greatest influence in animation during the last 20 years

[cinco]

Choose wisely !

[D4C]

I don't know. We've been in kind of an animation hellhole the past ten years. I'd say Matt Groening if anything. Nuclear family + PRIMETIME animated show was revived.

[Granto]

Groening but not with any real conviction

[Moe Nopoly]

i would say Bruce Timm. The animated style from Bruce Timm in BTAS changed the whole animated superhero cartoons forever

[Gatorgod]

100 years from now Spongebob will be the only one they still be talking about,.. amidst the post nuclear rubble.

[cinco]

100 years from now Spongebob will be the only one they still be talking about,.. amidst the post nuclear rubble.

But Spongebob wouldn't have existed if one certain John K. hadn't created "The Ren and Stimpy show". Spongebob is just a light version of the wackiness that was Ren and Stimpy, which was amazing television during its first 2 seasons.

[Fox Executive]

I would say Matt G, because he has influenced Seth, Matt & Trey and Brad.

[Green Man]

the guy who created futurama

[Dynamo]

Tie between Matt and Bruce.

[Real Melvin]

But Spongebob wouldn't have existed if one certain John K. hadn't created "The Ren and Stimpy show". Spongebob is just a light version of the wackiness that was Ren and Stimpy, which was amazing television during its first 2 seasons.

Oh! Can we / Do we have a thread on Ren and Stimpy???? I would create it but for fear of never leaving it.

[Sniper Squirrel]

easily Groening

[Semaj]

As much as John K. tries to take all the credit, today's animation influences have run on different planes, which could be whittled down to three categories:

- John K. can be credited for reviving childrens' cartoons, especially as it entered cable television. Before his influence, most TV affiliates would only accept cartoons that tied-in to a toy franchise, or was a watered-down revival of a past commodity.
Of course, John's chance at coming up with something original began when Nickelodeon announced their new Nicktoons program, which would give cartoonists the freedom to come up with their own ideas. Paul Germain, co-creator/showrunner of Rugrats shared the general idea of coming up with kids' programming that was more intelligent than the norm. The success of the Nicktoons program eventually led to SpongeBob SquarePants, which to me owes its success more to Rocko's Modern Life than Ren & Stimpy, since most of the SB crew came from and gained recognition from Rocko. John K. helped make cartoonists become celebrities in their own field again.

- John Lasseter was just one of several new-school Disney artists desperately striving for something new, both creatively and technically, coming off of Disney's bullshitting period from the mid-80's. Not mentioned in the poll were those who eventually got the ball rolling at Disney later that decade, some of whom had no background in animation at all (including Walt's nephew, Roy Edward). Strictly in the theatrical realm, Lasseter was among the first to use CGI for mainstream animation, which soon led to the first CGI feature film.

-Matt Groening created The Simpsons for The Tracey Ullman Show. More than two years after they first launched, FOX was still trying to distinguish themselves from the other broadcast networks, and they came forward with the idea of expanding The Simpsons into its own series. This would be the first prime-time animated show for adults in more than 25 years, and basically made a market for adult animation, helping shave off the "cartoons are for kids" stigma. The Simpsons' eternal success influenced adult animation throughout television.

[Gatorgod]

But Spongebob wouldn't have existed if one certain John K. hadn't created "The Ren and Stimpy show". Spongebob is just a light version of the wackiness that was Ren and Stimpy

That's all well an good, but its not me you have to convince. Try plying you're logic against those 100yr+ future folk,.. standing admidst post nuke ruble, grooving on Spongebob.
Brawndo the thirst mutilator ..has what plants crave! Its got Electrolytes!

[Kiyosuki]

It's a tough question.

Even though Greoning created the idea of the Simpsons and still has some part in it, he kind of co-created it too and many other very talented people made it the phenomenon it became. I think it's actually arguable to give him too much credit for being the single, greatest factor in why the Simpsons became so huge. Though he did make the idea to begin with I suppose as well, so using him as a reflection of the whole thing in general I guess isn't totally hard to understand if we're talking just influence here. And it was a very influential show...

Matt and Trey, as well as Seth have a good bit of influence through their shows but it tends to be more in the broader pop-culture sense I think.

Avatar was a great series I give a lot of props for, but it's certainly not had an enormous influence on animation noteworthy to speak of so Michael and Bryan are out. Spongebob too has a good following but that doesn't mean it was incredibly influential for animation.

John K wishes he was relevant. Heh, alright he and Ren and Stimpy did do a good number on revitalizing children's animation at the time.

Bruce Timm and Brad Bird respectively are great entities in the animation world, Bruce in particular for making Batman, and later his own version of the greater DC universe so awesome that it actually influenced the DC comics themselves which is unheard of. It's one of the greatest animated series' and I think it'll continue to be seen as that.

But honestly out of these it's got to be John Lasseter. I mean, this guy and many of the people he's worked with over the years have had such an enormous and overencompassing effect on animation...in some ways indirectly bad...but in other ways very positive too. Regardless their work changed the face of the whole thing and is a really well known name still even outside animation's small circles. Like Matt I don't want to give him too much credit for Pixars overall success, but fact is what he and his friends started are still seen now as a sort of pinnacle of animation quality for the moment.

Though a name that should have really been put on this list who I would have voted for in a heartbeat is Hayao Miyazaki. Many, many big names in animation including Lasseter have said that he was and still is an enormous influence in their careers. The guy's work is considered so progressive, continually amazing, and ingenuitive that people often consider the guy's work a separate sub-genre of anime rather than bunching it all together. That's saying a lot. And this is just in North America, the guy's had a soft but very global impact on animation. Over in his native Japan he's like a cultural institution too.

[cinco]

It's a tough question.



Though a name that should have really been put on this list who I would have voted for in a heartbeat is Hayao Miyazaki. Many, many big names in animation including Lasseter have said that he was and still is an enormous influence in their careers. The guy's work is considered so progressive, continually amazing, and ingenuitive that people often consider the guy's work a separate sub-genre of anime rather than bunching it all together. That's saying a lot. And this is just in North America, the guy's had a soft but very global impact on animation. Over in his native Japan he's like a cultural institution too.

You are right about Miyazaki, but I tried not to include anime-influences in the line-up.

[Kiyosuki]

why not? it's animation.

Anyways, Miyazaki is beyond anime.

[cinco]

why not? it's animation.

Anyways, Miyazaki is beyond anime.

You see, that's the reason I didn't do polls before. You always run the risk of being incomplete. An open question is definitely a better solution.
People who think Craig McCracken or Genndy Tartakovsky are great influences also miss the chance to choose for them in the poll.

[TheForbiddenDonut]

doesn't really explain why you wouldn't include Miyazaki for being anime.

[cinco]

doesn't really explain why you wouldn't include Miyazaki for being anime.

I had only American animators in mind when creating the poll.

[Dylan]

I voted lasseter but i meant bruce timm.

[cinco]

I voted lasseter but i meant bruce timm.

We'll keep it in mind.

[Dylan]

We'll keep it in mind.

[HappyPalooza]

Tough choice. Groening influenced cartoons on television, opening a gateway for adult-targeted animation. But Lasseter had a huge influence on film animation for new ideas and breaking barriers into cg feature films.

[General Jack D. Ripper]

Definitely Groening. Without him, who knows if Macfarlane, Matt & Trey, and even Brad Bird would have become successes? Then, there are countless other adult targeted cartoons that owe a debt to the Simpsons for breaking down that "cartoons aren't for adults" barrier.

John K may have made Ren and Stimpy which was great, but I could really give a crap about him otherwise. Stephen Hillenburg may have made a show that gives life to an otherwise now generally terrible network, but he hasn't had too huge of an influence.

And I don't know a few of these other ones.

[cinco]

John K may have made Ren and Stimpy which was great, but I could really give a crap about him otherwise.

I give him credit for the effort he puts in his blog.
Excellent material and information for starting animators.

[D4C]

Well now I know you're a filthy troll.

[cinco]

http://blog.toonzone.net/blogs/115/t...-in-animation/