More Animation Cel Goodies (Includes some Bill Plympton)

Even in this age of 3DCGI, 2D Puppet Rigs, Digital Ink and Paint, Or Generative AI, 

I always have a deep profound love for the older style of animation... you know, the one that's done on these three things:

1. Acetate celluloids with Acrylic paint

2. Things drawn by hand

3. Animation cels photographed underneath a film/digital camera.

Back in 2004, Bill Plympton released this film called HAIR HIGH.

Now I was 6 years old in 2004 so of course my mother wasn't going to let me watch an independent film like HAIR HIGH due to the subject matter but....

The visuals look 10 times better than what was available back then.

That's because at the time, Everybody either had switched or were just about to make the switch completely to digital ink and paint systems for their animation. Even Anime was affected.

1999, DOUG's 1st movie was the last mainstream film to use traditional cels.

2001, Millennium Actress was the last anime not based on existing I.P to use traditional animation cels.

By 2004, Almost every animated Television Show that still used traditional cels like Ed, Edd, & Eddy had made the permanent switch to Digital Ink and Paint.

2006's Pokémon Ranger was the last anime film based on existing I.P to use animation cels because...

 2007's THE RISE OF DARKRAI completely switched to digital ink and paint. 

Bill Plympton however refused to make the switch to Digital Ink and Paint. He defied all odds and crafted this beautiful if surreal film about 50's/60's High School life.

I really love that surreal artwork by Bill Plympton. Love everything right down to the rough pencil outlines and the tiny bits and pieces of Acrylic paint that's about to leak out of the line art.

As well as that dark palette. Telecine film when it's fed through a digital scanning system always yields a darker color palette when compared to a film done digitally because the filmmakers know that the brighter colors are really a result of bright XENON bulbs used in a cinema's many 35mm or 70mm film projectors made by Christie or Barco.

I've seen this happen with South Park: BIGGER, LONGER, & UNCUT where the colors were a much darker palette compared to the tv series.

As much as I would prefer to see a modern cartoon be done in the old-school photographic cel look, it's not feasible due to expenses in getting cels, paper, and acrylic paint as well as the limitations involved with downfacing photography.

So what do we use?

Software like Toon Boom, Adobe Animate, Clip Paint Studio, or even Krita.

But that doesn't stop us from wanting to experiment with tools such as nodes so we can replicate the old school style of animation. I practically know a way to reintroduce cel drop shadows in my 2D Animations, all you need is drawings, composite nodes, and a good graphics card to help you out.

Yeah.... A good graphics card like an RTX 3060 or even better, and RTX 4080....or even better....

AN RTX 4090 would really help with your real-time renders.

I use a real-time rendering system within Toon Boom to help me position my drop shadows to get that old school look with the artwork.

Yes, I know this post is quick but this is not a Maverick Quickie...