There was a time when literature as popularized by comics or animated series was regarded as a low form of art not worthy of serious study or edification as a fine form of literary expression such as poetry, short fiction, novels, scripts, etc.
It could be viewed as a way for the so-called literary or intellectual elites to set themselves apart from the so-so artists. Some argue that these "low" art forms have not reached that critical level of refinement in order to develop classics or stellar samples of the art form on which other works could be measured upon.
To my mind, animation and comics are simply mediums of expression, much like comparing oil to water color painting, or colored to black and white photographs. What matters is how much the artist has mastered the medium and how developed his artwork is.
Since the 60's we see movies and television series based on American cartoon and animation characters. It began with
Batman and Robin, Superman, and
The Incredible Hulk. Then in the 90's it was followed by
Spiderman, Garfield, Dennis the Menace, and now we even have movies based on Japanese animation series like
Dragon Ball-Z, Final Fantasy etc. Lately, I have read that even
Astroboy will be turned into a movie. So what is next
Voltes 5, Naruto? http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/223908/asias-astro-boy-set-take-hollywood.
In the Philippines we had comic series like
Darna, Captain Barbell, Zuma, etc. which were eventually turned into movies. Part of the criticism against Carlo J. Caparas before he became a National Artist was the fact that he had been a cartoonist whose works were eventually featured in movies. A case of people from high art circles not wanting to mix with so-called low art people if you ask me.
What this tells me is simply this, writers evolve and even if their initial method of introducing their narratives came in the form of comics or animation, with enough proof of success in their narrative or story formulas eventually their works will be acknowledged with the matching movie offers and perhaps even regarded as high art.
Not to say that having these works turned into movies is a seal of quality but who knows? Maybe the next Oscar winner for Best Picture will be a movie based on an animated series. It came close with Heath Ledger's post humous award for his participation in a
Batman sequel.