The Dark Age of Animation: Difference between revisions

{{tropeUseful Notes}}

The unfortunate successor to [[The Golden Age of Animation]], slowly setting in at the late 1950s and slowly fading out at some point during the '80s 1980s.<ref> theThe Dark Age ended for animated movies some time before the change would spread to television as well, not fully disappearing until Disney and Warner improved television animation standards in the late '80s and early '90s.</ref>. [[Limited Animation]] was the rule, not the exception during this time. Its start coincided with the [[Fall of the Studio System]] in Hollywood. The theatrical short slowly died off, and cartoons moved to television. Naturally, this era would leave a lasting impression on the American culture, for better or for worse, as the [[Animation Age Ghetto|primary target audience for cartoons]] became children.

To start with, [[Limited Animation]] was primarily an [[Doing It for Thethe Art|artistic choice]] for animators like Chuck Jones and John Hubley who were tired of [[Disneyfication]]. With the death of UPA and MGM animation studios, it became primarily about saving [[Exploited Trope|time and money]].[[hottip:*:<ref>Much like the debate over [[Adobe Flash|Flash Animation quality today.]]</ref> [[Hanna -Barbera]] was very prominent during this time, thanks to how cheaply produced and rushed their television cartoons were. [[Filmation]] also got its start during this time, although it wouldn't hit its stride until much later during the [[The Renaissance Age of Animation|'80s1980s.]] In the meantime, it ''did'' give us shows like ''[[Star Trek: the Animated Series (Animation)|Star Trek theThe Animated Series]]'' (which was a continuation of the [[Star Trek: theThe Original Series (TV)|original show]] after it was canceled). However, like Hanna-Barbera, they also relied on notoriously low budget animation (possibly even more so than the other company) and corner cutting to get their cartoons out as quickly and cheaply as possible. Hanna-Barbera writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears also formed [[Ruby -Spears]] around this time and churned out a number of properties based on [[Mister T (Animationanimation)|celebrities]], [[Rubik And Histhe Amazing Cube|toys]], and other [[Animated Adaptation|Animated Adaptations]] of sitcoms, mimicking their former employer's animated style to a T.

However, this does not mean ''everything'' from this era was ''bad''. Disney's output remained generally respectable and generally well animated early on, although Walt Disney's continual lack of involvement with his films due to his focus on television and theme park projects at the time had a noticeable effect in quality on the '60s Disney films, and the inevitable death of the man hit the company ''extremely'' hard, sending their studio into a hard slump post-''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]''. Although they would eventually begin to recover with their short adaptations of the ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' stories (which were later made into a feature) as well as ''[[The Rescuers (Disney film)|The Rescuers]]'', which was something of a throwback to the style of the older Disney films, thanks in part to a Mr. [[Don Bluth (Creator)|Don Bluth]]... mind you, he ''was'' an employee of Disney at one point in the past. However, Disney would still continue to struggle until the '80s.

[[Looney Tunes (Animation)|Looney Tunes]] was still producing some decent and entertaining shorts late in [[The Fifties]], as some of its most memorable shorts were from this decade. Animation quality was down, but the writing along with the direction of [[Chuck Jones]] managed to produce some timeless classics in spite of that. However, due to budget problems the Warner Bros. company forcibly shut down their animation studio for good in this era. (Although a brief revival was unsucessfully attempted late during the 60s) But, the characters would get a revival in the form of the smash hit anthology repackaging series ''[[The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Show|The Bugs Bunny Show]]'', which [[Vindicated Byby Cable|reaired]] many of their old theatrical cartoons and ultimately helped to immortalize the characters as pop culture icons.

[[Limited Animation]] pioneer Hubley did his best work at UPA in the '50s, with shows such as ''[[Gerald McBoing-Boing]]''. Later he left UPA and became a noted independent animator, producing a series of distinctive and personal films with his wife Faith. And this was a booming period for trippy, avant-garde European animation such as ''[[Fantastic Planet]]'' and ''[[Yellow Submarine (Animation)|Yellow Submarine]]''. In Canada, the [[National Film Board of Canada]] encouraged exploration in all kinds of [[Deranged Animation]] techniques, most famously with the work of [[Norman Mclaren|Norman McLaren]] who produced wildly creative shorts like ''Begone Dull Care'' ([[Drawn On Film]] animation set to Oscar Peterson's jazz music), ''Neighbours'' (Pixiliation) and ''Pas Ex Deux'' (Ballet dance with optical printing enhancements).

Animator [[Ralph Bakshi]], who got his start in this era working in the twilight years of [[Terry Toons]], rose to prominence during this era thanks to ''[[Fritz the Cat (Animationanimation)|Fritz the Cat]]''. This film, along with ''[[Watership Down]]'', challenged the idea that cartoons were solely [[Animation Age Ghetto|"kids' stuff"]], an idea that was becoming increasingly popular at the time due to the diminishing quality of the cartoons of that time period, as well as people becoming overly familiar with the Disney style of family oriented entertainment coming out.

Bakshi would also go on to make an animated adaptation of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Animationanimation)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', which despite ''[[Love It or Hate It|extremely]]'' mixed critical reaction was ultimately a box office success. ''[[Heavy Metal (Animationanimation)|Heavy Metal]]'' would create its own cult interest late in the game (1981). Even Hanna-Barbera brought a respectable adaptation of ''[[CharlottesCharlotte's Web]]'' to the big screen in 1973. And though [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on which, some cartoons from this era may have had mediocre to poor animation but were ultimately saved by good writing; shows like ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle (Animation)|Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'' would be a particularly good example of that.

Also, [[Anime]] was making its first impact in North America with such imports as ''[[Astro Boy]]'', ''[[Speed Racer]]'', ''[[Star Blazers]]'' and ''[[Battle of the Planets]]''. While it often was [[Macekre|crudely]] [[Bowdlerized]], the form's distinctive look and content created a cult following that would eventually grow into much more.

For this era's successor, see [[The Renaissance Age of Animation]] (which lasted from the 1980s through the '90s1990s).

== {{examples|Characters, films and series that are associated with this era ==}}

* ''[[Alvin and The Chipmunks (Animation)|Alvin and The Chipmunks]]'': The original 1960s series.

* ''[[American Pop (Animation)|American Pop]]'': A drama film by [[Ralph Bakshi]] that came out at the end of the Dark Age.

* ''[[Aquaman (Comic Book)|Aquaman]]''

* ''[[The Atom Ant Show (Animation)|The Atom Ant Show]]''

* ''[[The Banana Splits (Animation)|The Banana Splits]]''

* ''[[Banjo the Woodpile Cat]]'': [[Don Bluth (Creator)|Don Bluth]]'s first solo project, which showed some light at the end of the very dark tunnel this era of animation was. A few years later, he would quit Disney and form his own animation company, which would fuel the animation renaissance.

* ''[[Beany and Cecil (Animation)|Beany and Cecil]]''

* ''[[The Beatles (Animationanimation)|The Beatles]]''

* ''[[Birdman]]'' (more notable for ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney Atat Law]]'', its [[The Millennium Age of Animation|Millennium Age]] spoof than the actual show)

* ''[[CharlottesCharlotte's Web]]'' (1973)

* ''[[Clue Club (Animation)|Clue Club]]''

** ''[[Dastardly and Muttley In Their Flying Machines (Animation)|Dastardly and Muttley Inin Their Flying Machines]]''

* [[Disney Animated Canon]]: This is known to some as Disney's "sketchy" period, referring to the style of animation these movies employed. [[Don Bluth (Creator)|Don Bluth]] got his start here as well, as anyone with a good eye for animation will be able to tell just by watching these. With the death of Walt Disney, the dark age of animation hit the company particularly hard. It wouldn't recover until the 1980s.

** ''[[One Hundred and One101 Dalmatians (Disney)|One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' (1961)

** ''[[The Sword in Thethe Stone]]'' (Disney1963)|: The Swordfinal infilm Thereleased Stone]]''while (1963)Walt was alive.

** ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'' (1967): The final film made while Walt was alive.

** ''[[The Aristocats (Disney)|The Aristocats]]'' (1970)

** ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'' (1973)

** ''[[The Rescuers (Disney film)|The Rescuers]]'' (1977)

* ''[[Fat AlbertDot and The Cosby Kids (Animation)|Fat Albert and The Cosby KidsKangaroo]]'' (1977)

* ''[[Felix the Cat (Animation)|Felix the Cat]]'': In the very late 1950s, Felix managed to snag himself a decent TV series, and even introduced his iconic magic bag of tricks, even though his character was still using the flanderized portrayal similar to the ill-fated 1930s Van Beuren ''Felix'' revival.

* ''[[The Flintstones (Animation)|The Flintstones]]''

** ''[[Fred and Barney Meet The Thing (Animation)|Fred and Barney Meet The Thing]]''

* ''[[Frankenstein, Jr (Animation).|Frankenstein Jr]]. and the Impossibles''

* ''[[Fritz the Cat (Animationanimation)|Fritz the Cat]]'': [[What Do You Mean ItsIt's Not for Kids?|Don't expect this one to be like any of the others on the list.]]

* ''[[The Funky Phantom (Animation)|The Funky Phantom]]''

* ''[[Gerald McBoing-Boing (Animation)|Gerald McBoing-Boing]]'': The popularity of UPA and its [[Limited Animation]] in [[The Fifties]] can be seen as the beginning of the 'dark age', though it would take a while for the cartoon studios' output to decline in quality. Nevertheless, it should be noted that it was the [[Follow the Leader|excellence of several UPA shorts]], [[Lost in Imitation|such as this one]], that made [[Limited Animation]] acceptable.

* ''[[George of the Jungle (Animation)|George of the Jungle]]''

* ''[[Goober and The Ghost Chasers (Animation)|Goober and TheGodzilla GhostPower ChasersHour]]''

* ''[[Heavy Metal (Animationanimation)|Heavy Metal]]'': Came out at the end of the Dark Age.

* ''[[The Hobbit (Animationanimation)|The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Return of the King (Animationanimation)|The Return of the King]]'': Surprisingly good animation for its time, co-produced by [[Rankin /Bass Productions]] and Japan's [[Topcraft]] (which would later become an important contributor to [[Studio Ghibli]]).

** ''[[The Return of the King (Animationanimation)|The Return of the King]]'' became noticeably darker in content and production quality, though.

* ''[[Hong Kong Phooey (Animation)|Hong Kong Phooey]]''

* ''[[Hokey Wolf (Animation)|Hokey Wolf]]''

* ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Animationanimation)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]''

* ''[[The Huckleberry Hound Show (Animation)|The Huckleberry Hound Show]]''

* ''[[Inch High, Private Eye (Animation)|Inch High Private Eye]]''

* ''[[Jabberjaw (Animation)|Jabberjaw]]'': Pretty much [[Scooby -Doo (Animationanimation)|Scooby Doo]] [[Recycled in Space|UNDER WATER]] with a shark that sounds like [[The Three Stooges|Curly]].

* ''[[Jana of the Jungle (Animation)|Jana of the Jungle]]''

* ''[[The Jetsons (Animation)|The Jetsons]]''

* ''[[Jonny Quest (Animation)|Jonny Quest]]''

* ''[[Josie and The Pussy Cats (Animation)|Josie and Thethe Pussy Cats]]''

* ''[[Laff a -A-Lympics (Animation)|Laff a Lympics]]''

* [[Looney Tunes in Thethe Sixties]]: This era covers the final days of Termite Terrace before they closed the studio.

* [[Looney Tunes in Thethe Seventies Andand Onward]]: Post-Termite Terrace.

* ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Animationanimation)|The Lord of the Rings]]'': Specifically, Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation of it.

* ''[[Magilla Gorilla (Animation)|Magilla Gorilla]]''

* ''[[The Mighty Heroes (Animation)|The Mighty Heroes]]''

* ''[[Mighty Mouse (Animation)|Mighty Mouse]]''

* ''[[Mr. Magoo (Animation)|Mr. Magoo]]''

* ''[[The New Adventures of Superman (Animation)|The New Adventures of Superman]]''

* ''[[The NineThree Lives of Fritz the Cat (Animation)Stooges|The Nine Lives of FritzNew theThree CatStooges]]''

* ''[[The Night the Animals Talked (Animation)|The Night the Animals Talked]]'': An early '70s TV [[Christmas Special]] directed by [[Shamus Culhane]].

* ''[[Peanuts (Comic Strip)|Peanuts]]'' (the various TV specials, ''The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show'', and feature films) -- a high point of [[Limited Animation]] from the period, not so much for the graphics which were [[Justified Trope|lifted directly]] from the newspaper comic as for the mature storytelling and jazzy soundtrack.

* ''[[The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (Animation)|The Perils of Penelope Pitstop]]''

* ''[[The PlaguePink DogsPanther (Literatureanimation)|The PlaguePink DogsPanther]]'': Created by Martin Rosen, a followup to ''[[WatershipFriz DownFreleng]]'', whichafter provedhe toleft be athe [[GenreWarner KillerBros]] foranimation darkstudios. adultHas [[WesternExactly Animation]] due to its content.What It's basicallySays ''[[Grave ofon the FirefliesTin|strangely little]]'' withto puppies.do [[Bradwith Bird]]the workedlive on theaction filmfilms.

* ''[[Quasi At the Quackadero (Animation)|Quasi Atat the Quackadero]]'': One of [[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]].

* ''[[Quick Draw McGraw (Animation)|Quick Draw McGraw]]''

* ''[[The Robonic Stooges (Animation)|The Robonic Stooges]]'', as well as the earlier ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' cartoon that included live action segments.

* ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle (Animation)|Rocky and Bullwinkle]]''

* ''[[Roger Ramjet (Animation)|Roger Ramjet]]''

* ''[[Sabrina and The Groovie Goolies (Animation)|Sabrina and The Groovie Goolies]]''

* ''[[Schoolhouse Rock (Animation)|Schoolhouse Rock]]''

* ''[[Scooby -Doo (Animationanimation)|Scooby Doo]]'' and its many clones

* ''[[Western Animation/Sealab 2020|Sealab 2020]]'', (more notable for its [[The Millennium Age of Animation|Millennium Age]] spoof ''[[Sealab 2021]]'')

* ''[[Secret Squirrel (Animation)|Secret Squirrel]]'': The original incarnation.

* ''[[Space Ghost (Animation)|Space Ghost]]''

* ''[[Speed Buggy (Animation)|Speed Buggy]]''

* ''[[Star Trek: the Animated Series (Animation)|Star Trek theThe Animated Series]]''

* ''[[Superfriends (Animation)|Superfriends]]''

* ''[[The Thief and The Cobbler (Animation)|The Thief and Thethe Cobbler]]'' was produced during this period. By which we mean the [[Development Hell|entire thirty-year duration]] of the period, before its creator [[Richard Williams]] lost control of the project after briefly obtaining funding to distribute it following the success of ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'', one of the films that [[Roger Rabbit Effect|definitively ended]] [[The Dark Age of Animation]].

* ''[[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|Tom and Jerry]]'': Revived three times during this era. First by Gene Deitch (the less said, the better), then by [[Chuck Jones]] (generally considered the best produced theatrical cartoons of the 1960s, though that isn't saying much), and finally as a [[Hanna -Barbera]] [[The Tom and Jerry Show (Animation)|TV series]] (which [[Flanderized]] the characters beyond recognition, ironically by the very people who created them in the first place).

** Filmation would revive ''[[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|Tom and Jerry]]'' once again just as the Dark Age was winding down, though this adaptation suffered from the same [[Deranged Animation]] as the Gene Deitch shorts. And yet it was ''still'' more true to the original shorts than Hanna-Barbera's TV series.

* ''[[Top Cat (Animation)|Top Cat]]''

* ''[[Underdog (Animationanimation)|Underdog]]''

* ''[[Wacky Races (Animation)|Wacky Races]]''

* ''[[Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (Animation)|Wait Till Your Father Gets Home]]'': The [[Ur Example]] of the animated dysfunctional family (think ''[[All in The Family]]'' if it were a cartoon series), which would later inspire all the FOX animated sitcoms about dysfunctional or quasi-dysfunctional families (''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'', ''[[King of the Hill]]'', ''[[Family Guy]]'', ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'', and ''[[The Cleveland Show]]'').

* ''[[The Wall (Music)|The Wall]]'', with its animated segments.

* ''[[Watership Down]]'' by Martin Rosen. Concept drawings by John Hubley for the dream sequences. Hubley wanted to do the whole film in [[Limited Animation]] using Aboriginal-style 60s-70s primitive expressionism. He left the film over "creative differences" with Rosen, who wanted detailed and bloody naturalism. You decide [[Art Shift|which parts]] of the film are [[What Do You Mean ItsIt's Not for Kids?|more disturbing]], despite the PG rating.

* ''[[Yellow Submarine (Animation)|Yellow Submarine]]'': featured a whos-who of British animation from the period. And [[The Beatles (Musicband)|The Beatles]].

* ''[[Yogi Bear (Animation)|Yogi Bear]]''

=={{examples| Animators who are directly associated with this era ==}}

* [[DepatieDePatie-Freleng Enterprises|David DePatie and Isidore "Friz" Freleng]]

* [[Hanna -Barbera|William Hanna and Joseph Barbera]]

* [[John Kricfalusi (Creator)|John Kricfalusi]] got his start late in this era as a worker at [[Filmation]]. He does not have fond memories of the place.

* [[Rankin /Bass Productions|Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass]], producers of most of the classic [[Christmas Special|Christmas Specials]]

* [[Don Bluth (Creator)|Don Bluth]]

* [[Ruby -Spears|Ken Ruby and Joe Spears]], who founded Ruby-Spears around this time.

== {{tropelist|Tropes that are associated with this era ==}}

* [[Animated Adaptation]]: for example, ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' cartoons, ''[[Star Trek: the Animated Series (Animation)|Star Trek theThe Animated Series]]'', Filmation's adaptations of ''[[Batman]]'', ''[[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]'', ''[[The Beatles (Animationanimation)|The Beatles]]'', etc.

** A notable aversion is ''[[Star Trek: the Animated Series (Animation)|Star Trek theThe Animated Series]]'', which remains the only Trek series to earn an Emmy Award in a non-technical field.

* [["Everybody Laughs" Ending]]

{{quote| '''Scooby Doo''': Scooby-dooby-doo!<br />

* [[Five -Man Band]]

* [[Half -Hour Comedy]]

* [[Narm Charm]]

* [[Recycled in Space]]: A recurring theme (''[[Jabberjaw (Animation)|Jabberjaw]]'' is ''Scooby-Doo'' under water, ''The Mighty Mightor'' was Space Ghost as a caveman, ''Gilligan's Planet'' LITERALLY had the Castaways in space, etc.), particularly for the [[Saturday Morning Cartoon|Sat AM]] Hanna-Barbera and Filmation cartoons.

* [[Scooby -Dooby Doors]]

* [[Speech -Impaired Animal]]

* [[Unmoving PlaidPattern]]

* [[Wheel -O -Feet]]

* [[You Meddling Kids]]: In all the ''Scooby-Doo''-esque shows.

[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:The Dark Age Ofof Animation]], The}}