Who Can Save Traditional Animation?

I am sad to say that I doubt traditional animation, at least for the big screen, will survive in the long run.

There are many reasons for that, mostly concerned with profits and actually the lack of original ideas and the proper funding of such ideas in the remnants of today's animation industry. Hiring of new animators with fresh degrees in art and design by most of the major studios with disregard to the number of actual novel ideas these hires had to offer have lead to a population of skilled animation drawers lacking novel concepts and original ideas. Most traditionally animated movies, with some exceptions (Anastasia; Lilo and Stitch; The Iron Giant) have relied mainly on action and effect components rather than a gripping storyline and actual depth, or as some call it "heart."

Amazingly, these problems don't lie so much in the actual implementation of the animation process but rather the preproduction phase when characters and storylines go through their very basic design characteristics. This is the field were most animators hired specifically for their degrees appear to be either deficient or just stifled by corporate micromanagement.

To add to this conundrum is the fact that there are countless independent artists out there, in the furry community and far beyond, who have shown time and time again the propensity for original plot lines and remarkable depth in character design, even in cases where the actual execution of the artwork or the written text has not been completely up to professional standards. But the wellspring of novel concepts and ideas from these often untrained hobby artists is undeniable. Sadly, since none of them carry any degree in arts and design it is unlikely that the mainstay of these concepts will ever see realization.

So, in retrospect, traditional animation is suffering not so much from a lacking of quality animators but the missing of originality in plot lines and character designs that no amount of professional training can remedy.

I am sad to say that I doubt traditional animation, at least for the big screen, will survive in the long run.

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So, in retrospect, traditional animation is suffering not so much from a lacking of quality animators but the missing of originality in plot lines and character designs that no amount of professional training can remedy.

I agree with you--that is why traditional animation is suffering. All the artistic and technical brilliance in the world can't save a poor plot. However, I'm still optimistic of the long run survival of traditional animation.

I'm thinking that what we're seeing is more of a period of transition. Disney's run out of public domain works to pillage, so it's stuck in a rut. Other animation studios are stuck in a rut mainly because they're not Disney (thus, they lack the marketing and distribution juggernaught that Disney has). Indeed the entire movie industry seems to be collapsing under its own weight (see this article on Slashdot[=http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/19/1918243&mode=thread&tid=100&tid=137&tid=188&tid=97&tid=98&tid=99]this article on Slashdot for a recent example of the movie industry's cluelessness).

So, naturally, as more people get fed up with current offerings (and I am optimistic that more and more will), something will move in to replace it. What exactly will come in to replace it remains to be seen. Pixar has been held up as an animation studio (albiet not a traditional one) that has consistently come up with great ideas that do very well at the box office. Perhaps studios that follow Pixar's cue (not necessarily by creating technically brilliant movies, but by creating movies with a great plot & characters) will move in to fill the gap.

Perhaps independant animated features will garner more notice in the future... especially with the ability of the internet to enable like minds to come together, 'though they may be geographically far apart. Perhaps few of these works will make it to the big screen, but that hardly precludes them from being successful in their own way.

We've come to the end of the well-trod path (read: formulaic movies) in many ways--I say it's time to strike out on some new ground.

I am of the opinion that if "Traditional" animation is to be saved, then it is up to us folk in the general population who make up the audiences for what is seen in your average movie house. If we were to demand more quality in terms of plot, character design, etc. while simultaneously saying no to the crap that is passed off as cheap entertainment at best, I too believe that traditional (a.k.a. classical) animation can survive. But I cannot stress enough the fact that it is up to us.

Peace :D

ya know NIMH probly would still be alive well it is but still but not alive enough to thrive what im saying is NIMH 2 pretty much ruined the NIMH expereince for every NIMH fan out there

NIMH would do better if some one like gathered together don bluth a bunch of good animators and a few other needed employee's and launch a series that takes place in thorn vally about 3 weeks after the movie ends there for the series could last for a long ammount of time seeing on how many fans their are out there i mean look if a series of mayby about only 100 or more episodes of a short series launched it could also go to a SON2 in the backround killing off pretending that peice of crap unwillingly called SON2 never was made that would probly work considering who would have the right mind to do such a thing

:?

As much as I enjoyed the Secret of NIMH movie and all facts and trivia related to said film, I do not think that a cartoon series based on this film is what's needed to save classical animation. If anything, I think such a series may have just the opposite effect. In other words, classical animation will be pushed even further into the chasm of extinction by a cheap saturday morning series based on this fine film. As i said before, what is needed is for the general public to rise up against the crap that's been passed off as cheap entertainment and demand more quality in what we are willing to watch and enjoy...

Peace :D

indeed mayby but if it was a cartoon series it would not look that cheap if they put it on a respected tv network and also with don bluth him self working along side them it might work but you are right it could have the risk of a oposite effect so i supose a series would not be the best idea