Current Events > What are your thoughts on the "CalArts Style" animation phenomenon?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/22/17381380/thundercats-roar-calarts-style-steven-universe

There's been a recent wave of backlash regarding "CalArts style" (referring to the California Institute of the Arts) animation, regarding several modern cartoons like Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, The Amazing World of Gumball, etc. having very similar animation styles, following another similar, recent wave of backlash towards the new Thundercats reboot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time="

https://imgur.com/lHcXufY

Thoughts on this?
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it's fucking awful

So it's a worse version of modern Flash-style animation?
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It needs to die, quickly. It ruined Teen Titans and now Thundercats.
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Also California ruining something else lel
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If you know the fundamentals, you can make anything look good.

A good style can be horrendous if your line quality is ugly and flat. You know, that MS paint/no pen pressure kinda look.

https://imgur.com/LN5qL6n

It's obnoxious but I can't pretend to care that much because I don't really watch any TV/cartoons at all.

It's silly to act like the old, good versions are somehow "ruined" by these new iterations. The old version is still just as good, and you can at least feign enough self-control to ignore the new one.
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No one says new versions ruin the old version
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It's going to look as ridiculous in 50 years as something like the 60's Spiderman cartoon.
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Damn_Underscore posted...

No one says new versions ruin the old version

Except a lot of people, y'know, do.
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That its kind of incredible for these people to graduate from college when they churn out shit on a stick.
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it's fine.
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Eeeew
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http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/008/647/8c0.png
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Pan Pizza?
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Webmaster4531 posted...

Pan Pizza?

whaa
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Nolan?
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variety is the spice of life
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I don't want to comment because a lot of people shat on 80s animation (He-Man, original Thundercats, etc) but people now think those shows were revolutionary and still have a unique charm. Same goes for a lot of 90s cartoons. They were simple and cheap at the time but stood out in some way that still gives them worth decades later. This style will likely be no different.
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I think it is differemt because it is a clear downgrade from 80s and 90s animation. You can tell from that vid it's based on hand-drawn artwork, but the final product looks like it was made on Adobe Flash, it's no longer hand-drawn (inb4 they hand-draw it on the computer).

It's even a clear downgrade from when they first starting using computers for 2D animation in the 2000s.
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cancer. absolute cancer.
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I don't hate it, but I'm not a fan of it either.
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PepsiWithCoke posted...

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/008/647/8c0.png

this never ceases to piss me off.

that said, at least gumball has guest animators every other episode.
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PepsiWithCoke posted...

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/008/647/8c0.png

See you space cowboy...
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Eww, that's awful.
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Damn_Underscore posted...

No one says new versions ruin the old version

This, of course, assumes that 80s Thundercats was actually good.

PepsiWithCoke posted...

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/008/647/8c0.png

Ohhh that's a damn bummer. I'm not for or against the new Thundercats but oof @ that.
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PepsiWithCoke posted...

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/008/647/8c0.png

this is sickening
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Gafemage posted...

https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/22/17381380/thundercats-roar-calarts-style-steven-universe

There's been a recent wave of backlash regarding "CalArts style" (referring to the California Institute of the Arts) animation, regarding several modern cartoons like Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, The Amazing World of Gumball, etc. having very similar animation styles, following another similar, recent wave of backlash towards the new Thundercats reboot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time=" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time="

https://imgur.com/lHcXufY

Thoughts on this?

It just goes to show the dumbing down of society.

Previously "serious" cartoons such as Teen Titans had to be dumbed down for today's kids to enjoy, so Teen Titans became Teen Titans Go!. Cartoons that used to fly in the 80s such as Thundercats need the dumb down treatment too, so now you got cal arts "Thundercats roar!".

A cartoon like Silver Hawks, He-Man or Thundar the Barbarian would necessarily have to be dumbed down and made "funny" and "cutesy" in order for it to be sucessful in this day and age.

How come 80s kids could enjoy this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdtcK1Qs2K4" data-time="

or this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGNqrAtsgg" data-time="

but today's kids in the same age bracket need something "kiddy enough" such as this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time=" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time="

or this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld3FP3zmnSc" data-time="

If you don't believe this is happening, take a look at a cartoon that didn't stop running at all.

This was pokemon (XYZ Spoilers) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wggkpRNdxE" data-time="

This is pokemon now (SUN and Moon spoilers) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8xTUu_w12g" data-time="

Shuto-uke posted...

A cartoon like Silver Hawks, He-Man or Thundar the Barbarian would necessarily have to be dumbed down and made "funny" and "cutesy" in order for it to be sucessful in this day and age.

All we're really doing, is trading bad PTC-limited 1980s writing for bad sponsor-catering 2010s writing, while simplifying the drawing so the korean animation sweatshop studio can squirt it out cheaper.

well

thank god for japan and korea
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http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/374/901/1b3.jpg
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Questionmarktarius posted...

Shuto-uke posted...

A cartoon like Silver Hawks, He-Man or Thundar the Barbarian would necessarily have to be dumbed down and made "funny" and "cutesy" in order for it to be sucessful in this day and age.

All we're really doing, is trading bad PTC-limited 1980s writing for bad sponsor-catering 2010s writing, while simplifying the drawing so the korean animation sweatshop studio can squirt it out cheaper.

What's PTC?

There is an underarching theme here, the 80s cartoons were "serious". They're meant for young kids, but that doesn't mean there can't be a good guy, a bad guy, and something serious at stake (e.g. the galaxy, the planet, etc). It may be a kids' cartoon, but it doesn't mean everything has to be in jest or "funny". Now everything has to be "funny", "cutesy" and self deprecating.

It's awful, I hate it.

They're dumbed down simplistic designs.

Shuto-uke posted...

Now everything has to be "funny", "cutesy" and self deprecating.

Not everything. Star Wars Rebels, Voltron Legendary Defender.
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Not surprised at all that this happening after millennials started making cartoons

Save us next generation
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Shuto-uke posted...

What's PTC?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parents_Television_Council

Hold on, I'm thinking of something else, and earlier.

I don't hate it. It's clearly not trying to be the original cartoon, and that's fine. That's still there if you want to watch it. I also appreciate how neutral the appeal is. If you weren't down for Masters of the Universe + cats, I can't imagine you cared much for the original. Even if the plot setup is essentially the same here, I can see efforts to attract a wider audience, and I think that's fine.
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suddenly people care about thundercats
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If the show can still do something to differentiate itself from the crowd it doesn't bother me. Gravity Falls and Steven Universe have the writing to back them up, sadly most shows dont.
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It can look good or bad. This looks awful but I don't really care about Thundercats so whatever.
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Animation is expensive and it's better to go for a simplistic style so you can be more detailed in other means.
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Shuto-uke posted...

Gafemage posted...

https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/22/17381380/thundercats-roar-calarts-style-steven-universe

There's been a recent wave of backlash regarding "CalArts style" (referring to the California Institute of the Arts) animation, regarding several modern cartoons like Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, The Amazing World of Gumball, etc. having very similar animation styles, following another similar, recent wave of backlash towards the new Thundercats reboot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time=" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time="

https://imgur.com/lHcXufY

Thoughts on this?

It just goes to show the dumbing down of society.

Previously "serious" cartoons such as Teen Titans had to be dumbed down for today's kids to enjoy, so Teen Titans became Teen Titans Go!. Cartoons that used to fly in the 80s such as Thundercats need the dumb down treatment too, so now you got cal arts "Thundercats roar!".

A cartoon like Silver Hawks, He-Man or Thundar the Barbarian would necessarily have to be dumbed down and made "funny" and "cutesy" in order for it to be sucessful in this day and age.

How come 80s kids could enjoy this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdtcK1Qs2K4" data-time="

or this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGNqrAtsgg" data-time="

but today's kids in the same age bracket need something "kiddy enough" such as this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time=" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qi41rHz4ps" data-time="

or this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld3FP3zmnSc" data-time="

If you don't believe this is happening, take a look at a cartoon that didn't stop running at all.

This was pokemon (XYZ Spoilers) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wggkpRNdxE" data-time="

This is pokemon now (SUN and Moon spoilers) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8xTUu_w12g" data-time="

The Pokemon thing isn't nearly as bad.
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To answer the topic question, I think it's the unfortunate side effect of money not really being in animation anymore. Toy sales have declined quite a bit in recent years, and not every animation studio has Disney money, so they go for simplified art styles to save costs and get their product out in a timely manner.
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CyricZ posted...

Shuto-uke posted...

Now everything has to be "funny", "cutesy" and self deprecating.

Not everything. Star Wars Rebels, Voltron Legendary Defender.

Ah yes I agree. But a lot of it, yes.

That Thundercats reboot looks fucking terrible.
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creativerealms posted...

The Pokemon thing isn't nearly as bad.

Yeah, I would agree. It's not like the show changed a lot, they just simplied the animation. I hated it the first time I saw it, but it's not so bad.
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creativerealms posted...

The Pokemon thing isn't nearly as bad.

Agreed.

But pokemon was never thundercats or Silver hawks "mature" (in a cartoon for young kids kind of way) to begin with, I mean, it's the story of a child and his cuddly electric mouse.

Even then Ash went from Fighting to save Kalos, and the entire world from doom, giving a speech on giving up that legit sounding inspiring to a dumb kid spending a vacation in a hawaii parody where every character has "funny" exaggerated facial animations.

Shuto-uke posted...

CyricZ posted...

Shuto-uke posted...

Now everything has to be "funny", "cutesy" and self deprecating.

Not everything. Star Wars Rebels, Voltron Legendary Defender.

Ah yes I agree. But a lot of it, yes.

Well there is always going to be a generic style.
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