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When you are looking for family-friendly stories in film and TV, it is typically foolproof for you to choose something in animation. Audiences all over the world have core memories tied to old animated movies and even Saturday morning cartoon shows. Animated entertainment is a very respected and loved medium. With the impact that companies like Disney and DreamWorks have had on the industry, animated films and shows have become part of mainstream media and are beloved by every generation. However, who says that cartoons are only for kids? Especially on TV, adult animated shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy have achieved massive success for strictly older audiences.

In terms of animated films, getting an R-rating is virtually unheard of. However, one of the most recent films that broke that boundary was the 2016 animated comedy Sausage Party. Of course, you may be wondering what film did it first. Well,...

Fritz the Cat – The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1972, 74/ 1.85:1/ 80, 76 Minutes

Starring Skip Hinnant

Directed by Ralph Bakshi, Robert Taylor

The typical toddler tends to relate more to the cuddly animals in a Disney cartoon than their own flesh and blood playmates. Robert Crumb and his brother Charles were anything but typical toddlers yet the boys were preoccupied with what was known as “funny animal comics”—everything from Bugs Bunny to Pogo. Their fascination took on an obsessive twist; for Robert the material was inspiration for his remarkable future as an artist, for Charles it was a trip down a long, dark rabbit hole. Those who weathered Terry Zwigoff’s harrowing Crumb learned a lot about the bleak side of childhood fantasy but they also learned about Robert’s compulsive work ethic and his focus on a house cat named Fred—a “typical big old...

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Deadpool's opening weekend proves that people will turn out R-rated comic book movies. But they have been doing since the 1970s...

Deadpool – an X-Men spin-off for Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Merc With The Mouth’ - is in cinemas now, and in spite of its R-rated tag, it's shattered the box office ceiling for February releases with a stunning $260m global opening weekend. Maybe this is the point where Hollywood realises that if it makes the right R-rated movie - Deadpool, rather than Jonah Hex - people will turn up.

That R stands for Restricted, meaning that under-17s in America will havehad to be accompanied by an adult if they wanted to see Deadpool in cinemas this weekend. It’s a 15-certificate film to me and other denizens of the British Isles, meaning that no under-15s this side of the pond will be permitted to see it in cinemas.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is working with PBS stations and community organizations nationwide to create a cross-platform reading program (on-air and on the net). The initiative targets low-income children and is part of the Ready to Learn project which is funded by the Department of Education. One of the new series in this effort is actually an old favorite -- The Electric Company.

The original Electric Company ran on PBS for 780 episodes from 1971 to 1977. It featured such diverse talent as Bill Cosby, Lee Chamberlin, Judy Graubart, Skip Hinnant, Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Spider-Man. The series mixed animation with skits and songs to help primary school kids develop their reading skills. The series was produced by Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) and was envisioned as a natural progression from Ctw's landmark series Sesame Street.

The new version of The Electric Company is still under development but PBS describes...