The Renaissance Age of Animation: Difference between revisions

{{Useful Notes}}

 

[[File:Renaissance_6935_6462.jpg|frame|A sampling of influential animation from this era.<ref> In order: Fievel from ''[[An American Tail]]'', Ariel from ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', Butthead and Beavis from--take a guess--''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'', Buster Bunny and Babs Bunny (no relation) from ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'', Unit 01 from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', and Buzz and Woody from ''[[Toy Story]]''.</ref>]]

The return of animation to a point of artistic respect. At first [[The Dark Age of Animation]] persisted -- [[Limited Animation]] was still the rule on television. The [[Disney Animated Canon]] came close to ending for good when ''[[The Black Cauldron]]'', intended to be the stunning debut of a new generation of animators, didn't impress just-arrived company executives Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg; they recut it and it proceeded to tank at the box-office. [[Merchandise-Driven]] shows/specials such as ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe|He Man and The Masters of The Universe]]'', ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]'', ''[[Care Bears]]'', and ''[[The Transformers (animation)|The Transformers]]'' ruled 80s television animation and had parents' groups up in arms about children watching glorified toy commercials (commercials that were extremely split between gender lines at that).

 

As early as 1980 a Japanese Animation studio called Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Presently [[TMS Entertainment]]) sowed the first seeds that would eventually lead to the full-blown renaissance of animation when they teamed up with French company [[Di C]] in order to fund ''[[Ulysses 31]]''. The show worked, and it served as a precursor which eventually led to the start of this age of animation (TMS did try to get out of [[The Dark Age of Animation]] as early as 1971 with ''[[Lupin III]]'' series 1 but nothing worked until ''[[Ulysses 31]]''. ''[[Lupin III]]'' series 2 did do well, but it did not bring the industry out of the dark ages). TMS continued working with Dic until 1984 when two of their staff members, Tetsuo Katayama and Shigeru Akagawa, left TMS to found [[KKC and D Asia]]; but even after that TMS was still making the industry better, with their own productions like ''[[The Blinkins]]'', ''[[Mighty Orbots]]'', and ''[[Galaxy High]]'', and with shows like ''[[The Wuzzles]]'', ''[[Adventures of the Gummi Bears]]'' and ''[[DuckTales]]'' which were done in collaboration with [[Disney]], ultimately bringing quality animation to television for the first time ever. TMS were practically the sole producer of quality animation (and to a lesser extent, [[Studio Ghibli]]) until a man named [[John Kricfalusi]] teamed up with Ralph Bakshi to produce ''[[Mighty Mouse the New Adventures]]'', a show that helped bring back old school, insane "cartoony cartoons". This team up did not last long as [[John K]] went solo to do ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' for Nickelodeon. TMS stopped working with Disney after Motoyoshi Tokunaga founded [[Walt Disney Animation Japan]], and then came TMS's golden age, when the studio was working with [[Warner Bros]] to produce shows like ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'', ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' and ''[[Animaniacs]]''. TMS's last major production in this era was ''[[Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]]''.

 

[[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.

 

 

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.

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]''

** ''[[Batman: Mask of the Phantasm]]''

* ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]''

* ''[[Beethoven (TV series)|Beethoven: The Animated Series]]'': Yes, this does exist. That is all we're going to say about it.

** ''[[Fantasia|Fantasia 2000]]''

* ''[[Doug]]'', the very first Nicktoon, and the first TV show for Jumbo Pictures. Aired on both Nickelodeon and ABC (after getting bought by Disney)

* ''[[Duckman]]''

* ''[[DuckTales]]''

* ''[[G.I. Joe]]''

* ''[[Goof Troop]]''

* ''[[Gravedale High]]'': A [[Lost Forever|long-lost]] 1990's [[Hanna-Barbera]] cartoon.

* ''Gremlins 2'': Features an opening cartoon segment starring Bugs and Daffy.

* ''[[Tom and Jerry: The Movie|Tom and Jerry The Movie]]''

* ''[[Tom and Jerry Kids]]''

* ''[[Toy Story]]'': The first fully CGI animated film. [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on whether or not the success of this movie helped bring about the end of the renaissance era.

* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 series)]]''

* [[Animation Age Ghetto]]: A sad relic of the previous era. Animation did begin to overcome this somewhat, with the success of more adult cartoons such as ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''.

* [[Animation Bump]]: '''IN ♠ SPADES.'''

* [[Award Bait Song]]: A staple of animated films of this era.

* [[Conspicuous CG]]: In some of the 2-D movies from the late '80s and early '90s, it just looked weird when they tried to integrate computer animation because CG technology wasn't advanced enough yet. See the beginning of ''[[Thumbelina]]''.

* [[Direct to Video]]

* [[Disney Acid Sequence]]

* [["Everybody Laughs" Ending]]: Was still used A LOT during the '80s, though it stopped being taken seriously and played straight at some point during the '90s.

* [[Licensed Game]]: This trend would explode with the NES, and it continues to this day. Nearly any cartoon that has ever become famous has received a video game adaptation.

* [[Limited Animation]]: Not quite as present as in the dark age, but shades still existed throughout this era.

* [[Off-Model]]: Despite somewhat better animation, this still ran rampant throughout. The fact that literally everyone in North America and Japan were outsourcing did not help matters either.

* [[Parental Bonus]]

{{reflist}}

[[Category:TMS Entertainment]]

[[Category:The Nineties]]

[[Category:History of Animation]]