16 replies to this topic

[Koh]

What sort of styles do you like or don't like from cartoons, and why?

I do like the older cartoon styles for shows like Space Ghost, He Man, etc. While they were used quite a lot, they were also proportionate and looked okay. The character's eyes could've used some color, though.

I like anime art styles that aren't overly ambitious with cuteness, as in the eyes don't take up 80% of the person's face.

The Sonic art style is a hit a miss...I like the toony aspect of it, however, the eyeballs are too big with irises that aren't big enough to accommodate all of that space. So let's just say this one is tolerable.

On to specific aspects of styles:

I don't really care for merged eyes. It looks a bit strange; some characters pull it off okay, but you wouldn't REALLY see that. Tight eyes (where it doesn't look like they have space inbetween, and look like 8 ) are also a bit weird.

I absolutely HATE spaghetti limbs. In other words, in those cartoons I never cared for anyway: Adventure Time, Flapjack, Regular Show, etc., the way they draw limbs is atrocious. There ARE NO elbows or knees, and everything is just a curved line, like a C to represent lifting an arm. This is NOT how limbs work. I could understand if something happened like on Tom and Jerry where one character stretched out another characters arm, and then it became all flimsy and stuff; that's just for the toon moment, but limbs shouldn't be like that ALL OF THE TIME. It looks strange and unappealing.

I do NOT like extremely blocky cartoon styles. Powerpuff girls...Johnny Bravo himself; they have rectangle heads and such. I stomached my distate for the art because I actually liked the shows, but the artstyle was still pretty blegh.

I do NOT like overly cute art styles...Care Bears, Dora the Explorer, My Little Pony, etc. It's too cutesy to take anything seriously, and is not my cup of tea.

Oh, and I don't like the styles that look like they were animated in flash using the features. Many fall into this one.

Edited by Koh, 22 July 2012 - 01:23 PM.

[Vinyl Scratch]

Spoiler

I also liked some older cartoons, like Courage, Tom and Jerry, Powerpuff Girls, etc. The artstyle isn't exactly what brings me to them, but I like them nonetheless.

Edited by Vinyl Scratch, 22 July 2012 - 01:29 PM.

[Koh]

Now that I think about it, as much as I love Courage the Cowardly Dog, it did suffer from the spaghetti limbs thing...I really don't like that .

[Moosh]

i like shows with brite colors and familiar shapes and character that are color coded to fit their personalities incase i forget that rarity is the snooty vain one or that rainbow dash is the cool/possibly les one

In all seriousness, I really don't care about art style as long as it brings something new to the table.

Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention that if it has Scottsmen playing the bagpipes (as only true Scottsmen do) in it, instant win.

Edited by Moosh, 22 July 2012 - 01:58 PM.

[The Satellite]

I usually don't have a preference unless it's over-the-top flashy or colorful, as long as the story's good or the show is funny or it's enjoyable in some other way.

[Sheik]

I can enjoy a wide variety of art styles. What I can't take any more of, though, is the glitter bishojo manga style where the eyes take up about 90% of the face and have highlights in the most obscure places. I like the Marvel Comics stuff, for example.
But stuff like Adventure Time looks nice too, as does, say, the Z1 artwork's artstyle.

[LinktheMaster]

What I can't take any more of, though, is the glitter bishojo manga style where the eyes take up about 90% of the face and have highlights in the most obscure places.

Seriously, though, as a pretty big anime/manga fan, I definitely agree. That style is probably some of the most visually appalling to me. Most of other anime/manga styles I find at least tolerable. Some are really nice, though.

Pretty much any other style though, I'm fine with, be it anime/manga styled, Adventure Time/Regular Show styled, or even MLP (I'm not a huge fan of the show, but the art style is very clean and nice). I'm not quite as much of a fan of the Powerpuff Girls-style art, but it's not bad. It's really simplistic and uninspired to me, but it gets the job done.

[Fabbrizio]

There's something about Ren and Stimpy's terrifyingly insane art style that really appeals to me. I'm not sure why.

I watched a video a while back on the making of Ren and Stimpy, and was not at all surprised to learn that the animators never used the same facial expression twice.


Maybe my enjoyment of the show is biased by the fact that it is the origin of most modern creator driven cartoons. This format was the inspiration for such classics as Ed, Edd and Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Dexter's Laboratory, Catdog, and pretty much anything by Butch Hartmann (this includes Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom, and TUFF Puppy). Ren and Stimpy aired in 1991, in an era where everything was either a cartoon based on a toy line, or was made on a large budget from a well-established film company. There were no indie creator-driven cartoons until Ren and Stimpy. Spumco completely changed that.

Edited by DavidReinold, 23 July 2012 - 10:57 AM.

[Sheik]

Fairly Odd Parents

Yes!! This show is so full of awesome. Timmy's Dad is the best character ever written for anything. Hands down.

[Nicholas Steel]

Yes!! This show is so full of awesome. Timmy's Dad is the best character ever written for anything. Hands down.

Yes, the show IS awesome. However for art styles I love, the style portrayed in the The Good Old Days episode is my favourite. I thought that style had died out but man was I ever surprised when I saw that episode 2~ years ago.

I also enjoy the Storm Hawks and Sym-Bionic Titan art styles.


Note: I couldn't find a good video of that episode and that one I linked to is region restricted :/

Edited by franpa, 23 July 2012 - 01:20 PM.

[Sheik]

I know the one you are talking about! It's really great indeed. Popeye-esque.

[Chakaa]

I pretty much agree with everything you said here, except I like MLP's art style. Other than that, I have the same views as you for the most part.

This is NOT how limbs work.

I lost it when you said this xD

[Beefster]

I like art styles that aren't done to death. It's okay if they're the first ones to do it, but after the third or fourth clone of the art style, it gets old. The exception to this would be animesque or classic 80s style, since those actually take skill and have full detail.

Most CG these days is pretty samey, so I don't like most CG shows. Basically, if it isn't Pixar, Dreamworks, or Jimmy Neutron, it looks awful.

With flash-based animation, my requirement is that the animation quality is at least as good as Homestar Runner. It's a lot rarer than it sounds.

The only redeeming quality to Dora the Explorer is its art style- simple, colorful, and not done to death. The problem with it is that it's an earworm that rubs off on anyone younger than 5 years old (THEY KEEP REPEATING IT!). And it's unwatchable outside its target audience.

When it comes to game art, the same rule applies. There would be an exception for the realistic style if it weren't for the uncanny valley, which the technology won't find its way out of for at least 2 more years.

[Koh]

I thought maybe we could revive this thread, and talk about the subject some more, since there are now more out there.

 

My tastes have changed a bit from my first post here, but in general some things are the same.  Don't like the bland and overly cute styles like My Little Pony, but I don't mind simplistic shapes and stuff like the cartoon my avatar is from, Cat and Keet.  Its style is pretty close to that of The Looney Tunes Show, and I liked that style too.  It's clearly animated in Flash or any branch off of it though, lol.  The stiff tweening is super obvious.

 

The style seen in Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated was pretty unique too, and once you get used to it after coming from the old style, it's pretty charming.

Edited by Koh, 23 March 2016 - 05:15 PM.

[Dark Ice Dragon]

i like more the anime style that the cartoons, 

As for the older cartoon i liked Popeye, Tom & Jerry and the looney toons

I don't like too much the cartoons that are designed a bit ' wrong,but i liked courage the cowardly dog too and i found funny even kick buttwosky.  

I do not understand why the series drawn well enough as Teen Titans had a new seasons with worse graphics and silly stories too.

And this is the point, not only the graphic is not good, but often even the stories are not good, it does not seem right to me that justification that s in fashion lately, which say that certain characters are poorly drawn 'cause are direct to small children, when i was 4 I would have refused to see a "scribble" with silly tales  as peppa pig.