A TV spits out cathode rays. Weed smoke permeates every inch of the room. We ought to light a candle to The Simpsons -and to South Park and Family Guy, too. Credit where credit’s due: they smuggled in a blend of satirical, zesty, provocative themes. At this point, it’s nothing new, but cartoons are no longer just for kids: sex, violence, politics, dark humor, social critique and tangled plotlines. Add to that the success of works like Rick & Morty, BoJack Horseman, and Big Mouth, among others, which dragged us into cosmic, drug-fueled realities, with narratives steeped in acid. So, are we living through a new boom in psychedelic animation for adults?
From a historical lens, psychedelia had been simmering since the 1930s, when a surge of creative freedom allowed moments of surrealism impossible to capture in live-action of the time. “There are masterpieces by both the Fleischer Brothers and the Disney brothers. Look at Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse and you find wildly creative, free and unrestrained moments, which unfortunately got cut short by the Hays Code and the censorship creeping into the United States,” notes Tomás Eliaschev, journalist and cartoon expert.
Betty Boop features laughing gas in “Ha! Ha! Ha!” episode (1934)
The rising wave of puritanism significantly stifled the genre’s growth and pushed animation toward more metaphorical fables, with sly nods to adult themes, brushing up against sex, alcohol, tobacco, addiction, coffee, and, obviously, weed. “The first clearly stoner character is Lento Rodríguez, Speedy González’s cousin from Warner,” Eliaschev points out.
After Disney’s classic era, Hanna-Barbera took over animation, and beyond its endless doses of fun, it worked as a cultural machine to sell toys and merch. Still, it wasn’t until the late ’70s and early ’80s that animation for adults began …
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Author: Hernán Panessi / High Times
