Animation ECR

Pencils or Programs? Traditional Animation Is Here to Stay

1 Inspiring stories, lovable characters, beautiful music—all of these can come together to create a memorable movie. One type of movie that has long been popular is the animated movie. Rather than being acted out by real people, these films are composed of images created by humans. Animation was originally done completely by hand. This style is called “2D” animation because the images appear relatively flat, as they would on paper. But computer animation has taken over. While these movies can be enjoyable, they do not represent everything that animation can be. Traditional 2D animation still has value and purpose in modern movies.

2 The first full-length American 2D animated movie came out in 1937. It was entirely in color. Audiences everywhere were dazzled by this accomplishment. The characters and backgrounds were all drawn by artists. They drew on plastic sheets called cels. What did they use to create these images that would eventually dance across the screen? Pencils, paints, and paintbrushes. Two hundred fifty thousand of these drawings ended up in the final movie. More than a million were created overall. Although technology changed throughout the rest of the 1900s, the animation for movies continued to be done by hand for many years.

3 Eventually, computer animation emerged. This style can also be called “3D” animation. The images appear more realistic than those of the 2D style. This is done with the help of—you guessed it—computers. While this is a complicated process, it cannot replace the work that is made completely by an artist’s careful hand. Some people realize this and have paid tens of thousands of dollars for original art pieces from 2D animated films.

4 Today’s animators also realize this. In 2009, Walt Disney Animation Studios released a 2D animated movie for the first time in several years. It is called The Princess and the Frog. One of the movie’s directors said that many animators wanted to work on this film. Even those who had become good at 3D work were excited. “We all love this way of making movies,” he stated. Their hard work did not go unnoticed. Famous film critic Roger Ebert reviewed the movie. In his review, he applauded the film’s “lovingly hand-drawn animation.”

5 Some people wonder why anyone would choose 2D when the advanced technology of 3D is available. The characters in 3D animated films may seem more detailed, down to the wrinkles in their clothes. People always get swept up in the latest technology. But newer does not always mean better. In 2012, an animated short film titled Paperman was released. It includes a combination of 2D and 3D animation. A producer on the film noted that with computer animation, artists can become “very separated from the actual art.”

6 Traditional 2D animated movies are ready for a comeback. In 2021, Disney launched a new training program for hand-drawn animation. This was their first in over ten years. However, in some places, animators never stopped drawing by hand. The Japanese anime style of film includes mostly hand-drawn figures. People all over the world appreciate this style. In 2020, Netflix reported that over 100 million households had streamed at least one anime title in the past year.

7 A movie can have a special place in a person’s heart, and people find different films special for different reasons. But the care and effort that goes into making a 2D animated movie is unmatched. These techniques still play an important role in new movies today.

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Explain the effects that technology has had on animation.

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