In Cartoons, English is the Only Language You’ll Need

It’s basically the go-to language

Animations come in all forms. Most are for kids, but some are even for adults. The fascination of cartoons is that their flexibility allows for more visual options, so to say, that would be substantially harder in live-action. But despite how amusing it is to see moving colours on a piece of paper (although nowadays it’s mostly done in digital), there’s an ever-recurring misconception that says, “If it’s a cartoon, then it’s for kids (or at least kid-friendly)”.

Anyone familiar with shows such as South Park and Family Guy and, more recently, Invincible (never has a superhero show, animated or otherwise, been so satisfying in every part to the point where every subtle moment tells a story; it’s that great!) would know that this is far from the case. I know all of these examples are not related to one another, but two of these are classics while the other one is more contemporary, so they just came to mind. Interestingly, Barbra Streisand once criticised South Park for its obnoxious humour because she thought it was for kids, just because it was a cartoon.

Of course, now that I grew up, I can distinguish between kid-friendly animation and the adult kind since these seem to be the most crucial categories for figuring out the target audience. Because when I was a kid, I also thought that all cartoons are automatically for kids. I remember being only in the 3rd grade when I discovered South Park. It was radically different from all the animations I saw on Cartoon Network (during its golden era), with how repulsive some of the characters and some other suggestive material I may or may not regret watching. But now is now, and I know for a fact that there are cartoons out there that kids DEFINITELY shouldn’t watch.

But the problem extends beyond cartoons

The problem that I’m referring to is a common trope in fiction, where anyone, regardless of species or period, can speak modern English. And it’s not just in cartoons but also video games and movies, and sometimes even on the radio… I think (not sure).

But this is predominant in cartoons, mainly in the ones that had an emphasis on worldbuilding, since for it to take effect, the characters would have to meet alien characters, be it from a different planet or a different century. But no matter how many cultural boundaries the characters need to overcome, communication is not one of them, since any alien character immediately displays Harvard-level skills in modern English. I get it; many writers have neither the time nor the will to invent a language of their own, and since most of these are comedies, there’s no reason to write another language since it defeats the core purpose of the comedy.

But even so, I can’t help but be bothered by how a group of writers took the time to write down how an alien culture would look like but leave out the language part because it’s too much of a hassle. It just takes away from what could’ve been a genuinely authentic alien world. It’s even more depressing when there’s just so much world to explore, but talking to the natives would be like talking to someone in America. Doesn’t really feel like an alien world anymore.

Putting the “extra” in “extraterrestrial”

Note to self: come up with better subtitles.

In any case, I think that the simplest solution is to explain how or why aliens can speak English perfectly (and with an American accent, no less). Was it something that happened with the dinosaurs? Or maybe English just didn’t start on Earth?

Another solution, which might be even easier, is to have aliens speak Gibberish. This pretty much saves the effort of writing another Klingon. Plus, if you’re in the recording studio, it is fun to see the voice actors make funny faces while they make weird noises… But that’s not for most people.

Maybe English should stay forever

Being a writer myself, I understand that it is sometimes tiresome to write a lot, especially when you have writer’s block. The “everyone speaks English” trope is necessary because it simplifies the job. But if you think that there could be more to it, voice your opinion.

Scientifically speaking, it would be interesting to know what the impact of aliens speaking English would be. But then it would be pseudoscience since any linguist I invite to discuss would have to surmise based on what they see in cartoons, and that only happens because no one cares.

Of course, I’m not going to invite any linguists. But if I would, I would ask them what they could do to simplify the linguistic aspect of worldbuilding in popular fiction. They’d probably tell me that I should ask a writer for a TV show since this isn’t a language issue, it’s the issue of writers not having the time to deal with it, but I already said that.

In Conclusion…

Usually, I talk about games because those are the first things that come to mind… at least in terms of article topics (still, I played too many video games, and it’s evident). At the end of every article, which is this point, I would either recommend it or not, depending on how I experienced it. Right now, this is not the case, as I talked about cartoons in general, so there’s nothing to recommend. However, never assume that all cartoons are for kids. But honestly, after Adult Swim rose to popularity in the early 2000s, I’m sure every parent in today’s world has a clear idea of what cartoons their kids should watch.

I said a few times already, and I’ll say it again: the trope is necessary for simplifying the job. A unique conlang is only necessary if the creator deems it so, an ostensibly rare occurrence. Although if there were just a simple explanation like “English didn’t start on Earth”, it would suffice… that or just speak Gibberish.

Now that I think about it, there is something to recommend that I mentioned. If you haven’t watched it yet, watch Invincible because if you love superhero stuff, this one is among the greatest surprises to come out of 2021, and it’s not even Christmas yet!