If Who Framed Roger Rabbit begat the seemingly endless money-making ability of older-skewing mass audience animated features, and if Aladdin begat an opening for The Simpsons in primetime, which begat a new level of sophistication in animated creative throughout the programming universe, where was the original seed sown? A survey of veterans and newcomers points clearly to Bugs and Tweety.

You would have to give a nod to the technological renaissance which has come into play since the ‘Saturday morning ghetto’ of the ’70s when Hanna-Barbera ruled the roost, but a burgeoning u.s. syndication market and the explosion of satellite and cable has created lots of new holes for animated product and, by corollary, lots of competition.

In searching for a formula which d’es it all ­ works and sells and lasts ­ producers and distributors have gone back into the family tree.

‘There are trends, no doubt,’ says Cassandra Schafhausen, vp of animation at Montreal’s Cinar, ‘but people are trying to regain some of the sophistication of early animation.

‘If you look at abc’s ratings, Bugs Bunny often rates over anything else on their slate, and Animaniacs and stuff from Disney like Darkwing Duck are being written with the same multilevel humor that the original cartoons had. It has to do with longevity.’

While there may be a revisitation in terms of content, the world where that content exists has changed dramatically since Daffy, Sylvester and Elmer took the stage. Small-screen opportunities have expanded globally, far beyond the big three u.s. nets. Home video is booming domestically and internationally, and animation promises to play an increasing role as new markets, such as cd-roms, are established.

But the question as to what extent animation will ever be considered standard fare for audiences beyond adolescence is yet to be seen. The primetime success of The Simpsons can’t be denied, but it hasn’t necessarily guaranteed an easy road for its younger cousins.

USA Network’s Duckman is an example of smart, visually interesting animation intended for an adult-oriented audience, but it hasn’t generated the same numbers or ancillary profits as Homer and family.

‘We’re kind of a cult hit,’ says executive producer/writer Jeff Reno, ‘and critically we’re very well received, but our ratings are pretty medium.’

‘Granted we’re on usa ­ which isn’t a great venue for us ­ and we’re on Saturday nights, but in terms of sheer numbers. we’re not this huge, breakout thing.’

In fact, there’s been serious talk of a feature and an expansion of the Duckman character into greeting cards, games and cd-rom, but ‘the people at the top’ aren’t certain there’s enough of an audience. ‘It’s not exactly kids’ animation, and it would be unusual to try and market it,’ says Reno.

Dale Schott, who currently story edits Stickin’ Around and Rupert the Bear for Toronto-based Nelvana, sees more adult-oriented projects being pitched of late, but he agrees the chances of repeating The Simpsons are minimal. However, he d’es believe the success of that series and projects like mtv’s Ren and Stimpy have allowed producers to push the humor envelope a little further.

‘I wish I could say that’s happened right across the board, right down to the bulk of Saturday morning, but I don’t think it has. What you’ll find now is a really broad range. You have some pretty insipid properties to properties that are well over the head of the audience, with lots of inside jokes meant more for the people writing it than for the kids watching.’

David Silverman, producer and supervising editor of The Simpsons, d’esn’t think his project is at all over the smaller heads of younger viewers. In fact, he attributes some of its success to dual demographics.

‘We have a very good show, but our success was well-timed,’ Silverman says. ‘The baby-boomers who grew up with cartoons have kids of their own, and here’s a show everybody could enjoy. Kids respond to The Simpsons and they’re not being put off by some of the more high-brow or informed humor.’

Putting aside the argument of whether kids like The Simpsons on their own level or if they simply pick up on the fact that it’s hip, the cold reality is that the tangible cash is to be found in products made specifically for the kiddy set.

‘I think, if the truth were told, animation is still perceived by most broadcaster folk as a kids’ medium,’ says Cinar’s Schafhausen. ‘Things will, from time to time, break through almost despite themselves into something adults, young adults and little kids like, but it’s not going to be something broadcasters are looking for with a niche in mind.’

Besides reaching an affordable level of quality and sophistication to make a project stand out in a crowded field, there are other fine lines to walk, particularly when your market is global.

‘Because we’re an international distributor, it adds complications,’ says Schafhausen. ‘We’re not just writing for the u.s. market, we’re also writing for the Germans, the British, the French, and they all don’t like the same things. We have to be creative within a multinational kind of framework.’

As an example, Schafhausen points to Cinar’s The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Although the series is based on an existing and successful body of work, the animated adaptation had to meet a range of needs.

‘Showtime, which was the first broadcaster to air it in the u.s., wanted to make sure it wasn’t too young. The bbc wanted to make sure it wasn’t too old. Somehow or other we had to manage to convince both groups they were getting what they wanted.’

Mark Mayerson, director of Monster By Mistake, a half-hour special being coproduced by Toronto’s Catapult Entertainment and Cambium Film and Video Productions for ytv, sees the differences in international styles, particularly visual style, as healthy for animation as a craft.

‘If you’re going to have a 500-channel universe,’ says Mayerson, ‘you can’t have stuff which looks the same on all 500 channels. More acceptance for distinctly different looking products can also help broadcasters build a brand. Certainly Nickelodeon has done that.’

As a professional animator in the Canadian marketplace for 20 years, Mayerson says the primary push in this country is to produce tv series, a domain of high production pressure.

‘Everyone said ‘do a series, do a series,’ but frankly I didn’t want that kind of pressure, moneywise and timewise. Finally, we compromised by making a project that can stand by itself as a special and as a pilot for an ongoing series.’

Monster By Mistake, which will air for Halloween on ytv, is 100% computer animation at a cost of $300,000 to $350,000 for one half-hour.

In an ideal world, Mayerson would love to see a strengthening of the North American direct-to-video market as an outlet for original material produced with relatively more comfortable budgets and schedules.

‘There’s sort of a no-man’s-land between the schedules and budgets for features and series. In Canada it’s rare to get a feature budget and schedule, but it’s pretty common to get the means for a series.

‘I think animation is most comfortable in the middle. I’m hoping that if the direct-to-video market expands for original material that you’ll be able to do something that has, say, a $3 million to $5 million budget for 75 minutes, which is a lot more comfortable than a tv situation and still way below what a Disney feature costs.’

Even in the high-stakes North American animated feature market, which Disney seems to have so effectively sewn up, there are challengers. Silverman is leaving The Simpsons this season to codirect an animated feature for DreamWorks, an original adventure buddy picture written by some of the same pens behind Disney’s Aladdin.

‘We’re making a conscious effort to differentiate ourselves from Disney, obviously,’ says Silverman. ‘What we’re doing will probably end up with a pg rating.’

Building around an original property adds a risky element to the mix, considering that Disney has consistently built recent properties around an existing name or idea.

‘We don’t have to deal with a history or a stigma like Disney d’es,’ says Silverman, ‘so that allows us a little more creative freedom. But we don’t have a recognizable name or Disney’s huge machinery, so it will pose some interesting challenges.’

And the rest of the animation world will be watching with much interest. As Cinar’s Schafhausen puts it: ‘With the limited distribution and audience share for anything in North America but a Disney feature, the risk is huge and the cost is as huge.’

If the feature ­ tentatively titled Eldorado, Lost City of Gold ­ succeeds as DreamWorks hopes, no doubt it will trickle down. Like Reno says, ‘There’s a whole new mood and tenor in the industry right now. Anything that makes money today will be wholeheartedly embraced tomorrow.’