Netflix’s Next Big Challenge: Family Entertainment

Without a doubt, Netflix has made a name for themselves in the world of TV and, to a lesser extent (for now), film. But, if you’ve had your eyes on the home screen of your personal Netflix app, you may have noticed some interesting changes: an increase in family friendly content. More specifically, animation. Just in the past couple of months, we’ve seen original animated films like Next Gen and Gnome Alone, which cater to a family audience.

In the past, Netflix has been well known as a creator of adult-oriented content like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black (definitely NOT family friendly, either of them), but in a world where they plan to literally conquer every type of viewer ever, this PG-rated approach was inevitable at some point. This approach requires that Netflix give animation directors more freedom than they have before, and they’re more than willing to do that, as Melissa Cobb, head of the kids and family division, told Variety.

“We’re trying to take the Netflix philosophy of empowering creators and bring that into the animation space. We’re not focused on creating a singular brand identity. We want to produce a broad range of content that appeals to kids and families all over the world.”

This approach seems to be working, as they have locked down films from the likes of Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls), Nora Twomey (The Secret of Kells), Kris Pearn (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2), and Jorge R. Gutiérrez (The Book of Life). But, of course, this isn’t an easy road, as animation is something that has been dominated by the likes of Disney and Pixar for decades, as media analyst Michael Pachter told the outlet.

“Nobody has a better brand when it comes to kid content than Disney and Pixar. But Netflix has to do something. All the Disney content is going away as soon as it comes up for renewal, and they still need to offer something to subscribers with kids.”

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That is a key component there. For years, Netflix has been working hard to ensure they will have plenty of original content for when other networks and studios decide to open up their own streaming services, and this also applies to the world of animation. After all, Disney will soon be cleaning out their Netflix cubbies in favor of their own service, Disney Play, which is launching late next year.

“There’s a ton of different streaming services being created all over the world,” Cobb told the outlet, downplaying the competition between them and the House of Mouse. “Disney’s an incredibly powerful and beloved family brand. … The specific impact of what they’re doing isn’t really driving our content decisions. I feel like they’ll have a fantastic streaming service, and I imagine that families that are able to do it will want to have Netflix and potentially another service as well.”

They have their work cut out for them. So far, I’ve seen some of their original animation content, and while it’s not awful, it’s certainly not as engaging as a lot of the great stuff on the big screen. With them offering so much freedom to their creators, is this a reality we’ll have to learn to live with? Well, we should probably just give it a few years before we jump to conclusions. After all, this stuff doesn’t happen overnight, now does it?

What do you think of Netflix’s aggressive approach into the world of animation and family friendly content? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Variety

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