Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[Drtooth]

Preview of the new animation...

It's not quite as bad as I thought, but it looks like Jacob Two-Two. It just doesn't fit.

 

[Mo Frackle]

I hate to be harsh, but Ladonna's voice is already getting on my nerves.

And I agree, the animation doesn't quite seem to fit. It looks more like something you'd see on PBS's website. And man, the characters sure are stiff.

 

[D'Snowth]

You can tell it's Flash... I mean granted, it LOOKS pretty good for Flash animation (I'm wondering how they managed to pull off coloring those characters when the outlines don't even fully connect), but the characters' overall expressions and body movements are too stiff and robotic... Buster's reaction to Muffy dropping a snowball down his back? Yeah, that looked really unconvincing.

 

[Drtooth]

There are far better Flash animated shows out there...

Look at The Mr. Men Show.

That's incredibly fluid stuff right there. I wish they got Renegade Studios instead of 9 Story.

Heck, that thing about Ponies has some straight up fluid Flash animation. Even the first Flash cartoon, Mucha Lucha had more fluidity than this. But it's not terrible. Just... I think PBS gave them the squeeze job do to lack of funding. If they had Arthur Merchandising that went back into the TV show, they could have kept the overseas outsourced stuff a little longer.

Sigh... Really. It's been on 16 years, and there's no merchandising anymore except for Gluten free baked good mixes and Annies Macaroni and Cheese (which is actually VERY good. Much better than Kraft's stuff).

 

[D'Snowth]

Actually, you know what this is starting to remind me of? Those 32-bit computer story books from the early 90s (before the TV show)... remember those? I remember in Grade 2 or so, we had "Arthur's Teacher Trouble".

 

[Sgt Floyd]

The facial expressions! My eyes! They Burn! >_<

I'm sorry, but I am going to have to disagree with everyone and say that animation has to be some of the worst flash animation I have ever seen on a tv show.

 

[D'Snowth]

Wait a minute...

Is Arthur in wide screen now? Gee, can't they leave ANYTHING alone? Even Martin Scorsese is saying enough with all this digital filmmaking and stuff.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm sorry, but I am going to have to disagree with everyone and say that animation has to be some of the worst flash animation I have ever seen on a tv show.

Yeah. They use TOO many motion tweens... but I've seen worse. Shows where they don't have head turns at all, even more motion tweens. The worst would be Doodlebops Roadshow. From the clips I've seen, it looks like a high school kid's art school project when he was just learning the program. They were even stiffer than THIS, if you can believe it.

I still think it's sad that the first Flash Animated cartoon series (Mucha Lucha) looks more modern than this does. Why can't anyone take cues from Fosters Home or The Mr. Men show? It's a tool to animate, just stop using too many short cuts.

Wait a minute...

Is Arthur in wide screen now? Gee, can't they leave ANYTHING alone? Even Martin Scorsese is saying enough with all this digital filmmaking and stuff.

Yeah? It was supposed to be two or three seasons ago. It aired in wideframe everywhere else in the world, while we had it cropped.

 

[Mo Frackle]

I see they brought back some of the old unnamed Tough Customers. But Slink seems to have vanished.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I see they brought back some of the old unnamed Tough Customers. But Slink seems to have vanished.

I noticed that. Wasn't gonna say anything since people already know how I feel about Slink never being on the show...but since you brought it up...

AAARRRGGGHH!!! Bring back Slink already!