The SEASON THREE Animation Exposé
Rik Bakke
of THE TRANSFORMERS was quite badly animated as a rule. Truly, I have
never shared that view so categorically, but a while back, I decided to do a
run-through of the 30 episodes, and I must admit I was fairly surprised, and
satisfied, too, with the percentage of good animation versus bad.
Naturally, that is according to my personal view of what is acceptable and
unacceptable animation. Those who feel nothing less than CALL OF THE
PRIMITIVES (which is not my favoured piece of S3 animation) qualifies as
good animation probably won't be swayed by this examination, but maybe
those of you satisfied with a "lesser" benchmark of quality would find this
to be meaningful. Do keep in mind that this is all how I see it.
***
FIVE FACES OF DARKNESS - PARTS 1 TO 5
-------------------------------------------------------------
An AKOM-animated min-series, this suffers a great deal from dozens atop
dozens of animation errors such as incorrect colouration or characters that
are the wrong size or appear in the wrong place. Despite such flaws, FIVE
FACES actually sports some very fluid animation in places (check out the
scene in which Galvatron is pulled out of the lava pit on Thrull) and is also
quite pleasant to look at on occasion (Part 4's history sequence inside the
Matrix of Leadership, for instance, has its moments). Personally, I tend to
enjoy shading on my Transformers, and although that is usualy either in
little evidence or completely missing in AKOM efforts, there are at times
lovely examples of this (Astrotrain positively gleams in an early scene on
Charr, when Cyclonus and the Sweeps descend on the planet).
But all in all, that's five individual episodes that can't be said to be of the
satisfactory portion of the season.
***
THE KILLING JAR
-------------------------
Now here is a gem, if you ask me. Not perfect, but overall, the characters
are well-drawn, nicely shaded, and the elements in which they're involved
(the electron storm, the black hole, the negative universe, etc.) are pretty
satisfying (at least to me). Not without a few errors, but that's par for the
course and no episode (CALL OF THE PRIMITIVES included) escapes
that particular stigma.
Definitely on the good side of animation and art, by TOEI in this case.
***
CHAOS
-----------
My personal favourite piece of SEASON THREE animation, CHAOS is
nothing short of beautiful. Give it a spin sometime and look for its clean
details, beautiful renderings of all the characters, and some wonderful
shading. The colours are also vibrant and well-balanced, and as far as
I can recall, very rarely wrong. Say what you want, but for my money,
SEASON THREE doesn't get much better than this. Not far at all from
movie quality animation and art.
Way to go, TOEI!
***
DARK AWAKENING
------------------------------
AKOM was responsible for this, and once again the attention to detail,
shading, and colouring seriously lapses. In a way, the dirty, disheveled
look of this episode works well for its content, but I still would wish for
a nice TOEI job on this one. Details such as the increasingly lugubrious
state of repair in which Optimus Prime appears are reasonably effective,
but I wonder if that element would have been even more stirring with a
more developed style and better shading.
So yes, although this one kind of works, it ultimately falls on the side of
not-that-great animation or art.
***
FOREVER IS A LONG TIME COMING
---------------------------------------------------
AKOM again. Not completely without its moments, partly because it's
a pretty good script, but it's really pretty boring to look at.
***
STARSCREAM'S GHOST
----------------------------------
Now that's more like it. Although not among the best of TOEI's work, I
find it quite successful and pleasant to view. I guess I could do without
the alternate "toy" design for Cyclonus, but that's beside the point.
A bit uneven, but I'll put this on the good side, too.
***
THIEF IN THE NIGHT
------------------------------
Another AKOM production that displays the usual shortcomings, but
perhaps not as demonstrably as in FOREVER. Some of the Trypticon
scenes are actually quite nice, I'd say, but not enough to place this on
the list of goodies.
***
SURPRISE PARTY
--------------------------
I know a lot of people have very little love for this episode, but if you
can look past the admittedly slight story idea, I think it qualifies as one
of the better-looking installments of the season. You've got the shading,
the vibrant colouring, and the details. Although Swindle gets to borrow
Hound's colour scheme for a bit during the Combaticons' attack on the
Autobot shuttle bay, I think it's nicely drawn and coloured. Wheelie is
also nicely done in this episode--they actually make him look good, not
unlike his just-about-flawless appearance in CHAOS.
So, silly story, but good animation and art.
***
So let's sum up a bit here. So far, 8 episodes are less than satisfactory,
while 4 are on the "Yay" list. Doesn't look too good so far, huh? But
there's more, of course.
***
MADMAN'S PARADISE
----------------------------------
This one appears to be TOEI-animated, although it contains virtually
nothing in the way of shading. But it's otherwise a bit too slickly done
to be AKOM, so either the TOEI people skimped on the shading bit or
it was done by another animation studio. According to a production
schecule I've seen, however, TOEI and AKOM were the only studios
present, so for now I'm going to assume MADMAN'S PARADISE is
a TOEI production.
Anyway, the lack of shading and a certain blandness of colouration
notwithstanding, this episode rates a "Good Job" sticker.
***
NIGHTMARE PLANET
-------------------------------
TOEI did this one, and despite some fairly glaring colouring mistakes
(such as red eyes for Rodimus Prime in places), it's quite nicely done.
***
GHOST IN THE MACHINE
------------------------------------
This one bears the by now unmistakable mark of AKOM. For such a
cool story, I've always been disappointed in the quality of this one,
even as a kid. The sequence where Spike rides with Bumblebee is a
notch above most of the rest of the episode, which doesn't say that
much, really.
Poor detailing, colouration errors (the worst perhaps being near the
end, where Hot Spot is coloured like Ultra Magnus, making it look
like there are two of Magnus present), and an altogether "smudgy"
feel pulls GHOST down far below the "Good" mark.
***
WEBWORLD
-------------------
TOEI produces another episode with surprisingly flat and bland
colouring--it looks a bit like it was put in a washing machine and
cleaned with one of those detergents that're hard on the colours
--but it otherwise looks pretty good. The characters are featured
in nice style and if the colours aren't exactly vibrant, they've got
enough variation to keep things looking all right.
In short: A bit pallid, but nice.
***
CARNAGE IN C-MINOR
----------------------------------
We now reach the pariah of all TRANSFORMERS episodes. I never
hated this episode, myself, because it has an unusual concept that
doesn't actually suck, but I am also not blind to its grand plethora of
grating errors, complete with the lifeless trappings so very typical of
AKOM.
I can accept that time constraints and rushed schedules will produce
errors, but where CARNAGE is concerned, it doesn't seem like they
even TRIED to make this work.
***
THE QUINTESSON JOURNAL
-----------------------------------------
THE QUINTESSON JOURNAL shows AKOM doing much better work.
It's still far from great, but at least there seems to be some effort behind
it. For exampoe, Outback gets a slightly new design and colour scheme;
an improvement on his appearance in FIVE FACES OF DARKNESS.
Okay, but still not quite good enough.
***
THE ULTIMATE WEAPON
-------------------------------------
Ah, here is another of my favourites. THE ULTIMATE WEAPON has
a great deal in common with the best of the work TOEI did on SEASON
TWO, and that's a good sign in my book. Nice styling, good colouring,
and some nice fluid animation in places (Trypticon as he methodically
wiggles his way across the land toward wherever Metroplex is located
comes to mind, for example). Every character looks great, and I, for one,
think that the scenes showing the interiors of the giants--when Swindle
steals Metroplex's cog and then when Spike and Daniel steal Trypticon's
--are beautiful.
Another strike for the side of good.
***
THE BIG BROADCAST OF 2006
-------------------------------------
I'm not sure why AKOM was used so much during the third season, but
the fact that it was owned by Nelson Shin, the show's producer, may be
a factor. If the lack of quality is any indication, it was probably also for
cost-effective reasons, and THE TRANSFORMERS was on a relatively
low budget throughout its run. Not much consolation when you get to
lode at episodes like this one.
Nothing to shout about, but it's about to get better!
***
FIGHT OR FLEE
-------------------------------------
TOEI hits back with this episode, which sports all the requirements that
make me a happy camper, at least. Some awkward styling on characters
from time to time, and some decidedly stilted animation at times (check
out Brawl and Razorclaw running as they give jail-breaking Sandstorm
chase), but it has some very nice animation in other places, such as at
the start, where Cyclonus and Scourge face off against the Aerialbots.
Nice work overall.
***
THE DWELLER IN THE DEPTHS
-------------------------------------
Here's another beauty from TOEI. Springer drawn in Rodimus Prime's
place at the beginning is definitely unfortunate, but other than that,
everything looks pretty good. Shading, colouration, and all.
***
ONLY HUMAN
-------------------------------------
Here's a nice surprise from AKOM. This episode still has those traits
that make its studio easily recognizable, but it's all done with a great
deal of flair, certainly when compared with other AKOM productions.
The verdict is "not guilty."
***
MONEY IS EVERYTHING
-------------------------------------
Overall, another good piece of work from TOEI. It sort of falls into
the same category as MADMAN'S PARADISE and WEBWORLD,
but it's probably the best of the three for having fairly little in the
way of shading. I know I enjoy watching this one for its visuals,
anyway.
***
So let's see where we stand at this point in the proceedings. By now I
have stated that 12 of the above are of a standard from acceptable to
very good, and that means 12 of them are below par. A tad more even
now, wouldn't you agree? :-)
***
GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN
-------------------------------------
The mark of AKOM is once again evident. In some areas, this is an
even less visually enticing episode than GHOST IN THE MACHINE
was. Unicron, for example, looked at least reasonable in that episode,
but in this one, he receives a far less appealing rendition. To its credit,
the Technobots look all right, but it's not enough by far to make this a
good episode in terms of art and animation.
***
CALL OF THE PRIMITIVES
-------------------------------------
Here is the single instance (as far as I know) of a studio besides TOEI
and AKOM doing work on the show, as this was done by the studio
Tokyo Movie Shinza (apologies in case I misspelled the last word). I
may not be crazy about its rather more animé-oriented style, but that
is merely a matter of taste and doesn't detract from its quality. Much
like CHAOS before it, CALL OF THE PRIMITIVES has it all.
***
THE FACE OF THE NIJIKA
-------------------------------------
The last overtly AKOM-produced episode of the season (I'll explain
what I mean by "overtly" when I get to THE RETURN OF OPTIMUS
PRIME), this pretty much puts on display the exact same drabness as
its animated siblings. Consistency may be a virtue, but not where this
kind of animation and art is concerned.
***
THE BURDEN HARDEST TO BEAR
-------------------------------------
With TOEI back on the job, we get an episode that tends to give me the
same SEASON TWO associations that THE ULTIMATE WEAPON did.
In other words, this is a good one in my book, and it also proves that an
episode can be creepy without being DARK AWAKENING-styled.
Kudos.
***
THE RETURN OF OPTIMUS PRIME - PARTS 1 & 2
-------------------------------------
Finally, the end of the season. The first part has many of the same qualities
as THE BURDEN HARDEST TO BEAR, despite some sloppy work here and
there (like the various Autobots transforming during Ultra Magnus's roll call).
Overall, it's very good-looking.
Oddly, the quality of animation and art drops by Part 2, which actually leads
me to suspect that AKOM might have had a hand in its production. As I said
earlier, I've seen an incomplete production schedule, and it projected alternate
use of TOEI and AKOM until the end of the season. In other words, one ep
would be done by TOEI, the next by AKOM, and then TOEI again, and so on.
But Part 2 could also have been the result of time running short after so much
care had been lavished on Part 1. Because Part 2 does sport the shading that
is more typical of TOEI than AKOM, even if the colours on the whole are of
the darker and less vibrant persuasion. And, I guess, it makes sense that one
studio would animate both parts for consistency's sake.
Anyway, the two-parter is, on the whole, above average.
***
In conclusion, I find that 16 episodes are actually not badly animated, while
14 are distinctly below average. You may disagree with me, because there's
no accounting for taste, but I've attempted to be as objective as I possibly
can, and if nothing else, I'm glad to know that at least I find more than half
of the season to be quite watchable.
And if I'm not being too bold, I think I've shown that the animation and art
of SEASON THREE is quite a far cry from sucking as hard as some would
have it. :-)
--
Rik Bakke
silverbolt [at] c2i [dot] net
THE CYBERTRON CHRONICLE
http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/
Transformers Fan Code
G++ G1- BW++ MW++ BM+ Rid Arm+ FR FW+ #75 D+ AA+ N W++ OQP BC98-02++ CN- OM+
Kil aka Michael McCarthy
>MONEY IS EVERYTHING
>-------------------------------------
>Overall, another good piece of work from TOEI. It sort of falls into
>the same category as MADMAN'S PARADISE and WEBWORLD,
>but it's probably the best of the three for having fairly little in the
>way of shading. I know I enjoy watching this one for its visuals,
>anyway.
I know I enjoy those visuals, yes. Marissa Fairbourne, out of uniform. Oh, yes
indeed.
>THE BURDEN HARDEST TO BEAR
>-------------------------------------
>With TOEI back on the job, we get an episode that tends to give me the
>same SEASON TWO associations that THE ULTIMATE WEAPON did.
>In other words, this is a good one in my book, and it also proves that an
>episode can be creepy without being DARK AWAKENING-styled.
>
>Kudos.
Of particular note is Matrix-melty Scourge. If he had looked cheesy, the whole
episode could've been blown. Instead, it was G1 at it's very best.
-Kil
----
The Kil File - http://hometown.aol.com/michaelmcc79/index.html
*Rebirth QotW*
Crosshairs: "Now how are we ever gonna get back to Cybertron?"
Hot Rod: "Come on, maybe there's a used ship dealer around here somewhere. Or
at least a pay phone..."
Weapon X
On 12/20/03 4:54 PM, Rik Bakke <silve...@c2i.net> wrote in
<qy3Fb.28864$BD3.5...@juliett.dax.net>:
> For a long time, there has appeared to be a consensus that the third season
> of THE TRANSFORMERS was quite badly animated as a rule. Truly, I have
> never shared that view so categorically, but a while back, I decided to do a
> run-through of the 30 episodes, and I must admit I was fairly surprised, and
> satisfied, too, with the percentage of good animation versus bad.
[snip]
> MONEY IS EVERYTHING
> -------------------------------------
> Overall, another good piece of work from TOEI. It sort of falls into
> the same category as MADMAN'S PARADISE and WEBWORLD,
> but it's probably the best of the three for having fairly little in the
> way of shading. I know I enjoy watching this one for its visuals,
> anyway.
Is this the one where that smuggler steals some canister device & tries
to deliver it to the Quintessons? If so, then I like that one. Within
the last couple of years, I have realized that this is one of the few
eps that were "drawn" very well. Humans like Marissa Fairborne were
drawn pretty good and not so so-so. They even drew the main human
characters in this ep w/ different outfits/costumes for one scene. And
they weren't too shabby, either. :) As for the robots, all seemed to
be drawn w/ consistency. No slight 'morphing' or 'fudging' of body parts
when they move a limb (especially when they're not even transforming!).
All robot characters seemed like robot beings that looked like they did
take up space, not looking like they had this kind of flat feeling when
U watched other not-so-hot S3 episodes. Best of all -- no color screwups
& no whacked out size weirdness. If only more of the season three eps
were "drawn" this way (notice I didn't say "animated" since that's kind
of a different matter. I've seen really bad drawings animated
beautifully {& fluidly}).
> THE CYBERTRON CHRONICLE
> http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/
-
http://pages.prodigy.net/transformer_mtmterid/TF-index.html
Thylacine 2000
*SNIP*
I am truly awed by your devotion to the craft of animation and
attention to detail. I feel like a lazy, guilty shmuck for snipping
away 98% of this very well-researched message. But I didn't want to
just say "Yeah, I liked that" or "Yeah, too bad" after every single
bit of content you provided. I mean, I had tended to jump to the
conclusion that season 3 was ugly and poorly animated, probably
because as I haphazardly pieced my collection together over the years
all I tended to acquire were the Akom episodes. It wasn't until
Rhino's DVD set came out that I got my first look at "Chaos" and saw
just what kind of real top-notch work that time had to offer. But I
can only repeat variants of that sentence so many times, so instead I
think I'll chiefly comment about one episode since I think that right
now it's all I could do to add to the discussion.
> ***
>
> THE RETURN OF OPTIMUS PRIME - PARTS 1 & 2
> -------------------------------------
> Finally, the end of the season. The first part has many of the same qualities
> as THE BURDEN HARDEST TO BEAR, despite some sloppy work here and
> there (like the various Autobots transforming during Ultra Magnus's roll call).
> Overall, it's very good-looking.
>
> Oddly, the quality of animation and art drops by Part 2, which actually leads
> me to suspect that AKOM might have had a hand in its production. As I said
> earlier, I've seen an incomplete production schedule, and it projected alternate
> use of TOEI and AKOM until the end of the season. In other words, one ep
> would be done by TOEI, the next by AKOM, and then TOEI again, and so on.
>
> But Part 2 could also have been the result of time running short after so much
> care had been lavished on Part 1. Because Part 2 does sport the shading that
> is more typical of TOEI than AKOM, even if the colours on the whole are of
> the darker and less vibrant persuasion. And, I guess, it makes sense that one
> studio would animate both parts for consistency's sake.
It has often been hard for me to give credit to TROOP for its artwork
quality, because I simply can't stand its *story* at all: it's one
big long continuity error and it totally ruins "Dark Awakening," one
of the better TF episodes.
Ironic, then, that TROOP also contains one of my absolute all-time
favorite visual sequences this hobby has provided.
In part 2, after Galvatron blasts the roof of a cavern to keep the
infected Decepticons away, his transform sequence from cannon to robot
is just spectacular. He lurches and contorts to and fro, with big
crackling arcs of energy racing all over his body, and then sort of
jerks his neck into place like he were trying to work out a nasty kink
from having been in one position for too long. It really gets across
the concept of a living, sentient, multi-ton machine having to
radically and completely change from one shape to another very
different one in basically the blink of an eye. In my "minds eye"
concept of how Galvatron would act, I have adopted this particular
sequence as the way he should tend to transform. So I'll always be
respectful to TROOP for that much, complaints notwithstanding.
TTT, damn shame that Soundwave's faceplate got buggered up in his last
U.S. appearance....
Gyumaoh
>----------------------------------
>Now that's more like it. Although not among the best of TOEI's work,
I could've sworn that was an Akom one.
That episode also has those weird "Challenge of the Gobots" sound effects that
"The Rebirth" had.
>I guess I could do without
>the alternate "toy" design for Cyclonus
Galvatron & Scourge also seems to have their old designs as well.
Ethan Hammond
>
> I know I enjoy those visuals, yes. Marissa Fairbourne, out of uniform. Oh,
yes
> indeed.
Ahhh Kil, I knew you were made of stern stuff.
--
All Purpose Cultural Randomness
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/apcr/index.html
Rik Bakke
> > STARSCREAM'S GHOST
> > ----------------------------------
> > Now that's more like it. Although not among the best of TOEI's work,
>
> I could've sworn that was an Akom one.
> That episode also has those weird "Challenge of the Gobots" sound
> effects that "The Rebirth" had.
Yes, but you see, the sound wasn't done at the animation studios. After
the script was done, the Marvel people would spend three to four weeks
preparing character designs, preparing colour models, do storyboards,
and record the vocals before shipping it all overseas. For instance, the
dialogue would be shippped on "slugged" cassettes (meaning that the
correct amount of space between lines as a guide vocal, if you will, for
the animators to work by). Only after however many takes they had time
for were FedExed back to the States was the final editing, with sound
effects completed.
Also, my copy of the aforementioned production schedule lists this
episode as having been done by TOEI.
That's good enough for me. :-)
Rik Bakke
> Rik Bakke wrote:
>
> *SNIP*
>
> I am truly awed by your devotion to the craft of animation and
> attention to detail. I feel like a lazy, guilty shmuck for snipping
> away 98% of this very well-researched message. But I didn't
> want to just say "Yeah, I liked that" or "Yeah, too bad" after
> every single bit of content you provided.
No problem. To tell you the truth, I found it increasingly difficult
to come up with new ways of saying that AKOM wasn't exactly
top of the line without sounding too much like a whiner. ;-)
> I mean, I had tended to jump to the conclusion that season 3
> was ugly and poorly animated, probably because as I haphazardly
> pieced my collection together over the years all I tended to
> acquire were the Akom episodes.
I might have had an advantage in seeing and taping the entire
sesaon as it was being aired (in Europe, of course), and so my
first impressions set me up for a more balanced view. And I'm
inclined to believe that other S3 detractors, if that is not an un-
kind characterization, share circumstances like yours when first
encountering the season. And if my post succeeds in the least
at changing their minds, that matters more to me than dozens of
comments. (Not that those aren't welcome!)
> It wasn't until Rhino's DVD set came out that I got my first look
> at "Chaos" and saw just what kind of real top-notch work that
> time had to offer.
I just can't say enough about that episode. :-)
> > THE RETURN OF OPTIMUS PRIME - PARTS 1 & 2
>
> It has often been hard for me to give credit to TROOP for its
> artwork quality, because I simply can't stand its *story* at all:
> it's one big long continuity error and it totally ruins "Dark
> Awakening," one of the better TF episodes.
I'll certainly grant that there is no real way to explain away that trifle
of an intergalactic battle occuring, oh, right at the very ship carrying
Optimus Prime, suddenly being gone at the beginning of RETURN,
but would it at all appease you if I were to say that the original script
actually retained his busted-up state? In portions not included in the
actual scene showing Swofford and Morgan working in an attempt to
revive him, they replaced his faceplate, for example. I couldn't tell you
why it wasn't produced that way, except probably cost-efficiency.
> Ironic, then, that TROOP also contains one of my absolute all-time
> favorite visual sequences this hobby has provided.
>
> In part 2, after Galvatron blasts the roof of a cavern to keep the infected
> Decepticons away, his transform sequence from cannon to robot is just
> spectacular. He lurches and contorts to and fro, with big crackling arcs
> of energy racing all over his body, and then sort of jerks his neck into
> place like he were trying to work out a nasty kink from having been in
> one position for too long. It really gets across the concept of a living,
> sentient, multi-ton machine having to radically and completely change
> from one shape to another very different one in basically the blink of
> an eye.
I just popped in my tape of the episode to check out what you're saying,
and I see what you mean. It's a quicker sequence than I remembered, but
I did always find those sparks of energy to be a nice touch.
Your closing comment about Soundwave made me think of Goldbug, who
has an entirely different faceplate when he first speaks ("Back? I'm better
than ever!") to the one he wears in later scenes (the proper one, I guess).
Although reviewing Part 2 just now convinces me that it was also a TOEI
production, it's odd that they would have included two so different head
designs in a single installment.
But like I said, errors are, unfortunately, par for the course.
Gabi T.M. D'Galvatron
> WEBWORLD
> -------------------
> TOEI produces another episode with surprisingly flat and bland
> colouring--it looks a bit like it was put in a washing machine and
> cleaned with one of those detergents that're hard on the colours
> --but it otherwise looks pretty good. The characters are featured
> in nice style and if the colours aren't exactly vibrant, they've got
> enough variation to keep things looking all right.
>
> In short: A bit pallid, but nice.
I'm actually surprised to hear that this one was animated by TOEI !
The certin lack of sharpness in the animation (I'm thinking of the
lone scene where the bot's battled the cons) plus the total lack of
"shiny metal" animation made me think that someone other than TOEI
animated this one .
As to the coloring , I think that they tryed to give us something
that said : desolate and dredful . Plus it had to go well with ....
purple ... . ;-)
> ***
>
> CARNAGE IN C-MINOR
> ----------------------------------
> We now reach the pariah of all TRANSFORMERS episodes. I never
> hated this episode, myself, because it has an unusual concept that
> doesn't actually suck,
As far as sound travelling through space ...
>but I am also not blind to its grand plethora of
> grating errors, complete with the lifeless trappings so very typical of
> AKOM.
I actually like the concept (if not the total execution) of some of
the combat scenes in C-Minor .
I mean face it , the whole row of robots VS another row of robots
shooting at each other is sorta missing from this ep .
> I can accept that time constraints and rushed schedules will produce
> errors, but where CARNAGE is concerned, it doesn't seem like they
> even TRIED to make this work.
>
While I'm not sure who's to blame for the final look of this ep , it
coud be that the US prod. team simply didn't have the time to ask for
all the corrections necessary from AKOM .
It does make one wonder though if this was the typical AKOM work .
Cause if it was , then I guess a ton of corrections were made to other
eps that they animated .
Then again , this ep coud have been a rushed job on AKOM's part as
well .
> ***
>
> THE QUINTESSON JOURNAL
> -----------------------------------------
> THE QUINTESSON JOURNAL shows AKOM doing much better work.
> It's still far from great, but at least there seems to be some effort behind
> it. For exampoe, Outback gets a slightly new design and colour scheme;
> an improvement on his appearance in FIVE FACES OF DARKNESS.
I catually found the new design for Outback to be a bit disturbing .
Guess I have a habbit of "locking on" a caracter's look -- and if that
look is changed , then it bothers me .
> ONLY HUMAN
> -------------------------------------
> Here's a nice surprise from AKOM.
>
> MONEY IS EVERYTHING
> -------------------------------------
> Overall, another good piece of work from TOEI.
These two again surprise me , as they coud have been done by the same
studio .
> THE RETURN OF OPTIMUS PRIME - PARTS 1 & 2
(snipple)
This ep is probably the one i can view with the least ammount of
objectivity , as it has many things in it that I like , many things in
it that I woud have liked done a bit differently , and my overall
dislike of the "return" of OP itself .
> Oddly, the quality of animation and art drops by Part 2, which actually leads
> me to suspect that AKOM might have had a hand in its production. As I said
> earlier, I've seen an incomplete production schedule, and it projected alternate
> use of TOEI and AKOM until the end of the season. In other words, one ep
> would be done by TOEI, the next by AKOM, and then TOEI again, and so on.
Animation wise , something in me makes me doubt that AKOM was
involved w/ep 2 .
There are beautyful sequences -- the Sweeps aerial attack on Galvatron
, Galvy's transformation in the caves (the one that Thy mentioned) ,
and the look of the moment when OP and Blaster open fire on the spider
that make me doubt very much that ACOM coud have pulled that much cear
out of their collective hats .
> ***
>
> In conclusion, I find that 16 episodes are actually not badly animated, while
> 14 are distinctly below average. You may disagree with me, because there's
> no accounting for taste, but I've attempted to be as objective as I possibly
> can, and if nothing else, I'm glad to know that at least I find more than half
> of the season to be quite watchable.
Sound and story are more improtant factord for myself then the actual
animation , so I can agree with you somewhat there .
But ... , and this is a big "but" , there is that ... transition if
you will , between TF:TM , and FFoD that's ... simply too much , even
for me .
The story manages to keep me interested in the first 4 eps , but ep 5
is simply bad story with bad animation , and even with the best of
intentions I can't be happy with that .
Plus the foward knolidge of this dosen't help when I want to look at
FFoD .
> And if I'm not being too bold, I think I've shown that the animation and art
> of SEASON THREE is quite a far cry from sucking as hard as some would
> have it. :-)
Perhaps , but if you simply don't like AKOM's animation , then the one
good/one bad ep ratio may not be for everyone .
-Gabi.
Gyumaoh
>episode as having been done by TOEI.
Weird. I just watched the episode again, and certain parts have the earmarks
of Akom. For example, switching from day to night in the same scene in Autobot
City.
Also, Galvatron's groin/codpiece is colored grey, whereas Toei colors it
blue-purple.
Rodimus's shoulder-indentations are colored red, whereas Toei colors them
white. The tires on his arms are colored black like real tires, but Toei
usually just colors them red. Also, his groin-codpiece has white on it (kinda
like the sticker on the toy), whereas Toei colors it red.
I wonder why Zobovor isn't weighing in on this; it seems like his kind of
thing.
M Sipher
news:caff4fa7.03122...@posting.google.com...
> > CARNAGE IN C-MINOR
> > ----------------------------------
> > I can accept that time constraints and rushed schedules will produce
> > errors, but where CARNAGE is concerned, it doesn't seem like they
> > even TRIED to make this work.
> >
>
> While I'm not sure who's to blame for the final look of this ep , it
> coud be that the US prod. team simply didn't have the time to ask for
> all the corrections necessary from AKOM .
> It does make one wonder though if this was the typical AKOM work .
> Cause if it was , then I guess a ton of corrections were made to other
> eps that they animated .
> Then again , this ep coud have been a rushed job on AKOM's part as
> well .
I seem to remember reading an episode guide of the Batman Animated Series,
which had notes from Dini and crew... and I remember a recurring theme was
how AKOM was really, really sub-par stuff and they were eventually dropped.
(Digs up the episode guide)
Here's a few choice bits...
*****
[Feet of Clay Pt. 1]
The animation is only average. "This was the first episode done by AKOM's
C-Team of animators, and it really bummed us out when it first came in,"
said producer Timm. "That show probably had more retakes than any other,
nearly completely redone two or three times before we could actually air it
without cringing."
[The Cat and The Claw Pt. 2]
The animation by AKOM is abysmal. "The whole end sequence was geared around
the explosions, and they were some of the worst you'll ever see," said
producer Bruce Timm. "We retook all of them two or three times. They were
still awful, but we ran out of time and had to air them."
[The Mechanic]
Noted director Kevin Altieri, "It was the first show that AKOM laid out
itself. It's not as good as their 'The Last Laugh,' but had far fewer
retakes (almost 80% of 'The Last Laugh' needed retakes.) I think they were
threatened that they might lose the work, so they put their A-Team on it.
*****
And here's the one I was looking for...
[Cat Scratch Fever]
"It was a mess, we had AKOM reanimate that one from scratch. That was the
show that broke our back with AKOM and we decided we weren't going to use
them any longer. After we fired them, they still had a couple of shows in
production and those shows were a lot better. I guess they had never been
fired from a series before."
M "Hee Hee Hee" Sipher
--
King Weasel Productions
Home of the productions of King Weasel!
Original stuff, Transformers, MegaMan/RockMan and more crap!
http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/simak/109/
M Sipher
news:qy3Fb.28864$BD3.5...@juliett.dax.net...
> CHAOS
> -----------
> My personal favourite piece of SEASON THREE animation, CHAOS is
> nothing short of beautiful. Give it a spin sometime and look for its clean
> details, beautiful renderings of all the characters, and some wonderful
> shading. The colours are also vibrant and well-balanced, and as far as
> I can recall, very rarely wrong. Say what you want, but for my money,
> SEASON THREE doesn't get much better than this. Not far at all from
> movie quality animation and art.
>
> Way to go, TOEI!
Take a close look at the shot when Blurr is making a run for cover on Goo.
He has the motion-blur! He leaves an image trail!
I LOVED that effect in the movie, and missed it when it (obviously) couldn't
be done for the regular series.
M "G1 Blurr Is A Character I Wouldn't Mind Having Come Back" Sipher
David Minter
>I seem to remember reading an episode guide of the Batman Animated Series,
>which had notes from Dini and crew... and I remember a recurring theme was
>how AKOM was really, really sub-par stuff and they were eventually dropped.
>[Cat Scratch Fever]
>"It was a mess, we had AKOM reanimate that one from scratch. That was the
>show that broke our back with AKOM and we decided we weren't going to use
>them any longer. After we fired them, they still had a couple of shows in
>production and those shows were a lot better. I guess they had never been
>fired from a series before."
Actually, just a year before B:TAS aired. They were fired off of
Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes according to he who speaks for Terrie
Smith, one of the 2nd season animators. And, for good reason, as the
first season had so many off model moments, in particular Chad's
wandering eye scene from the pilot episode. (It literally floats out
of place to another position on his face in the shot.) It was also
said AKOM can do pretty good work if you remember to beat them
regularly int submission. Otherwise, they will apparently try to get
around with the easiest amount of work for them.
Makes me wonder if AKOM were the Simpsons animators when that one
animatic from the first season DVD set was made...