Note: To make it more clear, 2D animation refers to flat images seen on screen that are hand-drawn or drawn digitally (including vector art), with some level of CGI (computer generated imagery) effects (ex. animation like Disney's Lion King or The Little Mermaid). 3D animation refers to 3D images seen on screen that are rendered digitally completely (ex. animation like Disney's Frozen).

In the light of the release of OpenToonz (an open-source professional software to create 2D animation that was utilized by Studio Ghibli) a few months back and the now official, complete transition to 3D animation by Disney, I realized that 2D animation is seemingly being left behind as a past animation trend.

Animators, directors and almost a majority of audience members these days tend to prefer 3D animation over 2D for a variety of reasons. From a technical stand-point, neither 2D nor 3D animation is easier to do with respect to the other (it's true, I've tried both). Each have their pros and cons. For instance, with 3D animation, all parts of a character (i.e. legs, hands, body posture), even those not visible to the camera, have to be posed and modeled for each scene, unlike for 2D animation. With 2D animation, however, animators must maintain consistency of a character every time they draw it and switching camera angles for a scene means re-drawing the entire scene, unlike in 3D animation. From a non-technical stand-point, reasons for preferring 3D over 2D range from the "realistic" look of a piece of animation to industrial costs of producing an animated movie in each style.

Personally, being brought up watching 2D animated Disney movies (ex. Pocahontas, Brother Bear, etc.) and Studio Ghibli films, to me, 2D animation films have a special quality and feel to them. I will always love watching 2D animation over 3D and here are three major reasons why.

1. Hand-drawn Over Digitally Rendered

A lot of 2D enthusiasts have expressed this view and I agree: There is a human feel to hand-drawn 2D animation over digitally rendered 3D animation. It's also true that 3D animation can show the human side in the art, but to me, it's not the same as it is in 2D. The hand-drawn feel tends to more obviously convey the painstaking efforts of the artist and shows the extent human practice and talent in a field can go to. There is more studying to be done if one wants to create consistent hand-drawn animation as it relies on both the ability of the artist as well as the imagination of the artist in portraying each frame and eventually each scene and then the entire piece.

For example, the uncleaned art in Disney's The Jungle Book and 101 Dalmatians leaves a trail of the artists' efforts throughout the movie. In movies like Tale of Princess Kaguya (directed by Isao Takahata and produced by Studio Ghibli) and Princess Mononoke (directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli), the hand-drawn 2D animation shows as an example the pinnacle of human practice and talent in art.

2. Characters, Actions and Emotions

In 2D animation, the characters and the way they are developed make up for the lack of 3D "realism" in the art itself. From the characters' design to how they physically react on screen are all paid attention to in high detail in order to convey the nature of the character to the audience. And this attention to character detail shows through. For instance, in Disney's Bambi, the animators brought in live animal references to capture the subtle nuances in movement and behavior in order to animate their characters better and make them life like via action. Also, during the rain scene in the movie, animators studied how drops of water splash and ripple first-hand in order to re-create them through drawing (and given the limited animating resources of the time, it was quite spot-on).

With regards to nuances in characters and their actions, a good example would be from Disney's Pocahontas. From hair movements to subtle changes in features when the characters are still, these tiny details subconsciously build up and reveal the "human" in the character.

The same goes for the characters' emotions. I feel that a lot more emotions can be expressed via 2D than 3D. Emotion expressions also feel a bit more natural in 2D versus 3D. For example, below is a 3D and 2D expression chart for Mei from Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Tototro. While one might argue that the original 2D version was not meant to be converted into 3D, this transformation shows the subtle nuances in expression that is possible in 2D but is lost in 3D. The 2D feels a little more natural, despite some level of exaggeration on the emotion portrayal.

3. Expressions of Creativity

While there are limits as to how far 2D animation can go, it is not completely limited. Combined with CGI effects (and artistic abilities), virtually anything that is conjured up in the human mind can be brought to life with 2D animation. For instance, the images of the castle and the visual effects in Studio Ghibli's Laputa: Castle in the Sky, or the vibrant animation in the Firebird Suite of Disney's Fantasia are some examples of high creativity achieved in 2D animation. More advanced effects such as the building of Elsa's castle from Disney's Frozen might take quite a long time hand-drawn, but again, its not completely impossible (and in fact, would be interesting to see how it would be in 2D).

2D animation just feels more natural yet imaginative. There is more flexibility with character emotions, realism in the art (whether or not to make the art more realistic), and nuances and subtlety in characters and their actions. The efforts of the artists as well as their talents can be seen more clearly. In simple words, 2D animation is special and as long as there are enthusiasts for it, it will never really go away for good, even if it means it will live in the shadows for now.