by Amadi_the_Guard » May 1st, 2016, 7:17 pm
I just watched this episode, and I must say it's great. I think the animation is improving, and so is the plot. It's actually covering some of the stuff fans have been asking about, both regarding the show and the franchise in general, such as cub at the end of TLK (I'm sure if someone asked Disney now, they would say it's Kion, and that Kiara was probably watched by other lionesses during the presentation), Nala's dad, Simba and Bunga being brothers in a way... It's pretty dandy.
Regarding the complaints about animation. I can see why everyone is a bit disappointed with the show. In this episode, when Simba tries not to fall, it doesn't look anywhere near as good as Mufasa's climbing does in the original movie, or in Simba's nightmare in the sequel.
However, it's important to keep in mind that the budget for this show is much, much smaller then the one movies had, and raising the budget is not really an option. This show is, from my perspective, probably targeted towards two groups of individuals, toddlers and the old fans. Neither of those groups will stop watching the show because of the poor animation, because no toddler has ever really been like 'yeah sure, that show is pretty and colorful, and animals are cute, but the animation is lacking so I'll go watch something else', and how many of us intend to drop the show because of the animation? From what I've seen, the show has plenty of positive sides too, and that is what most of the fans care about.
Someone said that improving the animation would bring more people into the show, and I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I disagree. I don't think that anyone who is not already, to some degree, interested, will check out that one show for toddlers just because the animation improved. Most adults care more for adult cartoons, and a few shows for kids that achieved great popularity among adults did so by accident - it would be too risky to rely on just that and invest money. We may love the show but we need to keep reasonable.
I'd also like to note how freaking hard it is to really copy someone else's drawing style. Give it a try, it's a real pain. Then imagine having to do 30 minutes of animation that way? I have full respect for the animators, because I'm sure they are working hard and giving it their best.
And maybe, the animation isn't all that bad to begin with - the animation in the movies that we are comparing it with are too good.