Jessica Rabbit heightened the hormone levels of many moviegoers not used to such curvaceous cartoon characters. Courtesy of Disney. © Touchstone Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, Inc.

Case Study #2: Dirty Duck (1974)
Uncensored, unrated and largely unseen, Charles Swenson's feature about the sexual misadventures of an insurance salesman and his horny duck buddy was a poorly animated, critically reviled film that failed to build on Bakshi's modest success. If anything, the film (which eventually bored even Swenson) represented the difficulties in taking adult animation to the next step. So far, adult themes and sexual situations were being portrayed through the actions of "funny animals," trivializing these themes and removing them from adult reality.

Case Study #3: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
This energetic, cockeyed melange of film noirand classic animation was a significant turning point in the history of adult animation for several reasons. To begin with, most of the animated actors were familiar to the audience and tended to stay in character, recalling well-loved memories and setting the table for the introduction of a more mature plot. The three new characters, Baby Herman, Roger Rabbit and wife Jessica, combined cartoonish features with adult sensibilities, creating a transition for the acceptance of more humanized creations (Baby Herman and Jessica Rabbit were, in fact, recognizably human). The transition was further aided by the inclusion of live actors; it was evident early in the film that the 'toons could credibly hold their own on screen with people, paving the way for acceptance of animated figures in adult situations. Sexuality, in keeping with the conventions of noir,simmered under the surface but was strongly represented in the figure of Jessica Rabbit (and in several scenes, Baby Herman). This film was a subtle turning point for adult animation.

Case Study #4: King of The Hill (1997)
Few people who had been following the adventures of Beavis and Butthead would have guessed that Mike Judge would produce the best animated sitcom ever to hit TV, but that's exactly what happened. King of the Hill,even more than The Simpsons,brought appealing adult comedy to prime time. Where Homer Simpson might survive radiation poisoning or gastric calamities unknown to modern medicine, Hank Hill would never find himself in such situations. He is part of a real family, living among quirky but imaginable neighbors, and his dog has nothing significant to say. The humor derives from slightly exaggerated family situations and interpersonal relationships recognizable to all. The weakest episodes are invariably those with celebrity "guest stars" since they tend to ruin the illusion that we are watching reality through a slightly warped lens. Good scripts, consistent characterizations and a fine vocal cast make King of the Hilla model for adult animated comedy. Filmed in live-action, its charm would dissipate completely.

I Married A Strange Person – another example of America's lack of support for feature length adult animation.

Case Study #5: I Married a Strange Person (1997)
Bill Plympton might be animation's most successful solo act, but it has been a hard road getting anyone outside of the medium to recognize this. This 1996 opus, animated almost completely by Plympton, tells the tale of Grant Boyer, an accountant who is zapped by a satellite dish and gains the power to turn his thoughts into reality. Since no one alive is a perfect saint, some of Grant's thoughts lead to revenge, sex and power. This film is the true inheritor of Fleischer's legacy, with its mix of surreal images, dark adult themes and sexuality. The only problem was...nobody saw it. Whether the failure lay in marketing, distribution or other factors, the reviewers generally raved as Plympton's movie melted into obscurity. Had this been a live-action feature, would the same thing have happened?