39,327
edits
m (categories and general cleanup) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:Renaissance_6935_6462.jpg|frame|A sampling of influential animation from this era.<ref> In order: Fievel from ''[[
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 ''[[
Fortunately, things got better.
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 ''[[
Outside of TMS, Disney defector [[Don Bluth]] started making movies with 1982's ''[[
The Disney animation unit was not shuttered after all after the failure of ''[[
In 1989, Disney brought out their first animated canon film based on a fairy tale in 30 years. ''[[
By the end of [[The Nineties]], rival studios had launched their own feature animation units, most notably [[
[[Warner Bros]]. had its own revival, via television. Several Spielberg and TMS produced efforts brought Looney Tunes-style comedy into the 1990s; ''[[
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 ''[[G.I. Joe (Franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'', ''[[
Adult aimed animation finally came back to television during the renaissance age. ''[[The Simpsons (
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 ''[[
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 ''[[
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
Depending on who you ask, the deterioration of this era began somewhere towards the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s. The seeds may have been sown in 1995, when Disney distributed [[Pixar]]'s ''[[
Perhaps worst of all, Disney [[Sequelitis|started producing direct-to-video sequels, prequels, and/or interquels to most of their Modern Age films via their television animation units]], which sold well but didn't touch the quality of the real things. The sales were so good that even Golden Age and Dark Age efforts were given this treatment, to the increasing horror of adult Disney fans. It can be argued that the "cheapquels" led to a fatal dilution of the Disney brand name, causing audiences to take less interest in their newer animated canon efforts. And when rival studios (particularly MGM and Universal Studios) started doing the same thing with films ''they'' owned the rights to, video stores were glutted with unwanted, unworthy sequels to everything from ''[[
Also, in an ironic twist, the successes of animation and children's programming on cable helped to wound animation on broadcast TV, killing the weekday animation block outright. As animation was an expensive medium at the time, increasing competition led to a greater fragmenting of the audience. With smaller audiences for each network, plus increasing restrictions on advertising content in children's programming (daytime animation still got redlined into the Ghetto), animation blocks became increasingly less profitable. The twin developments of a fracturing audience and animation's move to cable (and needing to make do with cable's smaller budgets), led to declines in animation quality. Work was outsourced to overseas studios. computer coloring eventually replaced ink and paint, and soon [[Adobe Flash|Flash]] made inroads as an animation tool.
Line 41:
== Characters/Series/Films that are associated with this era ==
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', and the two direct to video sequels.
* ''[[Anastasia (Animation)|Anastasia]]''
* ''[[
** ''[[Wakko's Wish
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
** ''[[Batman
** ''[[Batman
* ''[[
* ''[[Beethoven
* ''[[Betty Boop]]'': Received two television specials in the 80's; "The Romance of Betty Boop" (1985), and "Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery" (1989).
* ''[[Beetlejuice (
* ''[[
* ''[[Bobby's World]]''
* ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Captain N]]''
* ''[[Captain Planet and
* ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]'': Along with ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Cartoon All
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* ''[[Christmas in Tattertown]]'': A 1988 TV special [[Ralph Bakshi]] made for [[Nickelodeon]], made in an attempt to revive the 1920s' rubberhose cartoon style. Nickelodeon intended it to be a series, but Bakshi knew this would never work, so it never went past this pilot.
* ''[[
* ''[[Cool World]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[The Critic (
* ''[[
* ''[[Darkwing Duck (
* ''[[
* ''The Devil And Daniel Mouse'': An esoteric 80's made for TV film.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* [[Disney Animated Canon]]
** ''[[The Fox and
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
** [[
** ''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]''
** ''[[Beauty and
** ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]''
** ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]''
** ''[[
** ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]''
** ''[[Fantasia|Fantasia 2000]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** ''[[
* ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Fern Gully]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[The Flight of Dragons]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Freddie
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[G.I. Joe (Franchise)|G.I. Joe]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[A Goofy Movie]]'': Technically not part of the [[Disney Animated Canon]] but very well-liked nonetheless.
* ''[[
* ''Gremlins 2'': Features an opening cartoon segment starring Bugs and Daffy.
* [[Hayao Miyazaki]] films, such as ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[He
* ''[[
* ''[[Histeria (Animation)|Histeria]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[The Iron Giant]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Jonny Quest:
* ''[[Ka Blam!
* ''[[
* ''[[The Last Unicorn (
* ''[[
* ''[[Little Nemo]]'': Adventures in Slumberland
* ''[[Looney Tunes in
* ''[[Mickey Mouse Works]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Mike, Lu
* ''[[
* ''[[Ms Doubtfire]]'': Has a cartoon segment contributed by [[Chuck Jones]].
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''The New Adventures of [[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[The Pagemaster]]''
* ''[[The Pebble and
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** ''[[Pinky, Elmyra
* ''[[
* ''[[Pokémon (
* ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Quest for Camelot]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Rayman]]: The Animated Series'': An ''extremely'' short lived [[All CGI Cartoon]] series, very, VERY loosely based off of the limbless wonder.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Rock-a-Doodle
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Roughnecks
* ''[[Rover Dangerfield]]''
* ''[[
** ''[[The Rugrats Movie]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Saint Seiya]]'': One of the series that also started the Anime Craze of the 90s, but in Latin America and, to a (sightly) lesser degree, Europe.
* ''[[Scooby Doo in Arabian Nights]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[The Simpsons (
* ''[[The Smurfs (
* [[Sonic Sat AM
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog The Movie]]'': Also noteworthy for being [[Video Game Movies Suck|one of those rarities of rarities: a GOOD video game movie.]]
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Lola Bunny made her debut in this film as a [[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Stay Tuned]]'': A live action feature, notable for an animated segment contributed by [[Chuck Jones]].
* ''[[Superman: The Animated Series
* ''[[
* ''[[The Swan Princess]]'': Notable in how frequently it attempts to defy the Disney formula, while having the characters still end up [[Genre Blind]] for other reasons, and ultimately succumbing to the Disney formula. Also the most successful animation motion picture to come from ''Nest'' (meaning: neither Disney nor Dreamworks nor Don Bluth.)
* ''[[
* ''[[Thumbelina]]'': As [[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation
* ''[[Tom and Jerry: The Movie
* ''[[Tom and Jerry Kids]]''
* [[Toonami]]: Cartoon Network's original "action" after-school block, launched in '97 near the end of the age. While showcasing such hits as [[
* ''[[
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987
* ''[[The Thief and
* [[
** ''[[The Transformers (
** ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Twice Upon a Time]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Unico And The Island Of Magic]]''
* ''[[
* ''Volere Volare'': A french [[Roger Rabbit Effect]] romantic comedy.
* ''[[
* ''[[Wallace and Gromit]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[X-Men (
* ''[[
* ''[[
Line 242:
== Real Life People Directly Involved With This Era ==
* [[Don Bluth]]
* [[Cree Summer]]: Actress/voice actress who got her start in the beginning of this era with her role as Penny in ''[[
* [[Matt Groening]]
* [[John Kricfalusi]], the creator of ''[[
* [[Hayao Miyazaki]]
* Isao Takahata
Line 257:
* [[Mike Judge]]
* Skip Jones, animator on many of the films of this era including several of Bluth's films.
* Joe Murray, creator of ''[[
* [[Arlene Klasky]] and [[Garbor Csupo]] of [[Klasky Csupo]].
* David Kirschner, who was largely responsible for ''[[
* [[
* Craig Bartlett, an animator for ''[[Pee
* Jim Jinkins, creator of ''[[
* Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, who wrote for ''[[
* Fred Seibert, the producer behind [[What a Cartoon Show|World Premiere Toons]] and ''[[
* Yutaka Fujioka: Founder of [[T Ms]] and starter of this age of animation.
* [[Toshihiko Masuda]]: Chief [[T Ms]] Directer of the Disney and [[Warner Bros]] shows that TMS worked on.
Line 280:
* Hiroaki Noguchi
* Yukio Okazaki
* Shojiro Nishimi: Before doing ''[[Tekkon Kinkreet]]'' for [[Studio 4
* Osamu Dezaki
* Nelson Shin: Producer of ''[[The Transformers (
* [[Kath Soucie]]
* Pamela Segal-Aldon
Line 290:
----
== Real life people who are directly influenced by this era ==
* Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi. Animation historians, writers on 'Art Of' and other animation novelty books, and bloggers of the industry-popular [[
* Doug Walker, aka [[
Line 298:
* [[All Animation Is Disney]]: This trope runs rampant on Don Bluth's work, and it doesn't stop there.
* [[All CGI Cartoon]]: Started in this decade with both, [[Pixar]]'s films, and TV series ''[[
* [[Animated Adaptation]]: Though this does go back to the previous era, it began to happen more frequently in this era, with unlikely movies such as ''[[
** Animated adaptations of video games were also big at the time, with [[Sat AM Sonic the Hedgehog|mixed]] [[Super Mario Bros Super Show|results.]]
* [[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 Bump]]: '''IN ♠ SPADES.'''
* [[Arch Enemy|Arch-Competitor]]: [[Don Bluth]] to Disney from about the release of ''An American Tail'' untill ''All Dogs Go To Heaven'' was beaten by ''The Little Mermaid'' at the box office (after which Bluth stopped posing a real threat to Disney, arguably due to the departure of Steven Spielberg).
Line 311:
* [["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.
* [[Follow the Leader]]: The mentality of many of Disney's competitors during this era. Most of them failed miserably, though.
* [[George Lucas Throwback]]: Rampant. ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'' was designed to be just like the old Disney animated musicals, ''[[
* [[Ink Suit Actor]]: Happened quite a lot in Disney's movies during this period, such as the Genie in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' basically just being [[Robin Williams]], only blue and a [[Reality Warper]].
* [[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.
Line 319:
* [[Parental Bonus]]
* [[Prime Time Cartoon]]
* [[Recycled:
* [[Revival]]
* [[Saturday Morning Cartoon]]: Though by no means did they end during the Renaissance (there are still a few around today), this was the last animation era in which Saturday Morning Cartoons on network TV were still big contenders.
* [[Serkis Folk]]: Disney's first all CG character was the carpet from ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''. From there [[Serkis Folk]] would become increasingly more common, as traditional animation declined.
* [[Shout-Out]]: There were many shout outs to classic cartoons. ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
* [[Spinoff Babies]]
* [[The Movie]]: Many cartoon characters both old and new, such as ''[[Tom and Jerry: The Movie]]'', ''[[Felix the Cat]]'', ''[[Space Jam
* [[Thick Line Animation]]: Popularized by the success of ''[[
* [[Toilet Humor]]: Became increasingly more common place in the 1990s, especially with [[Gross-Out Show|Gross Out Shows]] like ''[[
* [[Too Good to Last]]: Even more so than the Golden Age.
** Can also apply to [[Warner Bros]]. and [[
* [[Were Still Relevant Dammit]]: The animation industry as a whole during this period. And boy did they prove it.
|