Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[Sgt Floyd]

Wait, it's the same animation studio that does Wild Kratts? O_O

There's no excuse for this then. Wild Kratts has amazing animation...

 

[Drtooth]

9 Story Arthur looks like a Pixar film compared to the preview of the new Teen Titans cartoon. Ugh.

But I do see why Wild Kratts is better looking. It's extremely stylized, and it manages to be very fluid in its movements. I don't know what they're doing with Arthur. Seems like they want to try to recreate hand drawn animation in flash by using as little hand drawing as possible. Not to mention how uber perfect movement is. While not fluid by any means, it's incredibly mechanical. That's not present at all in Wild Kratts.

Still don't see why they didn't just keep DHX. That Pony thing has excellent Flash animation. It almost looks like Fosters. Ditto Martha Speaks. And Martha Speaks is also WGBH produced.

Seriously... I could gush about Martha Speaks all day.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I still don't get what you see in Martha Speaks's animation. It's not nearly as stiff looking as Arthur but I wouldn't say its more fluid. I think it's kinda in between.

 

[D'Snowth]

Okay...

1. Arthur is extremely out of character.
2. This plot has been done to death.
3. I forgot they replaced Sue Ellen's voice, she sounds like Muffy with a cold.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Don't care. Slink is in the background. I approve.

 

[Drtooth]

I still don't get what you see in Martha Speaks's animation. It's not nearly as stiff looking as Arthur but I wouldn't say its more fluid. I think it's kinda in between.

It's slightly more fluid... but the real trick they use is slowing down the frame rate just a bit so the movements look less mechanical and more TV cartoon like. There are definitely scenes of more fluidity though. But it is less stiff than most Flash cartoons. Then of course they're Word Girl that staves off stiff arm and leg movements by giving every character rubber hose limbs. And that show was by the people that pioneered Squigglevision. That's improvement.

1. Arthur is extremely out of character.

Arthur has small moments of character weakness, sure. Like the episode where he cheated at games because he was sick of losing the very board game he bought (pfft.. been there). And that time he passive aggressively called Francine a marshmallow (back when Francine was a smug near bully of a character). But that's completely out of character. Completely.

 

[BoatofCar]

Off topic, but something I've always wondered about Arthur's character designs. Why do the outlining lines have breaks in them? Is it just a stylistic choice? It's always seemed odd to me.

 

[Drtooth]

Yes. It's to ape the look of the original books. The backgrounds look far more like the original book illustrations than the line breaks, but I quite like the stylization that brings. it makes the show look very unique. It's a pain in the neck to attempt in fan art, but it makes the show look like nothing else on television.

 

[D'Snowth]

I shoulda started an ImmaArthur account:

I just happened to think: you forgot Larry King.

 

[Drtooth]

I just happened to think: you forgot Larry King.

Eh... that's questionable if it's a canonical thing that's really happening or not. I don't count it, nor do I count Postcards from Buster. And Also, I left out Marc Brown's creator cameo as the guy who created Bionic Bunny. That was too brilliant to make fun of.