Animation Backgrounds is a blog that isolates and collects the painted backdrops of many cartoons. I'm not sure how they found them all, but it's pretty neat to see cartoon backgrounds with the cartoon characters omitted.
Getaway from Convict Concerto
Looking at these it's easy to recognize how beautifully detailed a lot of this backdrop work is, but the scenes also reveal themselves as sort of bizarre landscapes when lacking the cartoon characters to define them. I really love the old watercolored backdrops from some of the older cartoons, a lot of which I actually remember watching as a kid. Aside from Erik Svedang's new game Komenten, I can't think of another recent game that showcased a similar aesthetic. Maybe Machanarium. I wish we'd see that more often!
Animation Backgrounds via Diskursdisko, via Neven Mrgan
You should probably play Red Dead Redemption. The Fast and Furry-ons ones kept reminding me of spots I've rode through there.
Posted by: Shamous | June 04, 2010 at 11:48 PM
"The Whispered World" - Sweet backgrounds, rubbish game.
But the sweetest Cartoon backgrounds belong to "Ren & Stimpy":
http://web.mit.edu/jonb/www/animate/ren.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/2146895162/in/set-72157603283729276/
Posted by: nille | June 08, 2010 at 05:09 AM
Sometimes the minimalism of these background was almost like German Expressionism in a blender with a Marvel/DC palette.
Posted by: Andy | June 17, 2010 at 07:49 AM