Can We Discuss How Shitty The Animation Was On The X-Men Cartoon?

Discussion in 'Television and Web Series' started by Nick Delmacy, Jun 30, 2016.

  1. Nick Delmacy

    Nick Delmacy is a Verified MemberNick Delmacy Da Architect
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    No, seriously. I've been re-watching the Animated Series at night before I go to bed and Jebus Christ, this shit looks cheap and stupid.

    This was the main reason I could never really get into this show as a kid. The animation and artwork looked HORRIBLE and CHEESY as fuk.



    Especially compared to Batman: The Animated Series:



    Even the fuckin Thundercats had better animation:

     
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  2. Winston Smith

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    Ahh, my passion, the fine (line) arts, lol. Remember that the cartoon came out at a bad time for Marvel, when they were nearing the cusp of bankruptcy. They were probably happy to get any product out there at the time and didn't have their own studios to the extent they do now under Disney. It pretty much, however, is similar to a LOT of shitty animation product of the era. The mid-70s to early 90s was a hit and miss period for these type of shows due to Hanna Barbera's influence and "limited animation" filmmaking ("Super-Friends"), as well as the "cartoons exist to sell toys" mentality (My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake). So, a superhero cartoon was hard pressed to get in good stories versus "how many action figures did this show move?" Finally, this was the age of Rob Liefeld. His influence is all over that running confrontation segment in the info. Yeah, 1991/1992 was a bad time all around (lol).

    The X-Men also started a year before Toy Story and the big CGI animation boom. As an artist, the character name typography hurts my eyes (especially for Jean Grey/Phoenix). Finally, about the time the rebirth of modern animation was only just beginning in terms of art and writing (Simpsons, Ren and Stimpy, Animaniacs, etc.)

    At least it wasn't as bad as Marvel's first animations from the 60s. I just noticed the horrible grammar in the opening of the original Spider-Man cartoon after all these years and I've watched that shit since I was a toddler (look for it in the clip, and this was a nationally televised show); that's how little they cared at one time
     
    #2 Winston Smith, Jun 30, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2016
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  3. Dreamwalker

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    Really??? I always preferred the animation/visuals on X-men to the WB Batman/Superman cartoons. They just seemed more realistic than the simple artwork on Batman. Watching the X-men was like watching a live action comic book where as Batman/Superman was just a cartoon (Bugs Bunny and Homer Simpson could have made an appearance and it wouldn't have thrown the visuals off.).
    The show did have some issues though:
    10 Things You Didn’t Know About X-Men The Animated Series
     
  4. Dreamwalker

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    4938302-29-1992-xmenanimatedseries.jpg
    VS

    4938301-batman_the_animated_series_logo.jpg

    4938302-29-1992-xmenanimatedseries.jpg
     
  5. alton

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    I always like the animation style of the Batman series. As far as X-Men goes, I always just figured they were following in the footsteps of the Captain Planet style of animation.
     
  6. Nick Delmacy

    Nick Delmacy is a Verified MemberNick Delmacy Da Architect
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  7. Winston Smith

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    The whole time I watched that intro, I kept thinking they looked like a sped up video of 80s Prince protégés.

    Now that I renewed my Netflix, I'll have to check out the whole series. Wikipedia says the first episodes were full of animation errors....much like the Liefeld/Jim Lee artwork it's based on!
    :franko1:
     
  8. Nick Delmacy

    Nick Delmacy is a Verified MemberNick Delmacy Da Architect
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    Liefeld was a hack, mos def...but Jim Lee is a God Amongst Comic Artists...
     
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  9. Winston Smith

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    He's not bad, but I've always thought of him as the Bud Lite Neal Adams (tastes great, less filling).
     
  10. Nick Delmacy

    Nick Delmacy is a Verified MemberNick Delmacy Da Architect
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    Really? His version of the X-Men in 1991 with Uncanny was what finally got me into the series.

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Dreamwalker

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    I admit XAS was a little heavy handed with the shading but the BAS characters all looked liked they escaped from toon town.
    image.gif
    VS
    image.jpeg
    VS
    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg

    image.gif
     
  12. Nick Delmacy

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    I can't argue against that, BAS def had a more simplistic "toon" interpretation of their characters. But even still, at least that artwork and animation was smooth and fluid. XAS looked like the doodlings of a high school kid trying hard to emulate what the pro comic book artists were drawing.

    I dare you to pull one clip from XAS that has animation that is as dope and fluid as this one scene from BAS:

     
  13. Dreamwalker

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    The final episode of XAS actually went with the cheap cartoony look and looked horrible.
    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg
     
  14. Dreamwalker

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    Dang. Those BAS animators really went all out with Batman's chin.
    image.png
     
  15. Nick Delmacy

    Nick Delmacy is a Verified MemberNick Delmacy Da Architect
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    Referencing @Ockydub's favorite animated series American Dad as a diss won't win you many supporters to your side of the argument lol
     
  16. Winston Smith

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    @Nick Delmacy Im not saying Jim Lee is bad. He's certainly the most influential artist today. It's just his early 90s style seemed to hew to close to the Liefeld tight-European-mouth, holdover-from-Olivia Newton John look. He did improve. Liefeld gets to remain shitty with his Deadpool film royalties. I agree that XAS looks like someone trying to ape a comic book they saw.

    @Dreamwalker the BAS and following DC series seemed to be trying to modernize the Fleischer studio Superman look of the 40s (below) for a new generation. The style choice might have also been a holdover from the success of Roger Rabbit in the late 80s, and how 40s animators like Tex Avery influenced 90s Gen-X animators. And Tim Burton put a lot of 1940ish film noir in his 1989 version of Batman, which spilled over into cartoons. I liked that DC/Warner mixed the adult aesthetic with kid oriented action. It's a simple style that isn't necessarily simplistic.


    American Dad? Seth McFarlane is the Rob Liefeld of American animation. Limited animation can be stylish and have depth. This Canadian fire safety PSA scared the shit out of me as a kid!
     
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