Traditional animation IS dead...

[erikthewise]

... as is 3D CGI animation!

The recent success of claymation hits The Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit clearly shows the future belongs to this medium!

I can just see the suits at Disney asking "Why don't we have a claymation unit?". If they haven't yet learned there are far more important reasons for the success of an animated film than production technology, they're not going to figure it out now.

 

[rocketriter]

I don't think classical Disney led the field by "being the best at traditional animation." In addition to understanding the paramount importance of good story-telling (which is where the generation of films after Walt's death fell down), classical Disney stayed out front technically. But traditional animation simply isn't "out front" any more. I can't blame the company for moving on to computer animation, and to whatever innovation makes that obsolete in the future, as well.

Now, as to outsourcing computer animation and depending on outsiders to do the superb quality of imagining and design work that Disney is known for, well, that's another story...

 

[JRawkSteady]

eh, I don't think claymation will outdo 3D animation unfortunately. Plus, IMO Wallace and Gromit doesn't look at all funny (I never liked them in teh first place), and Corpse Bride did not even come close to what Burton did in Nightmare Before Christmas. Maybe one day they can combine the 3 mediums

 

[Ember]

It breaks my heart! I was going into animation (and had been accepted at Sheridan, the top animation school in North America) when classical animation offically died. It's all I'd ever wanted to do with my life, and I simply do not want to work on a computer. I wanted to draw, and watch my drawings come to life.

So if anyone at Disney is reading this, you didn't make my dreams come true, you shattered them, gound them into little bits, and threw them away when you fired all the classical animators and closed the studio. BAH!

(I've since re-vised my life and am currently back in school for education.)

 

[Above_the_Rim]

It breaks my heart! I was going into animation (and had been accepted at Sheridan, the top animation school in North America) when classical animation offically died. It's all I'd ever wanted to do with my life, and I simply do not want to work on a computer. I wanted to draw, and watch my drawings come to life.

So if anyone at Disney is reading this, you didn't make my dreams come true, you shattered them, gound them into little bits, and threw them away when you fired all the classical animators and closed the studio. BAH!

(I've since re-vised my life and am currently back in school for education.)

Why are you feeling so down? If I was you, I'd still pursue my career, there's still a lot of places you can go to do traditional animation. And right now would actually be the prime time to get into it, becuase what it is experiencing right now isnt a death, but a "dark ages." I dont know if Disney will go back to hand drawn animation, but what will most likely happen is that a lot of new independent traditional animation companies will emerge. This is how Hanna-Barbara, Klasky-Csupo, and others came about. It really makes sense, these big power houses are not out there anymore dominating the game, and it so allows these new people to come in. But I would say still go get a degree in hand drawn animation, you can either join one of these new companies, or maybe be adventerous and start a company of your own. (Sheridan the top animation company in the USA? you sure it's even better than CALarts?)

And Walt Disney was always pursuing new technologies, but they were never to replace hand drawn animation. They were to just to enhance it. There are still a lot more technologies and horizons hand drawn animation has yet to pursue, but when it comes down to it technology does not make the movie. Hand drawn aniamtion and computer animation are two different things, it's like comparing traditional animation and live action films

 

[DancingBear]

And Walt Disney was always pursuing new technologies, but they were never to replace hand drawn animation. They were to just to enhance it. There are still a lot more technologies and horizons hand drawn animation has yet to pursue, but when it comes down to it technology does not make the movie. Hand drawn aniamtion and computer animation are two different things, it's like comparing traditional animation and live action films

Not exactly; there is still a major role for artistry in CGI. See this WSJ article with a quote from Glen Keane:

"I feel like about 30 years ago, when I was first at Disney just learning," Mr. Keane says. He has come to believe that the project isn't the end of drawing, but rather a transitional period in which his art "is going through a fire. We'll come out of it with a new, expressive way, as long as the artists don't let fear stop them."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/10/23/financial1010EDT0052.DTL

 

[Above_the_Rim]

What do you mean? I never said anything like their isnt any role for artistry in CG animation. I didnt even mention it, I said they're still a lot of new horizons for hand drawn animation to pursue. and the same is true for computer animation too

 

[DancingBear]

I was responding to your statement that comparing hand-drawn to CGI animation is like comparing traditional animation and live action films. CGI has a lot more in common with traditional animation.