Cartoons that had a troubled production

[5YearsOnEastCoast]

It is well known that many media such as movies/shows/video games etc go through development. Sometimes it is smooth, but other times it has so many obstacles (examples: strict deadline, arguments on the set etc) in the way and it is a miracle that it even gets officially released. It can lead to them being of questionable quality, but that isn't always the case. And cartoons are no different.

And in this post you can post examples of cartoons that went through troubled production. One of the examples of cartoons that went through troubled production was Ren and Stimpy. When it launched back in 1991 on Nick, it was a hit and it put Nick on the map. But things weren't rainbow and sunshine behind the scenes.

There was poor communication regarding creative control from then-network head Linda Simensky, who outright told the crew that they had carte blanche on content under the incorrect assumption that they shared a consensus of just how far "too far" was. The result was constant disagreement and confusion between both parties on an issue-to-issue basis. Because of John K.'s insistence that the show should use only storyboards and not scripts, he had to fly to New York every time the network needed to approve stories. Each storyboard took 2 months to complete and be approved. Many episodes of season 1 were massacred by bad outsourcing. and part of this is because of work from Fil-Cartoons, a literal sweatshop studio in the Philippines with poor working conditions and such bad pay that employees were forced to sleep there.

It also had issues with John K's perfectionism. Spumco didn't had a lot of employees and John K will only hire the ones that meet his standards. He would also regularly torn apart the drawings of artist if they didn't meet his standards. One infamous example includes Stimpy shaking his butt in Stimpy's Invention was re-animated 16 times until it met John's approval.

It also had to deal with censorships with what was allowed to be aired on Nick. Some of the stuff was deemed either too violent or too gross-out. It also suffered from Schedule Slip and the episodes weren't meeting deadlines. And soon John K. was fired from Nick. Show continued without him for 3 more seasons and lasting for 52 episodes.

Any other examples of cartoons having a troubled production?

 

[prpis]

It is rumored that Butch Hartman butted heads with Steve Marmel during the production of Danny Phantom. Marmel wanted to steer the show into a darker direction with a continuing plot line, while Butch wanted it to be like Fairly Odd and lean into more comedic aspects. Both men have worked together for many years, as you can see Marmel’s name on almost all of Butch’s work before a certain point. Some even say he was the linchpin to Butch’s success. This all lead to Marmel leaving the show and the downwards spiral of the show’s third season, his last episode he had involvement with was the first episode of season 3: Eye for an Eye.

 

[Frontier]

Transformers Prime had a lot of production issues between all problems between Hasbro and the writing team, budget, and production time.

 

[Fone Bone]

Speaking of John Kricfalusi, The New Adventures Of Beany And Cecil comes to mind. It was Kricfalusi's first big bomb (but not his last) and the way he treated the crew was appalling. Bruce Timm has said how painful it was to work on that show. And the subtexts and messaging of Beany being some purposefully unlikable twerp means Kricfalusi never understood the cartoon and puppet show he claimed to venerate. It lasted 3 episodes on ABC before being replaced with reruns of the Bob Clampett cartoon and finally canceled entirely. It was Kricfalusi's first major red flag and it's amazing to me he still had a career after that.

 

[JMTV]

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is example of mine. I won't go into every detail, but to keep it short. MLP FIM's production was a mess from the start.

Lauren Faust and Hasbro are butting heads at each other due to creative differences. Lauren wanted to make MLP a action adventure show, while Hasbro wanted MLP to become a slice of life comedy.

Most of the writers from MLP are freelance writers rather than traditional show writers, and Hasbro couldn't even kept them on for some reason.

Then, Lauren left FIM and have Meghan McCarthy took over since late Season 2, and the show has gone to a different direction that feels like Hasbro is calling the shots rather than the showrunners themselves like Alicorn Twilight and Flurry Heart.

And, on top of that, McCarthy has become the head of storytelling for Hasbro and left FIM to work on the 2017 film. The original writers left and being replaced by new, inexperienced writers and Josh Haber( and later Nicole Dubac, and Mic Vogal) took over as the head writer and showrunner in Season 6 to 9. And man, everything just went to hell from there.

Episodes has to be scrapped or changed around, some episodes are trying to prop us Starlight at the expense of the main characters, bringing in the Student 6 and the school, it was such a mess.

Honestly, it's a miracle that FIM was able to last for almost a decade after the production hell. If it wasn't for the Brony phenomenon, then MLP would've been a much different place.

 

[Vuxovich]

Will someone please tell me about the production of Sonic Underground, because I have heard there was a turbulent relationship between DIC Entertainment and SEGA?

 

[[classic swim]]

Moral Orel was canned because the show became too dark (and interesting) for Mike Lazzo’s liking by the third season.

Was initially approved by Adult Swim for the purpose of more biting comedy, and Dino Stamatopoulos found the drama more compatible than repeating the same material over and over.

They weren’t used to an 11 minute Williams Street program not having to throw in a fart, so they felt threatened. Broadly looking at Orel as the stop motion [as] show that’s not Robot Chicken.

It’s a decision Lazzo “regrets” and generally something Adult Swim’s backpedaled on. Final season wrapped up very well in spite. They later made a Before Orel special while Dino was working on Frankenhole.


___________________________


Metalocalypse was a larger mess internally by the end. Dethklok had their world by the balls with tours and sponsors and everything in between, which Lazzo was losing grasp on.

Similarly to Orel, Lazzo had said “the story hijacked the comedy” on Metalocalypse.

Something to also sour the partnership was the short lived jump from 11 minutes to half hour episodes.

Doomstar Requiem being the last straw. A costly 40 minute rock opera special Brendon Small had done before wanting a season five.

Sad thing being that the special actually had humor. Doomstar Requiem was highly considerate of both what the network wanted and what the fans wanted. Small only made the fatal mistake of caring more for the audience that he knows Lazzo doesn’t speak for.

Fast forward... Metalocalypse gets cancelled.

Small hung up on Lazzo over the phone, and that argument was reportedly the last they had ever spoken.

Lazzo was really getting in that point of his career where he mostly cared about maintaining an iron fist. He became so used to cancelling any show off the cuff, he stopped caring about being at all odds with the demographic.

There’s that infamous story later where Adult Swim live-streams shredding the petition to bring back the show. Between that and the increase of “it’s dead, get over it” bumps, it ironically always translated to opinionated, hurt Lazzo rather than simple and snarky corp banter.

People had a point about fans overly complaining, but no one asked for the brand to quadruple down on dismissing one of their most successful originals. That still made them a lot of money!

And also... you could’ve just not allowed a 40 minute special to happen if you thought that bad of it. He had this very silly strategy of telling creators upfront what they’re doing isn’t funny, and then proceeds to give his stamp on it anyway.

 

[CNNickFan]

I hear some of Richard Williams' early movies were an absolute pain to work on.

I don't have any knowledge on the production of "Dilbert," but given Adam's track record, I can imagine working on that show wasn't exactly a walk in the park either.

As for John K, I know he hated working at DIC and Filmation, and honestly, I can see why. He has claimed that the people who worked there had no animation knowledge, and were always making ridiculous storyboards. Plus, the shows were stiff, and complex characters had to be redrawn multiple times.

And this isn't a cartoon, Sesame Street had some production issues when Northern Calloway was still on set.

 

[ShadowBeast]

And, on top of that, McCarthy has become the head of storytelling for Hasbro and left FIM to work on the 2017 film. The original writers left and being replaced by new, inexperienced writers and Josh Haber( and later Nicole Dubac, and Mic Vogal) took over as the head writer and showrunner in Season 6 to 9. And man, everything just went to hell from there.

Episodes has to be scrapped or changed around, some episodes are trying to prop us Starlight at the expense of the main characters, bringing in the Student 6 and the school, it was such a mess.

Honestly, it's a miracle that FIM was able to last for almost a decade after the production hell. If it wasn't for the Brony phenomenon, then MLP would've been a much different place.

It's a miracle the show had some gem episodes in those final three seasons like "The Perfect Pear". But yeah the show took a nosedive once Starlight was inserted in. I only liked a couple of the Student 6, the school could've worked if done right since it's up Twilight's alley.

 

[JMTV]

It's a miracle the show had some gem episodes in those final three seasons like "The Perfect Pear"

Yeah pretty much. Even though Perfect Pear is a fantastic episode of the show, but unfortunately it was only just the exception rather than the rule.

But yeah the show took a nosedive once Starlight was inserted in. I only liked a couple of the Student 6, the school could've worked if done right since it's up Twilight's alley.

Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with Starlight and the Student 6 if they weren’t existed as the expense of the Mane 6 just to prop them up just to fit the newer showrunners’ own agenda.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for representation in MLP. Ponies, Changlings, Yaks, Turtles, I don’t care. As long as the characters are good and stories are good, then I will love them. With Starlight and Student 6’s case, they are not good. Not because of the representation, but because they’re bad characters in a badly written story. In my opinion, that’s why I don’t like these characters.

As the old saying goes: never put your universe before your characters and your stories, and never put your agenda before your characters and your stories.

 

[Erased Paper]

Speaking of John Kricfalusi, The New Adventures Of Beany And Cecil comes to mind. [...] It lasted 3 episodes on ABC before being replaced with reruns of the Bob Clampett cartoon and finally canceled entirely.

I don't know if the exact number of episodes aired was ever confirmed. I keep seeing different numbers listed. It's really frustrating. Also, "New Adventures..." is a made up title. The actual title was just "Beany and Cecil".

 

[ShadowBeast]

Yeah pretty much. Even though Perfect Pear is a fantastic episode of the show, but unfortunately it was only just the exception rather than the rule.

Well that was only one example of a gem episode during those last three seasons. There were others. Though I don't recall any in season 9.

Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with Starlight and the Student 6 if they weren’t existed as the expense of the Mane 6 just to prop them up just to fit the newer showrunners’ own agenda.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for representation in MLP. Ponies, Changlings, Yaks, Turtles, I don’t care. As long as the characters are good and stories are good, then I will love them. With Starlight and Student 6’s case, they are not good. Not because of the representation, but because they’re bad characters in a badly written story. In my opinion, that’s why I don’t like these characters.

As the old saying goes: never put your universe before your characters and your stories, and never put your agenda before your characters and your stories.

Yeah, I agree, Starlight and the Student 6 should not have had been pushed into the front of the series. Starlight was pretty much someone's Twilight OC that they wanted inserted into the show.
The Student 6 was the result of Hasbro forcing in these group of characters. This was first hinted at with the Pillars of Old Equestria being the Mane 6 of the past and the Student 6 being of the future. The Student 6 could've worked best as a spin-off series that would allow them get their own stories without pushing away Twilight and her friends. Though I doubt it would last unless written well enough.
Unfortunately, the only character I liked from the Student 6 was the dragon Smolder. I was not a fan of the yaks and they were given too many episodes and Yona was no exception. I hate the new look for the Changelings so again, no exceptions with Ocellus.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

I hear some of Richard Williams' early movies were an absolute pain to work on.

Williams could say a word or two about troubled productions. His film The Thief and the Cobbler had such complex animation and financial difficulties it took about THIRTY YEARS to finish.

Vincent Price voiced the bad guy in that movie. It took so long to come out that it ended up being his final film - he died a month after the first edit was finally released.

 

[JMTV]

Well that was only one example of a gem episode during those last three seasons. There were others. Though I don't recall any in season 9.

Fair enough.

The Student 6 could've worked best as a spin-off series that would allow them get their own stories without pushing away Twilight and her friends.

Exactly. If Casagrandes can do that, then there's no excuse for Hasbro can do the same thing for The Student 6.

Unfortunately, the only character I liked from the Student 6 was the dragon Smolder.

Yeah, Smolder was at least tolerable in some parts.

I was not a fan of the yaks and they were given too many episodes and Yona was no exception.

I hate the yak characters. They're not funny and they completely wasted my time. Screw them!

(I'm not a big fan of Yona either. I don't care if she's cute. I just don't like her that much.)

I hate the new look for the Changelings

Don't even get me started on the Changelings. After the Season 6 finale when they redeemed the Changelings, I was done. I can go on of how it is a stupid decision to redeemed the Changelings, but that's a whole different discussion for another time.

 

[harry580]

I wonder if some of disney plus movies like ice age buck wild has production troubles

 

[Fone Bone]

I don't know if the exact number of episodes aired was ever confirmed. I keep seeing different numbers listed. It's really frustrating. Also, "New Adventures..." is a made up title. The actual title was just "Beany and Cecil".

It was three. I watched them over the air.

 

[Pooky]

Family Dog was supposed to air in 1991 and had some high profile advertising to that effect, but was ultimately postponed by two years due to a raft of issues, including the animation which was moved from Korea to Nelvana in Canada. When it ultimately aired in 1993 and the merchandise was official let loose from the warehouses they still weren't able to hit the original order of 13 (there were 10).

You know that infamous gag in Simpsons Treehouse of Horror III with the tombstones for Capitol Critters, Fish Police and Family Dog? Well that aired over six months before Family Dog.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Family Dog was supposed to air in 1991 and had some high profile advertising to that effect, but was ultimately postponed by two years due to a raft of issues, including the animation which was moved from Korea to Nelvana in Canada. When it ultimately aired in 1993 and the merchandise was official let loose from the warehouses they still weren't able to hit the original order of 13 (there were 10).

You're thinking of Taiwan. Family Dog was animated by Wang Film Productions. And despite that second article, AFAIK even though they moved pre-production work to Nelvana, they still used Wang for animation in the final aired product.

 

[Pooky]

Apologies, should have checked

 

[Fone Bone]

Also The Simpsons gag DID air after Family Dog. I actually knew what it was talking about when I saw it over the air. Family Dog aired around the same time as Capital Critters and before Fish Police.