Pinned thread Art Style analysis in Spongebob and various other shows

Favorite art style

  • Markerbob

    Votes: 53 42.1%
  • Noodlebob

    Votes: 5 4.0%
  • Cubebob

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • Normal

    Votes: 8 6.3%
  • Moviebob

    Votes: 12 9.5%
  • Modern SpongeBob Animation

    Votes: 10 7.9%
  • Cheekbob (season 6 version)

    Votes: 3 2.4%
  • Noodlebob knock-off (Season 4-5)

    Votes: 4 3.2%
  • 2004 produced early season 4 (season 3 lookalikes)

    Votes: 8 6.3%
  • Greenblattbob (Dying for Pie and Fear of a Krabby Patty)

    Votes: 21 16.7%

  • Total voters
    126

SpongeyMind

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Now compare Spongebob's Chimps Ahoy design with the 2/3 markerbob design.

Season 4 mimic
View attachment 11861

Season 3 OG
View attachment 11860

Minus the colors and the thickline of season 4 this could look like a legitimate season 3 episode, like The Lost Mattress does.
Probably the closest thing we could get to a post movie markerbob
 

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Two-Headed Starfish
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Now compare Spongebob's Chimps Ahoy design with the 2/3 markerbob design.

Season 4 mimic
View attachment 11861

Season 3 OG
View attachment 11860

Minus the colors and the thickline of season 4 this could look like a legitimate season 3 episode, like The Lost Mattress does.


Season 4's animation was pretty much the slow transition from season 3 to season 5:

Some episodes in early season 4, look like an updated version of season 3:
Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 5.13.53 PM.png



Other times in early season 4, it looks like the movie:
Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 5.16.33 PM.png


Episodes in the core part of season 4, Spongebob looks very blocky and sketchy:
Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 5.22.52 PM.png


Then the episodes in late season 4 look exactly the same as season 5:
Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 5.08.39 PM.png


Out of all the seasons in the show, I think season 4 underwent the most change in character design than any other season in the show. I think the show was going through puberty in season 4, then reached menopause after the 2nd movie.
 

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Two-Headed Starfish
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Season 3 of Regular Show was also the weird transitional phase


Early season 3 has thick outlines, streamlined artwork, and smoother animation like season 1/2:
Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 5.50.53 PM.png



But the final episodes of the season 3 look like modern Regular Show:

Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 5.48.15 PM.png
 

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Two-Headed Starfish
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Spongebob's design changes halfway through Just One Bite.


In the first half of the episode he's drawn like this: (normal art style 1)
Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 10.27.58 PM.png

For the other half of the episode, he's drawn like this (normal art style 2)
Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 10.29.42 PM.png

I've also noticed that a lot of season 2/3 episodes have episode pairs with different art styles. However, I don't know what nickname to give these two designs.

It also changes halfway through the strangler:
Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 10.56.56 PM.png Screenshot 2020-04-11 at 10.56.29 PM.png
You need a razor sharp eye to tell the difference, trust me, there is, these two are not the same designs.


Here's a chart of each art style used in season 3:

41. The Algae's Always Greener (normal art style 1)/ Spongeguard on Duty (markerbob)
42. My Pretty Seahorse (markerbob)/ Club SpongeBob (normal art style 1)
43. Just One Bite (normal art style 1 and 2)/ The Bully (markerbob)
44. Nasty Patty (normal art style 3)/ Idiot Box (normal art style 2)
45. Mermaidman & Barnacleboy IV/ Doing Time (Both use art style 2)
46 Snowball Effect/ One Krabs Trash (double markerbob)
47. As Seen on TV/ Can You Spare a Dime (double markerbob)
48. No Weenies Allowed (normal art style 2)/ Squlliam Returns (markerbob)
49. Rock a Bye Bivalve/ Krab Borg (Both use art syle 2)
50. Krusty Krab Training Video/ Wet Painters (double markerbob)
51. Party Pooper Pants (art style 2 used in the actual episode, underwater sun segment is markerbob)
52. Chocolate With Nuts (art style 2)/ Mermaidman & Barnacleboy V (art style 1)
53. New Student Starfish (markerbob)/ Clams (normal art style 2)
54. Ugh (art style 1 used in actual episode, but the krusty krab cutaway scene is markerbob)
55. The Great Snail Race (normal art style 1)/ Mid-Life Crustacean (markerbob)
56. Born Again Krabs (normal art style 1)/ I Had an Accident (normal art style 2)
57. Krabby Land/ The Camping episode (double markerbob)
58. Missing Identity (markerbob)/ Plankton's Army (normal art style 2)
59. The Sponge Who Could Fly (art style 3 used in actual episode, the walk cycle is markerbob)
60. SpongeBob Meets the strangler (normal art style 1 & 3)/ Pranks A Lot (markerbob)
 
Last edited:

SpongeyMind

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SpongeyMind

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Spongebob's design changes halfway through Just One Bite.


In the first half of the episode he's drawn like this: (normal art style 1)
View attachment 11871

For the other half of the episode, he's drawn like this (normal art style 2)
View attachment 11872

I've also noticed that a lot of season 2/3 episodes have episode pairs with different art styles. However, I don't know what nickname to give these two designs.

It also changes halfway through the strangler:
View attachment 11873 View attachment 11874
You need a razor sharp eye to tell the difference, trust me, there is, these two are not the same designs.


Here's a chart of each art style used in season 3:

41. The Algae's Always Greener (normal art style 1)/ Spongeguard on Duty (markerbob)
42. My Pretty Seahorse (markerbob)/ Club SpongeBob (normal art style 1)
43. Just One Bite (normal art style 1 and 2)/ The Bully (markerbob)
44. Nasty Patty (normal art style 3)/ Idiot Box (normal art style 2)
45. Mermaidman & Barnacleboy IV/ Doing Time (Both use art style 2)
46 Snowball Effect/ One Krabs Trash (double markerbob)
47. As Seen on TV/ Can You Spare a Dime (double markerbob)
48. No Weenies Allowed (normal art style 2)/ Squlliam Returns (markerbob)
49. Rock a Bye Bivalve/ Krab Borg (Both use art syle 2)
50. Chocolate With Nuts (normal art style 2)/ Memraidman & Barnacleboy V (normal art style 1)
51. Party Pooper Pants (art style 2 used in the actual episode, underwater sun segment is markerbob)
52. Chocolate With Nuts (art style 2)/ Mermaidman & Barnacleboy V (art style 1)
53. New Student Starfish (markerbob)/ Clams (normal art style 2)
54. Ugh (art style 1 used in actual episode, but the krusty krab cutaway scene is markerbob)
55. The Great Snail Race (normal art style 1)/ Mid-Life Crustacean (markerbob)
56. Born Again Krabs (normal art style 1)/ I Had an Accident (normal art style 2)
57. Krabby Land/ The Camping episode (double markerbob)
58. Missing Identity (markerbob)/ Plankton's Army (normal art style 2)
59. The Sponge Who Could Fly (art style 3 used in actual episode, the walk cycle is markerbob)
60. SpongeBob Meets the strangler (normal art style 1 & 3)/ Pranks A Lot (markerbob)
Wet Painters/ Krusty Krab Training Video is a double markerbob
 

SpongeyMind

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Those look quite nice, allow me to tackle all of season 4’s design chances (excluding the many in Fear of a Krabby Patty, gotta love Greenblatt)
We should talk about season 6, spongebob had a weird facial expression with his cheeks, his eyes also got smaller and rounder as well as an overused droopy nose
K9emMl0.png


VgU02zJ.png
 

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probably has something to do with the episode "butt dial" i noticed animation got stiffer, same with family guy


Family Guy's animation gradually got stiffer over time. But yeah, Regular Show's animation hasn't been the same since Butt Dial. However episodes in the modern portion of season 3 are still more fluent than season 4-8. Oh, and season 3 of Adventure Time is like that, some episodes look like season 1-2, while others look like later seasons.
 
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Original Raw and Uncut

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Season 3 of Adventure Time has weird animation. Some episodes that are very early in the season, have the same artwork and background music as season 1-2, while episodes that are later in the season could easily pass for season 4 or season 5 episodes:

Conquest of Cuteness, the first episode of season 3, can easily pass for Season 2. It has the same color palate, art style, and background music as seasons 1 & 2:
Screenshot 2020-04-12 at 5.09.13 PM.png




However, episodes later in the season, like Dad's Dungeon or Incendium could pass for season 4 episodes. Some could even pass as season 5 episodes, and that's just with how the animation is in some of these episodes:
1586725404216.png


1586725169785.png


The change of the art style in Adventure Time was very sudden as easy to notice, with Regular Show, it was so gradual that it took a while for me to notice.
 
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