This thread is dedicated to guessing the year of a screenshot from a SpongeBob SquarePants episode, or an episode from another series. This topic has already been discussed in the ‘Art Style analysis in Spongebob and various other shows’ thread, but I want to know more about how I can guess the year something has been made better. Here are Original Raw and Uncut's opinions (along with other users' opinions):
- Season 1: Help Wanted looks like it was made in 1993. The rougher season 1 episodes such as I Was a Teenage Gary look 1994/5. The majority of rougher season 1 episodes look 1995. The cleaner episodes in the season such as Reef Blower, Hall Monitor and The Paper look 1997/8. Some of the very late episodes in the season such as Walking Small and Fools in April look 1998.
- Season 2: The majority of season 2 episodes look like they were made in 2001. Episodes with really bad dot crawl such as Frankendoodle, Krusty Love and Sailor Mouth Look look late ’90s.
- Season 3: The majority of season 3 episodes look like they were made in 2001. The dot crawl episodes look 2000. PizzaApple feels that Ugh looks early 2003. The Sponge Who Could Fly and Pranks a Lot look 2003/4, and a few Reddit users even stated that Pranks a Lot looks 2008.
- Season 4: The 2004-produced season 4 episodes look 2003.
- Season 5: Season 5 looks 2006.
- Seasons 6 and 7: Seasons 6 and 7 look appropriate for their time (2007-2009).
- Season 8: Season 8 looks 2010.
- Season 9: Season 9a looks 2012, whereas season 9b looks 2015.
- Season 10-present: Season 10 onwards looks 2017.
I'll also occasionally make drawings of SpongeBob and edit them in paint.net for users to guess which year it looks like.
I'm gonna do one for other shows too:
Family Guy
Season 1: It looks '99 to me, it's very rough which is normal for early digital animation
Season 2-3: They both look like they were produced in late 01/early '00. Some of the very late episodes of season 3 look firmly 2001
Season 4: Earlier part of the season is akin to season 3, the colors are brighter though so it looks 2003. Later episodes of the season look like they were produced in 2004
Season 5-6: Looks rougher than most shows from the time due to the rough and faded lines, despite being very on model, it looks 2004. Play it Again Brian is the first to have vectored lines so it looks much newer than the rest of the season, looks '06/07.
Season 7: Vectored lines finally come in, but the image quality is very compressed, looks 2006.
Season 8: Looks pretty modern, also the final SD season, I'm gonna say 2008. Image quality is better so to me it looks newer than 7.
HD seasons: To me they all the modern episodes of family guy look like they're from 2012.
Adventure Time:
Season 1: It looks 2008 to me, looks like really old HD animation. Rough lines and very bright colors. Less detailed as well as less shading
Season 2: Doesn't look as rough as season 1 but still looks like early HD animation, it looks 2010
Season 3: 2010 for the episodes that have the pseudo season 2 style (Conquest of Cuteness, Still, Memory of a Memory). Episodes that are hybrids such as the Halloween episodes, Apple Thief and Wizard Battle look like they're from 2011. Episodes that are smoother and more refined look 2012 (Incedium, Too Young, and Beautopia)
Season 4-5.1: The entire era looks 2012
Season 5.2- Come Along With Me: Every modern Adventure Time episode looks like it's from 2014/15 because of how smooth everything is, as well as the shading and how fluent everything is.
Distant Lands/Fionna and Cake: Vectored lines, very on model; 2019
Regular Show
Pilot and Season 1: 2009
Season 2/Pre Butt Dial Season 3: 2010
Season 3 Post Butt Dial- Season 4: 2013
Regular Show Movie: 2015
Season 5-8: 2015
Teen Titans Go: season 1 looks like it's from 2010 because of the squash and stretch as well as how rough everything is, the rest of the show looks 2014.
Powerpuff Girls: Cel animated seasons look 1997, the digital seasons look 2001.
Dexter's Lab
TBS pilot episodes: 1993
Season 1: The episodes that aren't very fluent like the pilots that aired on TBS look 1994
Season 2: Some episodes earlier in the season with mastering issues that have the green tint look late 96/early 97 (Hunger Strikes, Nuclear Confusion, Morning Rush). Episodes with the really bad red tint look 1995 to me (Star Trek Unconventional). Episodes at the tail end of the season look 1997 (Old Fashioned Lab Song, Trapped With a Vengeance, Parrot Trap, Last But Not Beast)
Ego Trip: The movie looks like it's from 1998, looks like a nice blend between Savino and Tartokovsky but still cel animated
Season 3: digital ink and paint is introduced, the first few episodes look like they're from 2000 because of the bad dot crawl, the rest of the season looks 2004.
Season 4: Very bright colors, crisp line quality and clear image quality, it looks 2007.
Fairly OddParents:
Oh Yeah Cartoons (cel animation): 1997
Season 1: 2000
Season 2: 2001
Season 3-5: 2003
Season 6: 2006
Season 7-8: 2009
HD seasons: 2012
