their children in watching cartoons. Using the
lessons learned from periphery demographics, cartoons that are targeted at
young children can become enjoyable for adults as well and they can share the
experience together.
Personal preference in shows
The interviewees will be asked whether they enjoy any animated TV shows
outside of their demographic and why. They will also be asked whether they do
not enjoy any animated TV show within their demographic and why. These
questions will show whether the interviewees are part of their target
demographic or not. Also, series like Family Guy, which is targeted at an adult
audience is often met with criticism for being uninteresting, unintelligent and
offensive.1 If the interviewees do not enjoy seriesʼ like Family Guy it would
prove the thesis in the sense that an audience enjoys well developed
characters and stories, rather than celebrity bashing and fart humour.
1
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-07-11-cartoons_x.htm 24.02.2012
25
Chapter 4 – Execution
!
4.1 Conducting the survey
The fan-base of MLP: FiM is so fascinating that many presentations have
been held and papers written about the brony culture. All the information
needed for such activities have been collected using surveys on the internet
platform reddit.com and equestriadaily.com. These results of were then
presented on the internet for everyone to see. The number of people who took
these surveys persuaded the author to conduct such a survey as well.
Each survey was to be conducted at different times, in order to make sure a
mistake was not repeated. If some participants could not understand a question,
it could be corrected with the other surveys before being distributed. MLP: FiM
was the first topic to be surveyed, because the bronies were already used to
participating in surveys. This would make it simpler for the author to compare
his survey to other successful ones and receive feedback from bronies.
After the survey was written by the author, he and his supervisor, Humphrey
E., discussed each question and corrected them accordingly. When the survey
was corrected, the questions were converted into a form sheet found on Google
Docs. This way, anyone in the internet could access the survey, answer the
questions and send the answers to the authorʼs Google Docs account. The link
was then uploaded to reddit.com on the subreddit r/mylittlepony on the 6th of
December 2011. Using the internet jargon and etiquette of this specific
subreddit, the author asked for help on his paper with the following title, “Iʼm
writing my thesis on ponies and I need everyponies help!” The term “everypony”
derives from the show, as instead of using words like “everybody” and
“somebody” the characters in the show use words like “everypony” and
“somepony.” This way of speaking has been adapted by bronies when writing
on the internet. Also native to this subreddit, is the use of emoticons with a
hover-over text. This usually depicts a picture from the series, with a text
appearing when hovering over it with the mouse. This usually indicates what the
character would say. The author felt it was important that the post reflect how a
26
normal post would be made. By using “somepony” and the emoticons seen in
the picture below, the author created a comfortable environment in the sense
that they were taking a survey for another brony, instead of a student
conducting an investigation.
When hovering over the first image the text, “You donʼt want me to come get
you!” appears. The second imageʼs text reads “I…I mean… please?” This is a
characteristic of the pony depicted, once again adding to the comfortable
environment required to take the survey. To the authorʼs surprise, a while after
he posted the survey on reddit, his survey appeared on EquestriaDaily. With the
high traffic the website usually sees in a day, the survey was bound to be a
success as well.
Unfortunately, the other subreddits do not have a certain jargon or way of
posting like MLP: FiM. This also shows the differences between the bronies and
fans of SpongeBob and Batman. With this in mind, a more professional post
was written for the other subreddits.
On reddit there was no subreddit dedicated to only Batman: The Animated
Series. However there was one dedicated to Batman generally. From primary
research the author identified that many of the subscribers were fans of
Batman: The Animated Series. This reflected in the title of the post, which reads
“Hey, Batman: The Animated Series fans! Can you help me with my thesis?”
With this title, only fans of the correct series would click on the link and read the
rest, which quickly and professionally explained what the authorʼs thesis is and
where to find the survey. The survey was posted on the 10th January 2012.
With the success of EquestriaDailyʼs help on the MLP: FiM survey, the
author decided to find a Batman fan site where he could submit the survey.
27
Although there are many articles about the series and many wikis dedicated to
Batman there is no discussion board or a place where one could post a link.
This, most likely, results from the fact that Batman is a series that had its
biggest popularity during a time when the internet was still in its infancy.
However, with the number of results by then, the author decided he had enough
for the purposes of this paper.
The survey for SpongeBob was much of the same. It was published on the
16th January 2012. This subreddit, however, is dedicated only to the series. The
title of the post was the same as for Batman, “Hey, SpongeBob fans! Can you
help me with my thesis?” One again an explanation of the paper and a link to
the survey were provided. Also, the author tried to find a fan site of SpongeBob
where he could distribute the link and again, no such site was found. Wikis and
articles could be found, but no discussion forum or other gathering place of
fans. Although the popularity of the show has diminished in the last years, it was
surprising to find very little online activity of SpongeBob fans. With the few
subscribers of the subreddit and the lack of any fan page, the author began to
worry if he would even break the required 50 participants. As of today, 23.02.12,
only 46 people have replied to the survey. To find the extra participants, the
author has sent the survey to fans he met at the “Animation Workshop.”
With all surveys, comments were given at the bottom of the post. The author
read every one and found that many participants enjoyed the survey and were
looking forward to results. In the MLP: FiM subreddit a couple of suggestions
were made regarding the wording in one question and one typo, but did not
influence the results or the understanding of the question in any way. These
suggested changes were, however, made in the Batman and SpongeBob
surveys.
!
4.2 Conducting the Interviews
When the interviews were decided upon, the author began investigating
where and with whom the interviews could take place. Sadly, there are no
classical animation universities in the authorʼs direct surroundings, his friend
28
and supervisor Humphrey E. suggested his own university, the “Animation
Workshop” in Denmark. It was important to find a university or institution that
focused on classical animation and not only 3D animation, because most
childrenʼs animated TV series are 2D animated and therefore the possibility was
greater to find fans of those series here. To make sure of this, Humphrey quickly
asked around his class, teachers and friends whether they would be interested
in being interviewed about childrenʼs TV shows and periphery demographics.
Enough candidates were interested, which gave the author enough reason to
make the trip.
The author stayed at the “Animation Workshop” in Viborg, Denmark from
22.10.11 – 29.10.11. He decided against using Skype and telephone interviews
because of how impersonal they can be. By chatting with the interviewee
casually at first, the author created a friendly environment for the interview to
take place.
At the beginning of each interview, the author and the interviewee found a
quiet place to sit. The interviewee would then be asked if he or she would allow
a recording to be made. Each interview took between ten minutes to twenty,
depending on how many follow-up questions came up. The interview was less
about asking a set of questions and more of a conversation between the author
and the interviewee. He had the questions in front of him to keep him on track,
but each interview was different.
The recording was made because of the loosely structured nature of the
interview. This was so that the author could focus completely on the interview,
or rather on the conversation, than writing down the gist of each interview and
missing valuable quotable material. If an interview partner would have not
allowed the recording, the author would have jotted down the gist of each
question, but using quotes from other interviewees.
Initially there were two interviews planned with teachers and four with
students. Unfortunately, one teacher had to leave the school unexpectedly for
exactly the week the author was at the school and one student never came to
the planned interview. In spite of this, the interviews that were conducted were
very fruitful.
29
The first interview conducted was with Jonas. Here, the interviewee was
very quiet and introverted and required a lot of follow up questions to draw
enough information out of him. This made the author reflect on the interview
questions afterwards, which led to very small changes. With Jonas, a
conversation was very hard to begin as he would give very short answers to
questions that require a lot of background. However, the information obtained
will serve its purpose. It was not until the second interview, with the authorʼs
supervisor that he was convinced the questions format was correct.
Humphreyʼs interview was much more casual since the author and the
interviewee have known each other for a long time. Thus, out of the interview a
conversation sparked, which led to a much more comfortable environment and
much more information and thought being given. It was because of this
interview, that the author decided to use the same conversation techniques on
the other interview partners.
The third interview was with Tod Polson, a teacher at the “Animation
Workshop” and who has worked at Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. He
currently works at a Taiwanese company called “The Monk Studios.” He has
worked on many childrenʼs animated TV series such as El Tigre. His most
recent work is his own animated short film Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!
His experience in not only TV series, but also animated films like Secret of Kells
gave a further understanding of the differences between television and film and
how demographics are handled differently. All of these results will be discussed
later in 4.3 Results.
The final interview was with Anne. For the purpose of the thesis, it was
important to have a female perspective. As it is not uncommon for a girl to like a
show that is targeted at boys, when there is a group of three friends there is
mostly one girl and two boys. This allows for the story to be tailored for boys,
but with a relatable character for girls. This can often be found. In movies, for
example in Harry Potter, Harry, Ron and Hermione. And animated cartoons
have many examples from Digimon Tamers to Ben 10. Although this is still not
30
ideal, the female representation has gotten better from almost twenty years ago
when it was “unheard of to have a female lead in an animation show.”1
The questions were kept the same in order to compare the answers
properly. Interestingly, her answers differed greatly from the other participants.
All interviews will greatly influence the outcome of this paper. The ideas
discussed with the interviewees will bring to light how much an average creator
could subconsciously use demographics in their daily lives, and how it could
become second nature when working professionally.
As mentioned above, at the end of each interview, the author named titles of
current TV series to see the intervieweeʼs initial reaction. Although interesting at
first, the answers were no surprise.
!
4.3 Analysis of Results
The purpose of the interview was to investigate the presence of
demographics in an animatorʼs or a creatorʼs life when developing a story.
When the interviewees were asked what the characters they created mostly
looked like, it was not surprising that the characters looked similar to the
creator. For example, Jonas, a bearded man, usually draws characters with
beards. All this can influence the creation of a TV series and will be critical in
proving or disproving the thesis.
Another purpose of the interviews was to determine not only how
demographics are handled in a working environment but how any creative
decision is made. Unfortunately, the professional experience comes only from
one point of view, since only one teacher could be present, but his experience
and stories are nonetheless helpful. Both the students and the teacher were
asked about their work on a project. Tod Polson was questioned about
Gingerbread Man and the students on their Escape project. This way, an entire
project can be discussed; when or if demographics came into play, how the
characters were designed and how the story was created. Since the primary
results of the interview seem to justify the claim that story and characters are
1
Mark, Harrison, Prime Time Animation, 2003, p. 206
31
the most important part of a TV series or film, it is important to know how a
professional would take on these issues compared to an amateur. Also, by
knowing how creative decisions are made in an amateur and professional
environment, the author can later compare it to what the surveys deem
important in including periphery demographics and can make a decision on
whether it is luck or decision.
The MLP: FiM survey had 2388 responses. These responses came very
quickly. Within two hours, 161 responses had been collected. On the 8th of
December 2011, the survey was featured on Equestria Daily and the results
steadily increased at around 30 results per hour. Instead of giving each
response on separate pages, Google Docs creates a table which records the
information; when it was taken and all answers to the questions. However, this
is done in a way so that the results cannot be translated into graphs using
Excel. This led to the author having to evaluate all 2388 responses by hand,
making the results very unreliable. Thankfully, while creating the Batman survey,
the author found a function in the drop down menu in Google Docs which
creates graphs for each question. This function will be used in Chapter 5
Results for all results and the graphs.
The Batman survey had 91 responses. After one month no one had
participated for almost two weeks and the survey was closed thereafter. With
the number of subscribers to the Batman subreddit, it was surprising that so few
participated. Since the subreddit is dedicated to all Batman related series,
movies, games and paraphernalia, it is conceivable that only a small number of
subscribers would have also been Batman: the Animated Series fans. However,
the goal for each series was 50 participants and thus enough was achieved for
this paper.
SpongeBobʼs survey was the third and least successful survey. After being
online for a month and a half, the survey did not achieve the required 50
participants. Thus, the survey was e-mailed by the author to his supervisor who
distributed it through the intranet at his university. Although not many responses
were received, it was enough to put the participants over 50. One of the
reasons for the low participation in this survey can be the lack in popularity
32
today. Batmanʼs low participation can also stem from the same problem.
However, in SpongeBobʼs case the real and enthusiastic fans (like those of
MLP: FiM) might be at an age where they do not have access to the internet.
The youngest participant of the survey was 14. This could prove that, although
the stories and characters are interesting and good (according to the survey)
periphery demographics cannot be found here, since only a small number of
people outside the demographic enjoy SpongeBob.
The results of each survey seem to follow the same pattern. Almost all who
enjoy animation have done so for a longer time and enjoy, not only adultʼs
cartoons, but also childrenʼs cartoons.
Although the number of responses for each survey is dramatically different,
the author will use every result. For example, if only 50 responses from each
survey would be used, there could be a case where exactly 50 participants who
have only enjoyed animation for a year are chosen, which would skew the
actual results. In this case percentages will be used to balance the three
surveys.
The results cannot simply be a string of results, since no one question in
either the interview or the survey can single-handedly prove or disprove the
thesis. With the help of graphs, questions will be answered regarding periphery
demographics. These questions derive from the thesis and will help prove or
disprove it. These questions will include, for example “How important is story in
an animated TV show?” Using the gathered information the questions will be
debated and ultimately an answer found. These answers are then collected and
if enough answers prove that well developed characters and story do, in fact,
make an animated TV show enjoyable to people outside the target audience,
then the thesis is proven. Additionally, the gathered data should also determine
if a producer can profit financially from periphery demographics.
During the course of this investigation, the author became aware that
although including the periphery demographics can make the quality of TV
series increase, there might be little to no compensation for the producer.
Considering periphery demographics means extra work, which means spending
more money and if there is no return for the investment, a producer might
33
decide against considering periphery demographics. Since the producer of a TV
series makes many important decisions in the creation, it is ultimately his or her
decision whether periphery demographics will be considered or not. Because of
this, it is important to make the phenomenon attractive to the producer as well.
While only somewhat related to the thesis, the author will quickly determine,
using the gathered information, if periphery demographics are worthwhile for a
producer.
If the thesis is disproven, it will be concluded that periphery demographics is
an element of luck, or further research is needed to decisively understand
periphery demographics.
34
Chapter 5 – Results
As mentioned before, the results will be determined through questions that
relate to the thesis. The thesis is as follows:
“Story and well developed characters in an animated TV show make it
enjoyable even to people outside the target audience.”
To understand what questions to ask, one must dissect the thesis into its
basic elements. First, the most important elements in the thesis are “Story and
well developed characters.” To justify this, one needs to ask the questions,
“Is story universally enjoyed by all ages and genders?” and
“Are well developed characters universally enjoyed by all ages and
genders?”
Secondly one needs to narrow down the area in question with, “Animated
TV show.” This means, when comparing two different series they must be
animated. Therefore, for this paper, Family Guy, South Park (1997) and The
Simpsons will be used as examples of animated TV shows for adults, acting as
a comparison to the childrenʼs animated TV shows already discussed.
Also, it is important to understand how many fans of animated TV shows for
children are watched by people who are interested in animation generally.
Therefore, the following questions must be answered.
“How long have you been interested in animated TV series?”
“Do you enjoy other animated TV shows, other than [series]?”
“Do you enjoy adultʼs or childrenʼs animated TV series?”
35
Thirdly, to understand how a TV series becomes “enjoyable” to someone,
one must identify what attracted the fans to the show in the first place. If there is
an element that allows adults to enjoy an animated TV show that is not present
in animated shows that do not show signs of periphery demographics, one can
pin point the cause of periphery demographics. Therefore, it is important to ask,
“What attracts you to [series]?”
Finally, to determine whether periphery demographics is a good investment
from the producerʼs point of view, one needs to understand how much
merchandise will be bought by the fans outside of the demographic and how
often they would watch the series on air. To understand if those who enjoy the
show will also buy the merchandise and watch the series on TV it is important to
ask the following questions:
“What [series] merchandise do you own?”
With the unstructured nature of the interviews, the questions were not as
directly asked as in the surveys. However, the gist of almost each question
remained and will be interpreted in 5.2 Interpretation of Interview Results and
applied to some of the above mentioned questions. As the motive behind the
interview was to understand the role of demographics in people who create
animation, not all questions will be considered when interpreting the interviews.
When all questions are answered, they will form an opinion towards
periphery demographics in childrenʼs animated TV shows which will be
discussed and interpreted in 6.1 Summary of the Results.
!
5.1 Interpretation of survey results
Here, each question created above will be answered using the results from
the surveys. The results will be presented through pie charts, bar charts or in a
table and then interpreted. With the large difference in participant populations,
36
the results will be shown with the actual numbers and percentages, but
discussed using only percentages. This way the three surveys will be weighted
equally.
Is story universally enjoyed by all ages and genders?
To answer this question, one must first find out what age and gender the
participants were. The age distribution of the three surveys are as follows:
MLP: FiM | Age
Batman | Age
3%5% 5%
21%
3%
1%
40%
50%
46%
25%
SpongeBob | Age
4%
8%
13%
30%
45%
9 - 12
17 - 21
>30
13 - 16
22 - 30
Undisclosed
37
In the MLP: FiM survey there was no mentioning of what the participant
should do in the case that he does not wish to disclose their age. Therefore,
many ridiculous answers were given, which were omitted from the results. In the
later surveys, the participants were asked to answer with “0” if they do not wish
to disclose their age.
From these results, one can see that the ages are concentrated between 13
and 30 in the MLP: FiM and SpongeBob survey. In the Batman survey,
however, the ages are higher, between 17 and 30. Nevertheless, the answer to
this question lies in how important story was to these age groups.
Batman | Age/Story
100
100
97
95
100
13 - 16
17 - 21
22 - 30
> 30
98
98
98
95
13 - 16
17 - 21
22 - 30
> 30
50
50
22 - 30
> 30
75
50
25
0
9 - 12
100
75
93
MLP: FiM | Age/Story
50
25
0
9 - 12
SpongeBob | Age/Story
100
86
75
63
50
25
0
9 - 12
13 - 16
17 - 21
38
Using the age groups in the Batman and MLP: FiM surveys, it is apparent
that story is, in fact, a very important factor in enjoying these shows. Each age
group had more than 90% of the participants claiming story is part of the reason
why they enjoy the series. The SpongeBob survey, although the results were
not as definitive, still show that at least 50% of every age group enjoys the
stories in SpongeBob. This concludes that story does have a large factor in
making a series enjoyable, no matter what age group.
In this case, the MLP: FiM survey cannot be seen as completely accurate.
As mentioned above, it was the first survey to be conducted. With this, some
administrative mistakes were made. In the surveyed question used here, “What
attracted you to MLP:FiM?” the answers were not separated like in the Batman
and SpongeBob surveys, but rather grouped together as “Quality of the Show
(Characters, Story etc.)” This makes the results of the MLP: FiM survey less
credible than the other two, but in this case, because story was directly
mentioned in the answer, still applicable.
Now, the percentage of each gender will be specified for each survey.
39
Batman | Gender
MLP: FiM | Gender
11%
13%
1%
86%
89%
SpongeBob | Gender
9%
34%
Male
57%
Female
Undisclosed
This shows that more males than females took part in the surveys, which
with Batman and SpongeBob is not surprising, since both shows are targeted
more towards boys. What is surprising is the low percentage of female
participants in the MLP:FiM survey, even lower than the SpongeBob survey.
Since the target audience of Batman is boys, it cannot be seen as having
periphery demographics with genders, since only 11% of fans were female.
However in MLP:FiM and SpongeBob, the percentages of the opposite gender
fans is large enough, to be considered a periphery demographic. This can
especially be observed in MLP:FiMʼs case, where the male participation
40
outweighs the female. Either way, the question still remains, whether story is
enjoyed by all genders.
Batman | Gender/Story
100
96
100
Male
Female
75
50
25
0
MLP: FiM | Gender/Story
100
98
97
Male
Female
75
50
25
0
SpongeBob | Gender/Story
100
75
50
57
61
Male
Female
25
0
Here, it can be seen that in Batman and MLP:FiM both genders enjoy story
in the series equally. Also SpongeBobʼs survey, although the percentages are
lower, still shows that both female and male participants almost equally rate
story as being the reason for enjoying the show. Once again, it must be
41
mentioned that with this question the MLP:FiM results are not as credible as the
other surveys.
These results lead to the conclusion and answer to the question that, yes
story is universally enjoyed by all genders and ages.
“Are well developed characters universally enjoyed by all ages and
genders?”
By using the same ages and genders as above, one can figure out how
many of those answered said they enjoyed the characters in each of the
respected series.
Batman | Age/Characters
100
97
75
86
67
60
50
25
0
9 - 12
13 - 16
17 - 21
22 - 30
>30
MLP: FiM | Age/Characters
100
75
93
98
98
98
95
13 - 16
17 - 21
22 - 30
>30
50
25
0
9 - 12
42
SpongeBob | Age/Characters
100
100
86
75
79
63
50
25
0
9 - 12
13 - 16
17 - 21
22 - 30
> 30
The results show that a large percentage of all participants enjoy good
characters. Interestingly, the Batman survey shows a sudden rise from the
teenage age group to the young adults age group and then a sudden fall from
the adults age group to the older adults age group. This could either come from
the low number of participants in each group and therefore not being a reliable
source, or a genuine lack of interest in characters. However, this cannot be
determined using this data alone. The same can be applied to the SpongeBob
survey. With this data, it is impossible to determine whether every person over
the age of 30 enjoys well developed characters. Also, the data shows a
decrease in interest of characters the older the participant was. However, the
results are still over 50% and therefore it is safe to say a majority of people do
enjoy well developed characters, no matter the age.
To fully answer the question, one must also consider the genders.
Batman | Gender/Characters
100
75
89
80
50
25
0
Male
Female
43
MLP: FiM | Gender/Characters
100
98
97
Male
Female
75
50
25
0
SpongeBob | Gender/Characters
100
75
83
61
50
25
0
Male
Female
The only considerable difference between the results can be found in the
SpongeBob survey, with a 22 percentage-point difference. Although the gap is
large, nearly two-thirds of females enjoy well developed characters, which leads
to the conclusion that all genders enjoy well developed characters equally.
With these results, it has been proven that all ages and genders universally
enjoy story and well developed characters. So far, this proves the first part of
the thesis, since the demographics have not yet been defined. However, with
story and well developed characters being a universally enjoyed element, it is
very likely that the thesis will be proven.
How long have you been interested in animated TV series?
This question will be more focused on Batman and SpongeBob. Both of
these series are long running, which means many fans could have just grown
up and while they are not considered the demographic now, were within the
44
demographic when they were younger. Additionally, this question can specify if
the fans of MLP:FiM are just fans of animation who happen to be enjoying the
newest animated series, or can be anyone.
MLP: FiM | Interest
Batman | Interest
2%
2%
8%
4%
3%
86%
96%
SpongeBob | Interest
2%
98%
< 1 years
3 - 4 years
1 - 2 years
> 4 years
45
As predicted, the majority of SpongeBob and Batman fans have been fans
of the respective series for longer than four years. This can signify that the fans
were within the demographic when they first became fans, and continue to
follow the series purely out of nostalgia. The results of when the participants
became fans of the series can help justify this suggestion.
Batman | Begin to Watch
9%1%
SpongeBob | Begin to Watch
9%
2%
11%
43%
47%
43%
34%
< 6 years old
7 – 12 years old
13 – 18 years old
19 – 25 years old
> 25 years old
Since the first episode
When it was becoming popular
At its peak
After the movie came out
After Hillenburg left
A couple of episodes
With the majority of the SpongeBob survey participants being between the
ages of 17 and 30 and the majority of when SpongeBob was introduced to the
fan being very early, ca. 1999, one can take away 12 years from that age. This
leaves the majority of SpongeBobʼs current fans between 5 and 18 years of age
when they were first introduced, making the majority of fans within the original
demographic when they were introduced to the character.
The same can be said with Batman. Here, it is simpler to identify, since the
question was directly asked, “At what age were you introduced to Batman?”
Just like with SpongeBob, it shows that a majority of the fans were within the
original demographic of the series when they became fans. This does not,
46
however, disprove the thesis, since there is a reason why these fans are still
fans of the show and still discuss episodes online, which can be observed in the
following data:
Batman | Regularly Watch
13%
SpongeBob | Regularly Watch
6%
25%
13%
15%
32%
13%
11%
14%
23%
Yes - Every day
Yes - Once a Week
Yes - Multiple times a week
Yes - Once a Month
Yes - Multiple times a Month
No
26%
8%
Yes - Every new episode
Yes - Every day
Yes - Once a week
Yes - Multiple times a week
Yes - Once a month
Yes - Multiple times a month
No
As seen in the data above, only a small percentage of fans does not watch
any episodes of SpongeBob or Batman, which leads to the conclusion that
although the fans have grown up, a large number of people still find the
characters and stories appealing and can still enjoy the series. Therefore,
periphery demographics still apply to both series.
MLP:FiM has to be treated differently here, since it is the newest series out
of the three. Here, it does not matter how long the fans have been interested in
animation, since the series only premiered in 2010. However it does beg the
question whether one must be a fan of animation in order to be able to enjoy an
animated series.
47
Do you enjoy other animated TV shows, other than [series]?
This question will define if the series in question was just a fluke and the fan
just happened to enjoy the series, or if there is a group of people who are the
periphery demographic in many other animated series as well.
Batman | Other Animation
MLP: FiM | Other Animation
2%
6%
94%
98%
SpongeBob | Other Animation
2%
98%
Yes
No
Here it can be clearly seen that almost every fan of an animated series,
enjoys other animated series. However, whether these animated series are
targeted at adults or at children can be answered with the next question.
48
Do you enjoy adultsʼ or childrenʼs animated TV series?
From the last question, it is evident that almost all participants enjoy other
animated TV series. To fully understand if periphery demographics is random or
not, the question whether these animated series are directed at adults or
children is important. The results of this question are as follows:
Batman | Kind of Animation
MLP: FiM | Kind of Animation
15%
32%
67%
8%
1%
77%
SpongeBob | Kind of Animation
25%
6%
69%
Adults
Children
Mixture
From the results, it seems some of the participants misinterpreted the
question, since some who answered that they do not watch other animated
49
series answered this question. Either way, the results show very extreme
differences. The highest percentage in all three surveys was in a mixture of
both, meaning that the participant enjoys both childrenʼs and adultsʼ animated
TV series. This proves that there is an appeal in the participants for both types
of series, Family Guy and South Park as well as SpongeBob and MLP:FiM. The
low percentage of those who enjoy only childrenʼs animated series indicates
that although the participants enjoy one childrenʼs animated series, they do not
enjoy it exclusively. The same can be said for the adult animated series, which
has a higher percentage, especially with Batman, which is understandable,
since many fans are only fans of Batman out of nostalgia. But that the majority
lies in a mixture of both indicates that there is little to no discrimination when it
comes to animated series. With exception of the Simpsons, both South Park
and Family Guy have been described as juvenile and puerile although they are
targeted at adults. Thus, one could assume that all animation is juvenile and
puerile, which is watched by juvenile and puerile adults that cannot distinguish
between adult cartoons and childrenʼs. However, this is not the case, as is
proven with the next question.
What attracts you to [series]?
Through this question, one can determine whether there is a common
denominator between these three shows that make it enjoyable to its fans.
These results can also support an argument that it is these elements of a series
that make it accessible to a periphery demographic.
Batman | Attraction
100
75
88
74
84
70
50
79
72
25
0
Animation
Story
Design
Characters
12
Actors Adult Themes Other
50
MLP:FiM | Attraction
2500
2331
1875
1968
1250
625
0
85
Being a fan of the old series
Design
Quality of the Show
SpongeBob | Attraction
50.0
50
43
37.5
25.0
33
26
35
27
12.5
0
Animation
Stories
Designs Characters
Humor
4
Other
Once again, the MLP:FiM survey is not the best source of information,
however it is clear that the designs of characters, background and the overall
quality of the show is the most important factors for the fans of the series. Being
a fan of the old series seems to have little effect on the overall fan-base.
Since this question allowed multiple answers, there is no sense in adding
percentages. Therefore, these results will be discussed using the numbers. It
seems that the majority of people consider humour to be the most important
element in SpongeBob, the second most important part being the characters,
then adult jokes, then stories. That story and characters are important to
SpongeBob fans has already been established earlier, however the importance
of adult jokes can mean that only because of these jokes for adults can the
adults enjoy the series. Otherwise, if the adult jokes were left out, maybe the
adult fans would not have enjoyed the series as much or at all.
The same can be said for Batman. Here, the two most important elements
were story and character, which were established above as well. However, the
51
next most important elements were the voice actors, animation and the adult
themes. Although the voice acting and the animation can be appreciated by
children as well, given the fanʼs high interest in animation (as shown above) it
can be concluded that these elements are mostly enjoyed by adults, who
understand quality of the animation and all the guest voice appearances. More
importantly, 72 out of the 91 participants found the adult themes enjoyable. This
proves that Batman is only popular with the periphery demographic because it
did add elements to the series which can be enjoyed by adults as well. The
same goes for SpongeBob, since the adult jokes are specifically there for the
adults.
“What [series] merchandise do you own?”
No matter what the outcome of this paper is, if there is no profit from
considering a periphery demographic, no producer will be persuaded to
consider it. With this in mind the following results were collected:
Batman | Merch
60
53
45
42
30
15
17
0
DVDs
Action Figures
T-shirt
21
20
Video Games
None
4
Other
MLP:FiM | Merch
500
375
449
408
250
173
125
0
Dolls
T-Shirts
3rd Party
61
Other
52
SpongeBob | Merch
30.0
22.5
15.0
22
19
17
13
7.5
0
DVDs
Toys
10
9
Clothes Video Games Misc.
None
1
Other
MLP: FiM is meant to be a 20 minute commercial. Interestingly, a lot of the
toys are not in the style of the show, but rather copies of the old toys with
different hair. As one fan mentioned in the survey, “If there was decent official
merch, I would [buy it].” This has led to many fans to create their own MLP:FiM
merchandise and selling it on the internet. Also, many t-shirts have been made
with the consent of Hasbro. However, this shows that over 50% of the
participants have bought merchandise, even though they are outside of the
demographic and will probably never play with their purchased dolls and keep
them as collectibles.
SpongeBobʼs face can be seen everywhere. However, barely 50% of the
participants said they own SpongeBob merchandise. This could stem from the
stigma associated with enjoying a cartoon at an adult age and portraying it
openly with a t-shirt or iPhone cover.
With the Batman series, since it is an older series, it had to be specified that
it was only the merchandise from that particular series. A question about how
much generic Batman merchandise the fan owns was also asked.
Batman | Merch 2
80
80
60
77
59
58
40
35
20
0
Live Action Movies
Action Figures
1
Miscellaneous None
8
Other
53
Here we can see that only 1 person out of the 91 participants does not have
any Batman merchandise. This show how fruitful the Batman franchise is, which
is why series after series and movie after movie are produced.
From this data, it is apparent that if the series is a success with the periphery
demographic, they will not shy away from buying the merchandise associated
with it, making it a good investment in the producerʼs eyes.
5.2 Interpretation of interview results
!
!
5.2.1 Students
As with the survey results, each question will be answered by interpreting
the answers given from the three students interviewed at the “Animation
Workshop.” However, as mentioned above, the nature of the interview was to
discuss and understand the role of demographics in the work place and how it
affects the creation of the show. Because of this many of the above named
questions cannot be answered by the interview partners. Therefore, some
questions will be omitted or edited, and considered as separate questions in the
final summary.
“Is story universally enjoyed by all genders?”
This question was asked in the form of “What is your opinion towards shows
directed at young girls?” The intention was to spark a discussion between the
interviewer and the interviewee about how the young female audience is treated
in animated TV series. As mentioned above, girls have a tendency to enjoy
shows created for boys, but boys seldomly enjoy shows created for girls.
Humphrey, who came across girlsʼ shows through his sister commented, “A
classic thing that Iʼve heard is that thereʼs this perception that girls donʼt enjoy
conflict [or] violence.” He goes on to say that the small conflict they are left with
is an arbitrary conflict and has no emotion weight, making the stories boring for
an audience that is used to bigger conflict, like boys. This is supported by Anne
54
who believes the same amount of time should be given in creating girlsʼ shows
as boysʼ shows, but she doesnʼt see a problem with keeping girls shows the
way they are. As Anne mentions, “I watched a lot of cartoons when I was a kid.
And there were always two boys, turtles and stuff. And I didnʼt mind at all.” This
statement proves that although girls also watch their own cartoons, they also
enjoy boysʼ cartoons just as much. From Humphreyʼs statement one can see
that a lack of conflict and therefore story, made him disinterested towards girlsʼ
cartoons and as Anne said, she doesnʼt mind watching boysʼ cartoons. These
statements support the survey results and can therefore prove that story is
universally enjoyed by all ages and genders.
“Do you enjoy other animated TV shows, other than [series]?” and “What
attracts you to [series]?”
Although these questions were not directly asked in the interview, both
questions can be answered using the discussion had with each interview
partner. The question asked was about what kind of animated TV shows the
interviewees enjoy and why. Jonas explained in his interview that he currently
enjoys Amazing World of Gumball and Batman: Brave and the Bold. Both of
these series are aimed directly at a younger audience. Gumball being a
nonsensical humour series, much like SpongeBob, and Batman: Brave and the
Bold, a much brighter, funnier, one-liner-swelling caped crusader than in the
original Batman. When inquired about his enjoyment in Gumball, Jonas
answered, “[…] what made me keep watching it was that itʼs just so fresh. Itʼs
bound to be cancelled, but I think itʼs very fun.”
When Humphrey was asked the same question, he replied with “Well, any
cartoon show by definition is outside my demographic by this age.” He went on
to mention that he still watched shows from when he was a child, which is very
important for determining the thesis. Especially in the case of Batman where
many of the current fans, also those who took part in the survey, could have
been children when introduced to Batman, making them part of the original
demographic. Humphrey did then mention his enjoyment in Batman: Brave and
55
the Bold, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Amazing World of Gumball.
What attracted him to these series were different qualities. He enjoys Batman:
Brave and the Bold because it “is pure fun” and “itʼs a smorgasbord of
characters.”But, when talking about MLP: FiM, Humphrey delved deep into what
he believes is the “psychology” of many bronies. “I think part of the charm is just
the taboo, Iʼm not supposed to enjoy it. So it feels almost like a guilty pleasure
[…]” However, he backs the series up by saying,
“Beyond some, sometimes simplistic plots at times, as well as some jokes
[that] fall flat, otherwise very solid characterisations of the main character, very
believable relations, when plots work, they really work. And visually, itʼs very
appealing. Itʼs a solid show, thatʼs the keyword — solid. Thereʼs nothing
specifically wrong with it.”
This directly applies to the thesis by stating that MLP: FiM has “solid
characterisations,” “believable relations” and working plots. All of these are
present in the thesis as reasons for periphery demographics. This, however will
be discussed further in 6.1 Summary of the Results.
Many of the answers Anne gave were very different to those expected. For
example, when asked about her preferred TV series, she explained, “To be
honest, I donʼt watch too much now-a-days because I have no time, but I have
always liked Disney movies and I really like all the cartoon network designs.” In
Anneʼs case, she prefers design to story and characters. She mentioned
watching the series Samurai Jack where she could not enjoy the story, but she
continued watching it for the design. After inquiring whether she is more
interested in design that the story of a series, she quickly replied with “No, I
definitely think the story is very important too […] but if a program has a bad
story, Iʼll ignore the story and focus on the design.” Anneʼs situation has to be
regarded as a rare case, since not every viewer will start watching a series for
the design if the story is bad. However, in the results of the surveys above, it
shows that design is important to normal audience members as well, with a
majority of participants saying design was a reason for enjoying the series. But
56
Anne does understand the importance of story as she “[likes] to watch movies
with great stories. Like for example How to Train your Dragon” from
Dreamworks.”
From these interviews, it is apparent that story does play a big role when
enjoying a series. However, story is not the only element that makes a series
enjoyable. In Anneʼs case it is design, in Humphreyʼs case characters and in
Jonasʼ case the originality.
“Do you enjoy adultʼs or childrenʼs animated TV series?”
This question was asked by inquiring whether the interviewee watched
series outside of their demographic and whether they watched series within
their demographic. Each interviewee mentioned adult animated TV shows in
their discussions and explained what their reasons for not liking many of these
programs. When talking about adult cartoons, there are three big names; South
Park, Family Guy and Simpsons. Family Guy is associated with having “stupid”
humour and very little to no plot; just a collection of single jokes. These are the
shows where the interviewees are regarded as within the series target
demographic.
Humphrey mentioned that he enjoys South Park and went on to comment on
a series named Tim. “It was very clear that it was trying to be very witty with his
dialogue by being very dialogue heavy. But the staging and the animation was
very ugly to look at. I didnʼt care what the characters had to say, because it was
just so ugly.” Humphrey explained further that many series in the Adult Swim (a
channel that features adult animation) line up were just the same, “I donʼt care
what theyʼre saying because theyʼre very ugly or the visual story telling is very
static and boring.”
When Jonas was asked about Family Guy and South Park, he commented
that, although he enjoys South Park, “I donʼt watch either of them, except for
maybe a single episode now and then.” The author inquired further about
Family Guy, to which he made the statement, “Theyʼre very political and I like
that, but I also think itʼs too much some times. Family Guy is just a string of
57
single panel jokes and itʼs okay sometimes, but not all the time. Itʼs lacking
story.”
Even with the lack of good design, Anne confesses to enjoying Family Guy,
“I know a lot of people hate it, but I actually do like it. Design wise — I donʼt like
it. But I think itʼs kinda funny — itʼs a silly humour.”
From this, it is noticeable that Family Guy is seen by Anne and Jonas as
lacking very basic elements needed to make a series enjoyable. These are, as
dictated by the survey results, story and design. However, since the series is
still on the air there must be enough people who, like Anne, can enjoy the series
for the humour.
Humphreyʼs explanation of Tim leads into the differences between adultsʼ
and childrenʼs animation TV shows. It is believed that childrenʼs cartoons need
to be wild and always moving, to entertain the child. However, when creating an
adult cartoon, the characters often stand completely still with only their mouths
moving or gesturing while they talk. This usually depends on the budget of the
series. This could be a reason to why many fans of childrenʼs animated series
cannot enjoy adult animation as much.
58
!
5.2.2 Tod Polson (Teacher)
The same questions answered by the students will be answered with Tod
Polsonʼs conversation. Since he works in professional environments his
opinions will differ from his studentsʼ and he can answer question with regard to
his professional background.
“Is story universally enjoyed by all genders?”
When Polson was asked about his opinion of shows directed at a young
female audience he quickly explained that different channels seem to target
different audiences, “[Disney television] definitely are shooting for the female
demographic […] And Nickelodeon for example, is more mixed. Cartoon
Network seems to be more boy driven.” This would lead one to believe that
each channel specifies on one type of storytelling which works primarily for one
gender. However, when discussing target demographics affecting the work
effort, Polson mentions, “Once youʼre in the project, you really focus on the
characters, focus on the stories, […] it doesnʼt really matter if itʼs a young kids
show or an adult thing.” This statement, more relates to the question “is story
universally enjoyed by all ages,” however he adds that even with the limitations
of a girlʼs show it doesnʼt affect the work effort once the creator can focus on the
story. Polson is, so far, supporting the thesis by placed the importance on story
and characters when creating the story.
“Do you enjoy other animated TV shows, other than [series]?” and “What
attracts you to [series]?”
Although Polson does work in the television industry, he rarely has the time
to watch TV, but he did explain his enjoyment of SpongeBob. He commends
them for “great subtext for adults that are way over the kidʼs heads, but itʼs still
fun for the kids.” This was his main reason for enjoying childrenʼs cartoons,
subtext for adults. This can be identified as dirty jokes, celebrity appearances
59
like in Aladdin or even puns that arenʼt understood by children. It can be
debated whether this makes the parents also a target audience or if the target
audience is still children, with parents being the periphery demographic. This
will be further analysed in 6.1 Summary of the Results.
“Do you enjoy adultʼs or childrenʼs animated TV series?”
When asked his opinion on adult cartoons, Polson commented, “A lot of stuff
like Family Guy or Simpsons, I like — sometimes. But I think a lot of times,
Americans especially, are very negative.” He went on to mention that although,
“A lot of them are very smart commentaries on society. Sometimes, theyʼre just
a downer. So I donʼt like that so much, myself.” Because of the target audience
of the adult animated TV series, they handle different themes and topics, which
can often lead to adult animation having very serious undertones. This is
something that Polson, and many participants in the survey do not enjoy either.
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Chapter 6 – Results
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6.1 Summary of the results
It was determined in the results of the survey that, well developed characters
and story are universally enjoyed by all ages and genders. This means that as
humans, we enjoy story and good characters. Therefore, as long as a series
does have good story and characters, anyone can enjoy it — even if it is outside
of the demographic. Then, the decision whether the person will enjoy a series,
will come from the other elements in the series, like the humour or the
animation. From the investigation, it showed that most people enjoy the adult
humour and themes in these shows, which shows that the two series in
question, SpongeBob and Batman were in fact designed to attract adult
audiences as well, making them not a periphery demographic, but a secondary
demographic. It was also determined that very few fans of these animated
series were not fans of animation beforehand. Rather than being a random
assortment of people who enjoy these childrenʼs animated TV series, it seems
that a pattern is being followed, since a majority of these people enjoy
animation as a whole, they enjoy story and good characters, watch a mixture of
adult and childrenʼs cartoons and are willing to buy merchandise. The results
show that as long as the series is good, well thought through with devoted
people working on it, the series can be a hit in any demographic.
The interviews did not answer many of the questions discussed with the
survey. Initially, the interviews were conducted to gather information on the
subject of how demographics were handled in the studio and if demographics
are a subconscious choice. Through the interviews with the students it has
become clear that demographics are not always considered, but always are
present. When creating characters on their own, every interviewee mentioned
that their characters look similar to themselves — this is a demographic, namely
their own. Also, when creating their escape project, although the demographic
was not defined in two out of the three projects, a demographic could always be
defined later. Through this, it is evident that demographics are subconscious
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and define their work. However, in the interview with Tod Polson, he mentions
that they are reminded of the demographic every day. This works against their
subconscious, which is to add an element they enjoy to the series, however, this
still happens, which is evident in the sometimes adult themes and jokes in
childrenʼs cartoons.
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6.2 Comparing original thesis and results
The thesis of this paper is as follows:
“Story and well developed characters in an animated TV show make it
enjoyable even to people outside the target audience.”
Using this results discussed in 6.1 Summary of the Results the thesis as it
stands is confirmed, but could be further refined or enhanced. While it is
definitely confirmed that story and well developed character in an animated TV
show do make it enjoyable, it is still not completely clear as to how it affects the
people outside the target audience. As mentioned above, two out of the three
series used in this paper, seemed to have parents or adults as a demographic
as well. With the results, one can only definitely claim that the thesis is proven
in the case of MLP:FiM. This show, being directed at young girls, and maybe
their parents, still attracted the attention of teenage boys and men, showing that
MLP:FiM was the only series in this paper that showed definitive proof of
periphery demographic.
In conclusion, if just investigating MLP:FiM, the thesis would have been
proven, however since the thesis focuses on all animated TV shows, it was not
proven. What was proven is that story and well developed characters were
enjoyed by people of all genders and ages, which can help in development of
further investigations on this topic.
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6.3 Further research approaches and personal opinion
Personally, I believe the thesis to be correct, however a couple of mistakes
were made in the method that resulted in the thesis not being able to be proven.
I find, that as long as the quality of the series is good it can be marketed
towards anyone. The current state of childrenʼs cartoons comes from a lack of
interest in the developers. They think the series is just for kids, so they donʼt put
any extra effort into characters or story. However, the current success of
MLP:FiM and the massive fan base could lead to many new series taking the
developing phase more seriously and through this better series can be created.
As with Batman, the series was marketed towards kids, but had adult themes,
which children would find cool. That is how Batman found its success, as being
the first animated series for children to take itself seriously.
The actual thesis can be further developed and researched by studying
more series that qualify as having periphery demographics. For example series
like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fairly Odd Parents or anything from the DC or
Marvel universes. Also, it would be interesting to investigate what those who are
within the demographic enjoy about the series. This is something I could not do,
since I had no contact to such people. This would give much more validity to the
results about whether all ages and genders enjoy the same elements of a
series, or could research exactly what does make adults enjoy childrenʼs
cartoons.
Either way, it is my opinion that childrenʼs cartoons should be seen as more
than just 20 minute toy commercials and that real effort should be given in the
production to recognise and reach out to what has been described as periphery
demographics, thus opening up whole new audiences (and wallets) to what
otherwise would be rubber-stamped as a childrenʼs show.
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Works Cited
!
Literature
Bates, Billie Rae, Batman: The Animated Series, a BRBTV Report, 2006,
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BRBTV.com, B003TO5BWQ (Kindle Edition)
Bell, Judith, Doing Your Research Project, 2010, Berkshire: Open University
!
Press, 978–0335–23582–7
Levy, David B., Animation Development from Pitch to Production, 2009,
!
Allworth Press, 978–1–58115–661–4
Mark, Harrinson, Prime Time Animation, 2003, Routledge, 0–415–28325–6
Murray, Joe, Creating Animated Cartoons with Characters, 2010,
!
Watson-Guptill, 978–0–8230–3307–4
Scott, Jeffrey, How to Write for Animation, 2002, The Overlook Press,
!
1–58567–240–8
Tomkinson, John, Study Skills for the International Baccalaureate, 2006,
!
Anagnosis, 960–88087–7–4
Wells, Paul, Understanding Animation, 1998, Routledge, 0–415–11596–5
!
Internet
www.animationmagazine.net
www.dradio.de
www.equestriadaily.com
http://globalcomment.com
www.imdb.com
www.knowyourmeme.com
http://msmagazine.com
www.reddit.com
www.tvtropes.com
www.usatoday.com
http://voices.washingtonpost.com
www.youtube.com
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Annex
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Interview Transcript
The 18 page transcript of the interview can be found on the attached DVD.
!
Surveys
The excel tables of the results can be found on the attached DVD.
SpongeBob Squarepants Survey
Gender:
Male
Female
I wish to not disclose
Age:
Write “0” if you do not wish to disclose
How long have you been interested in animated TV shows?
< 1 year
1 - 2 years
3 - 4 years
> 4 years
When did you begin to watch SpongeBob Squarepants?
Since the first episode
When it was becoming popular (ca. 2000)
At its peak (ca. 2002)
After the movie came out (2004)
After Hillenburg left (2005)
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I watch a couple of episodes every now and then but really enjoy them
Do you enjoy other animated TV shows, other than SpongeBob
Squarepants?
Yes
No
If you answered “yes,” please answer the following question. Are the
shows you watch aimed at adults (Family Guy, South Park, etc.) or at
children (Batman, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, etc.)
Adultsʼ cartoons
Childrenʼs cartoons
Mixture of both
Do you enjoy the post-Hillenburg episodes?
Hillenburg left in 2004, so anything after the third season.
No, but I still watch them
No and I donʼt watch them
Yes
What attracts you to SpongeBob Squarepants?
Animation
Stories
Design (Characters, Backgrounds)
Characters
Adults jokes
Humour
Other:
Do you regularly watch SpongeBob Squarepants?
Yes - Every new episode
Yes - Every day
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Yes - Once a week
Yes - Multiple times a week
Yes - Once a month
Yes - Multiple times a month
No
What SpongeBob Squarepants merchandise do you own?
DVDs (Series or Movie)
Toys (Dolls, Figurines)
Clothes (T-shirts, Underwear, etc.)
Video Games
Miscellaneous (iPhone covers, etc.)
None
Other:
What do you enjoy most about SpongeBob Squarepants?
Thank you very much for participating!
Batman: The Animated Series Survey
Gender:
Male
Female
I wish to not disclose
Age:
Write “0” if you do not wish to disclose
How long have you been interested in animated TV shows?
< 1 year
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1 - 2 years
3 - 4 years
> 4 years
At what age were you introduced to Batman: The Animated Series?
< 6 years old
7 - 12 years old
13 - 18 years old
19 - 25 years old
> 25 years old
How were you introduced to Batman: The Animated Series?
I watched it, as a child, from when it first aired on TV
I watched it as re-runs on TV, but still as a child
I started watching it with the DVDs
I saw it online and became interested
Other:
Do you enjoy other animated TV shows, other than Batman: The Animated
Series?
Yes
No
If you answered “yes,” please answer the following question. Are the
shows you watch aimed at adults (Family Guy, South Park, etc.) or at
children? (SpongeBob, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, etc.)
Adultsʼ cartoons
Childrenʼs cartoons
Mixture of both
Do you also watch other Batman series or do you just watch the original?
I only watch Batman: The Animated Series
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I [will] watch any Batman animated series (The Batman, Batman Beyond,
Beware the Batman, Brave and the Bold)
What attracts you to Batman: The Animated Series?
Animation
Story
Design (of Character, Backgrounds)
Characters
Voice Actors (Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill)
Adult Themes
Other:
Did you regularly watch Batman: The Animated Series?
Yes - Every day
Yes - Once a week
Yes - Multiple times a week
Yes - Once a month
Yes - Multiple times a month
No
What Batman: The Animated Series merchandise do you own?
Only Batman: TAS, please
DVDs (Series or Movies)
Action Figures (Dolls, Figurines)
T-shirts
Video Games
None
Other:
What Batman (any series) merchandise do you own?
Live action movies (DVD, BluRay)
Clothes (Underwear, T-shirts, Hats)
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Action Figures (Dolls, Figurines)
Video Games (Arkham Asylum/City, etc.)
Miscellaneous (iPhone covers, Pens, etc.)
None
Other:
Thank you very much for participating!
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Survey
*Note: The following is how the survey was written online, all mistakes intact.
Gender:
Male
Female
Other
Age:
How long have you been interested in animated TV shows?
> 1 year
1 - 2 years
< 3 years
Since I can remember
When did you begin to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?
Right from the beginning (Episode 1, Season 1)
Somewhere in the middle of season one
The end of season one
Between season one and season two
Beginning of season two
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Do you enjoy other animated TV shows, other than My Little Pony:
Friendship is Magic?
Yes
No
If you answered “yes,” please answer the following question. Are these
shows aimed at adults (Family Guy, South Park, etc.) or at children
(SpongeBob, Batman, etc.)
Adultsʼ cartoons
Childrenʼs cartoon
Mixture of both
How did you first discover My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?
I read about it when it was first becoming popular or 4chan
A friend, who already was a brony showed it to me
A saw MLP related material on another website and looked into it
I stumbled across it on my own
Iʼm a regular fan of the older generations and was looking forward to it
Iʼm a big fan of Lauren Faustʼs previous work and found out when she
mentioned it.
What attracted you to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?
Multiple answers may be given
Quality of the show (Characters, Story, etc.)
Design
Being a fan of the old series
What other pony-related activities do you participate in?
Multiple answers may be given
Viewing fan-created videos
Viewing fan-created art
Viewing fan-created fiction
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Visiting fan-based MLP:FiM websites
Speaking about MLP:FiM on forums
Creating your own MLP:FiM videos
Creating your own MLP:FiM art
Creating your own MLP:FiM fiction
Buying MLP:FiM Merchandise
None of the above
Other:
Have you bought any My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic merchandise for
yourself?
Yes
No
If you answered yes, what do you buy most?
Dolls (or any other toys)
T-shirts
Third party creations (Figurines, T-shirts, Commissions)
Other:
Has My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic changed your life in any way?
Yes
No
If you answered yes, please write a few lines on how:
Have you shared My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic with anyone?
Yes, every one I know
Yes, one or two people here and there
No
Who is your favourite character?
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