Jun 9, 2022

Warner exec insists girls "outgrow anime," angering nearly everyone.

In a keynote address at the TV Kids Summer Festival earlier this week, Amy Friedman, head of kids' and family programming for Warner Bros. including Cartoon Network, made several statements that have animation fans and pundits up in arms.

She opened her talk by saying, "We're taking the great DNA of Cartoon Network and trying to make it a full-fledged family show. In other words, we're going to invite preschoolers and girls in and make it family friendly."

To begin with, as commonplace as it may sound, weren't girls "in" before -

but it was what followed that caused her to create an animated social media uproar.

Referring to Cartoon Network's recently announced plans to revitalize its earlier efforts in the live-action space, Friedman quoted Tom Askeem, recently retired President of Global Kids, Young Adult Classics at Warner, who "Girls are graduating from animation more often than not. Some of our finest competitors have been working on live-action games for a long time. We know that the girls want it. We are excited that live-action invites girls in without alienating the boys and reflects the world as it is." [The response to her words was swift and decisive.

Lauren Faust, who has written, directed, and produced such classic animated shows as "Powerpuff Girls," "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends," and "DC Superhero Girls," was not at all pleased. She tweeted:

Western animation is not giving girls what they want. We give them toy commercials and lectures on how society expects them to behave. why would any girl over the age of 8, female or male, want such a thing. western animation is not giving older girls what they actually want. It is not giving them what they actually want. I have been in this business for 28 years and the saying "girls don't watch anime" never goes away. There is only a small window of opportunity for a small mind, and one girl-oriented show that is not popular enough will soon disappear. No matter how many failed boy-oriented cartoons there are, studios will never give up on their boy audience.

Amphibia creator and executive producer Matt Braley is tired of hearing the same thing repeated over and over: [Based on outdated data collection methods and self-fulfilling prophecies. Stop thinking in terms of gender demographics. Like the toy industry, it only reinforces stereotypes and pushes kids unnecessarily into the lane.

Leah Carosella, animation editorial assistant on Invincible, posted pictures of Encanto, The Legend of Korra, Infinity Train, and Ms. Marvel to argue that Friedman's comments were off the mark:

I think Cartoon Network misspoke and meant to say that the executives in charge of creative decision-making have "graduated" to making animation for girls. Because, to me, it is clear that the problem is not a lack of interest. It's in the lack of inclusion and lack of trust. It's a shitty thing. Children can sense that they are not wanted or cared for in certain spaces. I wouldn't want to watch your cartoons either, and if they didn't speak to me at all, I would be drawn elsewhere. Also, in case it wasn't clear, this post is sarcastic. The whole point of this post is that they are the ones who aren't interested in creating content for the demographic they claim they aren't interested in.

The Patrick Star Show and Spongebob SquarePants character designer Chris DeRose's opinion on the matter received over 32,000 likes and retweeted 3,500 times. He posted pictures of Steven Universe, She-Ra, Amphibia, and The Owl House to emphasize his point:

"Girls often outgrow anime" Are you sure about that - as if ...... Are you sure-

Viral Youtuber (2.13 million subscribers) illymation was aghast:

"Girls are graduating from anime" Cartoon Network's tweet claiming that "girls are graduating from anime" just boggles the mind this morning. I grew up on "Powerpuff Girls," "My Life as a Teenage Robot," "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" and other CNs. Perhaps the problem is not the girls, but the lack of shows featuring them.

There are countless other tweets expressing similar concerns about Friedman's misguided comments, many of which we have not included here because they use vocabulary not appropriate for an anime news site.