The benefits of stylized animation
Unique styles of animation should be utilized in contemporary media
Creative liberties must be taken with modern-day animation in order to uphold the artistic integrity of the medium.
Over the past decade, animation studios have been actively avoiding projects involving 2D animation in order to pursue 3D animated projects.
“The Princess and the Frog” (2009) was Disney’s last 2D feature animated film. Since then, the studio has created 3D animated films such as “Raya and the Last Dragon” (2021) and “Wish” (2023), many of which have received subpar reviews in comparison to their predecessors.
Within the modern-day film industry, animation has begun to follow a much more rigid form of production that is almost completely devoid of creativity.
In his 2018 article for the New York Times titled “How the ‘Spider-Verse’ Animators Created that Trippy Look,” Charles Solomon explains the appeal that 3D animation may have for studios, but regards the homogeneity of the projects it creates as a result.
“Powerful computers and sophisticated software have made it possible to produce intricately detailed backgrounds and characters … but characters of all shapes and sizes seem to have very similar walks and runs and expressions,” he said.
2D animation and other unique styles are well-known for their fluidity, as well as the amount of work needed to create such projects.
Two films that took many risks in their unique animation were “Into the Spiderverse” (2018) and its sequel, “Across the Spider-Verse” (2023).
In Alex Abad-Santo’s 2023 review for Vox, he praises the film’s ability to utilize animation as a medium to its full potential in conveying multiple elements of the story it tells.
“Every line, every shading, every movement in [“Across the Spider-Verse”] evokes how this place hums with life … Despite the fact that the movie is animated, there’s never any feeling of weightlessness or throwaway flimsiness,” he said.
Similarly, the 2023 Netflix film “Nimona,” based off of the graphic novel by ND Stevenson, utilizes CGI animation along with 2D stylings in order to create a unique and fluid look that would match the story’s plot.
VFX supervisor Archie Donato said in a 2023 interview with “Mashable” that maintaining a unique animation style was key to translating the story from the graphic novel’s style onto the big screen.
“We wanted to make everything stylized … Here’s what I told my team: ‘Forget everything you’ve known until this film and start over, because we are not going to use any of the techniques we usually do to make a film,’” he said.
The unique artistic direction that the film took helped earn it a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score since its initial release.
Animation as a medium should be used to its full potential in order to create striking and unique visual effects in films and media, helping to create high-quality projects that leave lasting impacts on audiences.
