Jump to content
Banner by ~ Ice Princess Silky

animation Why is traditional animation dead?


TheMarkz0ne

Recommended Posts

I have two videos below that got me into typing out this important topic. I am not by any means, a good technical artist. I tried and failed as a kid. But I always prefer animation as the superior medium of entertainment, I am more of an animation person than a film or game buff. I am not by any means against digital animation, I mean hell I am watching FiM. Digital animation doesn't equate to a person with a dull and sterile imagination, I just miss classic hand drawn animation. Here are two short videos I highly recommend you watch.. The second one is quite vulgar though. 

 

 

Start the second video at 6:50.. Danny Antonucci, creator of Ed Edd Eddy. Old video, but relevant today.

 

I just feel more respect for each individual frame being a piece of art. The 1941 Superman series is still something I can be amazed with, given the limited technology at the time. Ed Edd Eddy was also CN's last hand drawn cartoon, and maybe it could have been the last hand drawn cartoon series in years. I am talking about PURE hand drawn animation.. Even shows that don't use flash, still use partial computer assistance.

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't consider traditional animation entirely dead, most of Cartoon Network, Disney and Nickelodeon cartoons shows right now are still hand drawn. I'd say it's dead in cinema, but alive and well on television for the most part. Well I don't hate that fact that all animated movies are CGI, I wish we'd get 2D animated films alongside them.

Edited by Wink Link
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good example is the looney tunes cartoons wich just got a "reboot" the old ones were always better because the story went with the animation that took ages because it was hand drawn now it is cheaper and faster to produce them animated and less manpower as well

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's expensive and it takes longer. It's a pragmatic business decision . 

 

Business, money-   these things make or break any industry. 

Edited by Zyrael
  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Traditional animation is a cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming process in which every single element has to be drawn by hand. There is a very high standard of quality, precision, and consistency that has to be upheld between every single frame, evidenced by the frequency of errors such as off-model frames or characters' outfits changing colors between scenes. Just as much, there are a great many repetitive tasks and expensive pieces of equipment that would be rendered unnecessary or redundant by a computer. The sheer time requirement alone makes traditional animation impractical for commercial applications.

 

Given that properly-trained professionals can replicate traditional animation styles with software and their own artistic talents, and that digital animation eliminates many low-level jobs such as inbetweening, Xeroxing, and camera operation, traditional animation is now as practical as the steam locomotive. It's good every now and then for some little arthouse project, but as far as commercial film and TV goes, CGI in both 3D and 2D forms has surpassed it. Even stop-motion is more efficient than hand-drawn animation in many respects.

 

That goes without saying that cost-cutting has been the modus operandi in commercial animation since Rocky and Bullwinkle was the first American cartoon to be outsourced, or Clutch Cargo used film of the actors' mouths to skip on animating characters' faces. Traditional animation had been going the computerization route since at least the 80s or the 90s with innovations like Disney's CAPS, and many of the last surviving traditionally animated productions at least use some form of digital coloring rather than painting on the cels.

Edited by Wind Chaser
  • Brohoof 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I doubt traditional animation is cheap, but is it really that expensive? The Princess and the Frog wasn't particularly costly to make, but it didn't rake in an impressive profit, so I'd say there isn't much apparent public interest in traditional animation, at least in North America.

 

Also, according to these sources, CG animation is more expensive because a 3D model must be made for every physical object that will be put on-screen or even in the background.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I doubt traditional animation is cheap, but is it really that expensive? The Princess and the Frog wasn't particularly costly to make, but it didn't rake in an impressive profit, so I'd say there isn't much apparent public interest in traditional animation, at least in North America.

 

 

The problem isn't a lack of interest per se, but a risk vs reward situation. Yeah, PATF might have been a hit, and a CG movie may have been a flop - on the whole, however, CG movies are a lot less risky because 1. The animation is faster to produce, 2. There is zero cost for materials (the computers and programs already exist and are owned by the company) and 3. The work on a CG movie can be translated to another project, with some tweaks, if the current one fails and hand animated cells cannot. Yeah, Frozen was more expensive than PATF to produce, but had Frozen failed, the animation data could have been recycled into other works. Failed traditional animation properties are vaulted, and that's pretty much it. 

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Digital animation allows one to do some of the more dreary tasks of animation much much quicker, like replicate entire fleets of ships, or create crowds of individual background characters (that you can then reuse because they're stored as files on a computer). Certainly, some of the best animation I have ever seen has been traditionally done, but for considerations of time and budget, as well as bein able to alter looks and feels of a show almost on a whim, I'm not surprised digital animation has become the norm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm impressed by the 1941 Superman animation. It looks better than some of the stuff produced today. Still, I think that computer-made animation has far more potential and is less time-consuming and therefore cheaper to use. I think there are still some traditionally animated shows, though, even if there aren't many.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With technology advancing cheaper and faster alternatives are being found.

 

 

Also, according to these sources, CG animation is more expensive because a 3D model must be made for every physical object that will be put on-screen or even in the background.

True, but as technology is advancing CG and other forms of 3D animation are getting cheaper and there are other forms of digital animation which are relatively cost effective like flash animation for example which is what MLP uses. The advancement in digital animation in general is making said animation look more natural and take on more qualities of traditional hand drawn animation. I prefer traditional animation over CG myself as it looks more natural to me, but CG has gotten much better in a very short amount of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its not dead per say, its just not profitable right now. 

 

Digital animation has its own merits though. Zootopia for example individually created every single hair on their characters bodies and designed everything from the individual lives of the characters to a literal weather system that dynamically and realistically simulates wind. I love traditional animation, but I can see the appeal of digital. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that the reason you think traditional animation is dead is because we've developed ways to make animation better, faster, and easier. 

 

I think we should embrace technological advancements to make things easier for everyone in our lives, and by using this method, you have to wait less time to see more episodes of your favorite shows.

 

Win win in my book

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that the reason you think traditional animation is dead is because we've developed ways to make animation better, faster, and easier. 

 

I think we should embrace technological advancements to make things easier for everyone in our lives, and by using this method, you have to wait less time to see more episodes of your favorite shows.

 

Win win in my book

Technology doesn't always equal advancement though, it could make our society incredibly lazy if we depend on it too much. I'm not saying get rid of digital, not at all. But we need to remember dependence on technology makes us weaker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Technology doesn't always equal advancement though, it could make our society incredibly lazy if we depend on it too much. I'm not saying get rid of digital, not at all. But we need to remember dependence on technology makes us weaker.

 

That's absolutely true, and I agree, but animating things is hard, so making things easier in that regard can improve things in my mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I go a bit off topic here, but Don Bluth, who made Secret of NIMH, An American Tail and Land before Time, is coming out with a brand new, Traditional Animated Movie, which will be an Adaptation of his Arcade Game Dragons Lair and he promised that it will be traditionally made.

 

Maybe this movie will spark some animators to go back to traditional animation. I would be happy, because i was always a bit bias towards traditional animated stuff. :P

  • Brohoof 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not dead exactly but it has given way to the progression of technique and improved method of creation.  Much like the steam engine (and perhaps the combustion engine too soon enough), better more practical alternatives have emerged.  Steam engines are still around here and there as working marvels of our history, attractions and beautiful works of engineering.  They just aren't used on a day to day basis because they are impractical.  It's the same with animation technique, before you would need a team of people and a good deal of expensive equipment to get anything significant done and now... well you still need expensive equipment but that equipment is a computer, for most people an every day object with a plethora of uses. 

This way a team can create many a film or TV series in a short time or a single person can create something equally impressive with a little more time and effort. 

 

Besides, the romanticised image of steam engines we have today?  Completely inaccurate.  They were hulking, dangerous and dirty monstrosities most of the time because it wasn't cost effective to keep them in pristine, artful condition, just like all those cheep ugly cartoons that networks pumped out to sell toys.  This way, if a traditional animation wants to be worth the time to watch it need to live up to that gorgeous piece of work you just shared with us or it'll be at best ignored at worse laughed at then forgotten.  It can't compete with modern digital animation for it's balance quantity to quality so it will have to embrace all quality. 

 

Technology doesn't always equal advancement though, it could make our society incredibly lazy if we depend on it too much. I'm not saying get rid of digital, not at all. But we need to remember dependence on technology makes us weaker.

 

I can't say I agree.  You take away our technology and what exactly are you left with?  A comparatively weak, gangly, vulnerable and weapon-less ape that could maybe climb a tree to save it's life.  We need our technology to survive even if it's a simple sharpened stone and pelt coat and if we want to improve our lives we need to embrace, advance and distribute it. 

 

What we shouldn't do however is take it for granted.  To simply except the convenience it provides us with disregard for how or why it is there would doom us.  A nice example is clean water (I should mention, usually provided by our technology).  To anyone in the western world it's an every day thing you always have within reach but those who take it for granted without knowing why it's important or how it got there would, if lost in the wilderness, not think to at least boil the water before drinking. 

 

Dysentary.png

Edited by ScopeEva
  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(edited)

The only Reason i can think of is that, Traditional Animation takes up to much time and its expensive.

Now many companies just use Flash, because its cheaper and you can animate faster.

 

I really hate Flash...not the program itself, but i hate cartoons made with flash, if it wasnt for flash, we might would have still one or two traditional animated movies to this day.

 

I heard Don Bluth is working on a new traditional animated Movie based on his Dragon Lair Games. That could be interesting.  :)

Edited by Supergirl Rarity
Link to comment
Share on other sites

   Traditional animation is labour intensive, so much so, that there were templates to ease and speed up the process, Disney for example, did use a lot of templates in early animated films. Traditional animation does require very professional animators, making it quite difficult for a new recruit to learn, it might take years before an artist is considered good enough to animate. As computers improve, the skills and realism of animation will continue to inspire and influence, not that traditional animation is obsolete, but that animation has evolved, like film itself, we have gone from black and white, to techincolour, to IMAX and 3D, could you imagine trying to watch a silent picture in 2016? Is it easier to ride a horse or drive a car? Is it easier to fight with a sword or a rifle? Technology was there to save labour, and make improvements that could take generations to accomplice, Japanese anime is an combination of traditional and digital, Hayao Miyazaki used this technology to give his movies life, moreover, animation is suppose to tell the story, to show things and make us feel something, it should not matter if it was hand drawn, or digital, some of the best pictures I have seen of the Titanic were digital paintings, better than most artist sketches I have seen, and that is the point of animation, art for art's sake. 

  • Brohoof 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Traditional animation is labour intensive, so much so, that there were templates to ease and speed up the process, Disney for example, did use a lot of templates in early animated films. Traditional animation does require very professional animators, making it quite difficult for a new recruit to learn, it might take years before an artist is considered good enough to animate. As computers improve, the skills and realism of animation will continue to inspire and influence, not that traditional animation is obsolete, but that animation has evolved, like film itself, we have gone from black and white, to techincolour, to IMAX and 3D, could you imagine trying to watch a silent picture in 2016? Is it easier to ride a horse or drive a car? Is it easier to fight with a sword or a rifle? Technology was there to save labour, and make improvements that could take generations to accomplice, Japanese anime is an combination of traditional and digital, Hayao Miyazaki used this technology to give his movies life, moreover, animation is suppose to tell the story, to show things and make us feel something, it should not matter if it was hand drawn, or digital, some of the best pictures I have seen of the Titanic were digital paintings, better than most artist sketches I have seen, and that is the point of animation, art for art's sake.

i agree with king edouard. traditional animation is incredibly expensive as time flies by, so many animators choose to use flash to save money
  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(edited)

Traditional animation vs computer animation really shouldn't be a matter of evolving away from one and into another. They're both unique mediums within an overall art form, and there's room for both. Traditional animation is not antiquated and outdated. In fact, it's more beautiful now than ever before with the introduction of new technologies and techniques to augment it.  

Most studios go with computers because they're easier and there are a lot more people these days who are very adroit with the technology vs traditional animators who are less and less common. 

Companies like Disney may look back at the box office failure of Frog Princess and blame the medium rather than the writing, and use it as an excuse to abandon traditional methods in their feature films. Especially considering how relatively easily they can churn out digital animation. But tradition has its place and should never become a dying art. 

What if no one ever painted on canvas again? What if all art was done on a computer and run off on a printer? Would it have a place alongside a Rembrandt? There's something tangible about traditional art that can't be duplicated.  

Edited by Dreambiscuit
  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to hate cgi animation as well but let's stop glorifying traditional animation as if it were perfect. Traditional animations had plenty of flaws that the animators were either too lazy to fix or didn't have time to fix.

 

Sure sometimes animators get lazy with CGI animation as well...But CGI animation has gotten better.

 

Granted...I would love another movie with the animation of Princess and the Frog.

  • Brohoof 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's probably dead/dying because CGI and digital 2D animation are much cheaper to do. Maybe consumers prefer them as well. I don't know.

 

I really hate Flash...not the program itself, but i hate cartoons made with flash, if it wasnt for flash, we might would have still one or two traditional animated movies to this day.

 

You know that MLP is animated in Flash, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Join the herd!

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...