Cel Animated Show That Switched to Digital Coloring

[Streaker Prower]

Wow, that was familiar that some shows that started with cels have been switched to ink and paint digital. I hope if there was the one for many traditional animated shows switched to flash ones.

Well The Magic School Bus comes to mind since It switch to Adobe Flash in The Magic School Bus Rides Again on Netflix

 

[Dylan James Yi]

Cyberchase, Arthur, Johnny Test, and the FairlyOddParents come to mind.

Also Stickin' Around, Caillou and Wayside too.

 

[cartoo5007]

Also Stickin' Around, Caillou and Wayside too.

The animation in the Savino seasons of Dexter's Lab reminds me of Wayside.

 

[cheril59]

The first four episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries used cels, while the remaining nine uses digital ink and paint. So, "The Nutcracker Scoob" isn't the only episode!

 

[Jared DiCarlo]

Detective Conan

• Episode 284 - "Chinatown Deja Vu in the Rain, Part 1"

This is only the point where Conan switched to digital full-time. Episode 96 was the first to be colored digitally. Episodes 219 & 263 were, too, before the full switch happened in 284.

Pokémon actually experimented way before that episode:

• The fifth Japanese ending theme, "Type: Wild" (November 1998) looks to me like it used digital coloring, at least in the still image of Ash and Pikachu at the end (I've never actually read this, it's just based on my own observations and comparisons).
• The second Japanese opening "The Rivals" (January 1999) has one shot that was digital: the actiony one with Misty's Staryu, Ash's Charizard, and Ash's Snorlax. It was also used in the second English opening "Pokémon World."
• The sixth Japanese ending, "Riding on Lapras" (July 1999) also looks like it uses digital coloring (again, I've never actually read this, it's just based on my own observations and comparisons).
• The third Japanese opening, "OK!" (October 1999) is entirely digital. The third English opening "Pokémon Johto" mostly consists of footage from it, but also uses cel shots taken from the actual episodes.
• From this point on, it seems that all the Japanese openings and endings used digital coloring (minus the episode clips sometimes used in the endings), and the English openings continued to recycle this footage. However, the fourth English opening, "Born to Be a Winner" (August 2001) is actually mostly brand new, original animation, borrowing only a few shots from its Japanese counterpart "Aim to Be a Pokémon Master (Whiteberry Version)." This original footage is also entirely digital.
• The original animation from "Pokémon de English" (an educational segment from the Pocket Monsters Encore series) appears to be digital. Pocket Monsters Encore ran from October 19, 1999 to September 17, 2002; I'm not sure if "Pokémon de English" was present for that whole run.
• Mewtwo Returns (December 2000), a multi-part TV special in Japan and a direct-to-video movie in the USA, was entirely digital.
• Note that even after the series went digital full time, the theatrical movies continued to use mostly cels until the tenth movie, The Rise of Darkrai, in July 2007.

Pokemon actually started experimenting even earlier than that. The first digitally animated footage I know of is the Meowth's Song ending, which began airing in October 1997. All the endings after that were done digitally.

Then we have the Japanese-exclusive Professor Oak lectures, which began airing in September 1998. These were also digitally colored.

Certain scenes in the "Kanzenban" version of Mewtwo Strikes Back (aka the version that 4Kids used as the base for the dub) used digital coloring to fit in with the new CGI elements.

As for the movies, I'd like to put an end to the lie that Darkrai was the first one done digitally. The only reason the Advanced Generation films still look like they use cels is because they were still transferred on film, giving them that warm, cel era look. There's a special feature on my Lucario And The Mystery Of Mew DVD that clearly shows an animator coloring the film on a computer.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

I thought the 80s revival of The Jetsons is the first animated television show to use the technique of digital coloring animation, and this was not the first time to use this, the 1982 Pac-Man cartoon is the first to use this for only this time on one episode (though already was on the list).

And the comic book gag part on the Ed, Edd n Eddy episode that used digital ink and paint coloring is most likely a test? Really?

And for this, I am not sure if some episodes of the US 2000 animated series of Baby Blues used cels while others of the rest used digital coloring...

And I was just saying for The Simpsons episode "I A Furious (Yellow)", the part when the internet man adds colors and made the animation of Angry Dad walking during the scene when he demonstrates of how the Angry Dad cartoons is made looks like it was in digital coloring as because his hands are brighter than the ones when it was cel animated, but I didn't know this already...

 

[cheril59]

This is only the point where Conan switched to digital full-time. Episode 96 was the first to be colored digitally. Episodes 219 & 263 were, too, before the full switch happened in 284.


Pokemon actually started experimenting even earlier than that. The first digitally animated footage I know of is the Meowth's Song ending, which began airing in October 1997. All the endings after that were done digitally.

Then we have the Japanese-exclusive Professor Oak lectures, which began airing in September 1998. These were also digitally colored.

Certain scenes in the "Kanzenban" version of Mewtwo Strikes Back (aka the version that 4Kids used as the base for the dub) used digital coloring to fit in with the new CGI elements.

As for the movies, I'd like to put an end to the lie that Darkrai was the first one done digitally. The only reason the Advanced Generation films still look like they use cels is because they were still transferred on film, giving them that warm, cel era look. There's a special feature on my Lucario And The Mystery Of Mew DVD that clearly shows an animator coloring the film on a computer.

Did anyone mention that a couple shots in the hand-painted cel episode "Wired for Battle" used digital ink and paint during the battle between Heracross and Scizor? And in the first digital ink and paint episode "Here's Lookin' at You, Elekid", the flashback with James and his Weepinbell used hand-painted cels.

 

[TeridaxXD001]

Did anyone mention that a couple shots in the hand-painted cel episode "Wired for Battle" used digital ink and paint during the battle between Heracross and Scizor? And in the first digital ink and paint episode "Here's Lookin' at You, Elekid", the flashback with James and his Weepinbell used hand-painted cels.

It's not quite the same, since it's exclusive to the dub, but Bulbapedia claims about The School of Hard Knocks "Computer effects were added in the dubbed version, specifically into the scene where Joe was showing them the virtual training center." I've never quite understood what they were referring to with this. What exactly was changed?

 

[Dylan James Yi]

And I was just saying, even though The Simpsons episode "The Great Louse Detective" is the first full time to use digital coloring, the flashback scene of Frank Grimes' death uses the footage from the cel animated episode "Homer's Enemy".

The Ssason 19 episode "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" uses many cel animated episodes clips in some scenes when Homer, Bart and Lisa traveled while inside the bubble.

And for "Flanders' Ladder", the flashback scene for Maude's death uses the footage from the cel animated episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily".

The couch gag on "'Tis the 30th Season" uses many clips from cel animated episodes (this should possibly not counted for this fact?).

Well, I didn't know some later episodes since currently in digital ink and painting animation used many footages from cel animated episodes for this.

 

[wiley207]

Then we have the Japanese-exclusive Professor Oak lectures, which began airing in September 1998. These were also digitally colored.

Yep; I remember a clip from that showing up in the "Pikachu's Jukebox" segment for "What Kind Of Pokémon Are You", specifically the animation of Oak starting up is computer (which was repeated in every lecture segment).

 

[cartoo5007]

We should make a thread for shows that switched aspect ratios.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

We should make a thread for shows that switched aspect ratios.

Yeah, as I was saying for this, maybe we should also make another thread for traditional animated shows that switched to flash animation.

 

[PokémonFan6786]

Pokémon switched to digital ink starting with Season 6 (Advanced), but kept using traditional animation for the movies up until either Lucario and the Mystery of Mew or Temple at Sea. I can’t actually remember if the latter had traditional or digital animation.

Edit: Temple at Sea was the last one to use cels. Oh yeah, and to those who said the switch in the movies was earlier, they had been experimenting with it in random scenes of both the show and the movies, but they stuck to primarily hand drawn sketches for their movies until Rise of Darkrai, which was fully animated with digital ink.

 

[Streaker Prower]

Pokémon switched to digital ink starting with Season 6 (Advanced), but kept using traditional animation for the movies up until either Lucario and the Mystery of Mew or Temple at Sea. I can’t actually remember if the latter had traditional or digital animation.

Actually, the Pokémon Anime switch to Digital Coloring starting with the Season 5 (Master Quest) Episode Here's Lookin' at You, Elekid. While the Movies stayed Cel Animated until the movies switched to Digital Coloring with The Rise of Darkai

 

[PokémonFan6786]

Actually, the Pokémon Anime switch to Digital Coloring starting with the Season 5 (Master Quest) Episode Here's Lookin' at You, Elekid. While the Movies stayed Cel Animated until the movies switched to Digital Coloring with The Rise of Darkai

Well, I was about 14 episodes off then…

 

[pacman000]

Then we have the Japanese-exclusive Professor Oak lectures, which began airing in September 1998. These were also digitally colored.

A few of those were dubbed for “Pokemon Insider,” a promo video which was released around the same time as “Pokemon: The Movie 3.” Same video also had a few clips from “Pokemon Live.”

 

[Dylan James Yi]

Wait, I didn't know that the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Party Pooper Pants" used many footages from many cel-animated season one episodes during the "Underwater Sun" song.

 

[cheril59]

Wait, I didn't know that the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Party Pooper Pants" used many footages from many cel-animated season one episodes during the "Underwater Sun" song.

That's the music video on the "Tales from the Deep" DVD, not the episode.
BUT, the "Remembering SpongeBob" montage from "The Sponge Who Could Fly" has what you said.

 

[cartoo5007]

Wait, I didn't know that the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Party Pooper Pants" used many footages from many cel-animated season one episodes during the "Underwater Sun" song.

What I find strange is that the underwater sun song and the invitation scene were markerbob, but the actual episode has normal animation.

Same thing happens in "The Sponge Who Could Fly", the actual episode has normal animation, but the walk cycle was markerbob.

 

[Dylan James Yi]

Dooly the Little Dinosaur used cels in the start for the 1987-88 series/first season, while the 2008-2012 revival/second/final season used digital coloring. So, this shoud not counted or possibly?

And many episodes that since used cels are likely the last ones to use this (The Powerpuff Girls (1998 series) episode "West in Pieces" is likely one of the last cel animated western cartoon along with the Ed, Edd n Eddy season 4 episode finale "Take This Ed and Shove It", Pepper Ann episode "Effie Shrugged" is the last episode to use cels and Doraemon (1979 anime series) episode "All the Way From the Country of the Future" was also the last episode to use traditional cel animation).

Despite only 13 segments of Recess used digital coloring, when counting on the last episode which still used cels, it was the last Walt Disney Television Animation production to use this cels.

Well, I'm not counting on the title sequences that used digital coloring including Dilbert, etc.