This is shockingly almost exactly the same conversation that goes on in the retrogaming community regarding pre-HD consoles. "The artists meant for this art to be viewed on a CRT".
The challenge is that everybody's memory is different, and sometime those memories are "I wish the graphics were rock sharp without the artifacts of the CRT". Other times our memories are of the crappy TV we were given as kids that was on its last legs and went black & white and flickered a lot.
The reality is that no matter what the intentions of the original animation teams were, the pipeline of artwork through film transfer to projection to reflection to the viewer's own eyeballs and brain has enough variety to it that it's simply too variable -- and too personal -- the really say what is correct.
Anecdote: one of the local theaters I grew up with was extremely poorly maintained, had a patched rip on one of the several dirty screens, and had projectors that would barely get through an hour of film without needing a "bump" from the projectionist (allowing the audience to go out and get more refreshments halfway through most films). No amount of intentionality by the production companies of the many films I saw there could have accounted for any of that. But I saw many of my favorite movies there.
I've come down with the opinion that these things are like wine. A good wine is the one you enjoy. I have preferences for these things, but they sometimes change, and other people are allowed to enjoy things in their own way.
I have always felt certain media just looks better (to my own personal tastes) on VHS and on CRTs. I know that technically it isn't the highest possible definition or quality and that both have significant drawbacks in terms of fidelity or whatever. But my taste likes what it likes. Just like how some people think vinyl records can sound more appealing and warmer than the equivalent digital media, even though the digital version has a higher bitrate and other advantages.
I do in fact still have Toy Story on VHS and recently watched a bit of it with my toddler. And while I'm sure the Blu-ray or streamed version is higher resolution, wide screen, and otherwise carries more overall video and audio data than our tape I personally got a bit of extra joy out of watching the tape version on our old TV.
I never considered the color differences pointed out in the article here, and I'm not sure how they appear on home VHS vs on 35mm. Maybe that is a small part of what makes the tape more appealing to me although I don't think it's the full reason. Some feelings are difficult to put into words. Tapes on a full aspect ratio CRT just give me a certain feeling or have a specific character that I still love to this day.
Most 8/16 bit consoles I like the "clean RGB into a much better CRT than most people owned at the time" scanline look. NES has gotta be dirty composite into an average consumer CRT though otherwise it just aint right (and I didn't even grow up with a NES).
The challenge is that everybody's memory is different, and sometime those memories are "I wish the graphics were rock sharp without the artifacts of the CRT". Other times our memories are of the crappy TV we were given as kids that was on its last legs and went black & white and flickered a lot.
The reality is that no matter what the intentions of the original animation teams were, the pipeline of artwork through film transfer to projection to reflection to the viewer's own eyeballs and brain has enough variety to it that it's simply too variable -- and too personal -- the really say what is correct.
Anecdote: one of the local theaters I grew up with was extremely poorly maintained, had a patched rip on one of the several dirty screens, and had projectors that would barely get through an hour of film without needing a "bump" from the projectionist (allowing the audience to go out and get more refreshments halfway through most films). No amount of intentionality by the production companies of the many films I saw there could have accounted for any of that. But I saw many of my favorite movies there.
I've come down with the opinion that these things are like wine. A good wine is the one you enjoy. I have preferences for these things, but they sometimes change, and other people are allowed to enjoy things in their own way.