MovieChat Forums > Arthur (1996) Discussion > Anyone else noticed the new animation?

Anyone else noticed the new animation?

posted 11 years ago by wehokid
5 replies | jump to latest

I really dislike it, it looks like Martha the talking dog, their heads just sorta move weird when their bodies move. I wish the animators would just stick to the original :(

[–] StarskyandChinaHutch 11 years ago

Just the thousands of people who don't seem to be able to talk/complain about anything else. Unless PBS gets more funding (we now need Mr. Rogers more than ever) we're stuck with it, so might as well look on the bright side... like, at least they didn't change the general art style or anything. Or, Brown forbid, switch to CGI.

[–] wehokid 11 years ago

I suppose you're right, its a minor change so I will try to get used to it..sigh

[–] PJSparkle 11 years ago

I don't consider it the same show anymore. Not just the animation, but the content as well is a lot different than the earlier episodes. Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of good shows. They go on for too long, and continue going down in quality until they are shadows of their former selves.

Nothing stays the same forever.

[–] Stompgal_87 11 years ago

I first heard of the Flash animation from season 16 onwards in Jambareeqi's mini-review of the series. While he stated that the first 15 seasons had more fluid, sketchy animation or something like that, he had a small gripe of the Flash animation. By the time I finished watching this review, I decided to check out some of the newer episodes myself, the first of which I saw was Flippity Francine. Although the characters looked the same way as they did in earlier seasons and the colours are more vibrant than they've ever been, the animation is not quite the same as it used to be, what with the odd jerky, choppy movement and pretty basic lip sync. Mind you the season 16 episodes I watched still had decent story lines.

Animation for life

[–] willkins-jason 11 years ago

I don't think you can compare this to Martha Speaks. That show has used Flash animation since the very beginning and it's a lot more fluid and crisper-looking than this show.

Arthur's animation company for Seasons 1-15, Cookie Jar Entertainment, went out of business so with a sixteenth season on the way, they had no choice but to switch to 9 Story Entertainment, their current animation company. When I first saw the previews for Season 16, which I heavily anticipated, I was pissed off and disgusted. It looked like a computer game. Flash still doesn't work for this show, but I got used to it.

And I don't see why the animation has to affect the show's content. The first half of Season 16 was pretty weak and disappointing, but then we got some really great episodes ("The Last Tough Customer," "Buster's Book Battle," "Sue Ellen Vegges Out," "So Funny I Forgot to Laugh," "Best Day Ever," "Buster Bombs," "Opposites Distract," "Just the Ticket," "All Thumbs," "Kidonia") since then.

"Long live your idols, may they never be your rivals"