An animated topic

Discuss or comment on anything relating to D.C.Thomson's second longest running comic. The home of Dennis the Menace. Has been running since 1938.

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Kid Robson
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An animated topic

Post by Kid Robson »

Given the apparent success of TV and movie tie-in comics, does anyone think it would be a good idea for DCT to try and get more of their characters on telly in animated cartoons? That way (in theory anyway) a wider audience may buy the comic(s) featuring their cartoon TV favourites. Or, with such an awesome array of characters in their back catalogue that they could exploit, how about DCT getting into the animation business themselves? (And getting out of the 'lucky bag' business.) Any thoughts?

Mr McScotty
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Re: An animated topic

Post by Mr McScotty »

Strange as it seems I was watching kids cartoons shows this am (as off work today) at the same time I picked up a copy of the Beano ( first time in a while), I felt that DCTs style is moving towards the style of cartoons on Disney XD etc (ie Jamie Smart etc) as opposed to Nigel Parkinson traditional type UK / DCT comic art styles - they seem to be similar to shows like "Rocket Monkeys", "Robot and Monster" and Invader Zim etc so so maybe that's a plan they have (although I don't think the styles necessarily cross over in all cases from cartoons to comics and vice versa) oh and a few of these cartoon styles were in comics first of course - Saying that cartoons are a costly business to get into and I'm not sure that (imho) DCT have the money or that many characters that today's kids would relate to (not counting Dennis, Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx)

Raven
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Re: An animated topic

Post by Raven »

Mr McScotty wrote:Strange as it seems I was watching kids cartoons shows this am (as off work today) at the same time I picked up a copy of the Beano ( first time in a while), I felt that DCTs style is moving towards the style of cartoons on Disney XD etc (ie Jamie Smart etc) as opposed to Nigel Parkinson traditional type UK / DCT comic art styles - they seem to be similar to shows like "Rocket Monkeys", "Robot and Monster" and Invader Zim etc

I've noticed strips rather in the style of Cartoon Network's Adventure Time - which has its own US comic:

http://www.kaboom-studios.com/adventure ... ver-a.html

appearing in The Phoenix. It's not a style I find easy to like, though.

Mr McScotty
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Re: An animated topic

Post by Mr McScotty »

Good call Raven your right I forgot about that one - seems that's the style that the kids like now (although I think a few students like that as well) and its a pretty popular cartoon that's spawned a few comics and lots of merchandise

Raven
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Re: An animated topic

Post by Raven »

Though the comics never seem to shift at the local Forbidden Planet!

Mr McScotty
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Re: An animated topic

Post by Mr McScotty »

Actually it does very well in Forbidden Planet in Glasgow (along with its sister title Bravest Warrior) plus I just remembered when I was in W H Smiths in Hamilton this am I saw a UK edition of "Adventure time" (not sure if its a one off or a monthly)

Shiner
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Re: An animated topic

Post by Shiner »

My children are attracted to those characters that they've seen on TV. Had Desperate Dan been a cartoon then more Dandys might have been sold. Given this, I only think that the cover star of a comic needs TV exposure. As nice as it would be to see more of the Beano crew, Dennis can carry it on his own.

Mr McScotty
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Re: An animated topic

Post by Mr McScotty »

I don't think that there is any doubt if Dan had been on TV they would have sold more Dandy's but would the TV company's want a cartoon about a cowboy today - Adventure time (whilst not my cuppa tea) is so off the wall I can see kids lapping it up, I think Dan like Korky has had his time...sadly as you say its up to Dennis

felneymike
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Re: An animated topic

Post by felneymike »

Mr McScotty wrote:Actually it does very well in Forbidden Planet in Glasgow (along with its sister title Bravest Warrior) plus I just remembered when I was in W H Smiths in Hamilton this am I saw a UK edition of "Adventure time" (not sure if its a one off or a monthly)
I should think it's a monthly filled with easy crosswords and picture puzzles, with no comics at all. Stick to IDW!

I think the reaction the press gave to Dennis The Menace (before having watched it) is a warning. Unlike in civilisation, a comic strip becoming a cartoon here is a cue for some lazy hack to go and look at a recent copy of a comic they used to read, then write a fury-filled article about how it's "PC" because the art looks different and it costs more.

All this from supposed "patriots", who ought to be celebrating that something British is being turned into a cartoon that will potentially play around the world, rather than foreign stuff coming here and being turned into "comics", that aren't.

DCT ought to create their own anger-filled tabloid pointing this out, actually.

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ISPYSHHHGUY
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Re: An animated topic

Post by ISPYSHHHGUY »

Good quality animation is expensive, [it takes about an hour to do a finished drawing, and there are 24 of these per second for flowing animation like Disney or indeed Looney Tunes.]


This expense is not really feasible for lower TV animation budgets, and so shortcuts like streamlined design of the characters and backgrounds as well as jerkier animation [shooting frames on 'twos' or 'threes' instead of 'ones' like in Disney or in vintage POPEYE].

Although some good work has been done in the TV animation field [like the 90s Batman series---the 40s Fleischer theatrical series that inspired it is more lavish and detailed in comparison, to cite one example].


To do a subject like Desperate Dan 'properly' in animated form is closer to big-screen budgeting than TV budgets are, and to be honest the Dennis TV episodes are typical TV animation fare----I'm not knocking this, it's all down to limited budgets, which reflects the modest design of works like these.

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philcom55
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Re: An animated topic

Post by philcom55 »

On the other hand Oliver Postgate produced his TV shows by himself in his garden shed with home-made equipment - and I reckon they still have a distinctive charm that stands up to anything being turned out today. When I saw him in Manchester he calculated that his entire life's work must have cost as much as Aardman spend on one minute of screen time!

Just imagine what his version of Desperate Dan would have been like...! :)

- Phil Rushton

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ISPYSHHHGUY
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Re: An animated topic

Post by ISPYSHHHGUY »

Yes I do agree that 'home-made' animation like the Clangers etc often looks great with it's shoestring budget, Phil----also see the Terry Gilliam Python animations, done with cut-out elements.

Low budgets can sometimes encourage great invention. [by neccessity]

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philcom55
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Re: An animated topic

Post by philcom55 »

...And not forgetting John Ryan's Captain Pugwash.

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Digifiend
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Re: An animated topic

Post by Digifiend »

There's a reason why Dennis's face was redesigned for the 2009 cartoon. Easier to animate. It's probably the same reason Eric's hairstyle was changed when the Bananaman cartoon came out, and Roger the Dodger doesn't appear in the Beano Video. Checked shirts and skinhead haircuts are hard to animate (or at least were 20-30 years ago). I bet Desperate Dan's famous bristly chin would cause animation problems. That'd be why he's only ever been animated in short TV commercials.

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ISPYSHHHGUY
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Re: An animated topic

Post by ISPYSHHHGUY »

Good observations there, Digi: even Disney studios admitted it was more practical to animate lions than tigers----who have time-consuming stripes to animate!

Regarding the jittering of Desperate Dan's bristles-----if this was done using traditional cel animation, registration would be very tricky and it would probably look like a swarm of buzzing flies on his chin!

However, this delicate sort of dilemma is not a problem for CGI capabilities,---and such registration is accurately pinpointed, even in motion, by computer----- and perhaps a combination of hand-drawn characters and 'CGI stubble' on an overlay could be the order of the day?

This is quite possibly my most geekified, fan-boy posting on here to date, readers........ah, the wonder of Comics UK, the only place to discuss such stuff, free of any embarassment!!

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