Cel Animated Show That Switched to Digital Coloring

[cheril59]

Sheesh… This even have thinking when some cel animated shows have switched to digital ink and paint animation at some point.

I think the South Korea show Dooly the Little Dinosaur used cel animation for the 1987-88 series while the 2008 revival used digital ink and paint animation, I think I know this 87-88 series used this cel animation one while the 2008 revival used the digital ink and paint animation?

Although Family Guy was already used digital ink and paint animation for the start of the series until used Toon Boom starting with Season 8, the unaired pitch version of Death has a Shadow used hand-drawn cel animation instead of this?

However, none of the episodes of The Busy World of Richard Scarry used digital ink and paint animation while Mona the Vampire already used this digital ink and paint animation on the start. And Caillou already used digital ink and paint animation at the start until switched to flash starting with sesaon 4 (as according to the credits on season 1 episodes for the series, this was animated in digital ink and paint instead of being cel animated.)

As Little Bear have already used digital ink and paint animation, I think this was probably hand-drawn cel animated before this?

And for this following, the 1995-97 French/British animated series of Mr. Men and Little Miss pilot episode "Little Miss Splendid's Gift" have used cel animation while the entire show used ink and paint digital animation.

The unaired Family Guy pilot pitch used digital coloring, so therefore Family Guy used this method from the very start.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

The unaired Family Guy pilot pitch used digital coloring, so therefore Family Guy used this method from the very start.

Oh, yes, I thought this used cel animation, it has used the digital coloring, as I know it, the first season of Dora the Explorer already used digital ink and paint animation and not used cel animation, and I know that Mickey Mouse Works episodes/shorts used digital coloring starting on later season one episodes and season 2 and 3.

And I was just saying, Dooly the Little Dinosaur used digital coloring ink and paint animation on the 2008 revival while the original 1987-88 used traditional hand-drawn cel animation.

Well, glad I know for this.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

Episode 97a -"20,000 Patties Under the Sea" uses recycled footage of Episode 3a - "Jellyfishing"

Well, I think the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Ugh" used footages from "SB-129".

 

[cheril59]

Well, I think the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Ugh" used footages from "SB-129".

That it did.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

Even though The Simpsons episode "The Great Louse Detective" is the first full time to use the digital ink and paint animation, the Frank Grimes flashback scene uses the clip from the cel animated episode "Homer's Enemy".

 

[disman00911]

I never knew that "Radioactive Man" episode from "The Simpsons" used digital ink and paint. Yet at the same time, I always wondered why that episode looked "different" from the other "Simpsons" episodes that were airing at the time as it look brighter than normal.

Wasn't Hanna-Barbara the first studio to ever use digital ink & paint on some of their shows? Several Hanna-Barbara shows from the mid-80s to the 90s used digital ink and paint, which kinda shocked me as I always assumed that trend didn't happen until the late 1990s, in additional to H-B's reputation for cheap, limited animation. When I was younger, I always wondered why some episodes of the "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" and the 80s version of the Jetsons looked "different" from others.

Aside from "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and the 80s episodes of "The Jetsons", here are some of the other H-B shows/specials that used ink and paint included:
- The Christmas episode from a 1984 episode of the "The New Scooby Doo and Scrappy Show" that had Fred but not Velma. I remember seeing it when Cartoon Network was airing Christmas-related programing. A few other episodes of that show may had also used digital ink/paint.
- Later seasons of "Smurfs", such as the 1987 Christmas special that also aired on Cartoon Network.
- Later seasons of "Snorks"
- Some episodes of "Yogi's Treasure Hunt".
- "Scooby Doo & the Reluctant Werewolf" - This was the only one of the H-B "Superstar 10" made-for-TV films that I know of that had used digital ink and paint. The other two Scooby Doo films and "The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones" used traditionally cels.
- I think the infamous "Yo Yogi" also had some episodes in digital ink and paint.
- "2 Stupid Dogs"
- "Scooby Doo's Arabian Nights" straight-to-video 1994 movie
- A few of the "What-A-Cartoons" shorts that aired on Cartoon Network also used digital ink and paint, most notably the first "Johnny Bravo" short. The 2nd Johnny Bravo short (and the series itself) used traditional cels.

 

[cheril59]

I never knew that "Radioactive Man" episode from "The Simpsons" used digital ink and paint. Yet at the same time, I always wondered why that episode looked "different" from the other "Simpsons" episodes that were airing at the time as it look brighter than normal.

Wasn't Hanna-Barbara the first studio to ever use digital ink & paint on some of their shows? Several Hanna-Barbara shows from the mid-80s to the 90s used digital ink and paint, which kinda shocked me as I always assumed that trend didn't happen until the late 1990s, in additional to H-B's reputation for cheap, limited animation. When I was younger, I always wondered why some episodes of the "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" and the 80s version of the Jetsons looked "different" from others.

Aside from "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and the 80s episodes of "The Jetsons", here are some of the other H-B shows/specials that used ink and paint included:
- The Christmas episode from a 1984 episode of the "The New Scooby Doo and Scrappy Show" that had Fred but not Velma. I remember seeing it when Cartoon Network was airing Christmas-related programing. A few other episodes of that show may had also used digital ink/paint.
- Later seasons of "Smurfs", such as the 1987 Christmas special that also aired on Cartoon Network.
- Later seasons of "Snorks"
- Some episodes of "Yogi's Treasure Hunt".
- "Scooby Doo & the Reluctant Werewolf" - This was the only one of the H-B "Superstar 10" made-for-TV films that I know of that had used digital ink and paint. The other two Scooby Doo films and "The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones" used traditionally cels.
- I think the infamous "Yo Yogi" also had some episodes in digital ink and paint.
- "2 Stupid Dogs"
- "Scooby Doo's Arabian Nights" straight-to-video 1994 movie
- A few of the "What-A-Cartoons" shorts that aired on Cartoon Network also used digital ink and paint, most notably the first "Johnny Bravo" short. The 2nd Johnny Bravo short (and the series itself) used traditional cels.

And "Drip Dry Drips", one of a few digitally-colored cartoons animated by StarToons. And it is a "What-a-Cartoon".
"2 Stupid Dogs" and "Super Secret Secret Squirrel".

 

[Classic Speedy]

I never knew that "Radioactive Man" episode from "The Simpsons" used digital ink and paint. Yet at the same time, I always wondered why that episode looked "different" from the other "Simpsons" episodes that were airing at the time as it look brighter than normal.

Wasn't Hanna-Barbara the first studio to ever use digital ink & paint on some of their shows? Several Hanna-Barbara shows from the mid-80s to the 90s used digital ink and paint, which kinda shocked me as I always assumed that trend didn't happen until the late 1990s, in additional to H-B's reputation for cheap, limited animation. When I was younger, I always wondered why some episodes of the "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" and the 80s version of the Jetsons looked "different" from others.

Aside from "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and the 80s episodes of "The Jetsons", here are some of the other H-B shows/specials that used ink and paint included:
- The Christmas episode from a 1984 episode of the "The New Scooby Doo and Scrappy Show" that had Fred but not Velma. I remember seeing it when Cartoon Network was airing Christmas-related programing. A few other episodes of that show may had also used digital ink/paint.
- Later seasons of "Smurfs", such as the 1987 Christmas special that also aired on Cartoon Network.
- Later seasons of "Snorks"
- Some episodes of "Yogi's Treasure Hunt".
- "Scooby Doo & the Reluctant Werewolf" - This was the only one of the H-B "Superstar 10" made-for-TV films that I know of that had used digital ink and paint. The other two Scooby Doo films and "The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones" used traditionally cels.
- I think the infamous "Yo Yogi" also had some episodes in digital ink and paint.
- "2 Stupid Dogs"
- "Scooby Doo's Arabian Nights" straight-to-video 1994 movie
- A few of the "What-A-Cartoons" shorts that aired on Cartoon Network also used digital ink and paint, most notably the first "Johnny Bravo" short. The 2nd Johnny Bravo short (and the series itself) used traditional cels.

There's an interesting article about Hanna Barbera's early forays into digital coloring.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

And I was just saying… I don't know if Mickey Mouse Works started using digital ink and paint animation on one episode, we will think about this.

Judging for this theory that the first two episodes of Dora the Explorer used traditional cel animation instead, however in reality and was true that it already used digital ink and paint animation for the start of the show.

And the first season of Caillou, Kipper, Rocket Power, Futurama and Animal Stories already used digital ink and paint animation on the start, while though the Disney series of Doug, PB&J Otter and Whatever Happened To... Robot Jones still uses traditional cel animation for the full time.

And for the SpongeBob SquarePants half-hour episode "Ugh", the footage from the cel animated episode "SB-129" was used during the scene before SpongeGar, Patar and Squog's introduction by the French Narrator.

Just curious that Dooly the Little Dinosaur used traditional cel animation for the 1987-88 series/first season while the 2008 revival/second and final season used digital ink and paint animation.

And for this, none of the episodes of the 1986 series of Pound Puppies used digital ink and paint animation.

 

[ToonJay723]

And I was just saying… I don't know if Mickey Mouse Works started using digital ink and paint animation on one episode, we will think about this.

I found which episodes were done on cels

while though the Disney series of Doug, PB&J Otter and Whatever Happened To... Robot Jones still uses traditional cel animation for the full time.

One episode of PB&J Otters was painted digitally.

 

[cheril59]

Go to 11:30:

Even that was made in 2004, and it used hand-painted cels instead of digital ink and paint.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Mahoromatic's first season was cel painted but season 2 and onward switched to digital coloring. Source.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

As even though Arthur was switched to digital ink and paint animation since Season 4, the show was switched to Flash animation starting with Season 16.

 

[cheril59]

As even though Arthur was switched to digital ink and paint animation since Season 4, the show was switched to Flash animation starting with Season 16.

Does the first five seasons of the show look like it was done on cels to you? Well, guess again, it used digital ink and paint right at the start, just the colors weren't as bright yet.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

Does the first five seasons of the show look like it was done on cels to you? Well, guess again, it used digital ink and paint right at the start, just the colors weren't as bright yet.

Oh yes, I know, I thought this first five seasons looked like they were cel animated on the show.

And I know that there's more The Super Mario Bros. Super Show episodes that used digital ink and paint animation including Jungle Fever and Robo Koopa.

And there's no episodes of the Disney series of Doug that used digital ink and paint animation.

The Magic School Bus had none of some episodes that used the digital coloring animation.

And for sure that though The Simpsons fully used the digital ink and paint animation since Season 14, only four episodes of season 14 that used cels.

 

[ToonJay723]

An earlier example of digital ink and paint for Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, used briefly in "Little Blue Ed".

 

[cheril59]

An earlier example of digital ink and paint for Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, used briefly in "Little Blue Ed".

Wow...how did I miss that?

 

[Dylan James Yi]

Okay, I thought about not to mention or just mention this, Dooly the Little Dinosaur used cel animation for the 1987-88 series/Season 1 while the 2009 revival/Season 2 used the digital ink and paint animation, how interesting or this makes sense.

And I thought the first two episodes of Dora the Explorer used cels instead of digital coloring, I think those first two episodes already used this, but not cel animated.

And there's no Cow and Chicken episodes that used digital coloring and none of the Doug episodes used this.

There is no Garfield and Friends episodes that used digital ink and paint animation.

And the only Mr. Men and Little Miss French/British 1995 animated series to use cels was the pilot "Little Miss Splendid's Gift" while the whole show was animated using digital ink and paint coloring.

 

[TeridaxXD001]

Pokémon actually experimented way before that episode:

• The fifth Japanese ending theme, "Type: Wild" (November 1998) looks to me like it used digital coloring, at least in the still image of Ash and Pikachu at the end (I've never actually read this, it's just based on my own observations and comparisons).
• The second Japanese opening "The Rivals" (January 1999) has one shot that was digital: the actiony one with Misty's Staryu, Ash's Charizard, and Ash's Snorlax. It was also used in the second English opening "Pokémon World."
• The sixth Japanese ending, "Riding on Lapras" (July 1999) also looks like it uses digital coloring (again, I've never actually read this, it's just based on my own observations and comparisons).
• The third Japanese opening, "OK!" (October 1999) is entirely digital. The third English opening "Pokémon Johto" mostly consists of footage from it, but also uses cel shots taken from the actual episodes.
• From this point on, it seems that all the Japanese openings and endings used digital coloring (minus the episode clips sometimes used in the endings), and the English openings continued to recycle this footage. However, the fourth English opening, "Born to Be a Winner" (August 2001) is actually mostly brand new, original animation, borrowing only a few shots from its Japanese counterpart "Aim to Be a Pokémon Master (Whiteberry Version)." This original footage is also entirely digital.
• The original animation from "Pokémon de English" (an educational segment from the Pocket Monsters Encore series) appears to be digital. Pocket Monsters Encore ran from October 19, 1999 to September 17, 2002; I'm not sure if "Pokémon de English" was present for that whole run.
• Mewtwo Returns (December 2000), a multi-part TV special in Japan and a direct-to-video movie in the USA, was entirely digital.
• Note that even after the series went digital full time, the theatrical movies continued to use mostly cels until the tenth movie, The Rise of Darkrai, in July 2007.

An earlier example of digital ink and paint for Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, used briefly in "Little Blue Ed".

If I had to hazard a guess, it would be that the comic book effect on Eddy's head was much easier to achieve on a computer (vector scaling and such).

One more thing. I believe Jon McClenahan mentioned on this very site that the Animaniacs segment "Dot - The Macadamia Nut" had one sequence composited digitally: the slot machine effect, though I'm not sure it actually used digital coloring for anything.

 

[wiley207]

Does the first five seasons of the show look like it was done on cels to you? Well, guess again, it used digital ink and paint right at the start, just the colors weren't as bright yet.

Yeah, and I've pointed out that I think in the first season, AKOM may have had a computer system identical to the old Hanna-Barbera one that was later sent to Wang Film Productions, because at times several of the first season "Arthur" episodes (the earlier ones in production order with the whitish tongues, more exaggerated movements and animation mistakes. etc.) tend to look similar to the stuff Wang animated using the H-B computer system in the early-to-mid 90s.
And regarding the H-B computer system, I know "Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears" used it, making that and "Reluctant Werewolf" the only two Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 TV movies to use it. (With "Reluctant Werewolf," I think it could be because both Wang and Fil-Cartoons did the actual animation, so H-B digitally colored and composited it in-house as an effort to make it look as consistent as possible.) And as for shows in the early-to-mid 90s that Wang animated on using the computer system, this includes for Hanna-Barbera: "Yo Yogi!", "2 Stupid Dogs" and "Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights" (this one REALLY shows how dated the computer system had gotten by that point!) Outside of H-B, Wang used the computer system on a few early 90s "Buttons and Rusty" specials, the 1993-95 "The Pink Panther" series (select episodes, others used cel animation), the "Ren & Stimpy" "Cheesefist" bumper, "The Fantastic Four", "Tales From The Cryptkeeper" (again, on select episodes only), and possibly those two "All Dogs Go To Heaven: The Series" episodes that were digitally colored (they did look pretty cheesy compared to the cel-animated episodes.) I think it was in the late 1990s where Wang finally got a new computer system that was a lot better to use, to replace the old H-B system.