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So I finally found out the name of this specific cartoon style people had been mocking about in recent years: the so-called "CalArts" style. It's that infamous cartoon style that's used in totally unrelated shows like Steven Universe, The Amazing World of Gumball, Gravity Falls, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, etc..
And now, things really heated up after the announcement of ThunderCats Roar, which also uses this cartoon style. Man, the amount of beef people threw at this reboot of the well-known ThunderCats franchise is incredible, to say the least. O_o Not only fans are upset because they're so used with the more realistic designs of the original 1985 series, the fact that this reboot uses a similar "CalArts" cartoon style is seen as an unspeakable sin. Hence the bashing, the death threats towards the creators, etc. as well as fanarts that mock the show's use of this style with the drawings of other shows, typically serious anime, drawn in a facsimile of that ThunderCats Roar poster.
Personally, I don't give a damn. ThunderCats Roar wasn't even out yet, so until the episodes are out, I'd rather not immediately jump into conclusions and claim that the reboot sucks, because we don't even know if it's even going to be that good. Also, I don't see anything wrong with a franchise trying out something different for a change: the Transformers franchise also similarly had vastly different cartoon (and occasionally anime) styles over the years. I mean, when the 2011 reboot of ThunderCats came out, people also similarly criticized that show's use of blatant anime style. (I gotta admit, 2011 Snarf is ridiculously cute.)
But yeah, I can understand why people are upset over this new ThunderCats Reboot. It's just so different from what people are used to the franchise. Again, I'd rather wait until the first few episodes are out before judging the show.
Personally, I think it's a case that we're witnessing a similar phenomenon that had always been happening with anime for decades: people copying a show's cartoon style, in order to piggyback the success of that show. It might not even something that people realize that they're doing it. They just do it because they notice that audiences seem to like this style the best. Let this happen dozens of times, and soon, the cartoon style got its general name -- in this case, CalArts -- to describe shows that use this style. It's a cultural osmosis that just keeps spreading... at least, until another cartoon style in the future takes over.
As a special note, the name "CalArts style" is a misnomer: many of the creators of such shows weren't even graduates of California Institute of the Arts, which is where "CalArts" came from. Though, somehow, the name stuck.
So yeah, this pic is my own parody of this style. Please don't kill me. D= And no, I will not be switching my usual art style to this style any time soon. XD
Update: whoops, accidentally put the tiny nub toe on the wrong foot. O_o It's fixed now.
And now, things really heated up after the announcement of ThunderCats Roar, which also uses this cartoon style. Man, the amount of beef people threw at this reboot of the well-known ThunderCats franchise is incredible, to say the least. O_o Not only fans are upset because they're so used with the more realistic designs of the original 1985 series, the fact that this reboot uses a similar "CalArts" cartoon style is seen as an unspeakable sin. Hence the bashing, the death threats towards the creators, etc. as well as fanarts that mock the show's use of this style with the drawings of other shows, typically serious anime, drawn in a facsimile of that ThunderCats Roar poster.
Personally, I don't give a damn. ThunderCats Roar wasn't even out yet, so until the episodes are out, I'd rather not immediately jump into conclusions and claim that the reboot sucks, because we don't even know if it's even going to be that good. Also, I don't see anything wrong with a franchise trying out something different for a change: the Transformers franchise also similarly had vastly different cartoon (and occasionally anime) styles over the years. I mean, when the 2011 reboot of ThunderCats came out, people also similarly criticized that show's use of blatant anime style. (I gotta admit, 2011 Snarf is ridiculously cute.)
But yeah, I can understand why people are upset over this new ThunderCats Reboot. It's just so different from what people are used to the franchise. Again, I'd rather wait until the first few episodes are out before judging the show.
Personally, I think it's a case that we're witnessing a similar phenomenon that had always been happening with anime for decades: people copying a show's cartoon style, in order to piggyback the success of that show. It might not even something that people realize that they're doing it. They just do it because they notice that audiences seem to like this style the best. Let this happen dozens of times, and soon, the cartoon style got its general name -- in this case, CalArts -- to describe shows that use this style. It's a cultural osmosis that just keeps spreading... at least, until another cartoon style in the future takes over.
As a special note, the name "CalArts style" is a misnomer: many of the creators of such shows weren't even graduates of California Institute of the Arts, which is where "CalArts" came from. Though, somehow, the name stuck.
So yeah, this pic is my own parody of this style. Please don't kill me. D= And no, I will not be switching my usual art style to this style any time soon. XD
Update: whoops, accidentally put the tiny nub toe on the wrong foot. O_o It's fixed now.
Category Artwork (Digital) / General Furry Art
Species Mammal (Other)
Size 800 x 800px
File Size 103.1 kB
Indeed, it's hypocritical. People also freaked out when Western cartoons adopt that aforementioned anime style as well. To me, that's cultural appropriation, and that's not a good thing.
I'm not a fan of this CalArts style, either, but I wouldn't attack shows that use this style. It's a stylistic choice, similar to anime.
I'm not a fan of this CalArts style, either, but I wouldn't attack shows that use this style. It's a stylistic choice, similar to anime.
I never said I wasn't a fan of it. I'm fine with it. It's cute. It doesn't need to be a thing that thousands of shows should have, but it's fine to have lots of shows share a style. I don't watch most of the shows that have it, but that doesn't have anything to do with the style. I just don't watch a lot of cartoons, regardless. (I mean, I don't watch many cartoons, compared to other people, anyways.)
But I'm glad you see what I mean.
But I'm glad you see what I mean.
I'm fine with it, too. And indeed, to attack a show just because it uses a certain style that everyone hates is quite ridiculous, in my opinion. I'm chiefly even more concerned about whether or not the writing of this show will be any good, hence why it's still too early to proclaim that this show will suck solely because of the cartoon style.
I'd ask the same question. Not all animation from Japan looks like "anime", like Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt for example. And some animation from Japan has been for western produced shows; Batman TAS and Tiny Toon Adventures come to mind as both had some episodes animated by TMS, but have western look.
Yeah, a little known fact is that Japanese studios had also been commissioned to produce shows for the Western market. These shows have higher framerates and more accurate lip animation that perfectly match the dialogue, all thanks to the much significantly higher budget these Japanese studios were given. Even the original 1985 ThunderCats series also had Japanese animators doing most of the animation.
And indeed, on the flipside, there are Japanese anime that look like Western shows. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, the show you've mentioned, is indeed one of the best examples ever. It's something you'd expect to watch in Adult Swim.
And indeed, on the flipside, there are Japanese anime that look like Western shows. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, the show you've mentioned, is indeed one of the best examples ever. It's something you'd expect to watch in Adult Swim.
Speaking of lip-syncing, the typical look of "anime mouths" come from the fact they do no lip-syncing at all! In fact, I believe they actually do the animation before the voice acting.
In the case of "western anime" they will usually still perform lip-syncing, even if Japanese animators are working on the show. The only exception I can think if is The Boondocks, since creator Aaron McGruder ordered the animation team to do no lip-syncing and make it look as authentic as possible.
In the case of "western anime" they will usually still perform lip-syncing, even if Japanese animators are working on the show. The only exception I can think if is The Boondocks, since creator Aaron McGruder ordered the animation team to do no lip-syncing and make it look as authentic as possible.
Precisely again. Yes, they actually did animate the characters first, and then the voice actors are called-in to actually voice the characters. The making-of featurette of Spirited Away revealed that fact, where the Japanese voice actors clearly had to voice over the already-done animation, matching the timing of when the characters start and stop speaking. This is one of the most well-known "quirks" of anime (and Japanese animation in general, soon mimicked by many surrounding Asian countries like South Korea and China), so much that it simply doesn't look like "anime" anymore without it. Hence why Western animation that adopts this "anime" look in visuals only tend to look noticeably off.
One of the biggest exceptions to this rule was for the anime movie, Akira, where the voices were recorded first, as is the case with all typical Western animation. Which gave quite a challenge for the English dubbers to try to fit the English voices to the already animated-for-Japanese lip animations.
I admit that I really like this "anime mouths" look, hence why I mimicked this style in my animated blogs on YouTube, and I intend all of my cartoons to be animated this way, to maintain that anime feel. Of note, however, is that the voice was recorded first, so it wasn't entirely authentic, but faked, and if you look carefully, I still try to match the lip flaps to the recorded voice while still keeping that "anime mouths" feel.
One of the biggest exceptions to this rule was for the anime movie, Akira, where the voices were recorded first, as is the case with all typical Western animation. Which gave quite a challenge for the English dubbers to try to fit the English voices to the already animated-for-Japanese lip animations.
I admit that I really like this "anime mouths" look, hence why I mimicked this style in my animated blogs on YouTube, and I intend all of my cartoons to be animated this way, to maintain that anime feel. Of note, however, is that the voice was recorded first, so it wasn't entirely authentic, but faked, and if you look carefully, I still try to match the lip flaps to the recorded voice while still keeping that "anime mouths" feel.
They even have an article about it on TV Tropes called Lip Lock, that mentioned this. (Along with examples of foreign dubs with lip-syncing.)
A lot of early anime, like Speed Racer for example, where notorious for having characters rapidly deliver lines because the translated scripts where rough and literal, so they sounded very unnatural.
More modern dubs have better script writers who work around the translations to sound more natural, though "Lip Locking" still pops up from time to time. In the cases of more comedic anime, this has sometimes been lampshaded. Like in Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo for example, Bo-Bobo says, "Now I'm going to tell all of ya where we're... going. I just hope by the time we arrive I can speak without weird pauses." Of course, that was a very gag-heavy anime.
A lot of early anime, like Speed Racer for example, where notorious for having characters rapidly deliver lines because the translated scripts where rough and literal, so they sounded very unnatural.
More modern dubs have better script writers who work around the translations to sound more natural, though "Lip Locking" still pops up from time to time. In the cases of more comedic anime, this has sometimes been lampshaded. Like in Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo for example, Bo-Bobo says, "Now I'm going to tell all of ya where we're... going. I just hope by the time we arrive I can speak without weird pauses." Of course, that was a very gag-heavy anime.
CalArts style is everywhere! Simplistic body shapes and limited colours schemes with very little detail... I used to watch the Simpsons until it embraced that style. Same for Family Guy and American Dad! CalArts style ruined those shows! I hate it when cartoon characters have full outlines around their eyes!
Sarcasm aside, the people who are getting offended by Thundercats Roar are far too old to care. It's being made for children, and since kids like Teen Titans Go! that's what this show will be built as. Actually now that I think about it, this iteration of Thundercats will probably have more in common with the original series than the 2011 show did. The "anime" style Thundercats had little in common with the original, other than the characters' names and some personality traits. Which is probably why I thought it was pretty good. I despised the original series for it's shoddy animation, annoying characters, poor writing, massive plotholes, and inconsistencies. But it was a show from the 80's, made to sell toys. Thundercats Roar is a modern show, made to sell advertisement time. If it grabs kids' attention for 11 minutes, it'll be enough of a success to keep it going. Some cartoons are made for children, even if the characters have been around for decades.
Sarcasm aside, the people who are getting offended by Thundercats Roar are far too old to care. It's being made for children, and since kids like Teen Titans Go! that's what this show will be built as. Actually now that I think about it, this iteration of Thundercats will probably have more in common with the original series than the 2011 show did. The "anime" style Thundercats had little in common with the original, other than the characters' names and some personality traits. Which is probably why I thought it was pretty good. I despised the original series for it's shoddy animation, annoying characters, poor writing, massive plotholes, and inconsistencies. But it was a show from the 80's, made to sell toys. Thundercats Roar is a modern show, made to sell advertisement time. If it grabs kids' attention for 11 minutes, it'll be enough of a success to keep it going. Some cartoons are made for children, even if the characters have been around for decades.
Precisely. ThunderCats had always been meant for kids. Kid shows in the 80s and early 90s had always had bizarre storylines. The original 1985 series had inconsistent plot because the first season was actually produced chronologically out of order. Not that people noticed it much, anyway, because most Western cartoon shows are heavily episodic, as opposed to most anime where every episode is interconnected and together form a single long narrative.
And indeed, most children's cartoon shows are nothing more than seasons-long commercials for the franchise's toylines, the real reason why these shows were produced in the first place. They want kids to go out and ask their mommies and daddies to buy for them toys and accessories featuring their favorite cartoon characters. If the toys fail to sell, consequently, the show will be canceled as well.
I also think that ThunderCats Roar will be even more in common with the original 1985 series. Think about it. This is the style that most cartoon shows today are produced in, and kids love it. So it's logical that ThunderCats Roar will be produced in this style, too.
And indeed, most children's cartoon shows are nothing more than seasons-long commercials for the franchise's toylines, the real reason why these shows were produced in the first place. They want kids to go out and ask their mommies and daddies to buy for them toys and accessories featuring their favorite cartoon characters. If the toys fail to sell, consequently, the show will be canceled as well.
I also think that ThunderCats Roar will be even more in common with the original 1985 series. Think about it. This is the style that most cartoon shows today are produced in, and kids love it. So it's logical that ThunderCats Roar will be produced in this style, too.
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