Most of us would agree that we spent a good portion of our childhood in front of a TV watching cartoons. Cartoons like Mickey Mouse Club House and Spongebob Squarepants. Cartoons like these were extremely popular amongst children, but are cartoons popular amongst teens? I would argue yes. There are three main reasons why I believe this to be the case: teenagers may watch some cartoons for nostalgia, for the more mature topics that are hidden within cartoons, and there are cartoons made specifically for teen audiences. 

Many people do things for the sake of “going back to the good old days,” whether it be going back to a childhood home, or to a nearby park that one used to play in as a child. The same goes for cartoons. Many people I know will rewatch an episode or two of shows they watched when they were younger, simply to reminisce of their childhood spent in front of the TV. The days before teenagers had to start worrying about their grades, college, and their future.

However, not all teenagers watch cartoons for simply nostalgia. Many cartoons, especially children’s cartoons, will have more mature jokes and topics hidden in them. The reason for this is because many parents and older siblings will watch cartoons with younger children and in order to make the cartoon a bit more interesting for the older audience the writers often hide more mature jokes and topics within the cartoon. These jokes and topics wouldn’t be noticed by the younger children who will take most of the cartoon for only its face value. It takes someone with more knowledge, experience, and comprehension to understand those mature jokes/topics.

Not only are these mature jokes/topics hidden in children’s cartoons for the enjoyment of older audiences, many cartoons are also tailored specifically for more mature audiences. There is a large variety of these types of cartoons, and they seem to be coming out at a faster rate each year. There is no way companies would invest money in cartoons for teens and up if they felt that it wouldn’t be popular amongst this age range.

To put it simply, cartoons have been popular amongst teens, and continue to be popular.