Is traditionally drawn animation dying?

Amen.

I don't want to see 2D go away because there is something very special about it. I do think, however, that it will end up being confined to TV shows and independent stuff that isn't intended or expected to be commercially successful.

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No artistic tradition will ever go away in the modern era. With the larger number of people pursuing any artistic endeavor and the renewed interest in dying or even long dead techniques we're guaranteed to have at least small art houses or fan groups keeping our favorite forms of animation alive somewhere out there.

Yeah, I worded that poorly. It does boil down to personal opinion, but I feel my and most other's desire to see more hand-drawn/2D animation is grounded in more than just "nostalgia" or whatever, and I've often seen it characterized that way.

Oops, double post.

edited 13th Apr '13 9:36:03 PM by Pingu

Like I said, if it all came down to nostalgia mostly, then, considering the relatively young demographic of this site, which would allow for people to grow up with Pixar's movies, especially Toy Story, the very first feature-length CGI-animated film, wouldn't that mean that there wouldn't be as much of an issue there?

edited 14th Apr '13 1:37:33 AM by 0dd1

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Honestly, I say that if we don't want traditionally-drawn animation to die, we need to fight for it. Let's tell Disney, Hollywood, and the world that we love traditional animation and don't want it to go away! Let's do everything in our power to promote traditionally-drawn animation as a medium! Traditional animation won't die unless we let it!

WHO'S WITH ME!?

Likely busy writing something.

... No, it won't work.

Count me out. These kinds of vaguely defined campaigns never work. I mean, look at Retake Mass Effect; what did that really accomplish, really? Not much, the ending didn't change, it was just softened to the point where some might say it's even worse now.

edited 15th Apr '13 6:46:37 PM by maxwellelvis

Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great

Okay, then, let's come up with a more specific plan. Any ideas? Because I'm not ready to give up on traditional animation just yet.

One possible idea: Start an animation studio dedicated to traditional animation, and make good movies. A few good hits and all the studios are gonna wanna compete!

Anyone else have anything?

edited 15th Apr '13 7:43:25 PM by MysteryMan23

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If you want to support hand-drawn animation, the simplest solution is to put your money where your mouth is. Vote with your dollars, or whatever your local currency is.

edited 15th Apr '13 8:23:44 PM by KylerThatch

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...

As far as I know this is already being done. The Japanese fan scene is particularly (in)famous for it but I have no idea how prevalent it is in the West.

Well this makes Japan and the US even more different from each other.

My plan is to become supremely rich (outside of entertainment) and then fund a non-profit animation studio out of my own pocket, just taking on projects that I think are interesting, and then marketing the shit out of them, just to make sure that people see them so that I influence public opinion, not because I care about ticket sales.

I'd say I'm being refined Into the web I descend Killing those I've left behind I have been Endarkened

Just realized that I mis-worded myself there. What happens in Japan is that quite often groups of fans will get together and make their own animated fanvids (part of the whole doujin scene). Nowadays they're about equal parts CGI and equal parts hand animation especially with the Miku Miku Dance software being pushed to all sorts of crazy levels but there's still mind blowing traditional stuff being made.

For an older example, Studio Gainax and other big studios started as fan groups, Gainax in particular first making it big with 'Con vids.

GAINAX essentially started as a bunch of geeky friends who wanted to do stuff.

Japan is by no means devoid of CG. You just never see an anime that is totally CG that often, even though a few do crop up, most of them aimed at little kids. An article posted today on an animation news site said there's even on Japanese studio aiming to implement a Toon Boom pipeline!

I don't think that traditional animation will die. Right now, there's just more demand for CGI animated movies and Disney and the other animation studios are just going with the audience that will make them the most money and for now, many people want to watch CGI animated films. But eventually in the future, people might want to see more variety in animation and I can see traditional animation making a comeback in that regard and we are starting to see some stop motion animated films come out, which is helping balancing the animation genre at this point.

However, I do think that there will be changes made to traditional animation once it comes back since as everyone has pointed out, the technology is becoming more advanced and the animation studios probably wants to find an easier way to make traditionally animated movies.

I love animation, TV, movies, YOU NAME IT!

Traditional drawn animation's already dead on the really traditional drawn animation ground. Today, rarely a show's got painted by hand. Instead, they use the digital ink for everything. So by this logic, Really Traditionally drawn animation has been died since at least a decade.

I think that's getting too technical about this point.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

I don't think that traditional animation should be defined that narrow. It's more about how it looks like and less about how it was actually done.

I forgot to add an excuse about being so picky here.

But really, i just like the hand colored animation more than digital one.

Something like this, which was just released recently??

Now that I think about it, traditionally animated films may not be dying so much as going to sleep for a time. It'll make a comeback someday, and when it does, it's gonna blow minds. (I don't know how Disney will react to said comeback, though.)

In any case, I refuse to believe that traditional animation is doomed to remain in CGI's shadow for all eternity.

Likely busy writing something.

They're in different places. You just gotta play hide and seek with them.

Of course, actual, paper and pencil, honest-to-God, analog, on-film 2D animation is now extremely rare.

Well, yeah.

To be honest, it's not surprising that paper-and-pencil + film have become so rare. Let's face it, it's much easier to do things by computer in general. And I've a sneaking suspicion that the same is true for 2D animation. Heck, if I were to do 2D animation, it would be by computer. In fact, I'm willing to bet that 2D animation's comeback will involve primarily computer-animated films, even if they are done frame-by-frame.

But, who knows? All I know is, I don't believe 2D is gone for good as far as American theaters are concerned. CGI may be here to stay, but don't get too comfortable with its dominance.

Likely busy writing something.

American theaters or American filmmakers?

Don't forget, we still have our friends in the East to thank for overseas exports of popular culture.

Also, what about big budget film adaptations of hand drawn television shows? I highly doubt something like Adventure Time The Movie would be made wholly in cgi.

edited 23rd Mar '14 3:15:29 PM by Mattonymy

You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.