Why Can't Adult Cartoons Be Taken More Seriously?

Scene from Anomalisa
*NOTE: Vague spoilers for Anomalisa.



This weekend marks the expansion of the critically acclaimed new film from director and writer Charlie Kaufman called Anomalisa. If one takes Kaufman's gift for finding humanity in absurd ways, the film doesn't seem all that impressive. It's about a man who has an affair, predominantly in a singular location. That is it. Yes, it fits the bill for an average indie drama about existential crises. But what else exactly makes it even worth considering? Well, Kaufman decided to portray his story through puppetry. Among the questions one could ask themselves around this idea, the one to ask is why does this seem like such a silly idea? Why should animation be reserved to kiddie fare in which fantastical lands are built and humans can do unthinkable things? In a sense, Anomalisa manages to make the argument that animation could be used to depict similar things, but in the adult world.
The definition of adult animation (outside of exotic) is difficult to properly define without finding some sort of overlap with the younger appeal. After all, there are TV series like The Simpsons that do very mature things with a colorful spectrum. Even in film, there are those like Team America: World Police that seek to explore the adult themes of politics by reflecting a certain absurdity only present in a different art style. However, these examples are at best reflections of kiddie fare being subverted to an adult perspective. The Simpsons is just as much a family sitcom as it is about sight gags. Team America may have plenty of political commentary, but it is buried under pointless profanity and an explicit (yet hilarious) sex scene. The general issue is that even when they take things seriously, they feel strangely outlandish, as if we're just watching the characters from Hannah Barbera doing their taxes.
While makes Anomalisa a certain revelation and a good prodding point for this discussion. There is no moment of heightened surrealism for the protagonist. He merely wanders a hotel in a miserable state, wondering what his life has amounted to. There are whole scenes where the inanimate puppet merely sits, talking on the phone. Structurally, there is no real reason for this to be animated. It could easily be performed by a dozen actors on a theater stage and get a similarly visual execution. With this considered, Anomalisa is immediately jarring in its inability to formulate to contemporary animation tropes. It's a tale of loneliness and the film consists of puppets brooding for long periods of time, choosing intimate conversations over the wacky gags that the other adult animated films and TV series of history would do.
So, what is the point then? Much like Kaufman's prior work on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Synechdoche New York, he has a twist up his sleeve. The story is straightforward, but the animation is itself a slight of hand. Sure, the dialogue has a repetitive rhythm to it, but the first part that justifies this whole animated ordeal comes early. As the protagonist sits in his room, he calls his family. He speaks to his wife and son, both played by Tom Noonan. In fact, a large subsidiary of the cast is voiced by Noonan; save for his romantic fling (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh). For an educated viewer, this technique will make sense as visual conformity for the lonely protagonist, where everyone sounds the same, regardless of gender. For those who need the last bit of convincing, take a look at the puppet's facial design and pay attention to the eyes. They're all the same.
The thing with animation is that there seems to be a need for exaggeration. Because we can't fly or grow a third arm, we suddenly need to prove the impossible. It's an insecurity and likely too much of a fondness for those younger-skewing entertainments. Even if Kaufman likely isn't the first to deal with very mature themes (Richard Linklater would tackle philosophy with Waking Life), this film feels like a master stripping back the pretensions and wondering why the technique cannot be applied to more subtle aesthetics. Why do we need to fly? Why can't adult animation merely convey abstract concepts in more realistic ways, such as similar voices and faces? In a live action field, this would be a tad more difficult to pull off. However, Kaufman has proven a way to do it while being clever about it.
Admittedly, Anomalisa isn't likely to be as beloved as The Simpsons or Team America to audiences who like their adult animation to be edgy. Concepts cannot be discussed within these titles without some insecure and flippant remark. It's true, entertainment is subjective and there's value in having these programs out there. However, there's also a drought when it comes to films like Anomalisa; animated films for mature audiences that are more about exploring life's problems in ways that adults can perceive. Loneliness doesn't need a third arm. It needs a better understanding of the mental state. Kaufman achieves the depiction of isolation better than anyone since Sofia Coppola's also set in a hotel drama Lost in Translation. Sometimes it takes less to express more.
This isn't to say that Anomalisa isn't without its explicit nature. At various points, the puppets are seen in compromised positions. There's a scene where the male protagonist is exiting a shower, revealing his naked and ravaged body to the camera (and he's anatomically correct). There's also later a sex scene which is surprisingly effective in its portrayal of intimacy while also being explicit. In the echelon of puppet movies, few have tackled sex within the plot, even less so handling it as an adult and mature fashion. There's the notorious sex scene in Team America, where creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone even admitted that they purposely made it as ludicrous as possible to mess with the MPAA board. Even then, the final results are very comical and set to a satirical romantic ballad. It's a far cry from Anomalisa's intimacy, which actually looks quaint by comparison.
Maybe it seems unfair to compare films and TV series going for two different audiences. However, it still raises a question as to why there's not a market for more grounded animated films like Anomalisa. Is it that the idea of isolation and longing aren't as appealing as turning Kim Jong-Il into a cockroach? It could just be that animation is seen as the overachiever's genre, and thus has been treated as such (no complaints here, as companies like Laika Studios continue to do groundbreaking work). However, one cannot help but wonder what it would take to make more films like Anomalisa seem like more than a, well, anomaly. Even if cartoons have every right to be geared at children and families, it does feel like those who attempt to sell it to adults should try to make it have something more than wacky animation to offer. I don't know if we'll ever get a film like Anomalisa again (which itself makes the film more impressive), but it at least asks why we should.

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