Hand-Drawn Animation - Why It's Still Important

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and today, I would like to discuss why hand-drawn animation is still important. It is a sad truth that in today's cinematic landscape, the hand-drawn style that many children of the 90's and prior grew to love is no longer relevant, and is most often overlooked in favor of computer animation. 

        This is unfortunate as, for a majority of my childhood, hand-drawn animation was the go-to with most every film studio, specifically Disney. When I was born, Disney had released the third film of the Disney Renaissance just one month prior, Beauty and the Beast, in theaters. And it would go on to receive the Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It didn't win, of course, but how awesome that it was nominated. Heck, most of my favorite animated films were hand-drawn films. And hand-drawn animation goes all the way back to the old black-and-white cartoons of yesteryear. Walt Disney, himself, staked the future of his company on the idea that a fully animated film, drawn completely by hand, could be financially successful. And with the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he proved that it was possible to make a profit on a fully animated feature film. 

        So, what happened? Why did hand-drawn animation fall by the wayside? One word: Pixar. After the success of Toy Story in 1995, suddenly the computer was seen as a new way to tell a fully animated film, utilizing 3D graphics in lieu of hand-drawn sketches and illustrations. So, realistically, tastes changed in the film going public, with computer animation now being seen as preferable to hand-drawn animation. 

       Another possibility is the sheer influx of hand-drawn animated films that were just poorly written and had very poor storytelling. Not that all of the were terrible, per se, as there were some bright spots at the time. However, a large number of hand-drawn animated films just weren't that great, and thus the box office didn't turn out as studios planned. 

       Now, where does that leave the future of hand-drawn animation? Well, Disney did attempt to revisit the classic hand-drawn style in 2009 with The Princess and the Frog, and again in 2011 with Winnie the Pooh. Unfortunately, both movies faced stiff as hell competition with film like Avatar and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2, respectively, and were ultimately overshadowed at the box office as a result. And, it's recently been brought to my attention that Disney may seek to revisit the hand-drawn style once again with a film some time in the near future. Whether this proves true or not, hopefully it gets a release where the competition isn't nearly so stiff. 

          But back to the topic: why is the hand-drawn style of animation so important? To me, it shows that actual artists, who've spent years mastering their craft, took the time and effort to illustrate, paint, and put into motion an animated character by hand, and not just by typing algorithms and complex codes into a computer to get certain movements to work. The idea of sitting and watching a movie where the animation was done completely by hand, and not with a computer, just feels so satisfying. Now, does that mean I don't like computer animation? No, that's not what I'm saying. All I'm saying is that we should have a balance, a moderation if you will. What we need is to reintroduce the notion that the hand-drawn style of animation is still prevalent and can still be profitable. That way, future generations can look at animated films drawn in the style of the classics like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo & Stitch, The Land Before Time, The Prince of Egypt, The Lion King, and so on. Let's get more movies in the style of the classics for future generations to see and be inspired to create something just like it. For now, at least, we can look back at some of these classics on streaming services and appreciate the past, and share those memories with future generations. 

        Well, that'll wrap things up for me today. This is Chuck signing off, and I'll be taking a few days off to -- wait a second. You guys aren't going to believe this, but I have just received a secret transmission from District 13. They have a message regarding my next review. The message is this: The Mockingjay Lives.