Cartoons and animation are an incredibly versatile art form. They demand dynamic movement, exaggeration, and realism in a variety of dissimilar doses and take resulted in a big mural of unlike styles to come out of it. For the about part, once an animator or managing director has finalized their style for a projection, they typically stick with it for the remainder of their run. However, there are the rare instances where changes in the technology and industry may encourage for a studio to upgrade their style and even rarer instances where a drawing may even attempt to experiment.

These cases consequence in pregnant and incredibly noticeable changes in some of the industry'south all-time cartoons that have been met with awe in many cases and odd scrutiny in others. Television, possibly even more so than any other medium, is one whose audience demands consistency and familiarity, so any change at all is at take a chance of alienating loyal viewers. Just animation is an art form of itself that innately entails to the viewer dynamism and flexibility, so this list volition be running downward a few famous instances of when a drawing took the plunge and changed art styles, even for a bit.

x 10. American Dragon: Jake Long and The Replacements

For the almost part, Disney Aqueduct blitheness is typically kept consistent between a diverseness of its programs, until one stray moment within the mid-2000'due south where the animation of two of Disney Channel'south top shows got hitting by a coach and never came dorsum the same.

These two shows were American Dragon: Jake Long, an action/adventure series about a Chinese-American kid who can transform into a dragon, and The Replacements, a series nigh two orphan kids who could replace anyone in their lives with different people with simply a phone phone call. Flavour i of either show had much rounder, lighter designs simply would shortly see changes in directors for their corresponding Flavor 2's, changes that would result in darker color tones and edgier, more than streamlined animation. While the quality of either series helped retain their audiences, they weren't exactly received positively during the transition.

9 9. Samurai Jack

Switching over to a more positive style change, Samurai Jack is host to a variety of unique and distinct blitheness choices thank you to the directing of creator Genndy Tartakovsky. Its 5th flavor return would see an incredible quality and color upgrade that helped the serial become simultaneously much darker and more vibrant and for the entirety of the series, there has been consistent and unique uses of shut-ups and cinematic margin utilize meant to assist parallel the series with its samurai film influences.

However, for this list, Samurai Jack'south major stand out blitheness selection would exist i that could have merely been accomplished through animation. That would be the incredibly stylized fight scene in "Episode Forty: Samurai vs. Ninja," where Jack would fight off one of Aku's robot, ninja assailants in an entirely black and white montage of ninja stealth. One would entirely disappear into blackness spaces while the other in white. Information technology's a simple yet distinct experiment in blitheness that surprisingly resulted in 1 of the most dynamic and visually appealing fights of the series.

8 8. Steven Universe

Steven Universe is i of Cartoon Network's most ambitious blithe serial for more reasons than ane. It challenges and depicts emotions and intimacy in incredibly unique ways betwixt its writing, dialogue, pattern, and music, showing off the incredible talents of creator Rebecca Saccharide and her crew.

Nonetheless, this list will exist looking at an example where the show brought in a guest animator for one the series' most memorable moments. That animator would exist Takafumi Hori, an animator for Studio Trigger, who was brought in to breathing the music sequence "Here Comes a Thought" for the episode "Mindful Education." It's a heartfelt song matched with absolutely stunning color and animation piece of work that really adds a memorable contraction on the serial' run.

seven 7. Adventure Time with Finn and Jake

Gamble Time is a series that defines creative ambition in so many forms. Acting equally Cartoon Network'south hallmark series for almost a decade, it's been host to a variety of guest animators hosting some its more visually distinct episodes. This includes the CGI overload that is "A Glitch is a Glitch," the strangeness of "Water Park Prank," and the stunning finish move of the award-winning "Bad Jubies."

Even so, for this list, the major stand out performance in Adventure Time's animation experimentation would have to be when they brought in rising anime star, Masaaki Yuasa, to straight the surreal, stylistic episode "Food Concatenation." In it, Yuasa brings the viewer on an unabridged rollercoaster of visual smoothness as he moves Finn and Jake through a strange, magical loop of nature's food chain.

6 6. Bob's Burgers

Bob'south Burgers is 1 of Fox's (perhaps, Disney's now) premiere comedies on its animation block. Equally funny and tonally distinct as it is, it's not a series exactly known for its blitheness. However, information technology definitely adds an interesting exception in its Season 8 premiere, "Brunchsquatch."

In it, Bob's Burgers gives a little nod to the fan animator community by letting 62 artists animate unlike scenes in their own styles, each 1 a total stop and shift for the terminal. If yous're non a fan of Bob'southward Burgers but notwithstanding enjoy a good piece of animation every now and so, please check out this episode. Information technology's a full marathon of independent talents.

5 v. The Fairly OddParents

Butch Hartman'due south ode to the imagination of childhood is a hallmark in different people'due south childhoods, where its early on seasons act as a addicted retention to several and its final episodes remaining a safe altitude abroad. A series known for its imagination and adventurous stories such as this couldn't exactly own up to its own ambition if it didn't shake up its animation every now and and so. And the i major instance that it did is a fantastic standout in many fan's memories and a large homage to animation equally a whole.

That standout would be their made made-for-Idiot box movie "Aqueduct Chasers," in which Timmy Turner enters the diverse world that is television, exploring a variety of parodies of Peanuts, The Simpsons, its Nickelodeon senior Rugrats, and even a non so subtle nod to Dragon Ball.

4 four. The Jimmy Timmy Power Hr

Crossover episodes are a major staple in American tv, where sitcom and drawing alike get to share canons for a brief episode. The formula for cartoons, however, typically dictates finding a series that is visually the same as your own.

However, Timmy Turner makes this list again as he explores and clashes with his 3D animated analogue, Jimmy Neutron, in a crossover issue that not merely excited its viewers but, due to its pure visual distinction, still remains in the memories of its fan. Seeing Jimmy Neutron in second was a spectacle and Timmy Turner in 3D was...also an blitheness alter that exists. No matter how one may see the result, this was definitely a memorable commutation in animation departments.

three 3. Courage the Cowardly Canis familiaris

TV Courage the Cowardly Dog Blue Thing Cropped

Courage the Cowardly Domestic dog is one of the most well-regarded cartoons in recent retentiveness. This is due to its dark tone, thrilling episodes, and, of course, some of its more than distinct, stunning, and scary visual choices. This includes the claymated jumpscare in "Backbone in the Big Stinkin' Metropolis," the spirit of the harvest moon in "The Business firm of Discontent," the magic tree in "The Magic Tree of Nowhere," and, without question, the CG animated nightmare that is Rex Ramses.

A few episodes delve a little deeper into animation change such as the CG adventure in "Hard Drive Backbone" and the storybook style of "Remembrance of Courage By." Still, for this list, the accolade goes to the visual nightmares of "Perfect," where Backbone's dreams host a few haunting reminders of his own failures and, above all, the blueish affair that simply says, "Y'all're not perfect." Where did this show come from?

two 2. Ben 10

Ben ten is a prove for the generations, i.eastward. dissimilar generations. It's seen visual changes and reboots that give dissimilar ages of kids a different version of Ben ten and his continuity. During the mid-2000s, he had a much rounder, more fluid style. When the series came to Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, it adopted a much darker-toned, sharper style to lucifer its much more adult tones.

And then there are the generations that totally splinter off from its growing quality to go much more than highly-seasoned to newer audiences. This includes the edgier linework of Ben ten: Omniverse and the total restyle/reboot that is the 2016 incarnation. Ben 10 is a series of different blitheness changes that have seen dissimilar results, just it even so remains one of Cartoon Network'southward authentication action/adventure programs.

ane 1. The Simpsons

Topping this list is not only a fine instance of the evolution of a serial but also the evolution of animation as a staple for long-running programming. The Simpsons is an animated family comedy that has been going on for near xxx years potent and, along with its writing and joke style, has seen dramatic generational changes in its blitheness. None is more noticeable than the shift betwixt its airplane pilot and later episodes, as sharp, exaggerated images are changed for much smoother and more streamlined drawings.

The Simpsons would once over again meet another animation upgrade going into its 20th Flavor, as it entered the HD era, a alter that would exist represented by the new intro that fans know today. The Simpsons has not only been a fine agenda for the development of animation but also a timeline for the changes in artistic and stylistic sensibilities that fans take known to come and, if Disney has any say in the affair, will remain a standard-bearer for generations to come up.

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