LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - From cartoon Avatars in the online world "Second Life" to the characters in video games, U.S. adults are embracing animation, say filmmakers, who see the form growing up and away from Hollywood's family-friendly cartoon staples.

Anime, the popular Japanese animation film format that is often used to tell complex dark stories, has also been inspiring filmmakers who think it could catch on with older audiences.

"We used to hear that animation for adults wouldn't work, but now all our competitors are doing the same," said Mike Lazzo, senior vice president of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, the evening lineup of animated shows aimed at 18-to-34-year-olds, like "Robot Chicken" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."

The latter has spawned the film, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters." Made for $1 million, it has already grossed nearly $6 million at theaters since its April opening and is being hailed as a cult hit.

"We think the same thing will happen with movies," Lazzo said. "Hollywood loves success and can't wait to pile on success. When Pixar started with 'Toy Story,' everyone began to put an animated feature in production, if not three." Cartoon Network is part of Time Warner Inc. TWX.N.

Cable network Sci Fi Channel has launched late-night anime blocks, and some filmmakers are basing live action films on anime and manga, the Japanese-style graphic novels upon which anime is based.

Hollywood has already blended animation with live action in films for older audiences like the gore-filled "300" and the upcoming "Beowulf." The niche film "A Scanner Darkly" employed animation, basing drawings on live-action characters.

In Asia and other regions, adults view all genres, from action to romance to porn, in animated form. Various experts see this as a big opportunity in Western markets.

"The spectrum of animated films is going to widen enormously," said director George Miller, who scored an Oscar with his animated film "Happy Feet," and is now writing and producing an anime film.

UNLIKELY TO STRAY

"The influence of Asian cinema is creeping across (the field) in a way that Hollywood mainstream has subsumed a lot of film cultures over time," he said.

Making an animated film can cost anywhere from $1 million to $100 million, but experts like animation historian Jerry Beck believe big Hollywood studios are unlikely to stray far from their family-themed fuzzy animal-filled successes.

"Hollywood likes to play it safe," said Beck. "It figured out a formula years ago with 'The Lion King' and 'Little Mermaid' and has only varied slightly from that. Our society has for 50 years relegated comic books and animation to be kid stuff."

Even an Oscar win for the Japanese anime film "Spirited Away" did not elicit a huge response from Hollywood, indicating that early attempts to make cartoons for mature audiences are more likely to be done on a smaller scale and by independent filmmakers.

"If we keep our costs down as we have, we can make riskier choices, whereas the big studios (cannot because they) are used to spending $100 million to make an animated film and another $100 million to market it," said Lazzo.

Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar declined to comment on the subject of animation for adults.

Ann Daly, chief operating officer for DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., said, "When we were a private company, we got involved with anime by distributing 'Millennium Actress,' which did a small amount of business. As a public company, that's not our charter."

SMALLER SCALE

The company was spun off from DreamWorks SKG in late 2004 prior to Viacom Inc.'s purchase of the DreamWorks SKG live action studio in late 2005.

Daly said while the animation audience has indeed expanded, this fan base has not yet revealed itself to be a mainstream, commercial audience. She said films aimed at older audiences may work on a smaller scale.

"These kind of films could be financially successful if based on a more modest budget," Daly said.

Executives at Japan-based Sony Corp. have firsthand experience with both anime and video games, which they believe are changing the viewing habits of adults.

"People in the film industry are trying to find the perfect fusion of adult anime and the game world. I'm sure someone's going to crack that code and when they do, it will be a big business," said Andy Kaplan, president of International Networks for Sony Pictures Television International, home to Animax, a 24-hour anime channel in Japan, Latin America and Europe.

"People are recognizing that animation as a medium is not just a family product," said Yair Landau, president of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment. "I think there will be mass market stories geared towards adults using this medium that will succeed in the next few years."