Why don't more animated shows take the 1 hour per ep approach?

[I.R Joey]

I mean most live action dramas have an hour (or rather somewhere in the range of 42-50 minutes) per episode, but animated shows don't (even serious ones.) why is this?

[Vin]

Originally posted by I.R Joey
I mean most live action dramas have an hour (or rather somewhere in the range of 42-50 minutes) per episode, but animated shows don't (even serious ones.) why is this?

It's rather risky to pull off and it's also pretty expensive, I'd assume.

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by Vincent Benenati


It's rather risky to pull off and it's also pretty expensive, I'd assume. You got it, doing 13 1/2hr eps is cheaper then 13 full hour eps.

[I.R Joey]

But on average wouldn't an animated show be technically cheeper then a live action show? Live action shows often have 20-27 eps per season.

[Singin' Stray Cat]

Originally posted by I.R Joey
But on average wouldn't an animated show be technically cheeper then a live action show? Live action shows often have 20-27 eps per season.

Cheaper to make, you mean? How so? If anything, I would think that an animated program would be more expensive to produce since there's more work involved.

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by Singin' Stray Cat
Cheaper to make, you mean? How so? If anything, I would think that an animated program would be more expensive to produce since there's more work involved. Yup animation is hard work, just watch the TTA ep Animaniacs to see what is involved in making a short

[I.R Joey]

I did see that TTA episode actually.

Well making any kind of T.V show is hard work, but I mean when you look at some sci-fi shows like Star Trek which require big CG sequences like every 5-10 minutes, then take a show like Outlaw Star or Angel Links where a spaceship can be drawn by hand instead ofd using alot of expensive CG and I think the live action show might be more expensive.

or for that matter all the Matrix influenced fight scenes that we've been bombarded with, compared to a hand drawn battle like the ones in Ruroni Kenshin or Dragon Ball Z.

or what about the huge explosions, these require cg and/or large amounts of pyrotechnics to do right. Where as in animation it only requires the artists to draw it. Like the ones that always happen in Superman or Batman TAS.

and finally... Live action actors (especially famous ones) are probably paid alot more then VA's.

[Coolguy74]

Would waste episodes, even many anime shows are only 30 minutes.

Invasion America was a 1 hour animated show.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Singin' Stray Cat


Cheaper to make, you mean? How so? If anything, I would think that an animated program would be more expensive to produce since there's more work involved.

Tell that to the folks in charge of "ER."

Live action shows, especially prime time ones, throw away a lot of money on inflated actor salaries.

[pencilsharp]

Even considering the cheap Korean animation production that is used by most TV toons today, animation is easily the most expensive way to make a show. 30 minutes will run you mid- to upper-six digits on an unproven show with a real toon-loving producer. The Simpsons runs in seven digits an ep, mainly because of its cast. Hour-long animation virtually guarantees a million bucks each, unless you're doing Clutch Cargo, then you'll just need pocket change (or even pocket lint... :) ).
Come to think of it, I wonder how much of a bath WB took on Invasion: America? I still have most of the chunks of it on an aging tape... Think CN might resurrect those reruns someday?
Oh, one more thing... Wasn't it Chuck Jones who said that if a story can be told with live actors, it should be? Why bother with the expense of animation if it's not necessary. I don't completely agree with that theory personally. Still, Sci-Fi pretty much demands either total animation or at least CGI. That would explain why T2 cost a bundle and why T3 will cost ten times as much (ten times the KABOOMS!)

[The Mad Hatter]

Hour-long shows tend to be serious, and most Americans think that serious animation is an abhorration.

So there ya go.

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by Psycho Fox
You got it, doing 13 1/2hr eps is cheaper then 13 full hour eps.

But that's not an issue if you make 5 two-part hour-long eps and 1 three-part 90-minute ep. It still turns into 13 eps total.



Originally posted by The Mad Hatter
serious animation is an abhorration.

"Abhorration = abhor + aberration?"

Love the portmanteau word! Have you copyrighted it, or can I use it to?

[The Mad Hatter]

That one's a freebie! Yeah, I make up words sometimes, usually unconsciously... I don't think I realized "abhorration" didn't exist! Sometimes the crap my brain comes up with frightens me... I had no idea that wasn't perfectly cromulent. :p

(obscure Simpsons ref ahoy...)

[I.R Joey]

Well if you took away the expensive actors a live action show would be cheaper, but the very fact that they are there, really does push them into an expensive price range.