Does anyone remember or know about the late 80s days of the Simpsons who were much more differently animated than the Simpsons of today? Their mouths and noses were jutted outward and were not the iconic characters of American TV that we know today. Here is a example of the early simpsons characters.
Animated characters often go through different phases and evolve to make them more appealing to audiences. According to Ch.5 in Of Mice and Magic Ed Lundy wanted to make Woody Woodpecker a more expressive character from his early 40s counterpart. The early 40s Woody had a much longer beak and spiked up hair. While the late 40s and early 50s Woody had a shorter beak and his hair combed downward but without touching his head.
Interestingly enough this trend in the evolution of animation also continued with the show Family Guy. Seth Macfarlane made an animated short called Larry and Steve in 1997 that would feature a working class man named Larry and his dog Steve. The relationship between them would resemble the relationship that Peter and his dog Brian would have later on in the series Family Guy. Steve, like Brian was the snarky and sarcastic dog with a monotone voice and Larry was the dim-witted owner but usually with good intentions.
Over time many animators seem to recycle some of their characters and make improvements on them. These characters retain many of the qualities that make them unique and are tweaked approriately to the animators’ discretion.
This week I commented on Ian Crawford’s blog and Kristina Wade’s blog
katherinesays said,
February 22, 2010 @ 5:22 pm
Ha, yes I do remember the early days of The Simpsons! (I’m not old, but I remember seeing clips of them). My Dad is a huge fan of this show, so I’ve seen pretty much every episode. I recall even when the characters were speaking, their mouths looked much more exaggerated. As you said, the animators improve the characters, and I think The Simpsons of today are much more “attractive” looking than their predecessors. For one, Homer and Bart don’t look angry all the time, and Marge, Lisa, and Maggie don’t look like deer in headlights anymore. A big improvement and much more realistic!
osrabit said,
February 22, 2010 @ 10:12 pm
I often find it very interesting to see how animated characters evolve over time both in terms of appearance and characterisation. I often notice that usually when a character is first created they often have a rough looking appearance and their trademark peronality is often not quite developed yet. Over time however the artist often improves the designs and they find a suitable personality for the character. Of course changes aren’t always for the better. I rather diliked the redesign of the character Dexter from Dexter’s Laboratory in the early 2000′s as I found the newer shorter Dexter to lack the expressiveness he had in the past.
Andrew said,
February 23, 2010 @ 4:39 am
I personally am always blown away when I view an early episode rerun of a long running animated series, no matter how many times I may see it. The evolution of an animated series is indeed an amazing thing that doesn’t always show, but when it does it can be quite fun. Noticing how the art & animation styles evolve is one of the main elements. The Simpsons is indeed an excellent example of this, the very early episodes seem to almost be an entirely different series when compared to the new episode aired last weekend. The main element I notice with the Simpsons is also what you pointed out, the sort of jagged edges of their heads. I also noticed that the actual animation in the early episodes were more jagged/bumpy. Comparing this picture and the earlier episodes to the latest episodes the animation and art all around became a lot smoother over time. Being able to experience this evolution over time is one of the greatest joys of viewing animation as a whole.
animashunation said,
February 23, 2010 @ 5:30 am
Wow I didn’t know the Simpsons used to look like that! They look so different from the Simpsons I know. Homer and Marge look much older, more like grandparents, and Bart, Lisa, and Maggie look a bit scary. I’m glad they changed Bart and Lisa’s hairdo later on. This goes to show how animations can reflect the character’s personalities. I cannot picture these Simpsons with the personalities given to the Simpsons that I have seen. I wonder if, along with appearance, the character’s personalities changed as well? Overall, great post!
hallingham said,
March 1, 2010 @ 5:00 pm
I totally agree that the evolution of the characters changes the viewer’s perception of them. I remember watching the first Simpsons cartoons thinking that that they look too rigid and almost angry than their current form. Their features were rounded out in a way. Maybe I’m just used to their present day looks. I wonder if someone who used to watch the original Simpsons think they look odd now?