Paul Dini on CN's demographic policy.

[Daikun]

This is all quoting from Toon Zone:

IGN article

Fatman Podcast

DINI: "They're all for boys 'we do not want the girls', I mean, I've heard executives say this, you know, not [where I am] but at other places, saying like, 'We do not want girls watching this show."
SMITH: "WHY? That's 51% of the population."
DINI: "They. Do. Not. Buy. Toys. The girls buy different toys. The girls may watch the show--"
SMITH: "So you can sell them T-shirts if they don't--A: I disagree, I think girls buy toys as well, I mean not as many as f***ing boys do, but, B: sell them something else, man! Don't be lazy and be like, 'well I can't sell a girl a toy.' Sell 'em a T-shirt, man, sell them f***ing umbrella with the f***ing character on it, something like that. But if it's not a toy, there's something else you could sell 'em! Like, just because you can't figure out your job, don't kill chances of, like, something that's gonna reach an audi--that's just so self-defeating, when people go, like? these are the same f***ers who go, like, 'Oh, girls don't read comics, girls aren't into comics.' It's all self-fulfilling prophecies. They just make it that way, by going like, 'I can't sell 'em a toy, what's the point?'
DINI: "That's the thing, you know I hate being Mr. Sour Grapes here, but I'll just lay it on the line: that's the thing that got us cancelled on Tower Prep, honest-to-God was, like, 'we need boys, but we need girls right there, right one step behind the boys'--this is the network talking--'one step behind the boys, not as smart as the boys, not as interesting as the boys, but right there.' And then we began writing stories that got into the two girls' back stories, and they were really interesting. And suddenly we had families and girls watching, and girls really became a big part of our audience, in sort of like they picked up that Harry Potter type of serialized way, which is what The Batman and [indistinct]'s really gonna kill. But, the Cartoon Network was saying, 'F***, no, we want the boys' action, it's boys' action, this goofy boy humor we've gotta get that in there. And we can't--'and I'd say, but look at the numbers, we've got parents watching, with the families, and then when you break it down--'Yeah, but the--so many--we've got too many girls. We need more boys.'"
SMITH: "That's heart-breaking."
DINI: "And then that's why they cancelled us, and they put on a show called Level Up, which is, you know, goofy nerds fighting CG monsters. It's like, 'We don't want the girls because the girls won't buy toys.' We had a whole-- we had a whole, a merchandise line for Tower Prep that they s***canned before it ever got off the launching pad, because it's like, 'Boys, boys, boys. Boys buy the little spinny tops, they but the action figures, girls buy princesses, we're not selling princesses.'"

...Jesus.

[gunswordfist]

And CN's toygate continues...

[Silverstar]

I usually try to understand how the animation industry works from the business perspective, but this current mindset that CN and others are on right now is so stupid it's disheartening, especially for someone like me, who works predominantly with female leads in my show ideas. Why is it such a bad thing to try appeal to as many viewers as possible, as opposed to just one half of them? And how do these guys know that "girls only buy princesses" when they don't try to sell them anything else? Is it really that girls only buy princesses and pink stuff, or is it that they simply don't have any other choice than to buy pink and princess stuff 'cause that's the only way they get to be represented? It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And it's not just action cartoons that could use some gender diversity; comedy cartoons too are largely male dominated. There aren't a whole lot of female characters in comedy cartoons who aren't just sidekicks, annoyances, crushes, boring voices of reason or tokens. Would it really be a bad thing to see a Phineas & Ferb or Amazing World of Gumball type comedy cartoon with female leads? I personally think that would be neat to see.

[gunswordfist]

I talked about how I'd like to see more female leads as well. I remember the creators of Avatar were talking about how someone at Nick didn't think girls should be strong characters or stars (I forget which) in cartoons during commentary in an episode of ATLA. So its not much better over there either, apparently.

[Avaitor]

This post has been making the rounds on tumblr, but it's relevant here.

Hasbro:Let's make a new MLP cartoon for all the little girls to enjoy!
College Age Guys:Hey, this show is pretty cool!
Hasbro:Wow, you guys weren't our intended demographic, but that's cool! We'll just throw in some references that will make you feel more included and here, have some cool merchandise we know you'll like!
College Age Guys:Wow, thanks!
~meanwhile~
Warner Brothers:Let's make some new DC cartoons for all the little boys to enjoy!
College Age Ladies:Hey, these shows are pretty cool!
Warner Brothers:WELP. Looks like no one likes these shows, guess we'll just have to cancel them.
College Age Ladies:WAIT! We like them! And we'd love merchandise to show our support!
Warner Brothers:....you're not little boys, why should we listen to you?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That post just made my day.

[hobbyfan]

If you didn't think this was reason enough to dump Snyder, Sorcher, and the rest of the knuckleheaded nabobs in charge of CN, well.............!

Roughly translated, this is a layman's reaction to Dini's comments:

 

[Daikun]

There's a petition now.

I don't think it'll do anything, but there you go.

[Silverstar]

That petition isn't going to accomplish squat, because TV networks are ad-driven and profit focused, as they need to be as a business. This "princesses are for girls, superheroes are for boys" mentality has been going on for decades, so Dini hasn't really brought anything to light that we didn't already know about.

If a change is going to implemented, it's not going to come from the networks or from the toy companies; it has to come from the households of America. What needs to happen is for people to become more open about how there are boys who like pink, rainbows, unicorns and the power of friendship and girls who like racecars and lasers and robots and action figures who beat the snot out of one another. They exist, but the "girls only like soft toys, boys only like hard toys" dictum has been ingrained into our society (ironically, by the toy companies and media machine), so it would/will have to take a collective consciousness to change that, and it's not going to happen overnight, I'm not delusional.

[hobbyfan]

That petition isn't going to accomplish squat, because TV networks are ad-driven and profit focused, as they need to be as a business. This "princesses are for girls, superheroes are for boys" mentality has been going on for decades, so Dini hasn't really brought anything to light that we didn't already know about.

If a change is going to implemented, it's not going to come from the networks or from the toy companies; it has to come from the households of America. What needs to happen is for people to become more open about how there are boys who like pink, rainbows, unicorns and the power of friendship and girls who like racecars and lasers and robots and action figures who beat the snot out of one another. They exist, but the "girls only like soft toys, boys only like hard toys" dictum has been ingrained into our society (ironically, by the toy companies and media machine), so it would/will have to take a collective consciousness to change that, and it's not going to happen overnight, I'm not delusional.

This much we know:

If I'm not mistaken, women make up a great amount of the fanbase for baseball, football, auto racing, & basketball, as well as, of course, tennis & soccer. So there are "girls who like race cars".

The popularity of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic among the male audience speaks for itself.

What could the network suits be so afraid of?

[Daikun]

Adventure Time toys are being sold in McDonald's Happy Meals.

And they're only guy characters.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

Reminds me of this.

[Dr. Insomniac]

So Katara bleached her skin, shaved her hair, got an Air Nomad Tattoo, and summoned ghosts of Aang and Roku while cloning Zuko. I don't see the issue here.

[gunswordfist]

Reminds me of this.

That lines up with what the Avatar creates said about Nick.

[Daikun]

They finally fixed it.

"They [Cartoon Network] have tried to change their programming strategy to be a little more gender-agnostic, while not losing the tonality of who they are," said Darcy Bowe, a vice president at Starcom USA, a firm that tells advertisers like Kellogg's and Kraft where to spend advertising dollars. Ms. Bowe added of Cartoon Network, "We're pleased with the growth we have seen."

...

For his part, Mr. Sorcher pointed to a new short-form animation training program and an effort to embrace show creators who are younger and female. Women are behind eight of the 11 shorts in production at the moment, he said.