Scenes Where The Animation is Really Good

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Begging massive pardon if there's already a thread like this somewhere (and my guess is there probably is, since PEEL is basically the encyclopedia of anything anyone anywhere has ever said about this show) but I saw the thread where people are pointing out examples of mistakes or shoddy animation.

While I am of course a snarky cartoon fanboy at heart, dying to tear down rather than build up as is my wont, I thought we could mention some scenes where the animation's really great.

The tank riding by in Roswell That Ends Well is awesome.

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The entire Amazon Women in the Mood probably has the best animation I've seen.

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I've said it elsewhere, but the ending montage in "Leela's Homeworld" had great animation of Leela crawling and teen-Leela walking(and looking)awkward.

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I think "The Sting" overall has the best cartoon animation i've ever seen. Ever. The parody of 2001: A space odyssey in the episode was absolutely breathtaking. But whatever. maybe i'm just venting some love for that episode.

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The candy Hearts pouring into the Space hole thing.

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The space backgrounds during Godfellas had me dumbfounded. If i ever work up the money, or the nerve to have an elaborate space scene tattooed onto my back, those gorgeous green/blue nebulas would be the first things on.

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the sky in bicyclopes for 2, the sting all round...alot of fishful of dollars..

i kid i kid

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The neutral planet. Oh, the colors! Oh, the emotion! Naw, just kidding. There are tons of great shots on the show, especially in the 3D area, but I think that the traditional animation usually gets ignored. I like a lot of little, subtle things that they put in. Things like emotions or reactions on people who aren't the focus of the scene.  As for specific scenes... I do have some recollection of some shots, but I can't remember where they were from exactly, so I'll pass. One example, though, is the little twist the Fry does to avoid the microwave beam in Roswell that Ends Well. It looked quite realistic, to my eyes.  I do remember being really impressed by the backgrounds in AWITM, as well.

Edit: for some reason, scenes that were pointed out in the commentary keep popping into my head. Both from X-mas story: The Prof flying through the air, asleep and the 3d flight through the snowy city. Both great, expecially the second.

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I just realized how great the arcade stuff from AOI2 was animated..

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One word: popcorn.

In I Dated a Robot and Biclops Built for Two.  Amazing popcorn work.

Yeah I'm a geek.

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The projectile popcorn kernels in I Dated A Robot were very cool. Looked almost like a Star Wars laser-gun fight.

The 3-D stuff is what usually makes me go "Wow, that was neat," but there's a lot of good 2D (and occassionally some 4- or 5-D animation, according to the commentaries) stuff all the time. Every time Nibbler eats something larger than himself and it doesn't look awkward, it's a tribute to the animators.

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I like when they're in the sewer in I Second That Emotion and El Chumpanibre is getting closer...everyone is drawn all shiny in the light, and it looks really cool.

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Yes, though the 3-D animation is good, the 2-D is often better. For example, the master in pile in HHRHGB, the popplers in TPWP, the backrounds in AWITM, the beehive in The Sting. How many cartoons specifically draw every single little item? Not many, no siree.

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The shot I was most impressed with is when Fry looks in the side mirror of the jeep to see the atomic explosion that kills his "grandfather" in "Roswell That Ends Well."

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The animation is generally and consistently great, in my opinion the best on any TV show.

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yeh, Futurama takes TV animation quality to almost blockbuster movie level, and that DAMN impressive. (no wonder each episode costs millions to make!)lol

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The car with all the legs on Decapod 10 from "Why Must I Be A Crustacean In Love" was cool.  In the commentaries they give the animator a shout out because it's all hand drawn, not 3D.

I was also impressed with the chase scene from the end of "A Clone of my Own."

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Originally posted by canned eggs:
The car with all the legs on Decapod 10 from "Why Must I Be A Crustacean In Love" was cool.  In the commentaries they give the animator a shout out because it's all hand drawn, not 3D.

Speaking on terms of that same episode, the scenery when they flew into the planet was awesome.

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Originally posted by Venus:
The space backgrounds during Godfellas had me dumbfounded. If i ever work up the money, or the nerve to have an elaborate space scene tattooed onto my back, those gorgeous green/blue nebulas would be the first things on.

Agreed. Oh so pretty... I even scanned it (well, really I just enlarged it and made the nebulas look a little brighter) and made a desktop wallpaper. Of course it dosen't have the same effect.   

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The neighborhood that Dwight and Cubert deliever papers to in "A Route of Evil."  I think that little bit of animation deserves major props for taking a mundane event and making it look visually stunning.

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Easy, any scene where it has a 2-D/3-D effect. Those are the best!

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Yep, Futurama is great b/c they have those types of scenes upwards of 10 times an episode. Once again, the think "the Sting" has the best animation overall. The whole episode looks breathtaking.

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Godfellas has some fantasic animation and lighting effects. Just look at the colored light reflecting off Bender when "God" talks, and the various nebulas and galxies spread throughout the universe as Bender is drifting through space.

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How about ATOTS? Near the end of the song, everyone is backlit by groovy blue lighting. Also it's pretty cool that the animators actually bother to have the characters dancing in time...

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the opening

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I'd say that Roswell That Ends Well, Godfellas, Three Hundred Big Boys, Luck of the Fryish, Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings, and the scene in My Three Suns where the people begin glowing are all really good animation times for Futurama.

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I really liked that video game scene when they go online in A Byclops Build For Two.

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When Bender is talking to God in Godfellas, and the light is reflecting off of him is amazing.

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Another episode is Parasites Lost. Not the whole episode, just when Fry plays the holophoner for the first time. Beautiful animation.

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And that part when fry is fighting the worm king.

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Yeah, but I liked the view of his entire body from the inside. Except the part where he's picking his ear and there's like 10 years of earwax in there. YUCK!

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Hermes: We've gotta get to some place where he won't stick his finger!"

Bender:"It's Hopeless! Abandon Ship!"

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i like in "a head in the polls" when bender is driving in his mini car just for his head, thats one of the various 3D scenes in futurama

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I also though Nixon's big robot from the same episode was funny.

Arrooooooo!! (steps on car)

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NIXON'S BACK!!!!!!!!

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Any scene with an explosion.

And the majority of the Roswell ep. Amazing

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Originally posted by Alliteration:
I really liked that video game scene when they go online in A Byclops Build For Two.

I was wondering when someone was gonna mention that episode. Not just the video game scene but the popcorn explosion at the end of act 1 is awesome too.
 
 And whether you like it or loathe it, Obsoletely Fabulous is definitely one of the best animation-wise. It doesn't have many 'big' animation scenes so to speak (the CG tidal waves probably being the biggest) but the attention to detail in the ep - the waterwheel robot, the ripples in the sea in the background, the inside of the wooden submarine - is very impressive. I would've liked to have seen more episodes directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill.

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I also love all of the small details throughout the show, like in Space Pilot 3000, when Fry steps outside, the billboard showing bachelor chow(I think) flipped over and one piece remained stuck, who in the hell would notice something like that other than me?

I like stuff like that.

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I just love the hidden stuff and tiny quirks in Futurama. Thats one of the things that make it great.

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I have to mention The Sting.  The giant honeycomb.  When the queen bee is flying towards the P.E. ship with Bender on her sting.  When they are dancing in the Venutian garden.
Breathtaking stuff.