History MediaNotes / TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation

* Creator/JimCummings, voice actor who provided the voices of [[WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM many]] [[WesternAnimation/GoofTroop memorable]] [[WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh characters]] in this period.

* AnimationBump: '''IN ♠ SPADES.''' Don Bluth and the Disney Renaissance would set the standard for 2D animation in theaters from this point on; while the uptick in outsourcing for television animation, especially to the Japanese, would allow for producers to (usually) get more animation for similar cost or less than doing it domestically.

* ''WesternAnimation/MillionaireDogs''

This era contains a significant shift in technology: the switch from traditional cel & ink & paint animation to computers. Animation studios rode the wave of the digital revolution that brought affordable [=PCs=] to the masses in the 1980s. From starting off as a means to animate commercials, network bumpers, music videos, and even some groundbreaking VFX work for films like ''Film/{{TRON}}'', ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' and ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', Disney eventually employed CG for major parts of their films starting with ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'', and by ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' had refined it considerably (the backdrop of the ballroom scene was CGI, as are the stampede from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' and the crowd scenes in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}''). Throughout the 90's, digital compositing and coloring slowly replaced ink & paint. Later, computer programs like [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash]] and Maya made inroads as animation tools. In 1994, the first [[AllCGICartoon completely CGI TV series]], ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', came out of Canadian studio Mainframe Entertainment and premiered on Creator/{{ABC}} in the USA. 1995 saw the release of the first all-CGI feature film, which launched Pixar into the spotlight and into a position to drive the future of the animation industry: ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1''. By the end of the decade, CGI had firmly placed itself as a legitimate method of animation for both fully animated efforts and live action as the VFX industry fully embraced the wave of CGI effects with the help of Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic, [[Creator/DreamWorksAnimation Pacific Data Images]], Creator/RhythmAndHues and Creator/DigitalDomain's breakthroughs in the technique.

* ''David Copperfield'': 1993 animated adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens story with an anthropomorphic cast.
* ''The Devil And Daniel Mouse'': An esoteric '80s made for TV film.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Scarecrow|2000}}'' (2000): Last Richard Rich film from the era which was originally going to be released theatrically till the failure of ''WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI'' prevented that.

* ''Starchaser: The Legend of Orin'': A 1985 3-D animated movie, notably for early mixing of hand-drawn animation and CGI.

* ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'': A US-Japan coproduction that made early experiments with [[SerkisFolk motion capture]] while following in the short-lived trend of making more mature action-adventure Western animated films alongside films like ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' and ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE''. The failure of this film pretty much cemented the DenserAndWackier family-friendly route of films like ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' being the norm for Western animated films.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': Can be considered to kill the era since it overshadowed ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' which ironically overshadowed ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' as it convinced the animation studios that traditional animation is no longer relevant.

Depending on who you ask, the deterioration of this era began somewhere around the end of the 1990s or the early 2000s. The seeds may have been sown in 1995 when Disney distributed Creator/{{Pixar}}'s ''Toy Story''. That film was a huge hit both critically and commercially… while Disney's traditionally animated entry for the year, ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', did well financially but disappointed academics and critics. Disney's increasingly formulaic approach to feature storytelling – characters who don't fit in, [[FantasyForbiddingFather fantasy forbidding parents,]] [[IWantSong "I want" songs,]] [[PluckyComicRelief wacky sidekicks,]] [[AnachronismStew pop culture jokes,]] etc. – in the wake of its early-'90s hits, resulted in films that strove to include more adult themes/stories yet couldn't lift themselves out of the worst aspects of [[AnimationAgeGhetto the Ghetto]] when it came to content. {{Disneyfication}} became a dirty word as critics accused them of whitewashing or dumbing down history and classic literature/mythology (the increasing amounts of merchandise tied into these films didn't help matters). That said, while these films were considered inferior to their predecessors, only one, the aforementioned ''Pocahontas'', was a critical failure – at a mediocre 56% on Website/RottenTomatoes, it's the only real critical failure of the Disney Renaissance. Meanwhile, the entries that were relative box office disappointments – ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' – were modestly well-received by said critics (at a decent 73% and a good 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively), who considered them improvements over the preachy and pretentious ''Pocahontas'' -- ''Hunchback'' has since been VindicatedByHistory to the point that it's a dark-horse candidate for the masterpiece of the Disney Renaissance[[note]] in the same way that ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', another box-office flop, is considered a masterpiece Disney's Golden Age (the other contender being ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', which also failed upon first release)[[/note]]. ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'' were even viewed as coming close to the earlier works (at 86% and 88%, respectively).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheScarecrow'' (2000): Last Richard Rich film from the era which was originally going to be released theatrically till the failure of ''WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI'' prevented that.

To make matters worse, rival studios' Disney-esque efforts were usually pale imitations at best--consider Don Bluth's work post-''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', etc.--and often even worse when it came to Disneyfication, culminating in ''two'' [[WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn Italian animated features]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic that turned the]] ''Titanic disaster'' into HappilyEverAfter kids movies. [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks The absolute nadir of the trend,]] at least as far as wide-release animated films go, was Warner Bros.'s ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'', which was plagued by ExecutiveMeddling that turned a planned older-oriented film into a Disneyfied mess. Sadly, this film outdid far superior works from WB like the [[AnimationAgeGhetto Ghetto]]-busting ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant''[[note]] (which fortunately got VindicatedByCable to the point it's one of that trope's prime examples)[[/note]] and ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance''[[note]] (which sadly hasn't)[[/note]] financially, even as critics savaged it. This is partly because WB condemned both films in theaters with InvisibleAdvertising. One could even pin ''Quest For Camelot'' as being one of the films that led to the eventual downfall of the Renaissance Age.

To make matters worse, rival studios' Disney-esque efforts were usually pale imitations at best--consider Don Bluth's work post-''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', etc.--and often even worse when it came to Disneyfication, culminating in ''two'' [[WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn Italian animated features]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic that turned the]] ''Titanic disaster'' into HappilyEverAfter kids movies. [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks The absolute nadir of the trend,]] at least as far as wide-release animated films go, was Warner Bros.'s ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'', which was plagued by ExecutiveMeddling that turned a planned older-oriented film into a G-rated mess. Sadly, this film outdid far superior works from WB like the [[AnimationAgeGhetto Ghetto]]-busting ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant''[[note]] (which fortunately got VindicatedByCable to the point it's one of that trope's prime examples)[[/note]] and ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance''[[note]] (which sadly hasn't)[[/note]] financially, even as critics savaged it. This is partly because WB condemned both films in theaters with InvisibleAdvertising. One could even pin ''Quest For Camelot'' as being one of the films that led to the eventual downfall of the Renaissance Age.

* DenserAndWackier: During this era, creator driven works become the norm, and with that came a slew of shows with a much more simplistic and wackier art style compared to before: ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'' help pioneer such shows like ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', and ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' are just a few. Meanwhile, Creator/KlaskyCsupo also helped introduced many EasternEuropeanAnimation styles to the West, exemplified by grotesque, crude and surreal cartoons such as ''WesternAnimation/Duckman'' and ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters''.

** Although Regan's deregulation allowed for an increase in animated shows on television and kicking off the age as a whole; a grand majority of these early on were either heavily toy-based or throwaway content by Hanna-Barbera or Ruby-Spears. It wouldn't be until 1987 or 1988 before the kinks were worked out and more creator-oriented shows started to get made.

The Renaissance age is usually considered to begin in [[TheEighties the 80s]], but it must be noted that for much of that decade, Western animation was still strangled by [[AnimationAgeGhetto the Ghetto]], plagued by a lack of artistic vision and [[NoBudget pathetic budgets.]] LimitedAnimation was still the rule on television[[note]](on both American and Japanese airwaves)[[/note]]. Nonetheless, one distinct sea change at the turn of the decade distinguished this period from previous decades of the [[MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age]]. In 1981, Ronald Reagan deregulated U.S. television, thus lifting a long-standing ban on MerchandiseDriven programming; TV shows, animated or otherwise, could now be based on a toyline or established product if they included some form of moral or educational element (however arbitrarily or nominally). Within a few short years of this floodgate opening, a cavalcade of toyetic western cartoons arose to supersede the weakening Hanna-Barbera's output. Notable examples of this phenomenon, such as ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]]'', ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'', ''Franchise/CareBears'', ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', ''[[WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero G.I. Joe]]'', ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}'', ruled 80s television animation and had [[MoralGuardians parents' groups]] up in arms about children watching glorified toy commercials, which were also strictly separated into shows for boys and [[GirlShowGhetto shows for girls.]] That said, these colorful and often action-packed shows were nevertheless a major change of pace from the increasingly dull offerings served up by Hanna-Barbera and Filmation in the 1970s, and were entertaining to their target demographics, which is demonstrated by the fact that several of them became major pop culture phenomena that are fondly remembered to this day.

By the end of TheNineties, rival studios had launched their feature animation units, most notably Creator/DreamWorksSKG. [[note]] That studio was formed as a joint venture between Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg – the latter of whom had just been driven from Disney by Eisner after a power struggle and desperately wanted to beat The Mouse at its own game.[[/note]] However, most of them found that the public was still largely trapped in the mindset of AllAnimationIsDisney, so most of these attempts failed miserably or fell victim to Disney's aggressive marketing – such as rereleasing ''The Lion King'' late in 1994 so it could crush its rival ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess''.[[note]] (directed by Richard Rich, of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' infamy – Eisner must have really had it out for the guy)[[/note]] Even Bluth was eventually forced to ape the tone and narrative structure of '90s Disney with ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' (his only true financial success in the 90's), and his attempt to break out again with ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' failed and sunk his career. Creator/DreamWorksAnimation struggled out of the gate with the underperformance of their traditionally-animated films like ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'' (though both of those had good critical reception), but they noticed their small computer-animated film ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' did better financially. This suggested to [=DreamWorks=] and other studios that there was a way out from under Disney's shadow via new animation techniques. They made a deal with the hailed British StopMotion company Creator/AardmanAnimations, who helped show them that success came from developing their voice and style in a new age.

* ''Recap/LooneyTunesInThe70sAndOnward'': Post-Termite Terrace theatrical shorts from TheSeventies, TheEighties, TheNineties and in TheNewTens.

* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'': Had a major impact on shows for [[TheNineties the next decade]], as many well known people worked on this show, most notably Creator/JohnKricfalusi of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' fame, but also including [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Bruce Timm]], [[WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures Jim]] [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Reardon]], and [[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} Tom Minton]].

* David Kirschner, who was largely responsible for ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and more obscure animated movies during TheNineties such as ''WesternAnimation/OnceUponAForest'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster'' and ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance''.

* ''Recap/LooneyTunesInTheSeventiesAndOnward'': Post-Termite Terrace theatrical shorts from TheSeventies, TheEighties, TheNineties and in TheNewTens.

* ''UsefulNotes/LooneyTunesInTheSeventiesAndOnward'': Post-Termite Terrace theatrical shorts from TheSeventies, TheEighties, TheNineties and in TheNewTens.

What the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era did for movies, the Renaissance Age did for animation. Encompassing the late 1980s and the 1990s, the Renaissance Age of Animation had the medium see a significant increase in technical quality and finally returned to a point of artistic respect it had not seen since UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|OfAnimation}}.

The Renaissance age is usually considered to begin in [[TheEighties the 80s]], but it must be noted that for much of that decade, Western animation was still strangled by [[AnimationAgeGhetto the Ghetto]], plagued by a lack of artistic vision and [[NoBudget pathetic budgets.]] LimitedAnimation was still the rule on television[[note]](on both American and Japanese airwaves)[[/note]]. Nonetheless, one distinct sea change at the turn of the decade distinguished this period from previous decades of the [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age]]. In 1981, Ronald Reagan deregulated U.S. television, thus lifting a long-standing ban on MerchandiseDriven programming; TV shows, animated or otherwise, could now be based on a toyline or established product if they included some form of moral or educational element (however arbitrarily or nominally). Within a few short years of this floodgate opening, a cavalcade of toyetic western cartoons arose to supersede the weakening Hanna-Barbera's output. Notable examples of this phenomenon, such as ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]]'', ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'', ''Franchise/CareBears'', ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', ''[[WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero G.I. Joe]]'', ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}'', ruled 80s television animation and had [[MoralGuardians parents' groups]] up in arms about children watching glorified toy commercials, which were also strictly separated into shows for boys and [[GirlShowGhetto shows for girls.]] That said, these colorful and often action-packed shows were nevertheless a major change of pace from the increasingly dull offerings served up by Hanna-Barbera and Filmation in the 1970s, and were entertaining to their target demographics, which is demonstrated by the fact that several of them became major pop culture phenomena that are fondly remembered to this day.

On the silver screen, the industry gradually rose to new heights during the 1980s. After the box office failures of animated movies in the 1970s, Disney defector Creator/DonBluth pushed for a return to the rich classical style of UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|OfAnimation}}, beginning with 1982's ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'' – while it was not a blockbuster, it quickly became a CultClassic. It attracted the attention of no less than Creator/StevenSpielberg, which led to Bluth's directing the successful ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' for Amblin Entertainment. Bluth would both rise to prominence and fall during this period, but his collaboration with Spielberg proved to be the first real challenge Disney had ever faced in the animated film department, at least since [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer the Fleischers]] were in business on the eve of WWII. The failure of Disney's ''The Black Cauldron'' in 1985 seemed to spell the end of Disney's animation unit, but fortunately, it persevered, mainly due to the timely critical and financial success of ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective''. After the threat from Bluth and Amblin though, Disney frantically stepped up its game and rallied with ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'', which was another modest success. Their newly-established, adult-oriented Creator/TouchstonePictures label co-produced – with Amblin Entertainment, as it happened – ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', a live action/animated fantasy that also served as a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover of Golden Age characters and was the box office sensation of 1988.

Indeed, anime must briefly be mentioned as a growing influence on Western ''animators'' themselves, as they were aware of what was happening in Japan well ahead of the general public. Once fare like ''AKIRA'' and ''Anime/{{Ghost in the Shell|1995}}'' began showing up, animators and directors in America began straining at the bit to have their artistic restrictions loosened for fear of a consistent flood of high-quality anime ''pounding the western studios flat''. It was a flood which never quite materialized as they feared, but it still lit fires under a lot of people and led directly to many of the products of UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation.

There is no consensus on when this era ended, only that it did. Television cartoons in particular often bridged eras, with Renaissance-era shows airing alongside [[UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation post-Renaissance]] ones for many years.[[note]]As of 2023, ''The Simpsons'' is ''still'' airing new episodes. With their original core cast, to boot.[[/note]]

The Renaissance era can be reasonably be said to have lasted until around 1999[[note]] (the release of ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'', and the premieres of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'')[[/note]], 2000[[note]] (the failure of ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'', the underperformance of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', and the beginning of the new millennium)[[/note]], perhaps even 2001[[note]] the release of ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' and the failure of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', the former of which notably [[{{Deconstruction}} turned many Renaissance era tropes on their heads]] and set trends that many works [[UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation of the subsequent era]] [[FollowTheLeader followed]][[/note]], or all the way up to 2004[[note]] the box office failure of ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'', the last traditionally animated Disney film until ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' in 2009, as well as the endings of shows like ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}''[[/note]] or 2008.[[note]]The ending of Kids' WB! which dealt a blow to the already-dying Saturday morning cartoons.[[/note]]

For this era's successor, see UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'': While it's still a part of Disney's [[AudienceAlienatingEra dark era that began in the]] [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation late-1960s]], this movie's modest sucess helped reinvigorate its animation unit with the confidence it needed to help its animation studio get back up, even if it was overshadowed by Creator/DonBluth ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail.''

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' (1985): The Disney cartoon that finally introduced quality animation to made-for-TV cartoons, playing a big role in getting rid of lingering legacies from UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation.

* ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat'': Specifically, the character got two revivals – one good, the other very contested. The first one was ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCatTheMovie'', which was based on Felix's flanderized portrayal from UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation. The second one was the surprisingly good ''WesternAnimation/TheTwistedTalesOfFelixTheCat'', which basically brought Felix back to his roots and the series even threw in a bit of Max Fleischer surreality into the mix, though it suffered from an immense TroubledProduction that helped cancel it.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': One of the major Western influences on UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation.

* AllCGICartoon: Started in this era in both film and TV; Pixar and [=DreamWorks'=] films and TV shows such as ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Insektors}}'', ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', would begin a trend that'd carry on through [[UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation the next couple of decades]].

* GenreThrowback: Rampant. ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' was designed to be just like the old Disney animated musicals, ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' were inspired by the Warner Bros. cartoons in the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden Age]], Creator/GenndyTartakovsky and Creator/CraigMcCracken frequently threw back to both [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons UPA]] and '50s/'60s-era Creator/HannaBarbera (a given as both worked for the latter company), as well as '70s/'80s anime and superhero shows (and at some points drifted into AffectionateParody territory), Creator/JohnKricfalusi threw back to Creator/TexAvery and Creator/BobClampett (specifically Rod Scribner's art style), the [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries first]] [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries two]] shows in the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse took influence from the WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons, and so on.

* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'': Had a major impact on shows for [[TheNineties the next decade]], as many people, most notably Creator/JohnKricfalusi of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' fame, but also including [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Bruce Timm]], [[WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures Jim]] [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Reardon]], and [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs Tom Minton]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'': Had a major impact on shows for [[TheNineties the next decade]], as many people, most notably Creator/JohnKricfalusi of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' fame, but also including [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Bruce Timm]], [[WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures Jim]] [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Reardon]], and [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs Tom Minton]].

* ''[[WesternAnimation/MightyMouse Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures]]''

** ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective: While it's still a part of Disney's [[AudienceAlienatingEra dark era that began in the]] [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation late-1960s]], this movie's modest sucess helped reinvigorate its animation unit with the confidence it needed to help its animation studio get back up, even if it was overshadowed by Creator/DonBluth ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail.''

** ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': This was meant to be an epic musical but in 1998, two years before it was released, it was changed to a buddy comedy. [[Film/TheSweatbox The production process was particularly painful for those involved.]]

The Renaissance age is usually considered to begin in [[TheEighties the 80s]], but it must be noted that for much of that decade, Western animation was still strangled by [[AnimationAgeGhetto the Ghetto]], plagued by a lack of artistic vision and [[NoBudget pathetic budgets.]] LimitedAnimation was still the rule on television[[note]](on both American and Japanese airwaves)[[/note]]. Nonetheless, one distinct sea change at the turn of the decade distinguished this period from previous decades of the Dark Age. In 1981, Ronald Reagan deregulated U.S. television, thus lifting a long-standing ban on MerchandiseDriven programming; TV shows, animated or otherwise, could now be based on a toyline or established product if they included some form of moral or educational element (however arbitrarily or nominally). Within a few short years of this floodgate opening, a cavalcade of toyetic western cartoons arose to supersede the weakening Hanna-Barbera's output. Notable examples of this phenomenon, such as ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]]'', ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'', ''Franchise/CareBears'', ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', ''[[WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero G.I. Joe]]'', ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}'', ruled 80s television animation and had [[MoralGuardians parents' groups]] up in arms about children watching glorified toy commercials, which were also strictly separated into shows for boys and [[GirlShowGhetto shows for girls.]] That said, these colorful and often action-packed shows were nevertheless a major change of pace from the increasingly dull offerings served up by Hanna-Barbera and Filmation in the 1970s, and were entertaining to their target demographics, which is demonstrated by the fact that several of them became major pop culture phenomena that are fondly remembered to this day.

Less enduring but more common in 80s TV cartoons was the tendency to give live-action franchises {{Animated Adaptation}}s. This included well-received hits like ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'', but also forgotten and/or derided fare like ''WesternAnimation/TheFonzAndTheHappyDaysGang'' ([[RecycledInSPACE IN SPACE!]]), ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'', ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'', and ''Series/{{Alf}}''.

Depending on who you ask, the deterioration of this era began somewhere around the end of the 1990s or the early 2000s. The seeds may have been sown in 1995 when Disney distributed Creator/{{Pixar}}'s ''Toy Story''. That film was a huge hit both critically and commercially… while Disney's traditionally animated entry for the year, ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', did well financially but disappointed academics and critics. Disney's increasingly formulaic approach to feature storytelling – characters who don't fit in, [[FantasyForbiddingFather fantasy forbidding parents,]] [[IWantSong "I want" songs,]] [[PluckyComicRelief wacky sidekicks,]] [[AnachronismStew pop culture jokes,]] etc. – in the wake of its early-'90s hits, resulted in films that strove to include more adult themes/stories yet couldn't lift themselves out of the worst aspects of [[AnimationAgeGhetto the Ghetto]] when it came to content. {{Disneyfication}} became a dirty word as critics accused them of whitewashing or dumbing down history and classic literature/mythology (the increasing amounts of merchandise tied into these films didn't help matters). That said, while these films were considered inferior to their predecessors, only one, the aforementioned ''Pocahontas'', was a critical failure – at a mediocre 56% on Website/RottenTomatoes, it's the only real critical failure of the Disney Renaissance. Meanwhile, the entries that were relative box office disappointments – ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' – were modestly well-received by said critics (at a decent 73% and a good 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively), who considered them improvements over the preachy and pretentious ''Pocahontas'' -- ''Hunchback'' has since been VindicatedByHistory to the point that it's a dark-horse candidate for the masterpiece of the Disney Renaissance[[note]] in the same way that ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', another box-office flop, is considered a masterpiece Disney's Golden Age (the other contender being ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', which also failed upon first release)[[/note]]. ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'' were even viewed as coming close to the earlier works (at 86% and 88%, respectively).

* OffModel: Despite somewhat better animation, this still ran rampant throughout. The fact that everyone in North America and Japan was outsourcing did not help matters either.

* {{Animesque}}: Shades of this started to form during this era as companies began contracting Japanese animators to work for them. This is especialy prevelent in anything done by Marvel, [=DiC=] or Rankin-Bass.

** Although Regan's deregulation allowed for an increase in animated shows on television and kicking of the age as a whole; a grand majority of these early on were either heavily toy-based or throwaway content by Hanna-Barbera or Ruby-Spears. It wouldn't be until 1987 or 1988 before the kinks were worked out and more creator-oriented shows started to get made.

** Even though anime would start getting a foothold into the international markets during this period, it took until the formation of Creator/SteamlinePictures and even later still, Creator/{{Toonami}} before it became popular. Downplayed with its popularity in Japan, where the start of the OVA format only made it more viable for more mature content to be shown more frequently across all forms of the genre until it became the norm.

* {{Animesque}}: Shades of this started to form during this era as companies began contracting Japanese animators to work for them.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Despite the films of this era being defined by [[AllAnimationIsDisney Disney-inspired animation]], Disney wouldn't come into its own Renaissance until 1989 with ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}''. Until this point, Disney was still [[OddballInTheSeries struggling to find its identity]], Creator/DonBluth was the only prominent {{Disneyesque}} animator on the scene (having formerly worked for the studio himself), and the films of this period were mainly DarkerAndEdgier fare that pushed what was acceptable for children's entertainment.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': Can be considered to kill the era since it overshadowed ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' which ironically overshadowed ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire as it convinced the animation studios that traditional animation is no longer relevant.

Other broadcasting companies took notice and developed their original series. In 1987, Creator/RalphBakshi produced ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'' with Creator/JohnKricfalusi, which, despite its [[ShortRunner short run]] and modest ratings, employed a unique amalgam of irreverent writing and stylized, highly-energetic animation and design reminiscent of the idiomatically "cartoonish" animated shorts of the golden age. Creator/WarnerBros had its revival after they hired a bunch of Creator/HannaBarbera expats to bring ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-style comedy into the 1990s – the Creator/StevenSpielberg-produced ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' were the most successful. Much of the crew from these shows went on to launch the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse with ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' in 1992. This time, Disney aped ''them'' with a cult dark action series of their own, ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', created by Creator/GregWeisman, although they eventually mishandled it badly. Cable networks such as Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} and (much later) Creator/CartoonNetwork began their existence with reruns and repackaging of cartoons from earlier eras as well as syndicated or foreign fare (as did the Creator/USANetwork's Cartoon Express block. The whole network was like that back then: this was also the '' modus operandi'' of the emerging home video market) but moved on to create their shows during the '90s. Nickelodeon, previously notable for its live-action comedy output, launched the "Nicktoons" brand in 1991 with ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'', consciously emphasizing a "creator-driven approach" relative to the heavily-corporatized animated shows populating more established networks. This experiment would prove enormously successful and influential, sparking a succession of popular (and often bizarrely-designed) series - among them ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold!'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'' - eventually culminating in the juggernaut ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' (which would arguably subsume the network as a whole over the following years) at the end of the decade. During the mid-1990s, the then-ailing Hanna-Barbera likewise underwent a rebrand and began to label their original series (produced specifically for the then-fledgling Cartoon Network) "Cartoon Cartoons" – ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', and ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' were among the first to use the moniker. Following Bill Hanna's death in 2001 (and Hanna-Barbera's resultant full absorption into Cartoon Network), however, that name was eventually dropped, however, with 2002's ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' the last show to be dubbed a "Cartoon Cartoon". Meanwhile, some of the smaller studios such as Universal and MGM attempted to get back into the animation game. Universal's was relatively successful, though many of their series tended to be short-lived (including ''WesternAnimation/{{Exosquad}}'', and the ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' cartoon), and eventually declined to churning out sequels to ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' before shutting down by the early 2010s. MGM's was even worse and had shuttered completely by 2000.