History Main / Colorization

Compare DeliberatelyMonochrome and DecadeThemedFilter.

* Some MediaNotes/GameBoy games have been given colourised [[UpdatedRerelease Updated Rereleases]] for the MediaNotes/GameBoyColor. Previously, select Game Boy games have been given a less-polished colourisation (more akin to a more complex ColorWash if anything) when played on the MediaNotes/SuperGameBoy for the MediaNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem. Some non-enhanced games are also given preset [[ColorWash Color Washes]] when played on the Super Game Boy or Game Boy Color. Some of the original Game Boy games to have been given colourised rereleases include:

* Some UsefulNotes/GameBoy games have been given colourised [[UpdatedRerelease Updated Rereleases]] for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor. Previously, select Game Boy games have been given a less-polished colourisation (more akin to a more complex ColorWash if anything) when played on the UsefulNotes/SuperGameBoy for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem. Some non-enhanced games are also given preset [[ColorWash Color Washes]] when played on the Super Game Boy or Game Boy Color. Some of the original Game Boy games to have been given colourised rereleases include:

[[Folder:Literature]]

** For the 60th anniversary of the show a heavily cut-down and colourised version of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks]] was made, with the colours being done in a style to emulate the [[StylisticSuck gaudier]] colour choices of 60's colour-TV. Ironically considering the history of this technique the colouring job itself was not the most heavily criticised part of it; the editing and pacing were so heavily sped up that the colour choices barely received any negative mention.

** For the 60th anniversary of the show a heavily cut-down and colourised version of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks]] was made, with the colours being done in a style to emulate the [[StylisticSuck gaudier]] colour choices of 60's colour-TV. Ironically considering the history of this technique the colouring job itself was not the most heavily criticised part of it; the editing and pacing were so heavily sped up that the colour choices barely receives any negative mention.

* The original Mirage ''ComicBook/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Mirage}}'' were printed in black and white. First Graphic Novel later released colorized collections.
* The original 1988 Creator/EpicComics release of ''Manga/{{Akira}}'', one of the first complete English translations of a manga series, was digitally colored and flipped to read from left to right.
* In early 2013, Shueisha began releasing ''Manga/DragonBall'' fully colored in both digital and print formats.
* In late 2018, as ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' had entered its final stretch with the Infinity Castle arc, Shueisha hired a professional digital colorist to begin working from Chapter 140 onwards, it followed all the way to the series’ end in Chapter 205; the effort was done in order to promote the digital print of Weekly Shounen Jump at the time.

* Most of the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' manga were originally drawn and released in black-and-white. A decade later, James Barry colorized the ones he'd illustrated and they were re-released.

* The second wave of controversy over colorization occurred in the mid-2000s when Columbia released a series of newly colorized Film/TheThreeStooges [=DVDs=]. However, the process is more accepted nowadays because of the improved technology, and the fact that DVD/Blu-Ray format allows both colorized and black and white versions to appear on the same medium. Film purists also now understand better that the restoration process for the original black and white prints ''does'' help preserve the original films, and some industry veterans like Creator/ShirleyTemple even ''assisted'' in the colorizations of their own films. Also, odd cult film colorizations that played up the camp value of the original work, such as Legend Films' colorization of ''Film/ReeferMadness'', helped win over some skeptics and critics of the process. The fact that, in most cases, the original black and white versions remain widely available also helped alleviate concerns.

* The first two seasons of ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'', which were filmed in black-and-white instead of color like the rest of the series, were released to DVD in two versions: the original B&W and colorized, however, only the colorized versions are available overseas and in the complete series boxset. However, when Creator/MillCreekEntertainment got the sub-license to release the series to DVD, their releases only include the black-and-white versions of those seasons.
* The same can be said word-for-word for the first season of ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie''.

*** ''VideoGame/DrMario [[https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3784/ DX]]''

The use of colorization is often controversial, as [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion changing the look and tone of a film after it was made]] is seen by many as equivalent to defacing art. Also, choosing the colors that are going to be used is often just guessing since there's no way to know how the movie set, props and costumes really were when the movie was filmed. Like most things, it can also be used in service of the story and attract attention to an UpdatedRerelease. In comics, at worst, it can lead to complaints.

* A Russian parody sketch series "Большая разница" ("Big Difference") parodied the 2009 colorization of ''Series/SeventeenMomentsOfSpring'' (see above) by making a parody with an intentionally wacky colorization [[https://youtu.be/qMELmGSvcJk?t=290 not matching the original series' tone in any way]].

** ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}} [[Updated Rerelease DX]]''

*** ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}} [[CompilationRerelease &]] VideoGame/Galaxian [[https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6541/ DX]]''

** ''VideoGame/PokemonYellow'' (the [[LocalizationBonus international releases]] have been colourised, but the original Japanese release did not have any Game Boy Color enhancements)

* The same can be said word-for-word for ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'', although only its first season was filmed in black-and-white.

* This was a fairly common technique in the 90s to create surreal-looking music videos. In addition to 'Basket Case' listed above, it was used the exact same way for Music/Hole's "Celebrity Skin," and select shots in Music/Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" (mostly the footage of the band playing. Colorization was also used in a much less controlled manner in Music/TheWildhearts' video for "Just in Lust."