Animation has been a cornerstone of the film industry since the silent era. Whether it was the misadventures of Mickey Mouse and Goofy, the slapstick violence of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, or the grand spectacle of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," animation has always had a place in film. Specifically hand drawn animation.
Hand drawn animation is one of the oldest forms of animation, next to stop motion, and has been around longer than any other form. For almost a century, it remained the standard form of animation in films, shorts, kids cartoons and commercials. That changed with the advent of computer animation.
Over the last 30 years, computer animation slowly supplanted hand drawn animation as the dominant form of animation in the industry. Many people mark the beginning of the change with the advent of Pixar and "Toy Story," however, the root of this technological takeover has its roots even before that.
As computers began to take over film making technology in the 70s and 80s, they eventually found their way into animation. By the time the "Disney Renaissance" began with 2D animated films like "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast," they were being drawn on computers rather than animation cells. This lead to great scenes like the ballroom scene in "Beauty and the Beast," but it also marked the beginning of the end for hand drawn animation.
As the 2000s began, more and more 2D animated films were under performing or straight up flopping at the Box Office, while 3D animation did better than ever. The best theory I have for this transition was people's interest in the new technology. People were impressed by the dynamic lighting, three dimensional camera movement, and greater detail offered by computer animation. Audiences, fairly or not, got bored with hand drawn animation.
Hand drawn animation hasn't fully disappeared. Many animated shows and some movies still use 2D animation, but it has become a shell of its former self. Hand drawn animation has become a niche genre, similar to stop motion animation. It used to reign as the dominant form of animation, and in many ways, I miss it.
Sure, computer animation has all of those benefits I mentioned earlier, but nothing quite matches the artistry of hand drawn animation. It's literally watching a drawing come to life. The clear line work and use of a more striking set of colors gives hand drawn animation the same personal artistry that comes with paintings and canvas art.
I wrote this to express my love for a form of art that seems to be disappearing more and more every day. Even kids cartoons are starting to lean more and more toward computer animation. I'm not saying one form is superior to the other, as I've hopefully demonstrated both forms have their pros and cons. I just find it sad to watch a form of art laid the groundwork for the entire animation industry being reduced to a rare niche. The animation industry needs more variety and an equal balance of 2D, 3D, and stop motion animation might be the key to fixing that.
