2D as a ‘dying’ art form

2D animation recently has been described as a ‘dying’ art form, with many people saying that 3D is now the only popular way to animate and any other form of animation will eventually go all together. What I love best about this statement is how stop motion companies have turned around and gone out of their way to prove these accusations wrong. Stop motion animation was definitely having a comeback last year when Laika's second animation 'Paranorman' came out at the same time as Disney and Tim Burton's 'Frankenweenie' and Aardman's 'The Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists.' But sadly 2D animation didn't quite have the same exposure last year. One thing I love though, is when visiting film festivals, the majority of students work selected were 2D, meaning that people are still willing and enjoying using such a medium, which hopefully means there will be a 2D revival.

I also really love that Japan still has an ever growing Anime following, with more 2D animated series' coming out each year. America has also continued this tradition by having their own animated series coming out of both Cartoon Network (makers of Adventure Time and The Regular Show) and Nickleodeon (Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents). Sadly Disney has closed it's doors to 2D animated films for the time being, but has recently released 20 animated episodes of new Mickey Mouse, completely restyled and in 2D. What I find most interesting is that Disney have chosen to try different techniques in 3D to give the same aesthetic and feel that 2D gives, showing more of the hand crafted feel, which can be seen by their latest short Paperman, and the software development behind that.

I could waffle on about this subject for hours, but these three articles I have found and collected from this year give a great insight into the so-called 'dying' art-form.

http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/2d-animation-dead-dying-or-just-napping-part-v-the-artists/

http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/creative-lifestyle/turf-war-is-2d-animation-dying/

http://www.skwigly.co.uk/2d-or-not-2d-the-disney-feature-animation-legacy/