Hey guys, I've been pondering my own entries, and want to ask you something:
Of your choices, do you think they fit into any of these particular criteria? I'll test this out myself with my own choices, and add The Simpsons in just for good measure.
Does your choice have a fairly consistent run?
The first season of The Simpsons is very hard to sit through today. There's some charm and promise in there, but knowing the characters as we do now, it's a little weird to watch an episode from then. The animation wasn't very well controlled, a decent amount of the supporting characters weren't designed or defined like we're used to, Homer was a little more reasonable and less goofy, and Bart was in higher focus. It's almost an entirely different show.
Season 2 was an improvement. It became a little funnier, the gentler aspects were becoming more prominent, and the characters were becoming better defined. Season 3 improved on that even more, but 4 is when it started becoming the show we know and love it as. I think the more the show started to shift its focus from Bart and his antics to Homer and his misadventures across Springfield, the more it became the series we loved it as.
Seasons 4 through 7 were very close to perfect. So many great episodes were made there, and I never get tired of them. Eight was great as well, but the cracks were starting to slip a little in there. The writing was becoming a little lazier and more haphazard, but there was more than enough good to consider it a part of the golden age as well.
Nine is when things got a little worse, but even then, still plenty of great stuff. Even 10 had some good stuff, but that's when the characters were changing for the worse. Eleven, well, the less said, the better, and it's been an up and down ride since then. And the up hasn't really been that high.
I just don't like how the quirks of the character have turned to irritating but lovable to just plain irritating, how static and lifeless the animation is, and the sophomoric snark the writers pull out. The Simpsons has basically become a caricature of itself. There has been some episodes in the past few years that do make me care for the characters again, but those have been far and few in between.
Batman: TAS has a pretty rocky history itself. Pulling out volume 1, I can name at least 5 episodes I love to death, 5 I don't think fit the series at all, and a few that don't really leave me feeling one way or the other. Same with volume 2.
Volume 3 is where the tone started to shift from film noir and old-school science fiction/horror themed stories to villain of the week capers, and while the show never abandoned its character study aspects and pulled out some great stuff, I never quite got over that change. And volume 4 was just a roller coaster in terms of consistency. Some truly great episodes, a lot of mediocre to average ones.
EEnE's first season is like Simpsons', in that it's kind of hard to watch now as compared to later seasons. The first few episodes were more about the Eds trying to fit in with the kids rather than pulling off schemes and relying on their chemistry. There were some great moments and I still like it a lot as I remember watching each of these episodes as they first aired, but the timing was a little off as compared to later on and the squigglevision-like animation was a little hard to stand.
Season 2 is when things get a lot better, and everything feels a lot more comfortable. I was a big fan since day one, but this is when it feels like the show I fell in love with. Season 3 improved on that, and season 4 improved on that again.
Season 5 is hit or miss, but I think that was a very good season. The shift from hand painted to digitally inked coloring turned out stunning and I thought the school-themed stories turned out just fine. The Eds worked well under circumstances like football practice and awkwardly prepping for dances, and the show never lost its wackiness. I also thought the slight change in the Ed's chemistry with Double D becoming the instigator to Eddy and Ed's shenanigans fit with the show and the characters, since we've seen Double D contemplate his friend's actions when authority is in the picture beforehand, and that is how he would act.
Honestly thinking it through, while not every episode of Ed, Edd, n' Eddy is perfect, I can't think of too many bad episodes (or any, really), while I could easily make you a list of Simpsons or Batman eps that do little for me. Actually, I could name entire seasons worth of Simpsons that don't entertain me much at all.
No show can have a perfect track record, unless it runs like 6 episodes or something, but when the bad episodes start to outrank the good, then consistency should become a factor.
How does your series use the animation medium to its advantage?
I don't really think that the characters of The Simpsons have hugely appealing designs, but they definitely stand out. It's also never been amazingly fluid, but there were some great facial expressions done during it's earlier episodes. Now, every character is so on model all of the time, that it's just a bore to watch.
The show isn't like a Disney movie, where if the characters don't stick to a particular model, they look hideous. When the animators experiment with their facial and body language, they get some really fun stuff to look at, but Matt and the rest of the creative staff seem to be against things like that happening, which is a shame, since I could pull out photo shots from around seasons 5 to 7 that I just love looking at.
That said, the thing that I think helped The Simpsons remain fresh when it comes to being drawn instead of shot is that this way, we're able to follow all of these characters for years and they can still be the same age they were at the beginning of the series.
If this was a live-action sitcom, the show would probably have been cancelled years ago, or Bart would be in his 30's while Lisa pushes around there and Maggie would be in her early 20s while Homer and Marge would be close to their 60s and be less energetic and sexually attracted to each other. It would just be a whole other show there, while here Bart can be 10, Lisa can be 8 and Maggie can be 1 forever, Homer and Marge can stay the same, and we can keep the supporting characters for as long as the staff wants to. It's a blessing and a curse, but seems to go both ways as of late.
Batman's dark deco style gave it a very distinct look that you couldn't find anywhere on TV at the time, and took its influence from Fleischer's Superman cartoons from the 40's to a whole other level. Not every studio Warner sent the show to be animated at gave them top quality work, but ever since the pilot, never mind that brilliant opening sequence, the show has always has a visually stunning look.
Ed, Edd, n' Eddy's frame rate has always been something to admire from what I've noticed. While like I mentioned, the first season is a little hard to watch now, even then, the show had an appealing look and great character designs that only improved as the animators adapted to the change and made some stunning work throughout. I think there's a good balance between a classical influence and modern advances today in the show's look, which adds to its timeless feel.
Three series that use the merits of animation to their own advantage, I think they pass this criteria well.
Does your series have a lasting appeal for a wide audience?
Writing is crucial in this aspect, and I think each series were written very well. I'll just let some dialogue from each series speak for themselves.
"Hello Mr. Thompson"
"I think he's talking to you"
"Think of it, Batman- to never again walk on a summer's day with a hot wind in your face and a warm hand to hold. Oh yes, I'd kill for that."
"Plank and I want a real story about Octopus's gardens, silver hammers, and Mr. Kite!"
"Open a window Johnny, and get some air!"
I've noticed fans in numerous demographics for each of these series for years, from people my age to way older than me, so I guess they all succeed there.
How has your series contributed to the industry?
The Simpsons revitalized the prime time animated series market better than anything before hand was able to and without its success, we wouldn't have King of the Hill, South Park, Family Guy, or any of these.
Batman went above and beyond the standards of your average action cartoon from the time, focused on the complexity of it's lead and supporting characters, had fresh animation that matched the intro at least half of the time, and had a voice cast that was made out of professional actors more than professional voice actors. These are some of the things that other action series since its inception have followed and still continue to follow today.
Eds admittingly hasn't done much. It's highly important in the history of Cartoon Network and I think a fair amount of modern animated series has been influenced by Antonucci and his work since its release, like Phineas & Ferb, which I believe shares quite a few things in common with the show, but compared to these two, the show's input is minimal. Its biggest claim to fame would be that it was the last major animated series to be hand colored, until its last season, and was animated more in-house than overseas, but that's about it.
That's just how I view these three series, each one I'd consider decent contenders to be among the best animated series ever made. What about your choices?
