om and Jerry series (1940-1958), Watership Down are notorious and Beauty and the Beast (1991) , The Simpsons (1989-present)
It is however clear that there are distinct boundaries as to what can make such depictions comfortable or controversial, notably: comedy, gender, realism, and the form of violence.
Arguably then, formal aspects, such as rotating movement, loss of perspective, and multiplication of the same forms, hold power to provoke an experience of violence.
It is clear then that abstract animation has the power to impress upon the senses in ways that provoke discomfort.
Vicky Smith’s work in experimental animation explores notions of shared vulnerability.
Most are not aiming for humour or at least humour exclusively. These stories use images of violence to elicit fear, revulsion, anger, or satisfaction from their audience, even overlapping at times.
(i.e., 2D violence is funny and 3D violence is not) In these examples, the filmmakers can reasonably expect the audience to receive the violence as funny, even if it is bloody. It is the tone that drives choices in dialogue, music, and design. The appearance of the characters, the over-the-top premise, and the dialogue cue the viewer to not take this violence seriously. They suggest that it is okay to laugh at this, even though by all objective accounts, this is painful. These are just cartoons.
