tlrledbetter:

There’s two big things in animation bothering me right now: 1) How bad the art style of the Powerpuff Girls reboot looks and 2) Nickelodeon’s parent company Viacom constantly losing money. There have been several people I’ve seen that think Cartoon Network should buyout all Nick franchises if Viacom goes under, but considering the aforementioned PPG reboot… well, this picture of mine explains just one of many reasons why that’d be a terrible thing. I don’t understand how drawing cartoons like this makes things easier for animators. This was PAINFUL to draw for many reasons.

I don’t agree with John K on some of his opinions on animation, like how he thinks the smooth animations making an effort to look like paintings go everything against animation, when really animation isn’t just Bob Clampett styles. Animation can be diverse, it can be crazy like the Looney Tunes or it can be moving art like The Thief and the Cobbler or Bambi. But when it comes to the knowledge of zany animation, the man knows it. But the lack of diversity in animation style is the problem with television animation (at least Cartoon Network animation). Yes, the writing has improved from gross out humor, but I mean animation as in the technicalities of it.

I do not hate Steven Universe. I thought it’s writing is decent and can lead to great episodes like the Season 1 finale. And even if I dislike the times it goes off model, I probably wouldn’t pay much mind too it unlike now. It’s just that SU, like Adventure Time and other 2010 cartoons are beginning to become a bad influence. Because newer animators as we can see in the new PPG reboot

are depending too much on this style to even work with basic animation rules, like perspective. First off, my only knowledge of animation comes from books and I never attended art school, but I’m pretty familiar with the “line of action”. Some of the animators said that they go off model like in the pics to show how cartoony SU is. But the problem is that line of action is what helps make off model look pleasing to the eye and not just drawing the characters with wrong proportions while trying to look on model,

if you can compare Hater with Steven. Anime sometimes doesn’t have an obvious line of action (like Panty and Stocking though maybe I’m just not good at finding line of action in anime) but they make up for it by still looking like it has structure and going out of its way to look as off model as it can get for comedy. That’s the thing with good zany off model animation. The reason John K made Ren and Stimpy as off model as it can get was because he wanted the animation to feel lively. When SU and some of the other cartoons following its style go off model, it doesn’t feel like the drawings are firm in its gestures, they feel like they’re either trying to copy anime by walking the walk but not talking the talk.

I think that’s why a lot of people are complaining about the “CalArts” style.

It’s not just the illustration style (I’m really getting sick of the pastel color palette), but its the animation style that is a big problem in the industry right now. If a few show was doing it, it wouldn’t be a problem. But now this is becoming a norm. We’re not seeing enough cartoons that have hard lines with confident gestures. They don’t have to be zany but this is zany gestures. Now imagine an animation style that rarely feels hard and confident in its gestures being applied to a cartoon that revolutionized television animation with these powerful gestures





It’s also why we need cartoons like Wander Over Yonder and Gumball to still air. Reminder to #SaveWOY

I’m pretty sure if we can do well with story, we can do well with the art. Art is essential to animation and one can’t brush off disproportions and stuff with the excuse that “it’s just a cartoon”. I’m hoping that future animators will take this rant and try to find their own style, whether tame or zany.

(Source: raccoonfootproductions)