History Main / LimitedAnimation

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', another Monty Oum project, uses limited animation much more conspicuously (though some of the aforementioned techniques are still used). Monty reused animations from previous projects with the show's characters and modified MMD character models, and the first season consisted entirely of playblasts (i.e., the quick unrendered animation that a 3D animation program gives as a preview of the final, rendered product) with the only lighting being prebaked environmental lighting. The seasons afterwards also had a limited number of background extras that would be reused over and over, sometimes leading to instances where one could spot "twins" in crowds.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'' shorts took limited animation about as far as it could go, at times doing nothing but panning the camera across still images. Fortunately, they used original Marvel art, like the greats Creator/JackKirby and Creator/SteveDitko, along with generally the original stories to make it look like the precursor to the motion comic.

* Manga/DearBrother made good use of this style.

As technology has progressed, the ability to produce animated storyboards became more common with the advent of software like [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash]] and UsefulNotes/ToonBoom, which may be released to the public as promotional material. Its primary use is being able to use crude CG or hand drawn images on top of a similarly crude background for the more detailed animation to use as a guideline for final editing and vocal timing. The same process has been used for "animated comics" where genuinely hand drawn comics are animated via voice over, use of TheKenBurnsEffect or simplistic effects plug-ins like smoke and fire. VideoGames also use it by necessity.

* Lampshaded in the ''Literature/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' shorts (''Nyaruani''), where often the title card will say things like "Sorry, there's not much movement in this one". Of course, it's worth noting that ''Nyaruani'' was primarily made with UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash (a program that thrives on this method) as opposed to traditional animation.

* Done for deliberate stylistic effect (and to avoid essentially hand-drawing each frame on the desktop, thus enforcing the trope all over again) on a lot of modern ThickLineAnimation and [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash Animation]].

* Reconstructions of ''Series/DoctorWho'' {{Missing Episode}}s do this a lot, as any motion usually has to be extracted from still images or painted on top of them. Characters talking will be an edited slideshow, Daleks will move around like paper cutouts (with their head bulbs flashing as they speak correctly), occasionally there will be an animated sandstorm or a CGI flame, but everything else is usually just production slides. Even the cartoon reconstructions suffer from this due to the very low budgets, although how much depends on what studio is making them. Some will take the easy route and use UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash, but others such as Planet 55 Studios will take [[AnimationBump painstaking lengths]] to create breathtaking visuals.

* The ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series began using mix-and-match parts to build its characters after the first game, which combines with the already-present ThickLineAnimation to create a visual effect very similar to an UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash cartoon.

* ''WebAnimation/TheGoddamnGeorgeLiquorProgram'' was the very first cartoon series created entirely using UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash ''and'' the first cartoon series created for the internet. However, the series was also created back in 1997, a time when computers still ran primarily on dial-up and when Flash was still a new thing. So combined all that with a low budget and the show's got some ''very'' minimal animation.

* Many early [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash flash animated]] cartoons from the late 90s' and early 2000s often had to enforce this trope due to technological limitations. Even today, with more advanced technology, this still applies to many flash cartoons, especially ones not originally from the Anglosphere.

** Its SpiritualSuccessor ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'' is also this, even when it switched to the more useful UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash.

Back in the early start of MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, to make a cartoon, you would have to draw (or if it's Technicolor, draw and color in) every single frame. And it was tiring. In fact, one minute of a cel animation cartoon played at 24 frames per second takes over one ''thousand'' drawings! To make this easier, a new kind of cel animation was created – limited animation.

* Manga/DearBrother made good use of this style