How Animation has changed over the years since 1908

“In my opinion, animation will continue to thrive as long as there are children, parents, television, movies, and the need to laugh.” ― William Hanna

Introduction

Who doesn’t love animation? Am I right?

If you were to tell someone in 1908 that animation would one day be used to bring to life talking animals, they would probably think you were crazy. But that's exactly what animation has become over the years- a way to make the impossible possible. Whether it's a cartoon character or a 3D movie, animation has come a long way from its humble beginnings.

Animation has evolved a lot over the past years. You might be familiar with the latest animation trends, but the history could be still a mystery to most of you.

In our previous blog, we mentioned the Top 7 Inspirational Animated Movies that you Need to Watch Before You Start Your Career in Animation. The movies will give you a clear picture of how time is changing the art of animation and its soul. You will eventually learn what is animation & its several types of animation.

Now we are back with brand new information on how animation style & quality has changed over the period & How Disney became from the most wanted to most hated animation studio for 2D Animation.

In this blog, we will cover the changes this modern era brings to animation & the evolution of animation.

You will have a deeper understanding of animation, its future, and how people are reacting to the change.

• Timeline of how animation style has been changed.

• How audiences react to the recreation of classic animation.

• What's the future of 2D Animation?

So, let's not make you wait for more to learn about animation and its evolution over the past years from your all-time favorite cartoon shows.

Featuring

• Mickey Mouse

• Tom and Jerry

• Tweety Bird

Mickey Mouse

The world of animation was completely changed when the show Mickey Mouse aired. From the characters to the voice, every element of the show is appreciated by the audience.

Initially, the famous character, Mickey Mouse resembled the actual mouse which makes the character more relatable. With time, the show started experimenting with the characters. From black and white to red shorts, everything was beautiful and still appealing. But from the past few years, the character evolution has been a bit disturbing. The skin color becomes more white, and the character appears more pointed. The body appears thin compared to the face which becomes very slim. The character started losing its originality over time, and lost audience interest.

Tom & Jerry

Most of you might not know that when the Tom and Jerry show started, the characters and scenes were used to draw on paper.

Interesting right?

All the effort of the makers was worth it because the show gained a lot of attention and appreciation from its audience. Time passed, technology became more powerful, and the maker of the show started utilizing computer drawing to create the characters and scenes. Initially, the animation was very smooth, but slowly makers started experimenting with characters, especially with the character's eyes. From yellow to white and then again to yellow.

Makers started random changes. Skin color also changed from blue to gray and then again blue.Although the very first Tom was an emotion, the 2014 version of the character is the most popular among its audience.

Tweety

Tweety was a Warner Brothers show. The initial image of Tweety was supposed to be a bird without feathers and with a skin color body.

But the result was not appealing. So, the makers decided to go forward with a yellow body to add a baby touch. When this character came alive, everyone's eyes got stuck and amazed by the creativity, the blue eyes and yellow body.

Again, because of character evolution, the latest version of this character becomes thin, and it appears to be squeezed. The audience reaction was not in the favor of this change, and they are still attached to the old animation of Tweety.

Timeline of how animation style has been changed

Homosapiens witnessed the first ever animation- COHL: FANTASMAGORIE (1908)

A short film by French animator Émile Cohl. Till this time animation was a work of hand labor while today even a kid can make a small animation just in seconds on his phone.

Disney has always been the biggest contributor to the animation industry. Disney’s only brand mantra of QUALITY is which keeps them dominating. Their storylines, characters, and backgrounds speak for themselves.

From Snow White & seven dwarfs to All new Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life, Disney's 2D Animation style has changed drastically.

Earlier they used to add real-look characters now they changed it to toonish look. Where backgrounds used to be very detailed & storylines used to be funny yet entertaining & keep you engaged now suddenly cartoons tend to make sense & with humor & less detailed background, plain colors very minimal look & feel like their new & revamped modern age storylines where toons use cell phones & wifi & gadgets.

Somehow in this transition Disney changed the 2D animation look & feel now even Warner Brothers, cartoon network, Pixar everyone is switching to basic-looking cartoons with very little detailing.

Fun fact - In many people's eyes Disney has dropped their quality of animation & marked their death

How audience react to the recreation of classic animation

We all love classic animations like Alibaba, Snow White, The Lion King, The Jungle Book, and so on & on. Over the past few years, we have witnessed so many classic remakes such as the live-action remake of The Jungle Book.

But there are so many recreations of classic animation such as The all-new Looney Tunes Show now the storyline has been completely changed to a new era of busy workday life where Bug bunnies Daffy Duck struggles to survive financially. This remake was not up to par. This show gained a good TRP but the animation & storyline can never compete with the new ones.

Similarly, just like the Warner brothers, the all-new Noddy, Scooby doo, and Disney also reincarnated mickey mouse. The new mickey mouse lags with bland backgrounds, squint faces & tacky animation.

Though we love to move with the latest trends and technology, we do not prefer to lose our emotions attached to old characters and stories. A small edition and modification are fine until we keep the authenticity. If we change the feel and emotions completely, the show might lose audience interest for a long race.

What's the future of 2D Animation?

The demand for 2D animation is at an all-time high with new OTT platforms & youtube education videos & explainer videos this is the peak time for 2D Animation.

With the increasing demand, there is plenty of online software available for creating super cool animations.

Did you know - By the end of 2022, Netflix will be investing $5 billion in animation and Amazon Prime is to invest $1.86 billion according to Loup Ventures.

So, if we talk about the changes, we expect modifications that enhance the beauty of the show and characters by keeping the same emotions

and feelings.

Conclusion

We are talking about animation and its impact on the audience's heart and mind. So, about including this strategy for your business?

If you want to try the power of animation, let PixMagic help you with the most creative and attractive animation with the most engaging storyline.

Let's connect to take a step towards a brighter future for your business.