Why are All the Animation Studios in Japan?

[DrTooth]

I feel these cartoons didn't start getting really sloppy until 89 and the early 90's. But by then, quite a few companies moved out of animation from Toei and TMS, and went to other studios, some in Taiwan which were just starting out. DIC's 1990's cartoons had odd qualities to them. Ghostbusters, Captain N (first 2 seasons) and ALF still had pretty decent animation, but a lot of the stuff DIC did, like SMB3 had terrible, sloppy overseas stuff, not from Japan (except for the openings).

It's not to say that Japanese cartoon animation from the 80's was flawless. Quite a few problems arrose in translation. I remember hearing a story about Kidd Video in which the Japanese animators got the vocal recording, and it had a loud banging noise in it (like a garbage can was knocked over). They didn't know if they were supposed to animate it or not (if there's one thing you should take away from this conversation is that anime is animated first, and vocalised later).

Then of course, the talking out of the wrong character's mouth thing, which I assumed was a translation problem. Maybe a misunderstanding with the story boards...

Nah, their stuff can get really good.
It's the stuff from the south east asian countries that are crap.
Like Toon City, which Disney insists on using.

Again, it depends on the studio. Some like Rough Draft and Toon City do have some great stuff, but whoever Warner Brothers uses? They really aren't that good. I mean, I just can't stand how they look.

But back to Japanese animation, know what I miss? That grainy film quality the animations used to have. Inspector gadget season 2 looked very filmed. I miss that...

 

[Classic Speedy]

It's the stuff from the south east asian countries that are crap.
Like Toon City, which Disney insists on using.

Really? I think Toon City is one of the better studios Disney uses. House of Mouse looked great, and their work on many of the mid '90s Disney Afternoon shows was much livelier and more expressive than what, say, Wang or Sunwoo usually gave us.

but whoever Warner Brothers uses? They really aren't that good. I mean, I just can't stand how they look.

For which shows? WB's made a lot of series and used a variety of different overseas studios.

 

[BigLouMan20]

All this talk about animation errors remind me of a Garfield skit in which the errors were added on purpose.

 

[Bunai]

kind of makes me want to start a studio
and avoid outsourcing.

 

[Silverstar]

kind of makes me want to start a studio
and avoid outsourcing.

There's nothing wrong with outsourcing. It's a much better idea than doing all of those thousands of little drawings yourself.

 

[Leviathan]

I generally don't have a problem with most outsourced animation, but the animation for the Dilbert cartoon is some of the worst, most unappealing i've seen EVER.

It was done by a more obscure studio, which probably explains it.

 

[Classic Speedy]

I generally don't have a problem with most outsourced animation, but the animation for the Dilbert cartoon is some of the worst, most unappealing i've seen EVER.

It was done by a more obscure studio, which probably explains it.

Huh? Dilbert was animated by Akom, Yeson, and Rough Draft. They're not exactly obscure.

And the animation wasn't anything special (far too stoic for my liking), but I've seen much worse.

 

[Net1360]

All this talk about animation errors remind me of a Garfield skit in which the errors were added on purpose.

True, as well as the short-flight series Where's Waldo?

 

[DrTooth]

I think the worst animation I've ever seen was the Super Mario Bros. 3 Cartoon. I mean, especially the episode "Misadventures in babysitting." The animation is so staccatto and just... stiff and... oh God, I don't even know where to begin. It's that bad.

 

[Chris Wood]

Sunbow was responsible for some of the sloppiest animation I've seen in Transformers and G.I. Joe and, yet, Transformers and G.I. Joe became cult favorites despite the long list of errors in the animation.

Not really any worse than the most recent GI Joe/Transformers series.

 

[ChibiGoku]

Dare I bring up Lost Universe Episode 4 incident...? You guys haven't seen crappy animation until you seen the TV broadcast of that.

Here's a couple sample clips of the broadcast version: http://youtube.com/watch?v=C3Gw_L7BbEE http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qz42QVyzcIM&feature=related

 

[TServo2049]

Sorry to bump this thread, but early-90s DIC is indeed horrible. It was done at a plethora of studios Sei Young, Sae Rom, Hong Ying and Rainbow.

Definitely not on par with the Japanese studios, or Wang in Taiwan, or the better Korean studios.

And I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Hanho Heung-Up, which Nelvana almost solely utilized in the 80s and 90s (along with Wang for some of their mid/late-80s stuff). They also did Doug as well (the Nickelodeon version - no idea who did the Disney one).

I think Hanho may have been one of the most consistent Korean studios. Babar, Tintin, and Rupert always matched the original look of the source material.

 

[Classic Speedy]

And I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Hanho Heung-Up, which Nelvana almost solely utilized in the 80s and 90s (along with Wang for some of their mid/late-80s stuff). They also did Doug as well (the Nickelodeon version - no idea who did the Disney one).

I believe Hanho-Heung only did the first season or two of Nick Doug. Later seasons and Disney were handled by Plus One, the same company that animates many episodes of King of the Hill.

 

[Beat]

Does anyone have that "Outsourcing!" pic from the One Piece of crap video?

That says it better than anyone else can.

 

[dth1971]

What about Canadian animation studios like Cinar and Nelvana?

 

[Racattack!Force]

Weird thing is outsourcing may have never started if people kept a big interest in cartoons. Once interest began to drop, studios decided to save money (since animation was starting to get costly) and outsource to overseas animation studios. I hear that it's now gotten cheaper to do it here in the United States, but there is little formal training in the US for animators. Since there is now an industry overseas for animation (which the United States contributed to), most animation is outsourced there.

Also, that animation is the worst I ever saw...well not much worse than my first try at animation, but still pretty bad.

 

[Nexonius]

Take a look at these shows and see some really bad animation:



Gym Partner (Saerom?)
Camp Lazlo (Who cares? It stinks.)
Maya and Miguel (Yeson and Starburst)
Klutter (Eek! Stravaganza segment, animated by Film Roman and Rough Draft, and it still sucks, YouTube it).

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

I believe Hanho-Heung only did the first season or two of Nick Doug.

I could of sworn that I read that Jim Jenkins and crew did the entire first season of Doug by themselves in New York. Huh.

I'm trying to think of non-flash made animated series with their animation done without outsourcing, and the only two I can think of that do are Spumco-era Ren & Stimpy and Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, and I'm not even sure that they do.

 

[Dudley]

Take a look at these shows and see some really bad animation:



Gym Partner (Saerom?)
Camp Lazlo (Who cares? It stinks.)
Maya and Miguel (Yeson and Starburst)
Klutter (Eek! Stravaganza segment, animated by Film Roman and Rough Draft, and it still sucks, YouTube it).

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

The animation to those are basic TV level animation, it's not bad at all.
It seems more like you're listing cartoon that you simply hate.

 

[Racattack!Force]

Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, and I'm not even sure that they do.

I've seen in the credits of season four episodes that Rough Draft animates the episodes. But I'm not sure about the series as a whole.