Thin-line animation is a stylistic trend that has emerged in The New '10s based more around thinner lines, rounder shapes and noodle-like appendages. All while still being distinctively western. This style may have emerged for a number of different reasons. The emergence of anime and their influences on western cartoonists have made them focused less on detail. Different coloring techniques with digital art may have removed the need for thicker lines, and thus it only remains when it's a stylistic choice. The need for quicker, cheaper animation after the economic downturn may also drive the desire for more cheap, yet still pleasing animation styles. It also may be due to the widespread adoption of high-definition (HD) televisions - before HD, small features such as thin lines in an image tended to flicker and/or disappear depending on their angle and motion; HD allowed the freedom for this new, previously unattainable style.
It is also known as the "CalArts Style", a pejorative term originally coined by The Ren & Stimpy Show creator John Kricfalusi regarding how certain animated films and many animators in The '90s heavily copied Disney's animation and art style, which has since morphed into any show from the 2010s and 2020s that uses this style that one considers "samey-looking", despite similar art styles in animated works being the norm since the creation of animation. Though the term tends to be used more specifically for works that not only have thin lines and round shapes, but also bean-shaped heads, bean-shaped mouths and worm-like teeth, so works that have the former but not the latter don’t tend to get labeled as such.
Thin-line animation is actually Older Than Television, since many cartoon shorts during The Silent Age of Animation (particularly those made by Disney and Max and Dave Fleischer) featured rounded ball-and-noodle art-styles and thin outlines. However, it was often done out of necessity since the simplistic designs made things easier on the animators at the time.
Compare Puni Plush and Animesque, contrast with Thick-Line Animation. See also Tooth Strip, Sphere Eyes, Black Bead Eyes, Black Dot Pupils.
Examples
- Kirby: Right Back at Ya! zigzagged this trope, with its combination of rounded designs note and angular designs.note
- One Piece is one of the few modern animes to use this trope. Its art-style, while far from simplistic, is noticeably more rounded and cartoony compared to other anime at the time of its initial premiere. It lessened over time, however, with the art-style becoming more angular and complex.
- The Sun & Moon era of the Pokémon anime. Everyone looks much more rounded compared to previous eras, like a quasi Steven Universe with a Pokémon coat of paint. In fact, not only has the palette gone for a much more pastel inspired look, but also did the eponymous Pokémon themselves.
- Hayop Ka!: The Nimfa Dimaano Story sports a lineless variant of this style, making it stand out compared to other examples.
- Several recent Pixar movies, while 3D animated and therefore lack the thin outlines the style is named after, otherwise resemble this visual style, with the characters having large, often pear-shaped heads, round eyes and bean-shaped mouths. Examples include The Good Dinosaur, Luca and especially Turning Red; the latter also employs Wingding Eyes and other stylised expressions that are often used in this art style.
- Dreamworks Animation also started using similar character designs with The Bad Guys, which uses 3D animation but with many 2D elements, such as the characters' eyes and teeth, and a lot of action lines around the characters.
- The cutscenes for Marco and the Galaxy Dragon are animated in this style, with the usual simplified designs, bright colors, and fluid motion. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the visual novel, which uses a more detailed and proportional anime-style typical of visual novels.
- Bee and Puppycat crosses this with Animesque.
- Bravest Warriors: The show was created by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward, and shares the same art-style.
- Camp Camp
- CartoonMania used this technique until the episode "Whatever Happened to Victor Virus?" which have slightly thicker lines than the previous episodes.
- GoAnimate: The most well-known theme, Comedy World, fits this style (looking like a Seth MacFarlane cartoon).
- Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss
- Mighty Magiswords has outlines somewhat thicker but the shapes that he made his designs are too round.
- Seth Mac Farlanes Cavalcade Of Cartoon Comedy
- Parodied in an episode of Sublo and Tangy Mustard. During the performance evaluation the duo are told their costumes don't match the current models, which is based on this trope.
- Trick Moon
- The 7D
- Adventure Time: Probably the one that singlehandedly popularized the modern trend in animation.
- The Amazing World of Gumball: Certain characters, such as the Watterson and Fitzgerald families, are drawn in a rounded style. The change in art style between the first two seasons made several character designs more round and less rectangular (particularly with the Wattersons), though it also made the outlines thicker.
- Amphibia
- Apple & Onion
- Atomic Puppet: Although the outlines are thicker than most examples, the shapes and designs are thin-line.
- Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!
- Ben 10 (2016)
- Big City Greens
- Billy Dilley's Super Duper Subterranean Summer
- Bob's Burgers
- Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese
- Breadwinners: While it does have a rounded art-style, the outlines are more thickish.
- Brickleberry
- Centaurworld uses this style for the residents of Centaurworld; notably, Horse and Rider's world is instead depicted in a more detailed Animesque style.
- Central Park
- Chowder is considered a pioneer of the style, despite the characters having slightly rougher lines than the others on the list.
- Clarence: The episode "Goldfish Follies" highlights this style's inherent similarity to the Inkblot Cartoon Style.
- The 2019 reboot of Clifford the Big Red Dog
- Counterfeit Cat
- Craig of the Creek
- Cupcake & Dino: General Services
- The Cuphead Show!
- Dude, That's My Ghost!
- Duncanville
- Elinor Wonders Why
- The works of Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad!, and The Cleveland Show) use a less noodle-y but still simplistic and rounded art-style.
- Fangbone!, although the books it was based on had a nearly identical artstyle.
- Fish Hooks. In the fish designs, they have outlines thicker but with rounded shapes.
- The Fungies!
- Future-Worm!
- The Ghost and Molly McGee
- Gravity Falls: The art-style is rounded, but compared to Breadwinners above, the outlines are more in between thin and thick.
- The Great North
- Harvey Beaks
- Hero Elementary
- Hilda
- Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh
- Infinity Train
- It's Pony
- Jellystone!
- Kid Cosmic
- Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart
- The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: The show's staff, in fact, included Alex Hirsch, Pendleton Ward, and others as storyboarders, who would all later do their own shows. While despite the art-style being round, the outlines seem somewhat thicker.
- Molly of Denali
- Nate Is Late
- Oggy and the Cockroaches is a Mime and Music-Only Cartoon example.
- OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
- Ollie's Pack
- Oswaldo
- Over the Garden Wall
- The Owl House crosses this with Animesque similarly to Bee And Puppy Cat above.
- Pickle and Peanut
- Pinecone And Pony
- Pinky Malinky
- The Powerpuff Girls (2016) uses this style in sharp contrast to the original's more angular thick-line art-style. Notably, the Girls in the original series had a Non-Standard Character Design that could be considered a prototypical version of this style.
- Regular Show: This is more straight in later seasons when the outlines became thinner.
- Close Enough, also made by J. G. Quintel, uses a similar artstyle
- Rick and Morty
- Rolling with the Ronks!
- Sanjay and Craig: Features character designer Jay Howell, who also worked for Bob's Burgers.
- The Simpsons is considered the Ur-Example of this style.
- Futurama and Disenchantment, both also from Matt Groening, follow a similar artstyle.
- Smiling Friends
- Solar Opposites
- SpongeBob SquarePants started using this style since Season 9.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The outlines started off thick but became relatively thinner following the change in animation studios in the middle of the first season.
- Steven Universe: Compared to some of the other shows listed here, the outlines for this particular show remain consistently thick, and the characters have fairly realistic proportions.
- Summer Camp Island
- ThunderCats Roar
- Tig 'n Seek
- Trolls: The Beat Goes On!
- Uncle Grandpa: Again, rounded art-style but with relatively thick outlines.
- Victor and Valentino
- Wander over Yonder: The art direction is generally rounded, but true to Craig McCracken's Signature Style, the outlines are pretty thick.
- We Bare Bears: It's mostly with the Funny Animal characters. Humans have less noodle-y proportions.
- Welcome to the Wayne
- Wishfart
- Zig & Sharko is an another Mime and Music-Only Cartoon example.
