Is there any passion left in the animation industry? I can't remember the last time that I watched anything animated in the west that gave the impression that anyone was there for more than just a paycheck. Even when its competently done its all so... bland. Direct. Perfunctory. Paid to represent a scene, and done in the simplest, most basic way possible to move on to the next scene. What happened to the creativity? The passion for animation as an art form?
>>151784072It’s never all or nothing, but the average began to decline in the 50s, became noticeable in the 60s, picked back up from the very end of the 80s (87/88) and started to decline again in the 00s, becoming very noticeable by about 08/09.Soul still exists but the industry has largely embraced an industrial philosophy that occasionally barely masks the facade by working with nepobabies who are permitted to “say something” via their politics. Indie is slightly more fruitful as is theatrical animation.
>>151784167>Indie is slightly more fruitfulTrue. Glitch's stuff isn't incredible, but its at least trying some of the time. As opposed to "high budget" and "professional" animation, which is staged like its being filmed in front of a live studio audience and sometimes had outright worse animation.I suspect its because Glitch has to fight to eat, whereas Amazon really doesn't have any incentive to care whether the show they pay for is good or not, its going onto their streaming service regardless.
>>151784072When you arbitrarily decided it as such
>>151784072It stopped having soul in the early 2010s
>>151784072When you turned 25
>>151784072There are still cartoons made with passion today. Keep in mind that the 80’s and 90’s had their share of unremarkable cartoons too.
>>151784553Such as?
>>151784072Eat the soul sad sack.https://youtu.be/xOXolSQcEb4?si=O8Om9VL6cunn6LVs
>>151784072In 2008-2010 when they purged seasoned boomers and replaced them with cheap college kids under the guise of promoting diversity
>>151784072Cartoons are not a monolith. Earnest cartoons have been competing with propaganda advertisements since the beginning. The winner is in flux every decade, and for the moment slop is more numerous
>>151784072TADC has soul
>>151784684Digital Circus just seems like a poorly written escape genre cartoon, with character types designed strategically to garner an online fanbase.
>>151784745Irrelevant to the discussion. Whether or not you like the characters or story, the animation is trying to be creative and dynamic. There's attempts to *do something* in TADC beyond just flatly representing the progression of events to the viewer and calling that good enough.
>>151784072>>151784167I don’t know maybe this is just me but I feel like it’s a problem how many people see wacky slapstick animation as childish, there’s been a severe lack of that shit this decade. Cartoons like Mighty Mouse, Roger Rabbit, and Ren & Stimpy were golden age cartoon inspired and helped the animation renaissance greatly, people need to respect their elders and I feel like it would be beneficial for those kinds of cartoons to gain mass appeal again.
>>151784072whenever you turned 20
>>151784072When they stopped doing real opening credit sequences and instead did minimalist title cards to skip straight into the episode with minimal fanfare. That should have been a big warning sign.Opening credits need to be short, punchy, and interesting. They force directors and animators to focus on what they want to convey about the show and how to do it without dialog or much time. This is both good practice for newbies to express themselves and a place where senior animators can cut loose and do something worth putting extra time into because it will play before every episode. Think about the great cartoon openings of the past, like BTAS or Men in Black. Those are classics for a reason. People loved them.Can you imagine Samurai Jack without its intro? It would be a lesser show for it's absence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iBU_D36-AASkipping having opening credits sequences is a sign that you lack the creative talents in the industry to make them possible. Which is a shame, because its also a missed marketing opportunity. Just look at how much effort goes into anime OP/EDs, they basically act as easily-repostable commercials for the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_NB6QkfzAM
>>151784684And it’s one of the very few that keeps me here.
Artists now have zero talent. That's it. They can't draw and they can't tell a story either.The "soul" part comes from being able to tell human stories that touch people's heart (an ability they lack) and beauty in the art, that comes from loving the art and push you into be a good artist. There is no soul in ugliness, only cynicism and subversion.Old artists wanted to tell stories. They might have added their personal preferences, but it was just part of a story. Now, they story is the author either fulfilling a fetish or venting their traumas. And their art is ugly because they grew in a culture in which they told everything they do is top notch and it's praised.
