Which Cartoons Look BETTER in 4:3?

[@TheDanTheManShow]

Ratio

[@iKed5601]

W + Ratio

[@MadPaperMario]

@@iKed5601 W + Ratio

[@Starlight-ue8jy]

@@MadPaperMarioW + ratio

[@Jury4318]

4:3 ratio

[@Lover_of_ebrietas]

Yoooo danny boy

[@someonestupid9854]

interesting thing about billy and mandy is that the last season was actually produced in widescreen, but only a couple episodes from it are widescreen on max (luckily old hd recordings of the whole season are on internet archive). i honestly think it looks great, we need more shows in hd with thicker outlines.

[@user-vn4ue]

idk if its on max but there is also the Billy and Mandy movie Big boogie adventure. thats also in widescreen. best the show looked

[@BagOfMagicFood]

All of Transformers Animated was produced in 16:9, but it was only shown in cropped 4:3 until years after the series ended. In Japan it was shown in 16:9 by padding the cropped 4:3 picture with static art as they were never given the complete original picture, even as that version of the show sported new animation and film made in 16:9!

[@TheRobSka]

They show some of the last seasons episodes in Widescreen when they air on Checkered Past/Adult Swim.

[@anactualmotherbear]

Ah, FINALLY! A KZbinr learned about the OVERSCAN AREA, one of my major pet peeves where someone says "oh look they forgot to animate at the bottom of the screen!"

[@SouthernGothicYT]

Thanks for sharing the term! I knew there had to be a word for that.

[@Jade_Bunbun]

its weird too cause it happened with older games all the time like the top bottom and sides having weird colors that dont match anything or stuff not loading until its a 1/4 inch away from the sides and you never hear anyone go "wow how lazy", i dont see why cartoons get called lazy for the exact same thing

[@90sNath]

​@Jade_Bunbun weird. My irl friends have always noticed this with video games too and keep thinking my hardware is broken until I hook it all up to a CRT

[@heggy_69]

I'll start saying that now because I know it annoys at least one person out there thanks

[@Jade_Bunbun]

@@heggy_69 youre already better than most by forewarning people of your intentions

[@MrJans3n]

My biggest memory of switching to 16:9 is when KZbin first did it, and WalrusGuy made a YTP using the SMW cartoon. He had Luigi throw the football *into* the black area on the sides and it blew my mind.

[@MrSkerpentine]

It’s like the few times they used that as a joke on Homestar Runner (both in sbemails, virus and the 100 sbemail special)

[@FigureFarter]

Or RocketJump breaking the black bars. That was crazy

[@FLYNN_TAGGART]

Actually, it was a stone. He didn't make it.

[@MrJans3n]

@@FLYNN_TAGGART It's a football, he chiseled it!

[@jjstarA113]

Oh my god you are SO right about The Simpsons peaking aesthetically in the 4:3 digital episodes. I wish it could've stayed looking like that into the HD 16:9 era.

[@noah_farmer]

Especially since we know they can replicate that style almost identically as we’ve seen many times in recent seasons with flashbacks

[@MadPaperMario]

i dont know why but i prefer the digital episodes(season 14-19) to be in widescreen, i just like seeing the characters a bit larger

[@EnigmaticGentleman]

I just feel like cartoons lend themselves really well to widescreen. Those beautiful backgrounds were always begging for the extra real estate even if not much is going on there.

[@NattiNekoMaid]

The fact that youtube now supports a variety of aspect ratios makes it an ideal platform for watching 4:3 content IMO. Like when watching outside of fullscreen you get more of the video in 4:3 and it just feels... right when content tries to play with the aspect ratio

[@RosiYYAP]

I've been watching Kim Possible lately and seeing it in 4:3 was so weird because everything was animated in the "safe zone" making for some really odd looking scenes where characters are surrounded by a ton of dead or redundant space, especially earlier on in its run

[@RatzaChewy]

Welcome to British TV - we had SD widescreen from 1998 and it became popular around 2001/2002, but it was only available for Digital TV viewers. So nearly everything was made in 16:9 but formatted for 4:3 for well over a decade.

[@BasicRock123]

This is true with the HD remastered seasons of South Park. The boys stand awkwardly centered at the bus stop in the episodes.

[@FigureFarter]

@@BasicRock123Season 11 was cropped however, the Guitar Hero gameplay scenes fill the whole screen

[@theotherjared9824]

That's called "shoot to protect" and was a plague on the entertainment industry for decades. From the 1980s when content was starting to be made with home video releases in mind all the way to the widescreen standardization in the late 2000s, everyone had to consider that a majority of the viewing audience will watch whatever is made in 4:3. Movies, shows, video games and anything else on a screen could be shot in 16:9, but all the crucial visual information was viewable within the 4:3 field, which leads to said empty space in its original format that becomes the de facto version in remasters.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@RatzaChewyI have a weird nostalgia for that late-90s early-00s era of UK production, even though nothing really happens in the edges of the screen it’s nice to see more of the set-dressing and background extras. Plus of course I can safely zoom it in on an iPad 😅

[@BugsyFoga]

You know I never really paid attention to the aspect ratio of shows I watch, but looking back it sort of fascinating knowing it was partially the reason why some shows had to majorly change to fit in with the times.

[@AJPiersonToonParadise]

Imagine my surprise when I found out What's New Scooby doo was produced in wide-screen.

[@brytilaar]

Rock-A-Doodle looks way better in 4:3.

[@alexandercolefield9523]

What I find interesting is that for widescreen shows that were broadcasted into standard, they had to deliberately pan and scan the episodes. So that means there is an entire subclass of lost media for altered widescreen to 4:3 tv shows which doesn't get a lot of notice.

[@tazelwurm4968]

Less about aspect ratio specifically, more about the whole HD vs SD thing, but here's a fun fact from a specific cartoon fandom: So, a lot of Flash and other vector animated cartoons, even ones that were broadcasted in SD 4:3, eventually got HD releases on streaming platforms and such, like South Park. Well for the longest time now, Total Drama fans have been in fucking poverty trying to get season 3 - and ONLY season 3 - in a higher quality. Every other season had full HD releases, but not World Tour, for some reason. Pretty recently it shadow dropped in HD on some super obscure streaming app, and now the fandom is having to pass around the screen recorded mp4s like prison cigarettes.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Disney Channel and Cartoon Network adopted the 16:9 widescreen format early on in the mid 2000's, meanwhile it took Nickelodeon until *2012* to finally start producing (animated) shows in 16:9 for some reason.

[@Spacething7474]

they shouldve waited at least half a decade more to jump into it, just to be funny

[@okjeffy6581]

Even it’s Canadian cousin YTV started producing shows in 16:9 starting in like 2006. I kinda didn’t understand what Nick was doing here.

[@Spacething7474]

@@okjeffy6581 being better than the competition of course ironically nick was doing live action shows in widescreen before disney and cartoon network did so they lose a point there

[@BagOfMagicFood]

That reminds me of when Super Sentai switched to 16:9 but Disney refused to change Power Rangers along with it, so we ended up with a few Rangers seasons full of awkwardly cropped or squashed action shots.

[@Spacething7474]

@@BagOfMagicFood power rangers shouldve never made the jump to 16:9 just for how hilariously awkward that sounds

[@zacharyspaghetti6988]

I’ve always felt that aspect ratio plays a huge role in how you perceive and respond to any piece of media emotionally. It can seriously completely change the vibe of something. For example, when full screen DVDs were still a thing, watching spider-man 2002 in widescreen and then in 4:3 changes everything for me. It’s a brand new experience. Aspect ratio is overlooked way too much and it’s honestly an integral part of media.

[@Kneevirus]

Season 6 of Billy and mandy was actually produced in widescreen and there are some hd widescreen versions of the episodes

[@brianpbillingsley3687]

Justice League came out in 2001 and was produced in widescreen. So when it came to Blu-ray it translated beautifully. 👌🏾

[@Micha-Hil]

If I can chime in, Family Guy works really well in 4:3 because the focus isn't on the environment around them (most of the time), but what they're doing. Trimming down the sides to fit SD television provides a comfortable viewing experience where your eyes don't have to dart *that* far from side to side so you can comprehensive what's happening. Might just be old Family Guy being better, though.

[@AarturoSc]

Plus, there’s less space for us to see those inert background characters they always have.

[@trj2009]

Agreed.

[@icecreamhero2375]

Once Spongebob had a great gag with aspect ratio. It was in one of my favorite episodes Drive Happy. In that one, Spongebob got a self-driving boat. The boat wouldn't let Spongebob go to work and kept forcing Spongebob to do whatever it wanted to do and he had to fight the boat. There was one scene where he drives it into an elevator and the aspect ratio changes to 4:3 because they are cramped in the elevator.

[@okjeffy6581]

I don’t remember that scene…

[@QuikVidGuy]

@@okjeffy6581 It was really hyper-realistic

[@zkoopa4445]

There was also an episode of the Patrick Star Show that came out last year that actually references aspect ratios, in Drive Happy it was really just because SpongeBob and Coupe (ya I remember the name) were in a tight space. But in the Patrick Show episode there was a full scene showing meat people which was in 4:3

[@DesperateHornet]

I kind of can't imagine Gym Partner being in any other aspect ratio, that show is so colourful and maximalist that any LESS space than they already have would've completely cramped the show up, imo

[@thecluckster3908]

I like the box aspect ratio, it separates the now from the then. As someone who grow up literally as the switch was being made from box to rectangle, it reminds me of a simpler time.

[@mayragearchives2462]

Slight correction for at around 3:19, Foster's Home and Billy and Mandy actually were produced in HD widescreen by the time they did the "Invaded" episodes with Foster's starting in season 5 and Billy and Mandy starting in season 6.

[@natey_TV]

It still feels awkward to me watching a show that was clearly framed for a 4:3 aspect ration but shown it widescreen, so you end up with everything squished into the middle, or worse, you see the Dewey stand-in from Malcolm in the Middle

[@mesousagaby740]

Oh, and to add to the weirdness of the CN Invaded episodes, the Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends episode of it is in HD because the last two seasons of that series switched to 16:9. Billy and Mandy's last season was also awkwardly switched to HD starting with the Big Boogie Adventure movie. But then Wrath Of The Spider Queen wasn't produced in HD because it was made BEFORE BBA, IIRC.

[@scoopypoopy5784]

The last season of Billy and Mandy was in widescreen since the beginning and wrath of the spider queen is also in hd widescreen

[@Notester82]

Mentioning how older TVs' edges would cover parts of the screen and justify animators not drawing in those sections also made me think of that one scene in the Spongebob episode "Dying For Pie" where it looks like the bottom of Mr. Krabs' legs are missing, perhaps that's what was happening this whole time, heh! But yeah, nice overview on aspect ratios! Also happy birthday, Tariq! c:

[@SouprSpookr]

This was a really interesting video! I definitely think there’s a lot to be said about that middle era where stuff was being produced in 16:9 but broadcast in 4:3 and how it worked well for some shows and others are better in 16:9. I’d love to potentially see another video like this about cel animation vs digital animation. Cel animation has always felt more cozy to me but digital animation allows them to be a lot more ambitious, so I think that could make for a cool discussion

[@kootunesscrewy]

I don't really pay much attention with 2D animation (cel or digital). Well... outside of one being more fuzzy and rough, while the other being so clean and higher quality. They both are still golden.

[@niajerome7514]

I’ve never really thought about the aspect ratio of a show, but after watching this vid I can def understand how it being changed could have an effect on someone’s enjoyment. Thank you for all of your hard work, not only on this vid but for everything you’ve done this year! Also happy birthday again! I hope you’ve been enjoying your day!

[@realwrighthill]

I was born in the funky time when 4:3 where just starting to fade out. I saw widescreen more often, but I did see a bunch of 4:3.

[@ess_n_stuffs]

The fact that Season 1 of Johnny Test in 16:9 is lost media fucks me up hard man I wanna see it 😭

[@ToonyTalesX]

What? How is that possible?

[@epicboyo4883]

@@ToonyTalesX After season 2, Teletoon gained full rights to the show. So distribution of season 1 in widescreen could cause some legal issues.

[@etheweirdo_art]

Aspect ratio was always one thing I probably thought about way more than I should've personally. I was always on the side of just like, things should be in whatever aspect ratio they started in, but I see a lot of things really experiment with it in a way that really can only be done in that way. I think off the top of my head the best example is The Grand Budapest Hotel, which does the thing of having the aspect ratios signify the era that the events were taking back in. I think what makes it so noteworthy is how seamless and natural it ends up feeling. It doesn't ever draw attention to it and it ends up almost becoming a back of the mind thing as it swaps between many different events. It always stuck with me for sure. Honestly makes me want to make some animation to mess about with aspect ratio some day.

[@haystacks6181]

I just had to stop this a few minutes in to say thaaaank yoooouuu for sheding light on a topic like this. It's cool to hear people talking about the technical kinda side of animation like this insteada just talking about the art or writing and whatever

[@tyjuarez]

From what I've heard, Cartoon Network shows that were produced in 16:9 had a 4:3 "Safe Zone" until about 2016.

[@siennahoward6957]

This video is very interesting but Another interesting topic that I don't see a whole lot of cartoon commenters cover is traditional animation. There's just something so nostalgic about old cartoons and how they used to look. I have always had an appreciation for hand drawn cartoons because you can tell that they just put so much effort into the animation. Everything was hand drawn and traced over and over on paper. I love almost every form of animation, but there's just something so simplistic yet so genius about traditional animation.

[@Dairunt1]

Back in my day, flashbacks were in black and white. I've seen a movie trend where flashbacks are now in 4:3.

[@juno199x_]

one really really interesting tidbit that i thought was interesting about family guy is how Back to the Pilot almost exclusively uses an 4:3 for all of the older scenes and it switches back to 16:9 and fourth though-out the episode when they go to the past and future

[@ToonrificTariq]

Ahh, I should’ve brought this up! Good catch!

[@TheActualCathal]

One thing about the simpsons widescreen crop is that the 4:3 version still has thin black bars at top and bottom of the screen, so you do really feel like it's a little too small on your screen because it actually is. When I showed my flatmate he could watch it in 4:3 he initially objected. I think the fact that he didn't change it back to widescreen is more out of laziness about looking for the button than any actual preference.

[@walpoleandworcester]

I was watching a Nicktendo video today and he mentioned how there were Kids WB shows already made for HD then. Nice to see a video on aspect ratio tonight with these cartoons.

[@NIGEL341Hilasd]

Excellent vid and I never knew that about animation from before 2009! That’s crazy how they just leave stuff undone below the screen and now widescreen exposes it

[@Dovendraw]

Watching old cartoons on an iPad is great since the 4:3 aspect ratio nearly fits the entire screen, can't recommend enough 👍

[@patricklauer4452]

That’s what I watch most of the old toons on when I’m binging them:)

[@Ult-roman]

Im a real stickler for aspect ratio. I’m happy to see it covered by someone as talented as yourself. I also love when a show or movie can play with aspect ratio in an interesting way

[@blackguyofthesouth2161]

Yea, the And Then There were Fewer episode was definitely them showing off. Especially how they did a whole POV shot of the mansion

[@Mellojoseph]

Something that always surprised me was how King of The Hill always stayed in 4:3, obviously the show will be in 16:9 for the reboot, but looking at king of the hill animated in widescreen (which we have seen in family guy) almost looks jarring

[@JamesQPurcell]

When Venture Brothers started it was 4:3, and every episode started with a letterboxed 16:10 widescreen sequence to imply a high production cinematic adventure was about to begin. But after the opening credits the series would go into its usual 4:3 ratio. When the series went 16:9 with Season 3, this effect was lost. And honestly, I kind of missed it.

[@KamenSentaiMetalHero]

I prefer the 16:9. It made the episodes feel more expansive and cinematic.

[@user-vn4ue]

Billy and Mandy eventually got episodes in widescreen later on the shows run. Foster's Home for imaginary friends also. Cartoon Network was ahead of Nickelodeon when producing HD cartoons. i remember it was 2012 and SpongeBob finally switched to HD besides that Truth or square special.

[@okjeffy6581]

And Disney was ahead of CN.

[@user-vn4ue]

@@okjeffy6581 Yeah i think Disney started doing HD in 1999

[@abandonedacc]

It's crazy how extending the borders of a video could impact it so much

[@kylespevak6781]

4:21 I always hear this as a con, but i prefer it. I do like hand-drawn animation over puppet/flash. My gf showed me some old animated films i never saw, and i saw in awe

[@nekkawaii]

An unspoken thing I love about 4:3 when producing even stuff for KZbin is that you have to worry less about filling things around the frame, which by extension lets you as a viewer focus on whatever's in the center instead of the environment.

[@stump5228]

3:20 Billy and Mandy and Foster's actually switched to 16:9 by this point. The reason why shows like Ed, Edd n Eddy stayed in 4:3 is only because they were made on a different studios instead of usual CN Studio

[@Fatih_M177]

But what's funny about that also, is that all shows in the invaded crossover, were produced in widescreen INCLUDING Ed edd n Eddy, I vividly remember watching these randomly on like a live stream CN had completely out of nowhere, and all episodes were in widescreen. Boy, i sure hope somebody gets fired for THAT blunder.

[@adamkaunfer4384]

So many Disney and WB cartoons in the mid-2000s aired in 4:3, when they started being made accessible in HD, it was like a revelation.

[@YujiUedaFan]

I can't even find some My Gym Partner's a Monkey episodes in widescreen! Also for whatever reason Disney + refuses to put Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, The Little Mermaid (Animated Seires) and Super Robot Monkey Team in their proper aspect ratios.

[@bigglou]

Thanks for the heads up. Glad I finally decided to buy the DVDs before Best Buy removed them.@@YujiUedaFan

[@weebcrit]

we love to see massive tangents - that's just new passions evolving. another great vid

[@spin08]

Honestly, I think it depends on the direction of how the creators want their show to be shown. I remember watching an ep of My Adventures with Superman and they had a flashback scene that used 4:3 to show some old shit. I'm personally gon be nostalgic for 4:3 presentation cause that was how I first saw the shows I'd grow up watching but I don't mind letterbox and 16:9 if it isn't forcibly cropped like most of the Dragon Ball DVDs. Love your videos dude and I wish you well!

[@TheRandomPosterTRP]

This video is making me want to look into the Powerpuff Girls original series and see if it ever got an HD remaster, for the series and the movie

[@amicus9450]

An interesting thing is that Japanese public TV station NHK has actually been playing around with aspect ratios since the mid 90s and that there's still recordings of those HD masters out there (hell some of them have even been re-released on streaming using widescreen masters, while the DVD releases use 4:3 ones).

[@amicus9450]

Admittedly the DVDs are (imo) the better experience for some of these 90s shows since they were primarily cel animated, but it's still neat that even back then, HDTV was being used on some level

[@aidztube8928]

You're telling me after rewatching Simpsons seasons 1-8 about 5 times on Disney+, that there was an option to switch to classic aspect ratio for the past 3.5 years?!?!?

[@alysssabear]

Nah cuz WHY DIDNT ANYBODY TELL ME

[@ToonrificTariq]

Oh my gosh 😭😭😭 I am sooo sorry.

[@YujiUedaFan]

NOTE: This doesn't affect any other shows sadly, so Goof Troop, Rescue Rangers, Little Mermaid (Animated Series) and Super Robot Monkey Team (was originally in widescreen, unlike the rest) are all in the wrong aspect ratios.

[@leechnerd]

even though this show isnt a caroon, theres one I really wanna see in 4:3, and thats Breaking Bad. Season 1 released before analog was changed, and season 2 was dropping when 16:9 was getting wide-spread. People had definitely watched it in the classic tv aspect ratio, but I cant find any recordings. It wasnt anything special, just cropped shots, but that alone has always been interesting. Sometimes I even download clips from the show and edit them into 4:3 to see what they would look like. Id love to see what a lot of shows in general would look in their non-native aspect ratios, like the sopranos in 4:3 or early spongebob in 16:9. love this video, really made me think more

[@maikol4128]

Part of me does want to give that Cuphead show a pass on its usage of widescreen just because the game it's adapting also chose to present itself in that aspect ratio, and made incredible use of all that space with its giant boss animations. That said, I feel like that choice might've been more for gameplay than aesthetic reasons, since the game otherwise goes so out of its way to emulate the vibe of those 1930s Fleischer shorts. Being free of those gameplay considerations, you would think the Netflix adaptation would make the switch to 4:3. Kind of a shame tbh

[@jarrickhillery8664]

I just imagined the Cuphead game in 4:3 and that’d be unplayably difficult

[@Technilogica2019]

i also feel like the animation as a whole feels very different to the game. i understand why, but if spongebob can still feel like it was drawn rather than using puppets (i believe it still is?) then there's no reason cuphead should feel so.. stilted. even if they do use puppets, i'd at least want to have a harder time sensing it. so much about it just feels like they took a modern cartoon and slapped a filter over it.. which is exactly what they did

[@BryQ1030]

I grew up on late night nick toons and three delievery was such a huge part of that lmao its funny it was referenced in this episode of toonrifictariq

[@maxresdefault_]

I'd love a CRT in my room. I grew up with CRTs and I mostly watch 90s cartoons when I go to bed, (Simpsons, Evangelion, Daria, Batman TAS, etc). Watching those on a classic 4:3 TV sounds so cozy!

[@patricklauer4452]

I’m planning on buying one just watch some of those old shows I have for those vibes:)

[@wespapes2054]

I guess I don't really think about 4:3 aspect ratio, but I do notice it in movies. It happened during Oppenheimer, and it was obvious when they would change the aspect ratio. If you notice that as well, watch that 5th Transformers movie. The aspect ratio changes, I'm not kidding, every shot. It'll give you a headache.

[@tyjuarez]

I saw oppenheimer in imax, and those scenes where the picture went from being widescreen to being full on floor-to-ceiling went crazy.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

Do Imax movies in general change the aspect ratio frequently? I haven't really gotten to see any.

[@tyjuarez]

@@BagOfMagicFood It's usually used for a few landscape shots per scene, with a handful of scenes being mostly IMAX. The Blu-Ray for Dunkirk does expand the screen to 1.78:1 during IMAX scenes, and that's a good example of a film that uses a lot of IMAX.

[@EmployeeAMillion]

Someone asked me to make a video about this topic a year or two ago, but now that you’ve done it, that’s less work for me. 👍

[@fusetunes]

this is such an interesting topic, thanks for giving animation fans so much great content! (also i helped remaster the short at 8:51!)

[@baerenonkel]

Flip the Frog, 2-strip technicolor?

[@channel_shi]

great video! i am personally a fan of whenever squarish aspect ratios are used in newer productions; what little i saw of the snyder cut made me learn that i'm quite a fan of extra vertical real estate (and naturally, i went all the way to nyc to watch oppenheimer in full frame imax). as for cartoons, my beef with aspect ratios simply comes in if i'm not able to view it in the original one it was produced in. i spoke about this at length a while ago re: house of mouse/mouseworks, but that one's a doozy cuz a few shorts were inked on cels and produced in 4:3, but everything else is 16:9 digital. the og mouseworks episodes were all on 4:3 tapes, but house of mouse episodes were in 16:9. this'd be fine but they cropped the cel-animated episodes (you can even see they're film scans, which makes it disconcertingly similar to stuff like the garfield and friends remasters from *twenty+ years later*), and then all of the US airings are 4:3 crops again! funny thing, i actually read something by gene deitch (rip) regarding his time at terrytoons. 20th century fox wanted shorts in cinemascope, and it turned out to be really hard to do this, especially since parent company cbs wanted a 4:3 safe area to broadcast the shorts in. in the end, he said only a few of the shorts really took advantage of the extra horizontal real estate. idk if he specified which, but i imagine one of them is *it's a living* starring dinky duck, which does a whole aspect ratio change like it's a wes anderson film or something.

[@madsceptictrooper6803]

An animated show that, in my opinion, should be watched in 4:3 aspect ratio is the 2003 TMNT series because that show has scenes where aspect ration changes to 16:9 or even 2.39:1. Those aspect ratio changing scenes would lose their authencity if the show is watched in widescreen aspect ratios.

[@Chris.Batchelor]

The South Park thing is so weird but honestly really cool to me. I love seeing the old episodes in the 16:9 format and comparing them, but you can definitely tell in some shots when it wasn’t planned because there is so much wasted space. The Hanky shot was the perfect example lol. Bro took up the entire middle and then it was just extra space.

[@MightyMewtron]

One good thing about growing older is realizing all the little details that endeared you to the style of your favorite shows. I didn't even know what aspect ratio really was before college but it's really something an artist has to adapt to and it's cool seeing comparisons to understand the benefits of both formats.

[@laotasurfs1110]

I personally believe Futurama works better the bigger the picture is because, like Disenchanted, the world it takes place in is the main character. Springfield is definitely *a* character in the Simpsons, but it's more about a family in a satirical-yet-recognizable world. You can have the Simpsons go to the past or future and leave Springfield and even the earth, and they're still the Simpsons. Futurama is set in the far-flung future and that is the most important thing in the story. You wanna see as much of that weird, wonderful world as possible.

[@emptyspotlight]

One of the things that really annoys me is that certain shows on Disney Plus are cropped to 16:9 without an option for the original resolution

[@patricklauer4452]

As someone who’s been binging South Park with my friend for the past few months I’ve been thinking about aspect ratio a lot lately great vid

[@nathansmith8883]

I been watching a lot of south park lately and I found it weird that even the older sessions where 16:9. It reminds me of pixar because they use to move objects in the scene around to fit for 4:3.

[@baerenonkel]

The old seasons also feel weird looking so clean. I grew up with the slightly grimy, videotape sourced versions and that just fit the tone. I wish they'd give us the option.

[@standoidontwantalastname6500]

you failed to mention that foster's did switch to widescreen hd in the fifth season, starting with the invaded special

[@Technilogica2019]

4:3 will always be my favorite, i grew up in that weird middle ground area where it just depends on the channel as to which aspect ratio you'd get. usually it was the live action stuff to go wide first, and i was a massive cartoon kid (dammit i still am, you can't be too old for a bit of spongebob) so i still got to enjoy 4:3 being "current" up until i was probably even 10 or 11. i was early 2000s but i still feel like a 90s kid at heart with the shows i watched growing up it'll always have that extra nostalgia factor for me

[@2_ratsplz]

I remember seeing "and then there fewer" as kid and thinking that it looked cool, now I know why that was

[@TheAutobotPower]

All the cartoons. When a cartoon made in widescreen was shown to you in sd and then you discover it was to be hd it's gives you another reason to look at it again.

[@NJdaniels96]

Personally I prefer 4:3 because it allows for denser and more intimate compositions. You can pack a lot of things onto the screen, do a close-up shot, or isolate a subject in a way that's a lot more difficult to do in 16:9. A lot of compositions in 16:9 can end up with a lot of unused space on the sides that create a feeling of separation between the viewer and the show.

[@brickhead9111]

This is the third time this week that I’ve seen a video essay about tv shows that were produced in 16:9 but aired in 4:3 during the early 2000’s. Love the somewhat niche topic here and great video as always! Also Gym Partner’s a Monkey rocks in its original format and the HD makes the far funnier later episodes (Season’s 3 and 4) even better. More people should definitely give those eps a chance.

[@yendo1774]

10:09 ive been looking for this show for YEARS ever since i remembered seeing it as a kid, i forgot what network it aired on and i thought it was like an anime or something and i eventually gave up, im so glad you mentioned it oh my god

[@yendo1774]

THAT SHOW WAS ASS 😭

[@godhimself1128]

10:23 not a cartoon but the Schneider cut of justice league was exactly that and me and dad (who forced me to watch it) were SNOOZING by the end holy shit

[@jescis]

4:3 was also what 70's and 80's video games as well… there's a bunch of unused areas on the left and right as well as the top and the bottom of the screen/playing field…

[@maxresdefault_]

Games like the original Super Mario Bros feel SO GOOD in 16:9. You do do much more horizontal movement in those games, having a wider horizon just feels right

[@jescis]

@@maxresdefault_ that's exactly what game I was referencing!! When you see it in the unintended aspect ratio of 16:9 compared to the intended 4:3 aspect ratio, that shows what you wouldn't see in 4:3!!

[@ClareHehe]

i love you videos so much. the music choice. your humor. it is just the best i've seen.

[@bsanchez3563]

Lmao 2:05 fg literally calls themselves out there, noiice. Though since they seem to still loop back with the more or less themeatic situations it is appealing imo to see how far of a story can they go on before looping it somehow back to the main thing each time lile nj thats legit kewl imo.

[@silentsigher]

Happy Birthday ToonrificTariq

[@Kumaclaws]

“I saw the trailer for Saltburn in the movie theater a few times? I’m sure it’s a mighty fine movie” Bath tub scene :)

[@risingrevolt]

immediately had to like when you said hyperfixate. WE LOVE DICUSSING ASPECT RATIOS GRRRRAGGHH

[@cfan6716]

I saw Tamika in the thumbnail! Ngl, you always put out good videos…😂❤

[@wutshii]

Class of 3000 MENTIONED YEAHHH

[@CubeAtlantic]

i never even analyzed the format or something interconnected but that boosted up good nostalgia broski :D

[@koloco5638]

Glad you uploaded this gon be fye

[@wardogdauwdd3020]

Im working on my own cel animation and this video surprisingly helps me alot

[@JoJo-oc8zf]

Related but I hate how FX stretches and crops in old Simpsons episodes just to fit widescreen even though just having the black bars would be 10x better

[@T9C1PSayWha]

I'm a simple man. I see ToonarificTariq, I click.

[@DoctorNostalgia]

🔥 Fire video. Never really thought deeply about something as trivial as aspect ratios before. Genius lol. Puttin in out in the universe from now, we gonna work together one day. 📈

[@Caterfree10]

The only other animated thing I know that played with aspect ratios was Brother Bear. Basically, the movie starts out in 4:3, but then when Kenai wakes up as a bear for the first time, the ratio switches to the 16:9 symbolizing his world widening. I didn’t even realize this was a thing on my own, I just love movie commentary tracks lol.

[@patricklauer4452]

That’s freaking cool

[@kitzen1795]

ayooo your hyperfixation just hit all the beats of my hyper fixation on the topic. like I dont think you missed a single thing. also hella enjoyed the editing in this, keep up the good work!

[@offbeatkiki]

KP looks so gorgeous still. Sometimes I throw it on just to look at it.

[@offbeatkiki]

t&b was a great choice to suggest for 4:3!!

[@dontlookformelol]

i like it when i watch an older show i loved as a kid and it’s in 4:3, it makes me feel old :) (i am in college)

[@kodakbmw]

Happy New Year Tariq God Bless You Brother!

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

As long as episodes of shows originally produced in 4:3 aren't stretched/cropped to widescreen is all the matters. It's an ugly, blurry, and pixelated mess and should instead be presented the way it was made.

[@bsanchez3563]

Yeah it I 6:09 ngl fwiw feels neat having it with a cross between color pencil and ms paint rip.

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

Funny thing is.... Some 90's live action shows were actually shot using Panavision film cameras that utilized the 16:9 format. Unfortunately, 4:3 CRT sets weren't compatible to that viewing experience, leading to that 50+ year dilemma of pan-and-scanning. Yes , this video is in regards to animated shows. I just find it crazy that shows I grew up with like THE X FILES, SEINFELD, FRIENDS, were originally shot on movie film stock. Only to have the final cuts cropped to be formatted for those pre-2006 S.D. TVs. It's like early videotape technology. The format gets invented back in 1956. Yet the means for home viewers to enjoy it ( VCRs ) wouldn't be commercially available till the 1970's!

[@SRGProductions]

0:26 Ain’t that TJ from Recess?

[@WalnutSpice]

I believe after the HD transition, most shows would have kept to 4:3 indefinitely if not for boomer backlash. For example, King Of The Hill went full HD but remained 4:3 until the final season. A lot of other shows also maintained 4:3 until boomer complaints came rolling in "I paid for the whole TV, why don't my shows take up the whole TV" and they were too technologically illiterate to understand what was going on. I do think our generation could bring back the more comfortable cozy 4:3 television ratio if we tried. I've noticed it becoming much more popular on KZbin recently. From normal videos to music videos, it's for sure coming back.

[@nathanpollard1223]

That's kind of delusional. I'd love to see 4:3 make a major comeback (in fact, I hope 2.39 gets more popular for TV series, too) as I want to see aspect ratios being used with intent, rather than just being a tool to fit the screen ratio that happens to be more popular. What's funny's that some people like horizontal black bars for being 'cinematic', but hate vertical black bars for 'being a waste of space'. Honestly, a potential solution's to make a show in widescreen, but to frame it for 4:3. That way, the composition on the widescreen version'd be very bad, but it'd serve the role of filling screens, & you'd have an unadulterated 4:3 image for those that actually care about TV as art, & not just content. I'm looking to buy a modern 4:3 TV/large monitor, so I can have the correct ratio & filled screen for 4:3 content, but the only 1 I can find's over $1500, including delivery. Atm, I'm using a 25" CRT & a 46" rear-projection. The delusion's that you think there're enough people like you & me who actually give a shit.

[@nathanpollard1223]

Oh, & the move to 16:9 was inevitable. The real impact that these technologically illiterate people have had is to encourage broadcasters, streamers, & so on, to crop 4:3 content to 16:9, without giving any alternative. If it wasn't for them, 16:9'd still be the standard, but old shows'd be shown properly.

[@Hulk1566]

Happy Birthday Toonrific Tariq

[@eggmoe23]

Hqppy Birthday Tariq!!

[@eggmoe23]

Happy* fuck