Since the early Eighties there has been a growing credibility for the medium of cartoon and animation. Led perhaps by the graphic novel and the maturing of such American publications as The Batman in DC comics, the cartoon image has grown to be taken very seriously. On the screen this has certainly been true in recent years. Several examples have led the way: Manga movies from Japan, short animated films which have dealt either with adult themes or ecological/environmental problems, The Rug Rats, and of course The Simpsons.

In Britain the developing success of Cosgrove Hall as a producing house has single handedly ushered in a new era of animation. Having collected two oscars for the ongoing adventures of Wallace and Gromit, Nick Park is at the forefront of a British animation boom. Wallace and Gromit is perhaps so successful because of its appeal to all audiences, children and adults alike. This example and others leads the way for an adult acceptance of the animated form where it might previously have been dismissed as a childish medium, devoted solely to children and unable to have meaning to a more adult generation. Though they may have wanted to embrace the animated forms of their childhood it has never been culturally accepted. In the Nineties that very generation has made animation acceptable and respectable.

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