Unpopular Opinions You Hold About Animation

[Dr. Insomniac]

That might've been a good thing since Discworld's humor relies on the narration by quite a bit. It's rather difficult to see that translated onto the screen, which previous adaptations have failed to do, IMO.

Shame, though. Would've been fun hearing Christopher Lee reprise DEATH and either Colin Morgan or Rupert Grint or whatever play Mort.

[gunswordfist]

Spectacular Spider-Man isn't good.

Legion Of Super-heroes is on par with the best of Justice League, has less bad episodes and should have been more popular than Teen Titans and never cancelled.

Animaniacs and Tiny Toons bore me to tears. Except Pinky & The Brain, of course.

I've been sick of Scooby (not counting Zombie Island AT ALL) for so long. But like I predicted, I think nostalgia is making me come back around to the show. I liked watching the beginning of the puppeteer episode last week.

Bas Rutten should be the one and only live action face of CN. Google him and my bias will be understood in seconds.

I never got to appreciate the greatness of Peter Cullen and Steven Jay Blum on Toonami. It's embarassing how long it took me to realize, "Oh shit, that's Optimus Prime." In fact, I didn't realize it, I found it out when someone on freaking youtube said it. Cartoon Network used to spoil us.

Toonami lost it's magic the second it let shows from other blocks (including the best cartoon ever, Samurai Jack) on it. I like the exclusive club or whatever feeling they had even though that's not completely true.

Toonami should come back and have its top anime shows (YYH, Outlaw Star, RK, etc.) be shown and then the exact same episodes been shown semi-uncut on Adult Swim. This would only be considered an unpopular opinion because people would think it's too much of the same but the kids need to be exposed to good anime without having us suffer.

Ahhh Real Monsters is boring.

Doug and Arnold are boring goody two shoes characters while their fantastic casts make up for that.

I thought Doug was a punkass for not wanting to fight in his anti-violence episode. (Arnold's version of that episode was hilarious though. One of my favorites.)

I've been really watching the show a lot for the last few weeks and gotta say that Johnny Bravo is put into too many situations where he's the lost member of Looney Tunes. He should be womanizing more. there, I said it.

Nicktoons barely had any good cartoons. Maybe like 3.

Foster is one of the most absolute boring cartoons ever made. Pretty much started the dark age of CN for me.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I never even knew Peter Cullen was Optimus Prime when Toonami was on. For me, Optimus was always Gary Chalk. Only until the movie came out did I actually get that connection.

So yeah, that's probably my other unpopular opinion, that Chalk > Cullen and Kaye > Welker.

[Avaitor]

I never got to appreciate the greatness of Peter Cullen and Steven Jay Blum on Toonami. It's embarassing how long it took me to realize, "Oh shit, that's Optimus Prime." In fact, I didn't realize it, I found it out when someone on freaking youtube said it. Cartoon Network used to spoil us.

Heh, I think most of us were too young to make that connection. I didn't realize it until just before the block ended myself. Which is funny since I actually watched G1 as a kid.

Toonami lost it's magic the second it let shows from other blocks (including the best cartoon ever, Samurai Jack) on it. I like the exclusive club or whatever feeling they had even though that's not completely true.

To me, it started to head south around the time they put Hamtaro and Powerpuff Girls on. I love PPG and I'll admit to watching some of Hamtaro, but neither show had any right to air there. The block was still watchable then, but that's when anything became fair game.

Doug and Arnold are boring goody two shoes characters while their fantastic casts make up for that.

I agree myself. Later Arnold at least. Rewatching season 1 of HA! on DVD, I think I really like Arnold when he was a daydreaming every kid. When he gets whitewashed later on in the show, he isn't anywhere near as fun.

Foster is one of the most absolute boring cartoons ever made. Pretty much started the dark age of CN for me.

You know, we used to argue about this on tv.com a bit, but I agree with you now to an extent. I can't stand the show anymore.

[Angus]

Old unpopular opinion: What's the appeal of those Seth McFarlane cartoons again?

[Dr. Insomniac]

I gotta admit. After rewatching Foster's and some of the later PPG episodes, I honestly don't feel like Lauren Faust having left MLP will do that much damage. After all, the two episodes she wrote were the least well-received.

[Kiddington]

Well... I guess I'll give this a go...

-I hate Ren & Stimpy. Hate it. In my honest, unabashed opinion, nearly each and every last bit and piece of this show is fucking terrible, and I find absolutely little to no enjoyment in it anymore whatsoever. I tried catching up on it again a while ago with the DVD's, and I'm just taken back at how many people continue to hold this show atop some golden pedestal of unflawed excellence (namely, the John K. era, which I only find marginally better than the rest). Oh, sure, it has its moments, just like any other show (Stimpy's Invention still got a few good laughs out of me), but I really couldn't believe how much I've grown to detest this show over the years. I just... don't like it, and I'm really starting to wonder why so many people consider this to be such a classic. Still drinking that John K. Kool-Aid, I suppose.

-I'm sure I'll take some heat for this, but... I was never really into Dexter's Lab, and to a certain extent, I'm still not. Don't get me wrong; I like it enough, and it's generally enjoyable with its fair share of brilliant moments (anything with The Justice Friends is pure gold)... but honestly, as a kid, I think I liked pretty much every other show on CN more than it (besides the bad crap, ala Mike Lu & Og, or what have you), and even still do today. The Eds, Johnny Bravo, PPG... hell, I even like Cow & Chicken more. It' just... I dunno, really, that's just the way I feel about it. Sometimes it seems to get a little too slow my tastes, the writing can really feel like it's in a lull at times, and of course, those last few seasons with Chris Savino in place of Tartakovsky were absolute garbage. Again, I like it enough, yes, but I'm just not as huge a fan of it as some people are.

-Animaniacs is easily the LEAST enjoyable of all the WB Silver Age productions. I put it even further down the line than Histeria (if my username wasn't obvious enough, I like Histeria, and I don't care what anyone thinks). I've come to the point now where I don't even think I like it anymore, and I just fail to see why so many people (ranging from Doug Walker, to just about every single WB animation buff on TZ) rate this damn show so highly. Pinky & The Brain was infinitely better; the characters are better (Pinky and The Brain are SO much more likeable than the Warner siblings), the writing is better, it's FUNNIER... honestly, P&TB was BY FAR the superior show, but for whatever reason (whether it's because it's a spin-off, or what I don't know), it doesn't get nearly the credit that Animaniacs does, and I just don't get it. And don't let me stop there; TTA, Freakazoid, and yes, even Histeria... all shows that I enjoy far more than I enjoy Animaniacs.

I could get into my laundry list of reasons for not really caring for it -- the stale writing, the cast of thousands angle that is horrendously grating and overplayed, and lest I not forget, the completely uninspired (read: awful) final season that takes a huge dump all over those fuzzy memories of the early years -- but you see my point. I know a couple of you have agreed with me on this before, so you know what I mean.

-I like My Life as a Teenage Robot. There, I said it. I don't care what any of you think of me, I like this show, and I'm not afraid to admit it.

It's not nearly enjoyable as the (good) Nicktoons before it, but I'll be damned if I didn't fall in love with these characters. Tuck especially; he's just such a nice kid, and it's so hard for me to get pissed at him when he screws up (which is, like, every episode, but I digress). It is very inconsistent, yes (some of the late-run episodes are pretty bad, I'll admit), but when it's on, it's on. The writing can be really solid at times, and some of the little "background gags" they do, like the signs on a wall or in a park, are quite clever and humorous. It's also a nice little blend of action and comedy; not quite as well done as PPG, but still good in its right. All things considered, this show has a quirky charm to it that, despite its obvious flaws, can still be an enjoyable romp at times, and I've always felt it was just a tad underrated.

Welp, there you have it. Go ahead folks; FLAME AWAYYYYYYYYYY.

[Avaitor]

I tried to get into MLAATR, but for the life of me couldn't. Nothing about it seemed original, aside from some clever visual gags. The characters were a little flat to me, the humor didn't really go anywhere, and the retro-themed designs just looked dated at that point. I like Rob Renzetti's previous work, but his show missed the mark for me.

As for Dexter, as much as I like it, Dee Dee was just too much for me at times. I remember writing a majorly detailed post back on the old board where I talked about how I thought that it, PPG and EEnE were the 3 best and most important CN originals of all time for psychological purposes, and went into the Dexter-Dee Dee relationship for its sake. So I do like her. But often times, I really wish that she would have lost every now and then, or just not be there at all sometimes. She could get way too hyper or sentimental for the show's own good.

[gunswordfist]

Heh, I think most of us were too young to make that connection. I didn't realize it until just before the block ended myself. Which is funny since I actually watched G1 as a kid.

Yeah and that was more of what I thought was an uncommon occurence than an unpopular opinion.

To me, it started to head south around the time they put Hamtaro and Powerpuff Girls on. I love PPG and I'll admit to watching some of Hamtaro, but neither show had any right to air there. The block was still watchable then, but that's when anything became fair game.

I don't remember the timeline. All I know is, whenever Toonami started throwing whenever on the block, it lost its touch (well not completely because we all know how bad it was) I remember me and a friend instantly agreed on that. It's one of those things long time cartoon fans just get.

I agree myself. Later Arnold at least. Rewatching season 1 of HA! on DVD, I think I really like Arnold when he was a daydreaming every kid. When he gets whitewashed later on in the show, he isn't anywhere near as fun.

I believe we agreed on that at tv.com 

You know, we used to argue about this on tv.com a bit, but I agree with you now to an extent. I can't stand the show anymore.

I don't even remember that shit.

-Animaniacs is easily the LEAST enjoyable of all the WB Silver Age productions. I put it even further down the line than Histeria (if my username wasn't obvious enough, I like Histeria, and I don't care what anyone thinks). I've come to the point now where I don't even think I like it anymore, and I just fail to see why so many people (ranging from Doug Walker, to just about every single WB animation buff on TZ) rate this damn show so highly. Pinky & The Brain was infinitely better; the characters are better (Pinky and The Brain are SO much more likeable than the Warner siblings), the writing is better, it's FUNNIER... honestly, P&TB was BY FAR the superior show, but for whatever reason (whether it's because it's a spin-off, or what I don't know), it doesn't get nearly the credit that Animaniacs does, and I just don't get it. And don't let me stop there; TTA, Freakazoid, and yes, even Histeria... all shows that I enjoy far more than I enjoy Animaniacs.

I almost completely agree. Animaniacs bored the living fuck out of me. Pinky & The Brain was of course good though. BUT I think Tiny Toons are just as boring and I got bored trying to get Freakazoid!

Side note:
So EK finally grew the balls to admit that he thinks Gargoyles is flat out better than BTAS and not just "in his opinion". Too bad he's still too scared to say he thinks Batman Beyond is superior to Batman The Animated Series.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It is just in my opinion, though. You can't deny that without BTAS, Gargoyles and many other great action cartoons that we now have probably wouldn't exist, including Batman Beyond (especially being that its a sequel to BTAS). The sheer influence of BTAS makes it a more important series from an objective standpoint, which is why I can agree with it ranking above Gargoyles in an animated series list. That said, from a personal standpoint I just feel that Gargoyles holds a more consistent level of quality, and to me it holds up a little bit better than BTAS when viewed on the whole, since the only episodes that I don't really like from Gargoyles are the World Tour episodes, and even then there are some really good ones in there, I just find that the arc itself drags on for way too long.

As for Batman Beyond, one unpopular opinion that I have on that is that I actually like season 2, on the whole. People criticize it for having way too many high school episodes, but upon re-watching it, its not like that's all it has going for it, and even quite a few of the episodes involving high school characters aren't necessarily bad, and can tackle fairly mature subject matter. Also, it doesn't really feel any less dark for the most part. The dark tone that the series started with is still present in that season, but just not as prominent or noticeable as before, and there are some episodes with pretty dark endings. Overall I think it was still a good season.

[gunswordfist]

On that note:

I like the high school episodes in Batman Beyond. The show probably does it better than any other one.

I also want to see a show centered around doing that, which is I'm sure an unpopular opinion outside of idiot anime fans.

Batman The Animated Series shouldn't be labeled an action show. It's like calling the comic books "action comics" Batman does a bit of everything and when's the last time you heard someone say, "Boy, that Batman fight sure was great!". The show doesn't get its praise for its action.

Also, action shows are unfairly bashed because they aren't BTAS-like enough. See Samurai Jack. That show is a fun action/adventure of the week show. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The thing is, there are few BTAS episodes that I actually dislike. I'm not going to be a fanboy and state that they were all Heart Of Ice level, but there were few Night Of The Wolf level episodes that I didn't find at least some enjoyment out of. That said, I see the overrated complaints, but I also don't agree with those that say there are only a handful of good episodes. IMO, it's a great show with a lot of high points and only a handful of low. Which is also how I feel about Beyond which is probably the most consistent DCAU show, I just feel BTAS high points were higher as a whole.

I agree with Kiddington on Animaniacs, especially the last season which had every major problem I have with current animated comedies being the vicious humor with absolutely no irony or tongue in cheek. I do like some episodes but I'd rather watch TT, Freakazoid, or whatever instead.

But I still really like Dexter's Lab. At least the pre-revival episodes.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Its been a while since I've watched any of those WB comedies myself. I should get to re-watching Animaniacs!, Tiny Toons, Freakazoid!, and Pinky and the Brain one of these days. Maybe sometime after I'm done re-watching the DCAU shows.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This might be a bit too specific for this thread (which is probably more about animation in general as opposed to animated characters), and I should probably have posted this on the NGE board, but I feel that this particular point is popular enough among people who watch anime for me to justify posting it here:

-I don't think that Shinji Ikari from NGE is a bad character, or even unlikable. The various rip-offs of his character archetype due to NGE's huge influence are what I feel contributed to a lot of his hate rather than him as a character himself. I mean, he's not going to make anyone's favorite list, but really the way he acts in the show for the most part is completely justified, and he doesn't whine that much, and he also doesn't really show disinterest or no care in others, either. For one thing, in the beginning of the series he's a coward, sure, but if you think about how you would react if you were suddenly forced to get into a giant organic mecha and fight giant organic monsters without any prior notice, I doubt that you'd be so readily up to the challenge. And to his credit at least he DOES actually develop as a character and become less of a prick. Honestly, I probably shouldn't defend his character since its not like he's a favorite of mine or anything (not even close, really), but at the same time I just feel like pointing out that a lot of criticisms garnered towards him are completely unfounded. I say this with absolutely no bias, as I only watched NGE earlier in the summer this year, and even then while I generally like it I'm certainly not a fanboy of the show either (anyone else on this board can attest to that), so really I just feel like offering up my counter-opinion to what most people think in regards to this particular character. Maybe its because I went into the show expecting to hate him that I realized how ridiculously overblown the complaints about him are.

[Foggle]

-I don't think that Shinji Ikari from NGE is a bad character, or even unlikable.

THANK YOU. I've been saying this forever.