In Defense of Bad Animation

Post Reply New Topic

A while ago I was reading some writings by John Kricfalusi (the creator of The Ren and Stimpy Show and The Ripping Friends) and he said that many TV shows like The Simpsons, South Park and Family guy have bad animation and send the message to youths that you don’t need to be good at animation well in order to be an animator.

Here is my response to John Kricfalusi: I don’t care.

I will admit that John Kricfalusi is amazingly good at animation, but the goal of a cartoon is not to be animated well. The goal of a cartoon is to entertain. One way to make a cartoon entertaining is by using good-quality animation, but good-quality animation is not entirely necessary for a cartoon to be entertaining. I admit that the animation in South Park is terrible compared to that of The Ren and Stimpy Show but I still like South Park because I like to see Butters deal with his mean parents and because I like to see Kyle and Kenny put up with Cartman. The characters on South Park aren’t animated well but I still can identify with them and I still find the show entertaining.

Reading John Kricfalusi’s writings makes me proud to be a fan of 12 oz Mouse – a show that would make John K. want to gouge his eyes out in rage. People have told me in the past “12 oz Mouse sucks, it looks like it was drawn by a 4 year old” but I honestly don’t care. I hope a lot of people here agree with me.

All these cartoons have their merits. John Kricfalusi a good animator? Sure, and at times he deliberately exaggerates the ugly.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWf6bBWs62Q[/youtube]

I'm a fan of Kricfalusi's work, and he does a great job of capturing expressions and displaying emotions in the characters in ways that can't be brought out in still frames.

See that button? Don't touch it! It's the history eraser button you fool!

So what'll happen?

That's just it! We don't know. Maybe something bad, maybe something good. I guess we'll never know, because you're going to guard it. You won't touch it, will you?

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v14085830Cq24yFjf

...gouge eyes out...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wW6rENTfaU[/youtube]

I also like south park, and its deliberately crude animation is part of its charm.

Kricfalusi did say that he thought the other cartoons he worked on were crap and that he was much happier to be doing his own cartoon. Maybe this isn't a good attitude to have, but it sort of mirrors my own attitude toward my work, and this is part of what I like about him.

Of course South Park has bad animation; just one of the things that makes it so brilliant. The Simpsons and Family Guy on the other hand are very detailed now, and showing in High Definition.

Just a random clip :
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWfkO6Z3do8&feature=related[/youtube]

the simpsons looked so much better in the early 90's

I find that in this hi-tech age, I can get quite nostalgic for bad (or should I say ... basic??) animation.

Like Rhoobarb & Custard for example:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxDRUNtud4I[/youtube]

The only reason why anybody cares about that washed-up crank is because he likes bashing any modern animation that he didn't make.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MHg1-mpcUY[/youtube]

Can't comment much but I find this video relevant somehow.