Darkest animated kid's movies/TV shows

[Teal]

So, I rewatched Kung Fu Panda 2 and was reminded that a Dreamwork movie about an anthropomorphic silly Panda featured an attempted genocide, a mentally ill villain and on-screen murder (which made it the best film out of the trilogy, for me). I mean, the movie still retained it's identity and balanced it's occasional bursts of edginess (most likely a result of Del Toro's involvement), with humor and positive emotions, but it was still way darker than most feel-good, mainstream, animated films. So, I was wondering, which other children-oriented animated film was..not as children-oriented as it may have initially appeared? And a follow-up question; do you think it's OK for children to be subjected to a higher level of grit in mainstream animations?

By the way, I'm gonna stress this out once - movies like Watership Down or shows (especially anime) which aim to deconstruct a particular children-oriented genre (like Madoka) should not be counted since they're not meant to be for kids in the first place.

 

[V's patron]

Does digimon tamers count?

 

[Teal]

Does digimon tamers count?

Yes. I never saw it, but I did a quick Google search and based on the description, it counts.

 

[Skagewid]

Courage, the cowardly dog wins hands down.

 

[Lain]

Does digimon tamers count?

Wouldn't that count under "Deconstruction" though?

 

[V's patron]

@Blackquill
yeah but I still felt the show was aimed at kids. Thing is I imagine most kids shows that aim for darker material do tend to be deconstructionist in nature.

@Teal
Yeah sure, I think kids show could use a little more grit and some have been trying to have more.

 

[berto]

I remember Batman Beyond had some pretty dark stuff from time to time.

Dark themes in children's media is nothing new. Harry Potter dealt with a lot of death and even torture. A visual media gets less slack on these matters, mostly because I think parents who complain and campaign don't read that much. Most of the children/young adult books I've read have some pretty dark themes and strong imagery.

Children who read are more imaginative, astute, and willing to experiment, as far as I've been informed, and they are exposed to material that is, in the US, questionable and yet they're ok. People underestimate the forfeiture or children and when they do they make them soft. There is a limit but I think children need to be exposed to things and not be pampered. I was raised in a house full of women and their constant overbearing pampering and overprotection was tedious, even at my young age it felt like over babying.