Disney Channel has never really had a "Cynical Cartoon"

[TheMisterManGuy]

Disney has made some dark shows before such as Gargoyles and Gravity Falls. But the Disney Channel has yet to have made a show that was, more "Pessimistic" in tone. A show about cynical/morally bankrupt assholes being horrible people to each other in an exaggerated setting showing just how stupid and depressing the world can be. No warm n' fuzzy life lessons, cutesy, simplistic stories or happy endings the network is normally associated with. Just raw social commentary on how much the world can suck. Something in the style of Daria or Invader Zim basically.

Disney Channel had always been known for appealing to the tween/teen group with shows like Lizzie McGuire and Kim Possible in the past. Well, tweens love this kind of satirical, nihilistic stuff. I know why Disney Channel hasn't really done it, It doesn't really fit the Disney "brand". But considering the audience the network appealed to at the time, and considering its two main competitors have done similar shows, it seemed like Disney's version of this type of show would've been a no-brainer.

 

[Red Arrow]

This goes against everything associated with Disney.

 

[harry580]

This goes against everything associated with Disney.

why not produce it under touchstone television at the time when disney was trying stuff that targeted to teens and adults

 

[Silverstar]

This goes against everything associated with Disney.

Not only that, but shows like that have been done to death. Every new comedy nowadays is about horrible people being a-holes to one another or "life sucks but you continue living anyway". I'm sick to death of shows like that, and it's not like Joe Average TV Viewer can't find shows like that on every other channel or streaming service. I'm glad Disney never chose to jump on that tired bandwagon.

 

[Sam the Cartoonist]

Big City Greens sometimes touches that territory in some of the Gloria-centric episodes, but the genuinely caring dynamic between the Greens and her save the show from fully becoming a cynic's cartoon.

 

[SweetShop209]

I'd say The Buzz On Maggie is probably the closest to a cynical Disney cartoon, mainly in how the flaws of the characters tend to be much more pronounced.

 

[Sam the Cartoonist]

In another thread here, someone mentioned Pickle and Peanut because of its heavy use of dark comedy including jokes where the characters die at the end of an episode.

 

[SweetShop209]

I'm not sure that would make Pickle And Peanut a cynical cartoon. I haven't seen the show in awhile, but it's more just a show that really likes getting weird and surreal. Black comedy is part of it, but that's just more dark humor rather than cynical humor.

 

[Antiyonder]

Not only that, but shows like that have been done to death. Every new comedy nowadays is about horrible people being a-holes to one another or "life sucks but you continue living anyway". I'm sick to death of shows like that, and it's not like Joe Average TV Viewer can't find shows like that on every other channel or streaming service. I'm glad Disney never chose to jump on that tired bandwagon.

Not to mention that dark/cynical material doesn't guarantee a good story and sometimes in the hands of a writer not skill can backfire.

Like with DCEU Superman who they tried to make as a darker figure. In Man of Steel and BvS we don't see a guy who is all to happy to help others or gets satisfaction in being a boy scout, yet we get that bit from Bruce Wayne critiquing the Daily Planet for publishing fluff pieces everytime Supes saves a cat from a tree.

Or just how MoS shows a Metropolis clearly wrecked by Zod and company, but tried for an unironic happy ending after that visual.