The Bizarre, Kickstarted World of Frederator Studios -- Gilbert Smith, Jack Myers and Claire Burden

The most visible American animation studio in children39s entertainment today Frederator Studios has built its reputation on animated series that are just risquamp233 enough to keep kids happy just wholesome enough to keep parents happy and surprisingly daring innovative and entertaining for both child and adult audiences Regular Show and Cartoon Networkamp8217s Adventure Time stand as two children39s television series that draw both children and childless overtwenties due to their wit and humor The most successful series among the dozens created by Frederator Studios include Wow Wow Wubsy on Nick Jr and The Fairly OddParents on NickelodeonStraddling the line between straight kiddie cartoons and adult sitcom humor has worked well for the studio Consider Bee and Puppycat a currently inproduction series that was funded via Kickstarter after its pilot episode became a viral hit by mixing real life young adult concerns over finances and unemployment with space opera and slapstick Drawing support from several age groups from children to middle aged animation buffs and an army of young adult fans Frederator has raised 872133 for Bee and Puppycat as of 12113 well beyond the 600000 goal The studio has pursued innovative financial models that allow them to take a chance on concepts that other studios might deem unmarketable and to underwrite daring shows like Steven UniverseSteven Universe in particular is fascinating in that the titular character is not a musclebound superhero but the only male member of a band of Sailor Moonesque superwomen Even his superpower a magical gem embedded in his belly button isn39t the kind of thing you would associate with a HeMan or a GI Joe Not only does the show flip traditional cartoon gender roles the heroines are multicultural as well Although the characters39 racial backgrounds are ambiguous given the fantasy setting white is not the default skin color for the cast of the show nor is thin and blonde the default appearance of the female characters Developed by Rebecca Sugar the series features superheroines who are short thick tall and athletic as broad and varied as women are in real lifeStevenamp8217s father is a failed musician who lives in a van and runs a car wash yet he39s not portrayed as a typical deadbeat dad but as a charming funny flawed but ultimately welcome influence in Steven39s life Steven39s mother Rose Quartz gave up her physical form in order to give birth to Steven She was a beautiful crystal gem who Stevenamp8217s amp8220older sistersamp8221 looked up to Rose Quartz saw the goodness in Stevenamp8217s dad Itamp8217s a Classic amp8220you donamp8217t have to be perfect to find loveamp8221 story Steven himself is teased from time to time by the teenage boy at the donut shop next door but treasured by his peers in his role as quotlittle brotherquot to three strong women The show may prove to be a positive influence on a generation of boys and girls growing up in a world where gender roles are no longer assumedIt might be fair to say that the sheer weirdness of 199039s children39s television broke the ice for Frederator The oftensurreal humor of Ren and Stimpy Rugrats All That and perhaps most of all Spongebob Squarepants almost certainly helped to set the stage for Frederator Studios to take the spotlight As pointed out in Hooked Up the definitive book on the first generation of Internet Natives amp8220Nickelodeon had a strong influence on Internet Pioneers during their formative years and many of their ideas perspectives sensibilities and attitudes can be tracked to these early television viewing experiencesamp8221 Frederator could prove to be the Nickelodeon of the emerging postInternet generationThe Bee and Puppycat pilot features in the span of ten minutes the lead character losing her job and meeting the titular Puppycat who resembles both a puppy and a cat as well as Wallace a giant fish who transforms into a monster after a disappointing story about a space outlaw and a gang of Warlocks Had they not been reared on such bizarre playful quotanything goesquot entertainment as Spongebob Squarepants would more than 18000 young adults have poured their hardearned money into a Kickstarter for such an unusual TV seriesIt might also be said that Finn and Jake of Adventure Time owe some of their courage and optimism to Spongebob himself Spongebob Squarepants39 often dark humor was made palatable by a lead character who would face every situation with a sense of humor and a positive attitude How else could a children39s show get away with an episode where the title character and his boss attempt to bury a presumeddead choking victim in an attempt to avoid going to prison than with a character as happygolucky as SpongebobOf course we could also ask if there could be a Spongebob Squarepants without Frederator founder Fred Seibert Seibert was the first creative director of MTV a major force during the formative years of Nickelodeon and the HannaBarbera president who gave us offbeat shows like Courage the Cowardly Dog Seibert has been a progressive subversive voice in television particularly children39s animation dating back more than three decadesFrederator draws from a rather large pool of talented content creators in order to develop its shows so it may seem hard to pin a single theme to the entire slate of series We could also consider Adventure Time creator Pendelton Ward39s insistence that he tries to avoid overt messages but some running threads become obviousFirst traditional social roles gender and otherwise are frequently reversed or subverted Steven Universe is proud to be a member of a team of cool superheroines he doesn39t feel compelled to try and take the lead just because he39s quotthe manquot of the group Finn of Adventure Time is an adoptee to a family of magical shapeshifting dogs Frederator frequently presents us with characters who are comfortable with nontraditional family lives and nontraditional roles within their peer groupsSecond the oftensurreal humor of these shows reflects and encourages a freeassociative imaginative approach to life At the same time the shows frequently have adult themes hidden in imagery visual gags and quality writing This helps keep older viewers engagedFinally and perhaps the most important lesson life is never so dark and challenging that we can39t find some fun to be had in it Frederator39s writers frequently delve into dark humor and scary situations but counterbalance the stories with unflappably positive heroes like Steven Universe39s Crystal Gems and Adventure Time39s Finn and Jake and Princess Bubble GumIn Adventure Time a cast of characters lives in the postapocalyptic Land of Ooo where zombielike creatures coexist with the Candy People who are given life by Princess Bubble Gum a motherly but scientifically focused leader New characters are introduced who reflect on todayamp8217s society and culture For example the Business Men are a group of characters introduced in the episode Business Time amp8220The Business Men appear to only understand work as we know it in contemporary 21st century America and everything else is structured around the efficient implementation of that employment They seem to have some shadow of creativity and internal motivation but only within the construct of a hierarchical business in which Finn and Jake are the bosses Their loss of identity without their job and that they remember nothing of their humanity but their careers could read as social commentary on the nature of modern fulltime work and its zombielike effect on the psyche eg quotworking stiffquotamp8221Source httpadventuretimewikiacomwikiAdventureTimewithFinnandJakeWiki The Adventure Time series is evolving as viewers learn more about the Mushroom Wars that led to the postapocalyptic world in which the series is set and where Finn may be the last human being Is it possible that this postapocalyptic world unlike that of The Walking Dead will prove to be a more positive world than we live in today As Bee and Puppycat along with other Frederator series evolve and gain popularity among expanded generations of Internet Natives we can expect the studio to sustain its core message we can build and live in a more humanistic world where we survive and coexist with the constant attacks of zombielike creatures Within the Frederator studios exist series that we may look back at decades from now as the most influential TV programming of our time Gilbert Smith is a writer who lives in New Mexico where he watches way too much television Claire Burden is a senior at The Beacon School in New York City who has watched every episode of Adventure Time and Steven Universe and who was the inspiration for and a major contributor to this article Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates at MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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The Bizarre, Kickstarted World of Frederator Studios -- Gilbert Smith, Jack Myers and Claire Burden

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