Is Watching Cartoons A Hobby? Is It Good, Bad, Or Childish? (Explained)

Cartoons have been around for well over 100 years and within that long period of time, they’ve gained quite the following and popularity.

But can you consider watching cartoons a hobby, and is it considered a childish activity? I’ll be answering these questions and so much more in this article. Let’s get started right away.

Is Watching Cartoons A Hobby?

So yes, watching cartoons is certainly considered a hobby. After all, watching cartoons perfectly lines up with the definition of a hobby.

Essentially, a hobby can be anything you do for the sole purpose of having a good time or relaxing (it’s not just limited to watching cartoons).

You can also have as many hobbies as you like (you can read my article about that here).

Why Do I Like Watching Cartoons?

Why do you like watching cartoons? You like watching them because cartoons are fun! When a lot of people think of cartoons, they often think that cartoons are only meant for younger kids.

However, there can be quite a lot of reasons as to why you like watching cartoons. Let’s take a look at them now, as they might ring a few bells for you.

1) Cartoons Are Nostalgic

Cartoons are an extremely nostalgic medium. Watching your favorite cartoons from when you were a child, as an adult, brings a whole new and completely different experience.

On one hand, you catch a lot more as an adult. Jokes and references that went over your head as a child are now easily caught as an adult with life experience, which ends up bringing a whole new level of humor and entertainment to the cartoon.

Also, watching old cartoons can remind you of an easier time in your life, when you were just a kid watching cartoons.

They can help you reminisce with friends and family about a time that you otherwise would have forgotten. They can also help you feel close to people who may no longer be alive, but you used to watch the show with them a lot.

2) Cartoons Are Fun, Exciting, And Entertaining

Cartoons are fun, and how anyone can try to argue against that point is beyond me. You like watching cartoons because they are fun, exciting, and entertaining.

Watching Spongebob and all his friends have whacky and fun adventures under the sea is exactly why I watched the show as a kid, and it’s why I kept going back to watch it as I got older.

And, obviously, cartoons are exciting too. Especially when you are watching a cartoon that is very plot-driven like Avatar: The Last Airbender or Infinity Train, where a huge draw of those series are the compelling and intense over-arching plots.

When the plot starts to reach its climax or when characters get big moments of character development, it can be very exciting.

Lastly, cartoons are entertaining and anyone who says otherwise is just plain wrong. If they weren’t entertaining, then how else do you explain children and adults alike being glued to the screen while they are on?

Is Watching Cartoons Childish?

So if you’ve been wondering if watching cartoons is a childish activity, the answer to the question is actually going to be both yes and no.

Yes, some cartoons are made with the purpose of children watching them.
Yes, watching those types of cartoons can be a bit childish.

But why is it a bad thing to have a hobby that is the littlest bit childish?

If someone finds enjoyment from watching cartoons, who cares who the target audience of the cartoon is, let them be happy and enjoy the shows that they enjoy.

On the other hand, watching cartoons can also not be childish.

To say that cartoons themselves are for children only is extremely limiting. There is so much in the medium beyond shows that teach toddlers how to do math or stay away from strangers.

There are plenty of cartoons with:

Gorgeous animations.
Heartbreaking storylines.
Characters you love to love and love to hate.
Cartoons that can make you laugh on your worst day.
Cartoons with lessons that even some adults can learn from (and probably should).

So, yes, cartoons can be a bit childish, but that does not mean that they are only for children.

So Is Watching Cartoons Good Or Bad?

Well, the answer to that question all depends on the person who is watching the cartoons, and what cartoons they are watching. Cartoons can be both good and bad in a lot of ways.

Cartoons can be great for a lot of different reasons. First and foremost, cartoons can be funny.

Do you think that The Looney Tunes or The Simpsons would have had such a stranglehold on pop culture if they weren’t funny? They were both very funny, and why should anyone be made to feel bad for watching something that makes them smile and laugh? What is wrong with that?

Also, cartoons can be emotional. As often as cartoons can make us laugh, they can make us cry, and when cartoons make you cry it is not just one tear, it is often buckets of water coming from both eyes.

Even cartoons like The Simpsons, which is primarily a comedy, has some moments guaranteed to bring a tear to the dryest of eyes. Examples of this include:

When Maggie says her first words.
When Homer’s mom has to leave him.
And many more over the decades years of the show’s run.

Cartoons can also be inspirational to some people. The gorgeous animations and art styles of cartoons can be very inspiring to young artists and animators who take inspiration from their favorite shows to perfect their craft.

There is nothing bad about cartoons helping artists get better.

Cartoons can also be informational. While these types of shows are often targeted at kids, cartoons teaching them difficult subjects at an early age in an easy-to-understand manner can help them later in life. Most of what I know about science I learned from The Magic School Bus.

But on the other hand, yes, watching cartoons can also be bad in some cases.

Cartoons can be bad if all you do is watch them all day long, every day. Cartoons are good in moderation but can easily be overdone. When watching cartoons, keep it as a hobby, as opposed to doing that and nothing else.

Cartoons can also be bad when young children watch violent cartoons. In cartoons, acts of violence hardly ever do as much damage as they do in real life, and a small child watching those cartoons may try to recreate the violence they see.

Lastly, there is certainly a fine line between someone younger watching cartoons and watching poorly rated horror movies. I think that we can all agree on that.

Why Adults Should Not Watch Cartoons: Closing Words

There’s plenty of opinions nowadays that deal with why adults should not watch cartoons. In my opinion, I don’t agree with this way of thinking whatsoever.

Adults are grown individuals, and always have the freedom and choice to watch whatever it is that they like. It doesn’t matter what their hobby is either, it could be:

So just because other people don’t approve of watching cartoons as an adult, doesn’t mean that you need to listen to them. After all, no one asked for their approval anyway.