A couple of weeks ago, I commenced in a deep debate with a friend over whether Blossom of the Powerpuff Girls was themed the color pink or red (She’s pink, for Christ’s sake!). In fact, a recent article by fellow Nerdist badass Matt Cohen is what sparked the argument in the first place. The timing on all of this couldn’t be any more appropriate, with the Cartoon Network just dropping some big news over the weekend.
We’re heading back to Townsville, everyone! A new Powerpuff Girls special is set to air on January 20 at 7:30 pm ET. I’m hoping that this will lead to the show possibly being rebooted, but in the meantime this teaser from the Powerpuff Girls Facebook page and the upcoming special will certainly restore some of the pieces of our hearts that went missing when the show departed back in 2005.
The animation is not an attempt at ‘avant garde’. Cel shading is nothing new, and having choppy dead looking movement is not any groundbreaking thing. These choices obviously weren’t made from passion, they’re clearly done to save money while capitalizing on a profitable IC, which is a shame, but typical.
Much akin to the new Looney Tunes, post season 3 Spongebob, Teen Titans Go, etc etc. It’s a shame, but it’s to be expected. If the writing is not compromised however, it could still be a fantastic show. I don’t have high hopes though.
MTO, the animation was high quality in the original show. Conflating hyper-realism with quality shows that you aren’t exactly understanding what quality animation is. It’s not art style. It’s when the characters move, or appear ‘animated’. It can be simplified if done with skill, knowledge, and effort and simplification can absolutely be quality. This animation appears to lack some of all 3, but perhaps the editor of the preview simply picked a few wonky scenes.
We’ll have to wait to see. Can’t let nostalgiac defensiveness or rose colored glasses cause me to jump to conclusions. But I don’t have too high of hopes, especially after watching Mojo Jojo jerk around like a lagging webcam.
I can’t beleive you’re discussing the animation quality of the PowerPuff Girls! It was not high quality animation when it first aired. Doing something hyper-realistic now would seem contrary to the original show, which stood on its scripts, not its image quality.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the animation look somewhat similar to the style of the 3d episode from Adventure time?
I get it could be the texturing, but the construction of the characters outside of the PowerPuff Girls looks more like that episode of Adventure Time. Smooth at points, but jagged at others, that sort of deal.
I think the animation looks awesome. The original show was inspired by the limited animation in anime as well as 1950’s American TV animation. Their first special with the “Key to the World” updated that style based off more current software abilities. This seems to do the same thing and I think it is a gorgeous and fun update. The show has always been about design and I think it retains the original sensibility.
Just because you can’t recognize avant garde animation for what it is doesn’t mean it’s bad. That isn’t cheap at all, its simply stylized in a new way and looks gorgeous
Unfortunately, it looks like it is a victim of cheap production costs. The animation looks….ummm….not so great.