This article is a controversial article in the animation community, and can actually be a controversial article in overall terms if you really think about it. It's about whether we should fully abandon 2D animation altogether, and just go full-on 3D animation. The author's argument is that we SHOULD abandon 2D animation, for three major reasons, it's easier, can have more attention to detail, and that 3D animation has a better way of making a scene more subtle.
The first point that the author makes is that 3D animation is easier than 2D. They use the fact that you just have to set up a model in the CG program that you're using, and then move it accordingly. You can even hook up a rig from your buddy's project, and keep the animation flowing smoothly. In 2D, you have to constantly redraw every scene or character over and over with a little bit of inconsistency because of the fact of drawing a tiny bit differently than before. The author also uses the fact that 3D animation can get the tiny details better than 2D can. If you look at a more modern animated movie, say, Frozen (*shudders*). The attention to detail in that movie is absolutely outstanding compared to a more modern 2D animated movie, The Princess and the Frog. The final point that was made is that subtle movements look a lot better in 3D animation than 2D animation. If you look back to movies like Pocahontas, the slower scenes really seemed to be hard to follow, since the character wasn't moving as much as they normally would. Since 3D animation has more options to make it realistic to actual human movements, so slower movements are easier to see and animate than 2D animation.
The author has many strong points, and actually brings in an extremely popular and talented 2D animator to help strengthen their view on the Subtlety section. The 2D artist, who worked on some of the animations for Disney, most notably Mushu in Mulan, said that with 2D animation, making a scene subtle is extremely difficult because of the different lines, as well as trying to make the character still, but not so still that they blend into the background. With 3D animation, there is a clear model of the character, and a clear model of the background, so there is no worrying about the character becoming one with the background. Looking for weaknesses in this article is very difficult, so the only one I can really bring up is the fact that the author seems very biased. If they were to just acknowledge the other side every once in a while, that would help further the point they're trying to get across.
The general conclusion that the author came to in this article, is that 2D animation is slowly starting to go out of style, no matter what people say, and that 3D animation is starting to take over. In my personal opinion, I think the argument that the author makes is very relevant. To prove my case, I will show you two movies that have different scores on Rotten Tomatoes. The one on top is The Princess and the Frog, and the bottom one is Big Hero 6.
As you can see, in the course of five years, critics have started to warm up to 3D animation. Granted, that isn't a big change in score from an 84% to an 89%, but the main portion that needs to be REALLY looked at is the Audience Score. PatF got a measly 74%, while BH6 got a MASSIVE 91%! Just to be clear, according to audiences, Big Hero 6 was almost as good as Star Wars Episode VII was to critics. It's safe to say that the author of the article's viewpoint was legitimate, and holds up to the evidence.
Since I'm not going into animation next year (yes, I know Mr. Netterville, I am a traitor), this doesn't affect me in hardly any way in videography other than if I ever wanted to make an animated movie project if I become a director, it has to be a 3D animated movie with the visuals being highly up-to-date, and almost breaking boundaries in terms of storytelling and acting.
Overall, I really like this article. It brings points that bring some food for thought onto the table about whether 2D animation is still relevant, and if 3D animation is the way to go in terms of cartoon-y animated movies. One thing I have to address, in terms of TV shows, 2D animation is thriving. With amazing hits like Gravity Falls and Steven Universe, 2D animation may have a future on smaller screens instead of the giant ones.
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