Animation Lookback is a Canadian adult/dark comedy documentary web series created and hosted by Mat Brunet (aka AniMat) in 2009. It is AniMat's oldest and longest-running show. The series follows Brunet discusses the history of worldwide old and modern animation studios, animators and the works of animations made over the years.
The series is rated TV-PG and sometimes TV-14 as it contains some adult humor, violence, languages, mature contents, and unpleasant and disturbing graphic yelling/exclamation throughout which makes it warrant a higher rating.
It is available on YouTube.
History[]
AniMat got the idea in Late 2007 and Early 2008 from Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: GodzillaThon (Long live Cinemassacre!!!!!) and was facinated by the concept of talking about the history of a project. Initially it was thought of as a video game review vlog, but the idea was scrapped due to needing expensive lighting and went for a simple Disney history project. All of the 49 films were initially supposed to be in seperate videos individually but due to requiring more time, there would simply be a whole season of Disney history with 3-5 films in each episode. After finishing the project in Summer 2009, the first episode was uploaded on October 16, 2009 to critical success and AniMat decided to make more seasons talking about different studios, franchises, animation mediums, animators, and even channels while also getting better lighting and sound quality as the years progressed.
Episodes[]
| # | Released years | Episode titles | Number of Scenes | Number of Videos (Parts) | Descriptions | Topics | Honorable Mentions | Notes/Trivia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009-2010 | Walt Disney Animation Studios | 24 | 14 | AniMat talks about the history of one of the world's most legendary and longest running animation studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, as well as all of their most timeless animated classics. | Walt Disney Animation Studios | Marry Poppins (1964) (live action/animated)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (live action/animated) |
The show's first season. | |
| 2 | 2010 | DreamWorks Animation | 24 | 7 | AniMat talks about the history of DreamWorks Animation, an animation studio known to be one of the biggest rivals of Disney and Pixar during the 21st century, as well as their films such as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and more. | DreamWorks Animation | Father of the Pride (2004) (TV series) | ||
| 3 | 2010 | Hanna-Barbara | 28 | 5 | AniMat talks about the history of Hanna-Barbera, the famous animation studio founded by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera that was known for making beloved shorts and TV shows that introduced such popular cartoon stars such as Tom and Jerry, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, The Flinstones, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo, their version of The Smurfs, and more. | Tom and Jerry
Hanna-Barbera Productions The 1st-5 Cartoon Cartoons (Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel and the original Powerpuff Girls) |
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (1990) (attraction)
Charlotte's Web (1973) (movie) |
This is the first season to mainly focus on works made for television. | |
| 4 | 2011-2012 | Don Bluth | 25 | 5 | AniMat talks about the career of one of the most renowned animators, Don Bluth, who after leaving Disney, produced some the most timeless cult animated classics to compete with them in the animation industry during the 80s and 90s. | Don Bluth
Sullivan Bluth Studios Fox Animation Studios |
Dragon's Lair (1983) (video game)
Space Ace (1983) (video game) Dragon's Lair II: Time Wrap (1991) (video game) |
This is the first season to focus on an individual animator/filmmaker. | |
| 5 | 2012-2013 | Pixar Animation Studios | 32 | 6 | AniMat talks about the history of Pixar Animation Studios, the studio that revolutionized the art of computer animation and released such memorable animated classics like Toy Story, Cars, Finding Nemo, and Monster Inc., on top of many others. | Pixar Animation Studios | Luxo Jr. (1986) (short film) | ||
| 6 | 2014-2015 | Best of Stop-Motion | 40 | 10 | AniMat talks about the art of stop-motion animation, a filmmaking technique that is used for entertainment and special effects for films, shorts, and more. He also talks about some of the most notable films that were created with stop-motion, as well as some of the most important companies and people that specialize in this technique such as Ray Harryhausen, Will Vinton, Aardman Animation, Tim Burton, and Henry Selick. | Stop-motion animation and effects
Ray Harryhausen Will Vinton Aardman Tim Burton Henry Selick |
King Kong (1933) (live action) | The first season to mainly focus on an entire animation technique. | |
| 7 | 2015-2016 | Studio Ghibli | 27 | 6 | AniMat talks about the history of Studio Ghibli, a legendary Japanese animation studio that garnered international praise for their works like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, and more. | Studio Ghibli | Castle of Cagliostro (1979) | The first season to focus on a non-American animation studio. | |
| 8 | 2016- 2017 | Looney Tunes | 24 | 20 | A parody of The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie and in a similar format to The Epic Mickey Files, AniMat tours the viewers through the history of one of Warner Brothers' most important properties and most famous works in the field of animation which is the none other than Looney Tunes, a series of cartoons that is known to be a direct competitor of Disney's animated short series like Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies, with the use of clever writing, comedic slapstick, and its collection of most famous animated stars like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Tweety, and others. | Looney Tunes | Space Jam (1996)
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) |
This the first season to focus on an animation franchise and its characters. | |
| 9 | 2017-2018 | Cartoon Network | 38 | 6 | AniMat talks about the history of Cartoon Network, a TV channel that is said to be the best place for cartoons, showcasing all kinds of animated programs either existing, licensed, or original. He also discuss about the channel's original animated TV shows (except for the first-5 Cartoon Cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera that were discussed in Animation Lookback: Hanna-Barbara). | Cartoon Network's original animated TV shows | Over the Garden Wall (2014) (miniseries) | This is the first season to focus on a TV channel. | |
| 10 | 2018 | Ralph Bakshi | 36 | 5 | AniMat talk about the history of Ralph Bakshi, a filmmaker that proved that animation doesn’t have to be kid/family-friendly by making some of the most famous (and controversial) adult-oriented films like Fritz the Cat, Coonskin, Cool World, and more. | Ralph Bakshi | Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures (1987) (TV series) | This is the first season to focus entirely on animated works made exclusively for adults. | |
| 11 | 2019 | The Thief and the Cobbler | 39 | 5 | AniMat talks about the history of The Thief and the Cobbler, an animated film that's the passion project of animator Richard Williams with one of the longest production times due to Williams' never-ending quest to bring his complete vision to life. | The Thief and the Cobbler | This is the first season to focus just one movie as the main focus. | ||
| 12 | 2019-2021 | Walt Disney Animation Studios + | 63 | 16 | Once again, AniMat talks about the history of one of the world's most legendary and longest running animation studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, as well as all of their most timeless animated classics in this updated lookback. | Walt Disney Animation Studios | Mary Poppins (1964) (live action/animated)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (live action/animated) Song of the South(1946) (live action/animated) |
This is the second season to talk about Walt Disney Animation Studios and the first to be an updated version of a previous season.
This season marks the 10th anniversary of the series. | |
| 13 | 2022-2024 | The Muppets | 19 | 9 | AniMat talks about the history of Jim Henson, a man who made puppet characters popular, especially his well-known creations: The Muppets. | Jim Henson | Muppet*Vision 3D | This season here has Animat going experimental with puppets, making it the first season to focus on puppetry, as opposed to the usual animation. | |
| 14 | TBD | Blue Sky Studios | TBD | TBD | Animat talks about the history of Blue Sky Studios, an early pioneer of CGI animation who are best known for their Ice Age movies. | Blue Sky Studios | TBD |