OT Animation Quality

[Powder]

Just watched an episode of the OT, Burnes Blues, and it had me wondering...

Was the OT considered well-done by animation standards of its era? How does it compare to other action cartoons of the late 80's/early 90's? Watching it now, it seems at times to be a little choppy or stiff, there's a lot of film grain, and it goes without saying that the errors are infamous. Are some of these symptoms of their transition to digital media, or having been on old/possibly roughed up film? As a kid it seemed perfect, but hindsight's 20/20, as they say.

[CyberCubed]

Just look at youtube clips of various other 80's shows like He-man, 80's Spiderman, Superfriends, etc.

I think TMNT has the best animation of any of the superhero cartoons of that era. Likewise the later animation style that became standard around mid-Season 4-Season 7 (the good standard animation) holds up to this day.

[electric_sheep]

I didn't grow up when the original cartoon came out so my perspective is a little skewed but even as a kid i noticed how the caroon never looked as good as opening animation. When the theme starts and that gets you ramped up, **** yeah, this is gonna be awesome and then the cartoon starts and they just stand there barley moving but most of the animation of that time was similar.
Batman TAS revolutionesed the caroon animation...

[RaphAndDonnie]

I'd say it's about on par with other shows of it's time. A lot of cartoons were outsourced to other countries to be animated so errors,different voices and etcetera are to be expected but I think it gives it a bit of charm and personality.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by electric_sheep

I didn't grow up when the original cartoon came out so my perspective is a little skewed but even as a kid i noticed how the caroon never looked as good as opening animation. When the theme starts and that gets you ramped up, **** yeah, this is gonna be awesome and then the cartoon starts and they just stand there barley moving but most of the animation of that time was similar.
Batman TAS revolutionesed the caroon animation...

B:TAS came out in 1992....6 years after the original cartoon began. Of course its going to look better.

[MrPliggins]

It really depends on the episode. Some were animated well, like season 1, Turtles on Trial, Name that Toon. Others were really crappily animated like Michelangelo Toys around and Turtles of the Jungle.
I think in general it was about on par with the rest of the shows at the time.
It might look choppy because of the fps (frames per second). I'm not sure what the fps was for the show at the time, but it was probably less than the 2k12 show, which is probably 29.97.

[electric_sheep]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

B:TAS came out in 1992....6 years after the original cartoon began. Of course its going to look better.

Yeah but what i am trying to say that's when animation oficialy became good almost everything before that doesen't hold up...

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by electric_sheep

Yeah but what i am trying to say that's when animation oficialy became good almost everything before that doesen't hold up...

B:TAS animation by today's standards don't hold up in most episodes either.

[oldmanwinters]

To borrow a golfing term, Fred Wolf TMNT was at least on par (with a decent number of birdies and a few eagles) comparable programs up until the establishment of the Disney Afternoon & Warner Bros. supported FOX Kids block of the early 90s. The CBS run probably gave the show a more consistent and "on model" look, but by that time its comedic slap stick action compared poorly with shows like Batman, X-Men, etc.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

B:TAS animation by today's standards don't hold up in most episodes either.

There are a few stinkers in the show, but I'd number those in the minority. I think the 100% cel-animated nature of the show still holds up today. Most action cartoons today have a much more consistent look to their animation, but few have as many moments of pure cel-animation grandeur that BTAS provides in episodes like On Leather Wings, Two-Face Part 1, Heart of Steel Part 2, Robin's Reckoning Parts 1-2, Mudslide, Harley's Holiday, and A Bullet for Bullock.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

To borrow a golfing term, Fred Wolf TMNT was at least on par (with a decent number of birdies and a few eagles) comparable programs up until the establishment of the Disney Afternoon & Warner Bros. supported FOX Kids block of the early 90s. The CBS run probably gave the show a more consistent and "on model" look, but by that time its comedic slap stick action compared poorly with shows like Batman, X-Men, etc.

I think the OT has better animation than the Fox Spiderman/X-men cartoons by a longshot.

There are a few stinkers in the show, but I'd number those in the minority. I think the 100% cel-animated nature of the show still holds up today. Most action cartoons today have a much more consistent look to their animation, but few have as many moments of pure cel-animation grandeur that BTAS provides in episodes like On Leather Wings, Two-Face Part 1, Heart of Steel Part 2, Robin's Reckoning Parts 1-2, Mudslide, Harley's Holiday, and A Bullet for Bullock.

Very true, and those various episodes were timeless.

But I'm mainly comparing B:TAS to the later DC shows like Young Justice...the difference in animation quality is pretty big. The fight scenes are also much faster and more fluid.

I never realized how slow the fighting was in B:TAS. Batman would literally stand there for 10 seconds waiting for a guy to punch him, and then he'd throw him over his shoulder. Batman was a lousy fighter in B:TAS, thank god he improved by the time Justice League started.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I think the OT has better animation than the Fox Spiderman/X-men cartoons by a longshot.

I'd agree. However, because the nature of the TMNT plots were played mostly for laughs and featured little combat, most kids of the time viewed Spider-Man as the more exciting cartoon. Most of the Marvel toons featured very choppy animation and there were rarely any quiet moments since it seems like they felt compelled to have at least one voice actor speaking at all times. I really like how TMNT could use some quiet moments to set the mood with the beautiful hand painted backgrounds and theme music. That's something that BTAS also did better than just about any other show.

[CyberCubed]

Am I the only one who thinks the OT still holds up animation wise ignoring the errors or coloring mistakes?

I mean when I watch it, it doesn't seem like a show from nearly 30 years ago. Its amazing that a series from nearly 3 decades ago doesn't feel all old or outdated.

Meanwhile I find stuff like Superfriends or the older Marvel shows to be a chore on my eyes, not to mention the writing.

[Powder]

I think it depends on what you consider 'holding up'. I mean, there is no cartoon from the last 15 years that looks like that. They're all a whole lot cleaner, more fluid, brighter & more solid colors, etc. I think the writing is still great, the show on a whole is just as enjoyable, entertaining & funny as ever, for the most part, but from a technical standpoint it's quite inferior. It's definitely outdated on the animation front.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Am I the only one who thinks the OT still holds up animation wise ignoring the errors or coloring mistakes?

I mean when I watch it, it doesn't seem like a show from nearly 30 years ago. Its amazing that a series from nearly 3 decades ago doesn't feel all old or outdated.

Meanwhile I find stuff like Superfriends or the older Marvel shows to be a chore on my eyes, not to mention the writing.

I at least say the Spider-Man 90's cartoon had a more on-model look and cleaner smoother and faster animation. And actual fighting. Somewhat. I do admit it was full a lot of choppy parts and lazy re-used animation.... but still, the overall look is better.

The 80's OT does date itself by the inconsistent character models that change per episode, and the lack of action for a supposed action show. A bigger animation budget would have done wonders for this show. Imagine for example... the fight scene between Leo and Lotus, with actual intense high-speed action and animation.

[Refractive Reflections]

I don't know if anyone considered this, but the animation schedule of the OT especially during the 3rd (47 episodes), 4th (39 + 13 [the Vacation in Europe episodes made in 1990]), and 5th (22 episodes) seasons when the errors are most prevalent. Considering how most television seasons are 22-26 episodes a year, it makes sense there would be animation errors and inconsistencies when the production staff had to chuck out so many of them out as they followed the business advice of, "You have to strike the iron when it is hot"; and of course those were during the years of Turtlemania.

But if this is not considered, the animation quality for the OT is good (not awesome, but good) even at its worst moments in comparison to other 80s cartoons of the time.

[ssjup81]

Originally Posted by electric_sheep

I didn't grow up when the original cartoon came out so my perspective is a little skewed but even as a kid i noticed how the caroon never looked as good as opening animation. When the theme starts and that gets you ramped up, **** yeah, this is gonna be awesome and then the cartoon starts and they just stand there barley moving but most of the animation of that time was similar.
Batman TAS revolutionesed the caroon animation...

That was common with most shows back in the day. Look at the Thundercats intro for example. That has to be one of the most awesome intros and sequences ever....but the animation in the show was slightly different and stuff.

Growing up back then, seems a lot of the shows had great animation for the intros (that's where all the money went) and the shows themselves had the so-so animation.

[CyberCubed]

An intro only takes a minute of animation to produce compared to a 22 minute episode, of course they can make a minute and a half intro look really good.

[ssjup81]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

An intro only takes a minute of animation to produce compared to a 22 minute episode, of course they can make a minute and a half intro look really good.

Yeah, that's true.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Am I the only one who thinks the OT still holds up animation wise ignoring the errors or coloring mistakes?

Heck, I thought I'd just agreed with you in all my posts.

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I never realized how slow the fighting was in B:TAS. Batman would literally stand there for 10 seconds waiting for a guy to punch him, and then he'd throw him over his shoulder. Batman was a lousy fighter in B:TAS, thank god he improved by the time Justice League started.

i think that's because B:TAS wasn't really intended to be much of an action cartoon. It's main focus was story, not action.