The new animated Spider-man series on MTV is creepy. First, Spidey's voiced by Neil Patrick Harris and whenever he opens his mouth for a wisecrack I can only think, "Doogie!" But it's the animation style that really creeps me out.
The whole thing is computer animated, and not in a cute, Pixar kind of way. The entire show looks like it was created using the animation engine of a video game. That isn't hyperbole-- everyone moves completely unrealistically with a kind of floaty smoothness game players will recognize immediately. Action sequences are terrific, but close-ups and conversations are horrendous. I keep expecting life meters to appear over their heads. It'd also be nice if, for once, the TV version of the character would be more-or-less in sync with the comic book instead of stuck in his early college, pre-marriage years.
Watching the series is like watching a videogame cut scene, but without the payoff of having gameplay resume. Maybe it's perfect for a generation raised on that kind of animation, but I'll take Cartoon Network's Justice League over this any day.
Posted by Peter at August 17, 2003 1:21 PMBut since it is Computer Animation it goes straight to the cushy seat at MTV- and god knows- every animated show has to have a star (even a C list one) doing the voices!
I would say go out and see some hand drawn good animation, but with fare like Sinbad in the Multiplex it's like American animation is shooting itself in the foot.
For those of you with Cartoon Network, Adult Swim offers some amazing shows. Yes, these shows are very weird and sometimes sappy-preachy but the art shows a labor of love and craft (not to mention unique plots) that are so often missing here in the States.