r/nostalgia • u/JamesRuddy1993 • 2d ago

Nostalgia What have they done to Barney..

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I noticed this display at Walmart today, I had no idea they had rebooted the show, I’m not sure how to feel about a CGI Barney and Friends

858 Upvotes

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100

u/snarkmcsnarksnark 2d ago

Why does everything have to have giant eyes? They did this to My Little Pony, too.

52

u/SplatDragon00 2d ago

Giant eyes come across as childish and friendly

Unfortunately

21

u/Keyboardpaladin 1d ago

It's also associated with cuteness. See: anime

7

u/Royal-Ad8796 1d ago edited 1d ago

It doesn’t even remind me of anime and Im avid anime watcher 😭 * Edited to fix the right word

8

u/Demdolans 1d ago

I think it's also for toy manufacturing. The new Barney design looks way easier to mold into toys.

2

u/SplatDragon00 1d ago

It looks like it would make a really huggable stuffed animal I'll admit

I have a plush of a game character that has a taper on the neck and it's really nice to hold around there 😅

1

u/Bacontoad Was fed after midnight 1d ago

O_O

5

u/gcwardii 1d ago

Barney just looks really surprised now

2

u/0neshoein 1d ago

He looks like he’s on that good shit.

5

u/Driver3 early 00s 1d ago

At least in MLPs, that was because the art style was directly influenced by anime and thus made sense for the big eyes. It looks less weird on 2D characters than it does 3D ones.

18

u/put_your_skates_on 2d ago

As a parent of young kids, it is so hard to find dolls/female figurine characters that don't have huge eyes/lashes and coloured eyeliner. Bleh.

12

u/RoseyDove323 1d ago

Winnie the pooh and friends still have the small eyes. But I'm sure if they had been invented now, they wouldn't.

3

u/Snackolotl 1d ago

Basic animation principle, big eyes were expressive and easy to work with. It also probably helps them to teach kids more nonverbal communication cues.

3

u/Maddox121 1d ago

Because it attracts children somehow

2

u/Traditional_Trust_93 mid 00s 1d ago

Didn't mlp always have big eyes in the 2d animations? I think they were attempting to recreate the original design.

1

u/TotallyNotJonMoog 1d ago

And the Ninja Turtles. But to young kids now, these will be what the originals are to us. 🤷🏻‍♂️

1

u/Weather0nThe8s 1d ago

friendship is magic or whatever trashed MLP. I loved the original growing up in the 90s. That's not even adding bronies to it....uhg

1

u/ChrisPrattFalls 1d ago

International sales and multiculturalism are resulting in generic merchandise designed to appeal to the widest group of consumers possible.

Have you been down the cereal isle lately?