metalogan wrote:truegrit wrote:Seeing this toy reminds me how there was absolutely no issue with Optimus having a faceplate in the movie, in terms of understanding what was said and being able to emote.
Agreed 1000% . Part of the stoic mystique of the character was to give him the solid " poker face" . I love the eyes.. Prime always had a concerned or compassionate look to the eyes. It was subtle but carefully and thoughtfully designed. When his eyes did emote in G1, it was for a reason.
I just wrote on another thread how everything that is animated CGI or otherwise emote too much. From Shrek, to Yoda to the new Transformers cartoon. It , to me, is cringeworthy. People don't look like that, except people that work at Applebees. Smirks, Eye rolls, or one eyebrow raised seem to be the popular and go-to expressions for animators because they underestimate the viewer's intelligence. Dumb it down and really show those emotions so people can "SEE" what they are feeling. No room for subtle nuances in this biz.
I think animation and facial expressions should be relegated to strictly outlandish humor like Ren and Stimpy which utilized the approach to parody animation as well.
Oh.. and again.. I like your thought! haha
Why are you watching cartoons in the first place then? Better question why are you watching movies with any cgi or animation in them?
Because when's the last time people looked like animations?
Nobody wants deadpan expressionless faces, it will never be realistic because it's cgi or drawn hence not real, why should animators put big limitations on what they can make with their animation tools or conform to realism when cartoons once again are not made to be realistic.
It's not for dumbing down it's for expression and even then for the most part that's for kids who for the most part really won't get nuances (seriously ask any kid if they even care or even think about that kind of thing)
And just my opinion but giving Optimus a mouth is one of the best things the franchise has done, say whatever about how it looks but Prime isn't some "mysterious" character, and absolute stoic Optimus like in TFP is garbage (actually TFP in general had awful characters because just about everyone was stoic and expressionless from Megatron to Shockwave to Bumblebee to Bulkhead, Soundwave was the only one they made it semi-work because he was intentionally silent but then again Soundwave did little else besides be mysterious so he really isn't a good character either) , Optimus is a good character when he actually has emotions like in TFA or even the original cartoon.