It's funny that the very first so-called "realistic" cartoons were drawn better than everything that came after.
I mean, they're still stiff as hell, but at least they had some solidity and a bit of design.
Probably because they used actual comic artists to draw them and didn't try to animate them.
In the production process that came later, they would just design the realistic characters on model sheets, then get artists who couldn't draw well to lay them out. Then animators who couldn't draw in this style either had a hell of a time trying to not only move them, but even pose them naturally. Then assistants would trace the already awkward poses and stiff animation and they'd lose another generation.I did like Jonny Quest when it came out - for the same reason: Doug Wildey was a realistic comic artist and he did most of the layouts, and they inked them in comic book style. I think they found out that this wasn't a very efficient or cost effective way to make cartoons, so all the HB realistic cartoons that followed weren't even as good as Quest.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/tv-guide-on-clutch-cargo.html
