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The Renaissance Age of Animation: Difference between revisions
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[[Warner Bros]]. had its own revival, via television. Several Spielberg and TMS produced efforts brought Looney Tunes-style comedy into the 1990s; ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' and ''[[Animaniacs]]'' were the most successful. Much of the crew from these shows went on to launch the [[DC Animated Universe]] with ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' in 1992. This time, Disney eventually aped ''them'' with a cult dark action series of their own, ''[[Gargoyles]]'', created by [[Greg Weisman]], even if they eventually mishandled it badly.
All things considered, the renaissance of ''television'' animation in North America did not really begin until 1987 with ''[[Mighty Mouse the New Adventures]]'' and didn't truly take off until the early '90s (the relatively few quality animated series of the '80s were the expection, not the rule), as opposed to animated ''movies'' which had a general rise in quality already during the late 1970s. However, in all fairness, it should probably be mentioned that many of the decried television cartoons of the '80s, that adult animation fans viewed as suffering from a general lack of quality (especially in regards to the writing department), were obviously still very entertaining to their kid demographic. This is evidenced by the fact that several of them proved so popular among juvenile audiences that they became huge pop culture phenomenons that are well remembered to this day. Examples of these includes the aforementioned '80s commercial shows as well as ''[[
Adult aimed animation finally came back to television during the renaissance age. ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' became a full-fledged series in 1989 and went on to become probably the most critically acclaimed television cartoon series of all time, and [[MTV]] caused a stir with [[Mike Judge]]'s ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]''. MTV, of course, was cable -- and from here came the last great progress that cemented the renaissance: the rise of cable television.
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Kid-centric cable networks such as [[Nickelodeon]] and [[Cartoon Network]] started with reruns and repackagings of cartoons from earlier eras, as well as syndicated fare (as did the USA Network's Cartoon Express block; this was also the ''modus operandi'' of the emerging home video market) but moved on to create their own quirky shows during the '90s. The former launched the "Nicktoons" brand with ''[[Doug]]'', ''[[Rugrats]]'', and ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'', while the latter had hits like ''[[Dexter's Laboratory|Dexters Laboratory]]'' and ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' that went by the moniker "Cartoon Cartoons". The latter's name was eventually dropped, however, as 2002's ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' was the last show to use the Cartoon Cartoon label.
All in all, this era did a good job of at least brushing away the worst aspects of the Dark Age. [[Parental Bonus]] was back, quality had soared, and profits were high. [[Anime]] also found headway in the U.S. in this period with ''[[Robotech]]'' becoming a cult favorite with its audacious flouting of contemporary North American TV animation conventions to present a sweeping military SF saga that made homegrown fare like ''[[
This is also the era that began the rise of computers in animation, riding the wave of the digital revolution that brought affordable PCs to the masses in the 1980s. Disney employed CG for major parts of their films starting with ''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]'', and by ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'' had refined it considerably (the backdrop of the ballroom scene was very much [[Conspicuous CGI]], as are the stampede from ''[[The Lion King]]'' and the crowd scenes in ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]''). In 1994, the first completely 3-D CG TV series, ''[[ReBoot]]'', came out of Canadian studio Mainframe Entertainment and premiered on [[ABC]] in the USA. And 1995 brought the first all 3-D movie and the one that launched Pixar into the spotlight and a position to drive the future of the animation industry: ''[[Toy Story]]''.
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* ''[[Garfield and Friends]]''
* ''[[Gargoyles]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Goof Troop]]''
* ''[[A Goofy Movie]]'': Technically not part of the [[Disney Animated Canon]] but very well-liked nonetheless.
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* ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe|He Man and The Masters of The Universe]]''
* ''[[Hey Arnold]]''
* ''[[Histeria
* ''[[Inhumanoids]]''
* ''[[Inspector Gadget]]''
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