History ArtEvolution / Film

* ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'': The gremlins' designs between the [[Film/{{Gremlins}} first movie]] and its sequel has changed, from dark monsters to wackier and more colorful monsters. Chris Walas designed those of the first while Creator/RickBaker did those of the sequel.

* Computer Animation as a whole has evolved and improved vastly over time, becoming more consistent and just plain better. Even lovers and artists will admit the early artworks especially way back in the day were dreadful, with basic textures and colorings and characters who move weirdly and looked awkwardly shaped and have a rubber and plastic feel and look to them. Comparing the early works, with its incredibly awkward and inconsistent work and basic shape, texturing, movement and interaction, to the more detailed and flowing works today. It goes to show just how much the art team and the technical team have evolved and improved years later and till this day. Here are the [[https://geeksofdoom.com/GoD/img/2019/04/Toy-Story-vs-Toy-Story-4-Comparison.jpg examples]] [[https://www.deviantart.com/dlee1293847/art/The-Incredibles-Tony-Rydinger-Appearance-Change-751975483 of]] [[https://9gag.com/gag/ajEqgPR the]] [[https://www.deviantart.com/loldisney/art/The-Evolution-of-Andy-Davis-790772702 comparison]].

** Expected from a CGI movie sequel released 14 years after the original, ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'' took a huge step forward from the [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles first film]]. It's clear to see that the character models have been massively refurbished yielding more detail in facial expressions, clothing texture, and hair. In short, everything looks better. Compare the overlapping ending and opening of the two films [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P48Hod9M8s4 here]].

** Combining this with TechnologyMarchesOn, try watching the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' after watching ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter''. Three films' worth of subtle CGI improvement become immediately apparent.

* The first trailer for ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' had a radically different design for Sonic, given a more "realistic" look (smaller eyes, human-like body musculature, highly detailed fur, furry white hands). Shortly afterwards it was announced they would redesign Sonic entirely, and the second trailer introduced a new look for the movie that is almost directly taken from [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog the modern games]] (bigger eyes, longer legs, muted fur detailing, WhiteGloves).

** In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' film, Lightning [=McQueen=] is depicted with a pair of large stickers on his front bumper that resemble fake headlights (hence his nickname, "Stickers", from his girlfriend Sally). In [[WesternAnimation/Cars2 the sequel]], he has his fake "headlights" replaced with real ones for the World Grand Prix, and it has remained that way ever since (calling him "Stickers" would now be pointless since he has real headlights now, but Sally keeps the habit out of affection). Also, in the first film, all of the background cars are clearly based on completely fictional models, while in the sequel, all of them are now based on real models.

* Computer Animation as a whole has evolved and improved vastly over time, becoming more consistent and wonderfully extraordinary. Even lovers and artists will admit the early artworks especially way back in the day were dreadful, with basic textures and colorings and characters who move weirdly and looked awkwardly shaped and have a rubber and plastic feel and look to them. Comparing the early works, with its incredibly awkward and inconsistent work and basic shape, texturing, movement and interaction, to the more detailed and flowing works today. It goes to show just how much the art team and the technical team have evolved and improved years later and till this day. Here are the [[https://geeksofdoom.com/GoD/img/2019/04/Toy-Story-vs-Toy-Story-4-Comparison.jpg examples]] [[https://www.deviantart.com/dlee1293847/art/The-Incredibles-Tony-Rydinger-Appearance-Change-751975483 of]] [[https://9gag.com/gag/ajEqgPR the]] [[https://www.deviantart.com/loldisney/art/The-Evolution-of-Andy-Davis-790772702 comparison]].

** The later Showa films gave him an AnthropomorphicShift.
** The Heisei films gave him (particularly post-''Film/GodzillaVsKingGhidorah'') stout legs, a feline face, and red eyes.
** The Millennium films gave him very large dorsal plates starting in ''Film/{{Godzilla 2000}}''.
** ''Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack'' gave him an even more monstrous face with larger fangs and blank white eyes.
** ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' shrunk his eyes and made his body more compact to facilitate the elaborate fight scenes.
** Godzilla has once again had his design updated in ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}''. The most noticeable changes are gills on his neck, round, sauropod-like feet, and a much longer tail. The film crew also spent quite a while tweaking his face:
-->'''Edwards:''' ''"Trying to get the face right was the main thing... I guess he's got more of a bear's face, or a dog's. We also used eagle. There's a lot of nobility in an eagle. It made him feel very majestic and noble"''
** And this doesn't include the much more drastic changes seen in the Marvel Comics series, ''WesternAnimation/TheGodzillaPowerHour'', or the [[Film/{{Godzilla 1998}} 1998 film]].

** Creator/{{Pixar}} itself has undergone this as it has grown more skilled at averting UncannyValley and {{No Flow in CGI}}. This is especially noticeable when you compare the look of the ''Franchise/ToyStory'' and ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'' characters from movie to movie.

** The look of Creator/DreamWorksAnimation films before ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' was way more appealing than most other CG studios, yet it was a huge step below Pixar, specially regarding character and prop rendering. Beginning with this film however, the aesthetics of the studio's output became much more polished, coinciding with DWA's ToneShift into more character-driven works.

** In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' film, Lightning [=McQueen=] is depicted with a pair of large stickers on his front bumper that resemble fake headlights (hence his nickname, "Stickers", from his girlfriend Sally). In the sequel, he has his fake "headlights" replaced with real ones for the World Grand Prix, and it has remained that way ever since (calling him "Stickers" would now be pointless since he has real headlights now, but Sally keeps the habit out of affection). Also, in the first film, all of the background cars are clearly based on completely fictional models, while in the sequel, all of them are now based on real models.

** Combining this with TechnologyMarchesOn, try watching the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' after watching ''Shrek Forever After''. Three films' worth of subtle CGI improvement become immediately apparent.
** The look of DWA films before ''Shrek the Third'' was way more appealing than most other CG studios, yet it was a huge step below Pixar, specially regarding character and prop rendering. Beginning with this film however, the aesthetics of the studio's output became much more polished, coinciding with DWA's ToneShift into more character-driven works.

* ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}'' is a pretty noticeable place to explore advancements in modern CGI. The CGI in the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' is impressive enough, but by "WesternAnimation/OlafsFrozenAdventure", Elsa and Anna's dresses flow more naturally with their movements, up to the hairs on Elsa's fur collar. And by ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', the CGI has become so much more evolved that one can actually make out the peach fuzz on Elsa's cheeks.

** Creator/{{Pixar}} itself has undergone this as it has grown more skilled at averting UncannyValley and {{No Flow in CGI}}. This is especially noticeable when you compare the look of the ''Franchise/ToyStory'' characters from movie to movie.

* Computer Animation as a whole has evolved and improved vastly over time, becoming more consistent and wonderfully extraordinary. Even lovers and artists will admit the early artworks especially way back in the day were dreadful, with basic textures and colorings and characters who move weirdly and looked awkwardly shaped and have a rubber and plastic feel and look to them. Comparing the early works, with its incredibly awkward and inconsistent work and basic shape, texturing, movement and interaction, to the more detailed and flowing works today. It goes to show just how much the art team and the technical team have evolved and improved years later and till this day. Here are the [[https://geeksofdoom.com/GoD/img/2019/04/Toy-Story-vs-Toy-Story-4-Comparison.jpg examples]] of the [[https://www.deviantart.com/loldisney/art/The-Evolution-of-Andy-Davis-790772702 comparison]].

** Creator/{{Pixar}} itself has undergone this as it has grown more skilled at averting UncannyValley and {{No Flow in CGI}}. This is especially noticeable when you compare the look of the ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' characters from movie to movie.

* Computer Animation as a whole has evolved and improved vastly over time, becoming more consistent and wonderfully extraordinary. Even lovers and artists will admit the early artworks especially way back in the day were dreadful, with basic textures and colorings and characters who move weirdly and looked awkwardly shaped and have a rubber and plastic feel and look to them. Comparing the early works, with its incredibly awkward and inconsistent work and basic shape, texturing, movement and interaction, to the more detailed and flowing works today. It goes to shows just how much the art team and the technical team have evolved and improved years later and till this day. Here are the [[https://geeksofdoom.com/GoD/img/2019/04/Toy-Story-vs-Toy-Story-4-Comparison.jpg examples]] of the [[https://www.deviantart.com/loldisney/art/The-Evolution-of-Andy-Davis-790772702 comparison]].

* Computer Animation as a whole has evolved and improved vastly over time, becoming more consistent and wonderfully extraordinary. Even lovers and artists will admit the early artworks especially way back in the day were dreadful, with basic textures and colorings and characters who move weirdly and looked awkwardly shaped and have a plastic feel and look to them. Comparing the early works, with its incredibly awkward and inconsistent work and basic shape, texturing, movement and interaction, to the more detailed and flowing works today. It goes to shows just how much the art team and the technical team have evolved and improved years later and till this day. Here are the [[https://geeksofdoom.com/GoD/img/2019/04/Toy-Story-vs-Toy-Story-4-Comparison.jpg examples]] of the [[https://www.deviantart.com/loldisney/art/The-Evolution-of-Andy-Davis-790772702 comparison]].

* Creator/{{Pixar}} itself has undergone this as it has grown more skilled at averting UncannyValley and {{No Flow in CGI}}. This is especially noticeable when you compare the look of the ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' characters from movie to movie.

* Combining this with TechnologyMarchesOn, try watching the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' after watching ''Shrek Forever After''. Three films' worth of subtle CGI improvement become immediately apparent.
** The look of DWA films before ''Shrek the Third'' was way more appealing than most other CG studios, yet it was a huge step below Pixar, specially regarding character and prop rendering. Beginning with this film however, the aesthetics of the studio's output became much more polished, coinciding with DWA's ToneShift into more character-driven works.

* ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'' look very different in their first short, ''WesternAnimation/AGrandDayOut'', which was effectively a glorified student film. Wallace, in particular, lacked his characteristic wide-mouthed grin (except while saying "cheese"), and Gromit looked rather anemic. Also, the modelling and production were rather more rough-and-ready. The designs (and production methods) were greatly refined in their next film, ''WesternAnimation/TheWrongTrousers'', and have remained that way ever since.

* ''Film/AnAmericanTail'' has a much higher level of quality than its sequels, which feature stiffer animation and less detailed backgrounds.

*** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' restores Creator/ZackSnyder's darker color palette as well as the original design that was intended for Steppenwolf. Superman's suit has been turned black and silver as originally intended to make it closer in appearance to the recovery suit from the follow-up to ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman''.
** ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'' uses very bright, crisp colors.

** ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' had a generally more realistic visual design, more resembling crime dramas than bright superhero movies.
** ''Film/WonderWoman2017'': Prior movies had a much darker and more muted color scheme. Diana's Wonder Woman outfit in this film has almost supernaturally vibrant blues and reds, which was a deliberate contrast to the outfit in the movie [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice]] (it appeared to had been scuffed up over a long period of time whereas in this movie it has never been used before).
** ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'' seeks to really amp up the brightness in an attempt to placate complaints of RealIsBrown (which was also criticized, as it resulted in "bright and colorful" garish look as the costumes and sets were not meant to be seen that way). It does find a medium ground with Wonder Woman's costume, cleaned up compared to BVS but not quite as bright as in her movie.
** ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'' uses very bright, crisp colors. Atlantis is depicted as very alive and busing with activity compared to the more sedate, rusted look when briefly seen in ''Film/JusticeLeague2017''

* A curious example, but take a look at Piglet's one-second appearance in the original intro song of [[WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]] (the "there's Rabbit, and Piglet, and there's Owl" part). Someone at Disney must have done some heavy redesigning before Piglet made his "official" animated debut in the second featurette.