That Most Bittersweet of Treasures...

[tealin]

... which is Old Hope.

I just watched Aladdin.

Dang it, I want to be a Disney animator.

So bad.

Man, those guys were good. I mean, so... sigh. So much to learn from them. The motion, the expression, the fluidity, the character, the storytelling... I had thought that my burning desire to emulate them had been dampened by the years of school and work in the industry rubbing the glamour off, but now I realise it was just that I'd been starving the fire of its original fuel.

Eric Goldberg, I am not fit to lace your sandals! (or however the line goes)

[sigh]

Comments

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I'm almost convinced that there was some kind of pro-3D conspiracy to churn out well animated but poorly premised 2D works...

I don't think you're paranoid. I think that very likely, and have entertained the notion myself in the past. From what I've heard, it's mostly the fault of the bureaucratic and executive branches taking over the creative process and doing what they think will work best from a marketing standpoint, taking the creative decisions away from the people who actually know what they're doing. That's a death sentence right there.

I think the Western sentiment is more along the lines of 'animation is fun fluff for kids' that will drive it down rather than any sort of technical consideration, because it so drastically limits both the pool of possible source material and the number of people interested in seeing it. Anime may be going a little way to breaking this mindset, but it seems to be changing the attitude, instead, to 'traditional western style animation is fun fluff for kids; live action, CGI, and anime can be for anyone.' Even on the projects I've worked on and heard about, the general philosophy is that if you want people to take you seriously, you have to look like anime.

Sure, there are effects that you can do now in live action that used to be the realm of the animated, but there are artistic considerations you have to take into account. People still like artistic interpretations of reality as well as photography – maybe more than ever, if you look at advertising and suchlike. I've noticed (and I may be entirely wong in my perception) an increase in graphic design-style ads, especially fashion-related ones. Is this because the ideal beauty is now so unattainable in actual physical form that they have to resort to drawings, which can look like anything, and can be idealised far beyond the limits of anatomy? Or is it because people just like drawings? Anyway, it's graphic stylings that will be the saviour of 2D ... we probably won't see any more movies with the realism of Pocahontas but they may come back in a flatter, edgier style that can't be duplicated in live action or 3D.

[vejiicakes.livejournal.com]

... we probably won't see any more movies with the realism of Pocahontas but they may come back in a flatter, edgier style that can't be duplicated in live action or 3D.

This is assuming our audiences care one whit about artistry, and while I think a sizeable portion may, it's probably not enough to save animation from going down the tubes if that's the way the market starts running. I really they just might start resorting to the likes of Spy Kids for children's entertainment if animation stops being a big seller. I never believed animation would fall by the wayside, but I never believed that about traditional animation either and, well, we see how that worked out ...

I think it's a real shame that so little faith is placed in Western animation. Too often with the recent "anime-styled" TV shows the powers-that-be seem ignorant of the fact that giving the show a generically stylized "anime" look is not going to change what it is at its core; if it's a good show, it's a good show, and if it's not, the EXXXTREEEME action lines and dewey eyes are not going to change that. I think the failure to recognize that it's a good part premise and style (maybe more the former than the latter) that makes for great animated works--don't get me wrong, I'm a bigger fan of anime than Western animation, but I think if the studios here would take bigger risks with their material, cover more ground, have more faith in the audience, that might change. Whoo, tangent.

Long story short, ehhh, not optimistic.

[(Anonymous)]

Personally, and I can't animate or cartoon myself, so I guess I'm unbiased, I think that CG is not as good as 2D. I think the only thing good about CG is the novelty. CG can work really well in I guess what are "integrated films" where they use both for backgrounds and water and stuff; it can really add a lot there, but just CG is a tragedy.
SOMEONE must resurrect the 2D industry! I don't think the public is sick of 2D at all!