Cartoon characters designs

[Jelly Bean]

Is it me, or does it seem like cartoon character desgins have gotten more and more simple over the years. I mean look at the detail on the faces and bodies from cartoons from the 80's and 90's compaed to the ones from the now.












vs.








Is there a reason for this? I mean you see this kind of blocky design like in Total Drama Island alot more lately and even the better looking animation has simplitic facial and body designs.



I was watching some cartoons from the 80's and 90's and a friend of mine said the more detailed look makes the character look ugly and "dated." Do you agree? How come the detail and quality in character designs have gone down over the years? The last cartoon I saw with detailed character designs was the 4KIDS show before the Fast Foward remodle. I mentioned before that during the turtles cross over movie I found the old school turtles more detailed and realistic looking than even the more serios 4KIDS turtles.

[Candy Kappa]

I blame Bruce Timm

[ThePickleweed]

personally, i appreciate the change. Most of the 80's and 90's designs were lazy copies of each other. duke looked like lion-0 looked like he-man looked like cyclops..........and you'll notice all of them were pretty poorly animated. but i think there has been a serious shift since the anime influence came in, along with bruce timm dominating the DC releases. Detailed designs are a real hinderence in traditional animation, and the proper route SHOULD be to have some simplified design that lends itself to the style and expectations of that particular show.

Alot of the change also has to do with the animation programs they use. you'll see a lot of stuff like foster's imaginary friends that's designed in a way to be successfully animated in flash. very geometric, very simplified, very designed.

IMO the best mix of detail and animation has been avatar. beautiful all the way around.

[Zany Orange Dude]

I honestly can't stand most designs today. Modern cartoons look a lot more lazy than they did back in the 80s and 90s. Now I am not saying they didn't have there crap back then, but I mean come on! Most cartoons now look like a drunk guy drew them!

[Candy Kappa]

think I have some long ranty rant somewhere in this forum on my stance about modern American animation designs.

so, to simplify it, I disagree with ya Zany.

[ThePickleweed]

Originally Posted by Zany Orange Dude

I honestly can't stand most designs today. Modern cartoons look a lot more lazy than they did back in the 80s and 90s. Now I am not saying they didn't have there crap back then, but I mean come on! Most cartoons now look like a drunk guy drew them!

most cartoons then looked like a drunk guy animated them! have you seen some of those cartoons lately?

[TurtleTitan97]

Originally Posted by ThePickleweed

most cartoons then looked like a drunk guy animated them! have you seen some of those cartoons lately?

I belive she was refering that some cartoons today look bad, not all. Like that show "The Problem Solverz", now that's a badly animated show. Even though the styles are different, that doesn't mean they are bad, it's just the artists' style, am I right Zany?

[oldmanwinters]

Simpler, more angular designs are easier to animate at a consistent level. That was always a big priority for Bruce Timm. By the time you get to Justice League Unlimited all characters look much more "toony" than the people see in Batman: The Animated Series. However, with the advent of digital technology and more rigid stylistic standards for animations, the JL shows have much more consistent animation than the BTAS show.

I personally prefer the more detailed character designs of the 90s, even if modern superhero shows tend to look much smoother in animation from episode to episode.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Zany Orange Dude

I honestly can't stand most designs today. Modern cartoons look a lot more lazy than they did back in the 80s and 90s. Now I am not saying they didn't have there crap back then, but I mean come on! Most cartoons now look like a drunk guy drew them!

Really? Have you looked at how absolutely god awful the animation is on those shows? They're terrible. Not only is the animation choppy and ugly, but the character designs can't even stay consistent. Watch an episode of 90's X-Men and focus on the eyebrows of Professor X. It's a laugh riot. That show is a prime example of how detailed design can go horribly wrong.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Watch an episode of 90's X-Men and focus on the eyebrows of Professor X. It's a laugh riot. That show is a prime example of how detailed design can go horribly wrong.

Yeah, I always thought those eyebrows were seriously messed up!

And everytime is Voice Actor screamed in pain it was just the most unbearable sound ever!

[Candy Kappa]

don't be dissing the eyebrows, the best part of the series

[SherlockJr]

I don't think the simple, stylized designs of today are horrible, but I do miss the more detailed look of the 80s and 90s. However, even those had problems, such as tendencies of becoming off-model and sloppy.

[Cure]

I don't see how anyone can look at the sh*t from back then and say it looks better than the stuff today.

[Redeemer]

To the OP
It looks like ur comparing two different styles, In the 80's and 90's most artist used a Western art-style, This is also why a lot of the characters looked the same. There is a certain formula for drawing Western style, u eventually develop ur own style, but certain styles for Western Artist r bound to look similar.

Many tv shows today use Anime style which I do not know nearly as much, bc I chose to use Western style personally, but Anime is a lot less realistic and more simplistic in most instances. Also most cartoons today tend to be Anime and that is why they look less detailed.

And guys lets not forget, all because a show looks choppy, is not necessarily due to the artist, but lack of budget or lead designer I would think would be at fault.

But an example of what I am talking about. Compare TMNT 2K3 to Avatar the last airbender. TMNT is a Western style, while Avatar is a Anime style. In Anime style the character tend to have big heads and Eyes, While Western tends to have more proportioned bodies. Another example is Young Justice(Western) and Teen Titans (Anime) (and most like Nick's tmnt)

I think the bottom line is that is comes down to what style u like in all honest....

[KROW]

Originally Posted by Cure

I don't see how anyone can look at the sh*t from back then and say it looks better than the stuff today.

Considering most of that "sh*t" was prominent before you could form your first words means you have no valid argument on the matter. It does look better, but in some scant cases, it wasn't DONE better. There's a difference. Although I don't have some hatred for today's animation -- 90s Batman and its various WB spin-off shows are incredible -- it does display a lack in detail.

Also, picking out one show like X-Men for its flubs is meaningless when ones like Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, Spawn, and even Superfriends from earlier on possessed better quality.

[Jester]

Part of me wonders how much of the difference can be attributed to a show being animated by multiple studios (I mean, how many studios did the animation on the Fred Wolf Turtles series?) and the fact that these shows were done before digital clean up and when things had to be mailed and changes couldn't be made as easily.

I do prefer the more detailed models, but the more detailed the model, the more likely a small missed detail could ruin the model. I'll admit to thinking "Uh, the models for The New Adventures of Batman suck!" when i first watched it, but then I watched it, and I got over it quickly. Sure Catwoman's model suffered, but Scarecrow was awesome.

I agree with Reedemer, it may be a preference issue. I prefer western style as opposed to eastern style animation, but I'm starting to respect both.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Jester

Part of me wonders how much of the difference can be attributed to a show being animated by multiple studios (I mean, how many studios did the animation on the Fred Wolf Turtles series?) and the fact that these shows were done before digital clean up and when things had to be mailed and changes couldn't be made as easily.

Well put, Jester.

That was a huge deal with cartoons back in the day. The studio would make all the difference. Some of the X-Men episodes still look fantastic to this day, while others can be an eyesore. Wild variations existed in just about every show from the era including Tiny Toon Adventures, BTAS, TMNT, and etc.

I tip my hat to TMS, the greatest animation studio there ever was and ever will be!

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by Jester

I agree with Reedemer, it may be a preference issue. I prefer western style as opposed to eastern style animation, but I'm starting to respect both.

Yeah thats same with me. I always preferred Western style, but over the past few years Anime style has grown on me. I like how shows like Teen Titans and Full Metal Alchemist use Anime style and exaggerate the characters to emphasize on the comedy in the scene.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

Yeah thats same with me. I always preferred Western style, but over the past few years Anime style has grown on me. I like how shows like Teen Titans and Full Metal Alchemist use Anime style and exaggerate the characters to emphasize on the comedy in the scene.

I've been watching a lot of Dragon Ball lately. I'll say one thing it's consistent, though you can see the style change slightly between the 3 series.

[TheCanadiandrome]

Originally Posted by Jester

Part of me wonders how much of the difference can be attributed to a show being animated by multiple studios (I mean, how many studios did the animation on the Fred Wolf Turtles series?) and the fact that these shows were done before digital clean up and when things had to be mailed and changes couldn't be made as easily.

I do prefer the more detailed models, but the more detailed the model, the more likely a small missed detail could ruin the model. I'll admit to thinking "Uh, the models for The New Adventures of Batman suck!" when i first watched it, but then I watched it, and I got over it quickly. Sure Catwoman's model suffered, but Scarecrow was awesome.

I agree with Reedemer, it may be a preference issue. I prefer western style as opposed to eastern style animation, but I'm starting to respect both.

I agree with you and Reedemer as well