Favorite generation art style?

[Wander 125]

What is your favorite art style found in the current and previous generations? (How the ponies are drawn, the backgrounds, the animation, and whatever else.)

 

Mine is FiM.

[Rainbow Eclipse 3,926]

FiM. Goes without saying.

[Nulln 754]

FIM.  I couldn't even watch the older ones as a kid, they creeped me out.  I remember a commercial come on for the toys, and they had an animated pony pop out at the beginning and it scared the crap out of me.

[_Kurtis 636]

Favorite gen art style? Defiantly not FiM; it's hideous! In my opinion, the G3.5 style is better than FiM.

 

Anyways, my answer is G1. Everything about it is simply amazing! From the box art, to the show style, it all puts a smile on my face.

 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

My personaly opinion leans towards FiM. While it is more simplistic, the colors really make the characters feel less flat and the facial expressions win me over.

 

G1 would be close, but that style never really appealed to me.

[Megas 27,064]

FiM, it looks more lush and adorable

[PokeBolter 208]

FIM all the others are really hideous.

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

Friendship is Magic without a single doubt. Gen 1 doesn't look too bad, but it's still not nearly as good as FIM. The ponies nowadays are much more cute and pleasant to look at, and the world around them is just much more nice looking as well.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Both subjectively and objectively, FIM.

1. The animation for FIM is extremely solid. Thanks to the computer, DHX and Top Draw are able to take advantage by having accurately proportioned puppets and allowing them to move with more margin for error. Prior, the other generations were hand drawn; although G3's definitely the best animated, every single one of them still suffers from Low Budget Syndrome in several areas like lack of shadow and unrefined animation tools like the squash and stretch. (And for G3 and G3.5, the ponies look really creepy when in front view, while FIM makes them really cute.)
2. FIM's also the best to look at through its unbelievably warm and cool pastels and gorgeous background designs.* Ponyville is the little town with many earthy tones and simple shapes to give it a minimalistic, modern approach that gives the setting and FIM its own identity. Then you look at Canterlot's classical architecture and how each shape, design, and color. Atmospherically, the one that looks best outside of FIM is pre-Tales G1 because it finds some way to work around its Hanna-Barbera-esque budget and treats all its demographics (including the periphery) with respect. Conversely, every single design in G3 doesn't do anything except pander to its base demographic (the "typical girl colors" all over).
   
   *Honestly, though, Twilight's new castle is extremely poorly designed. To quote from my Twilight's Kingdom review:
   
   

   The castle design is very unpleasant. Sure, Twilight’s new castle is supposed to connect with the Tree of Harmony’s rocky, crystal presentation, but on its own, it doesn’t fit at all. The Golden Oaks Library perfectly represented not only Ponyville, but also Twilight. It was homey, beautiful, clever, and pleasant in its interior and exterior. But…
   
   a. The rocky exterior doesn’t have the organic shapes of Ponyville. It looks like something that belongs to The Crystal Empire, but even their shapes are more organically structured. The colors themselves are also too dull and don’t have the pastel, yet warm colors. Visually, the presentation is out of character of Ponyville because it’s far too elaborate, the cold colors clash with the rest of the town, and its inorganic structure appears incomplete.
   
   b. Inside, the hallways and throne room are very rocky with very deep, dark colors to counterbalance with the bright whites, greens, and yellows. It doesn’t have a sleek, regal presentation, and the really dark majesty doesn’t make the castle feel like home, but a prison instead.
   
   Altogether, Twilight’s new castle is telling the audience, “This is my new, grand home,” but it shows the opposite.

3. FIM's drawn characters are simple enough to remember them, but not too simple to not look like blobs. Each of their base designs is comprised of multiple layers of simple shapes. Just look at their heads, bodies, ears, and legs. When you break them down, they're all very simple. Hell, even their manes and tails are simply designed. On the other hand, the ponies from prior generations look much more realistic, but they're much more complex, making them less memorable.
   
   

    

[Wander 125]

I for one love the more cute and colorful style FiM was going for.

[Hovershy 3,812]

Definitely Gen 4. None of the others even come close.    FIM doesn't make them look too much like actual horses. 

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

Fim..... Earlier gens just seemed.... Lazy with their styles, and the pastel colors wanna make me puke.....

[NotoriousSMALL 1,984]

FiM...

although I like G1 Tirek better than FiM's

[baba_booey 4,299]

FiM. G1-G3's.. turned me off. I'm not a real huge fan on the realistic look of the horses, tbh.

[Wander 125]

FiM. G1-G3's.. turned me off. I'm not a real huge fan on the realistic look of the horses, tbh.

Exactly how I feel, It just doesn't work for me.

[_Kurtis 636]

FiM. G1-G3's.. turned me off. I'm not a real huge fan on the realistic look of the horses, tbh.

Are you telling you that you think the older gen ponies look like horses? Because they don't.

 

Horse: 

 

 

My Little Ponies:

 

 

 

Plus, G4 is the generation with ponies that look the most like horses, with their long legs and skinny bodies.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Mami Tomoe

[baba_booey 4,299]

I think I should re-explain...

 

G1-G3's animation style.. I don't like how the ponies are drawn. Simple as that. Their faces looks a bit.. creepy and the whole thing just doesn't look, well, cute or cartoon-ish(?) to me. It just doesn't appeal to me as well as FiM does. I prefer that FiM has simpler, cuter and more.. cartoon-ish character designs IMO.

[Celli 4,332]

While I don't hate the older gens style, In fact G1's style looks nice with the hand-drawn animation(something that sadly, is not done anymore), I think FiM's is the best by far, and really pushes the limits of flash.

[Zygen 6,065]

I honestly have to say FiM, while it's probably going to be the majority answer, I simply have to agree, as FiM just has such adorable ponies in my opinion <3. Something about the way they're drawn is just.. to cute! 

 

Not to mention the facial expressions and animations and stuff only add to the adorableness <3.

 

Gen 1 isn't bad with the art style though, they look cute, i'm not going to say they look ugly, because they don't, but it is a lot different than FiM. 

 

Still, it has it's own charm. And they can be cute too, I just like FiM's art style more personally.

 

I don't know much about the other generations, besides Gen 3.5, which I just.. cannot like. It creeps me out.

[Wander 125]

I think FiM is dominating this thread

[FadedSkies 1,874]

FiM without a doubt. They just look way more cuter and better overall   

[Shadowed Watcher 183]

FiM of course, watched some of that older stuff, and man that sh*t is scary. Had nightmares for a week.

[NotoriousSMALL 1,984]

I think FiM is dominating this thread

Not surprising considering this whole brony thing became a huge thing when FiM came out. You've probably seen a lot of "I like the animation of FiM" in the past as one of the reasons people think its good.

[Darker 1,351]

People are waaaay to accostumed to the newer versions, insulting Lauren Faust's favourite childhood show is something you shouldn't do, little bronies.

 

At least G1,G2 and G3 fans respect G4, do the same.

 

Back to topic, G1 was my childhood, but G3 looked cuter, G2 had antropomorphic ponies. It was weird. And G4 has those strange giant eyeballs. 

The evolution in the generations is weird, they become skinnier, while their eyes become bigger. Heh, like anime.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Darker

[Pastel 7,627]

G4: The characters are cuter, and the landscapes are beautiful.