There was a revolution in the world of animation and few people noticed it

As long as I remember all the time – large studios chased for realism in their projects using 3D technologies. A couple of years ago, the layman could not distinguish Disney, Pixar or DreamWorks from each other, because all the giants kept the same path – 3D realism . What happened in our world that I decided to talk about it?

Let’s move away a little from the main topic and return to 15-20 years ago, in the 2000s. It was at this time that the first revolution in the world of animation took place – the studios began to use 3D technologies to create whole cartoons, and not just some of their parts. Companies began to notice the future in this technology, and of course, profit. Huge profit.
The engine of this revolution was the legendary Shrek and the History of toys, which showed the whole world that 3D animation is capable of more. 3D Revolution untied the hands of some authors and inspired them to new amazing plots.

And now, let’s get back in our time and look at the situation now: 3D began to be used everywhere, the quality of the animation has only become better, the plots have become more intricate, and 2D animation has faded into the background. Animation receives its most memorable heroes, and its world lives and flourishes, eating creativity and originality.

But Stop .. What if I tell you that I impudently lied? What if I tell you that reality is much worse? Here you are, dear reader, can recall at least one original character from the plots of recent years? And if you leave only large studios?
No, let’s build a question like this – you know at least one character in the picture below?

So I also do not know, although I am a connoisseur of cinema and animation (especially animation). The fact is that all the animation of the last 10 years has swallowed the struggle for landfills – large studios are chasing cruel realism, detailing each hairy in their paintings. A great example of this can be all Pixar projects and the latest Disney projects. And since large studios are only moving there, it means that smaller studios will be forced to do the same to stay afloat.
And I do not see anything bad in squeezing the maximum from the animation, but only in cases where it really benefits the plot. Many projects began to parasitize on realism, shinging it even where it is inappropriate – Encanto, Luke, Ryia and the Last Dragon, all these are potentially good cartoons, with a huge But. In these paintings, there are no truthful heroes, there is no feeling of creativity that should prevail over what is happening.
Nowadays, the top of the popular animation was taken by Disney and Pixar – those who initially took up this matter, and the rest of the studios, most likely, drowned, trying to make another hit, as in the old days.

But what if everything is not so bad? What if I notice only the bad side of the progress of animation?

I conducted some investigation, during which I realized that the second revolution in the world of animation has already occurred, the majority has not yet been able to evaluate its significance yet. In this Long, I want to devote you to the miracle-angle of animation, which is of great value for me, and I will try to tell you about how each of these projects affects the industry now.
My name is Maxim, I am a novice animator and I have prepared for you research on my favorite topic:

So, in the yard 2011, the Internet is just beginning to be introduced into our lives, and most people watch cartoons only on TV. Winx, Avatar, Bob sponge, Pokemon, Bakugans … – All these shows were very popular and each of you most likely fanel at least one of them. But in addition to popularity, they are united by another very important thing – all this is exclusively 2D with a classic approach (some of them, of course, were used by 3D, but only for individual scenes).
Suddenly, as an experiment, from where you do not get, on Cartoon Network, the show “The Amazing World of Gambol” starts, where the creators approach the visual as creative as possible: in the world of this animated series, 2D mixes with an amazingly 2D, which creates unique characters and locations of all types. The creators decided to remove the restrictions in the visual, thereby they managed to make their world memorable and recognizable.

The creators mix all kinds of animation styles in order to portray your world exactly as it was conceived: nozzle, 3D, puppet, paper, “arthouse 2D”, realism, abstraction, anime and many other animation styles.
But excellent visual is only part of the matter, the second part is an excuse for such a visual plot. And even here, Gambol copes perfectly, in every possible way playing his world with jokes and gags, such as in the series about skateboard:

Each series tries to tell you the plot with a visual, because it was on it that large -scale work was carried out. Each time, the creators surprise the viewer with new moves, such as in the same series about skateboard:

And so, dear reader, this is the very thing that I call chaos. Gambol is full of non -standard stylistic solutions and uses all its potential to the maximum. You most likely will never find a boring series, only because something always happens on the screen. The creators understood the secret of the success of the show – they do not need to chase realism, as in other studios, because they can surprise the viewer with their own decisions.
Gambol was the first Popular 2D mixing experiment with 3D in a sort of arthouse, where everything looks harmonious.

The next, no less popular and significant animated series on this list is Nickelodeon ninja turtles. I would not call him chaos in my understanding, because the turtles have its own clear but unusual style for that time.

This style is very reminiscent of comics: clear, sharp forms of which are characters, work with color, where the shadow is solid black, simplified movements of objects and … this: this: this: this: this: this: this: this

This show has a thin line in its style, because if it were not for its simplification, then the turtles would not have affected the animated industry. This show wanted to stand out among others, so the creators developed a rather unusual way to mix comics and animation. By turning on only the first scene of the first series, you can already notice everything that I just said:

So why did I generally mention the ninja turtles, if their style is not quite what I am about here?
The fact is that if not for this animated series, then, quite possibly, we would not have lived to the highest point of our arthouse style, to which I have been bringing all this time to the climax.

All my previous examples illustrate successful attempts to introduce fashion for a stubborn development of their own visual style for a particular show. All my examples are television animals, since it is on them that similar experiments are carried out (Honestly, I do not fully understand why exactly the TV show became a platform for experiments, so if you are an expert, then I will gladly read your reasoning on this topic in the comments). But in addition to the series, many studios test their developments on short animations. So, the studios laid out their own mini-visits on YouTube or show them in cinemas before the start of the film.
Such short films make the Studii understand the success of the idea in order to bring it to large screens in the finale. Giving an example of such short films with mixing styles, I can not help but mention the chic work from Disney:

What am I leading to? Why all this is a long introduction?

So, dear readers, this is the very moment for Megarich.uk which I began to write this long. Well, or not really ..
The fact is that in 2015, at about the same time, 2 projects from different studios launched into production, which used all the achievements of which I mentioned, and on the release arranged such a hype that it forced to change everything forever. But let’s go about everything in order:

Probably the only distinguished cartoon, the period from 2015 to 2020 is “Spider-Man: through the Universes”. Whoever said, but I personally consider it a masterpiece of animated cinema, at least starting with a visual. This is probably the first major animated release, which was aimed only at stylistics and visual narrative. And if you remember about chaos, then this is it in all its glory: the abundance of “25 frames”, many simplifications, stylization and work with flowers. He combines many techniques, for example, the same 2D and 3D in the same frame, “comic”, playing with the collision of personnel per second ..
And you know what this project distinguishes from the rest previously mentioned here? The fact that Spider-Man is the first such arthaus project in the cinema, and even from Sony themselves. Developments from shorts, TV shows by the type of ninja turtles and their own ideas, led the picture to huge box office. This experiment was a success, which meant that the studios had to think about their approach to the animation.

And in order not to unravel what has already been said thousands of times before me, I should add only one thing: thank you, Alberto Mielgo.

No, you know that the funniest in all this? In the materials about the creation of the project, the creators are really proud that they did not render every detail of the film, but threw their forces only on what the viewer can be seen. Only this statement shows how much giants were carried away by realism and forgot about real creativity and creative, because obvious things for them have become something new and unusual … Spider-Man reminded the whole world that creativity should be creativity and non-standard, and visuals-an integral part of the whole project, which sometimes can convey more than any words.

And if you are interested in learning more about creating this cartoon, then an amazing video from Dima Kungurov deepens into this topic and explains and explains here Alberto Mielgo.

So the first boom in the animation industry happened.

Next, Mitchells against cars happened, for which the masters of their craft took up the work, which included Alex Hirsch and Will Allegrad. This film also used the achievements of everything that I mentioned today, only it is felt much calmer. Mitchella is many times wider, calmer and brighter than the same “Spider-Man: through universes”, because these two projects were aimed at a different audience. That is why, throughout the entire plot, the viewer is more accompanied by inserts from children’s drawings than comics:

Mitchells are trying to find a balance between the classic approach to animation and the fact that Spider-Man recently arranged. And in general, this balance is able to find this balance, but the project never reached its viewer, so it is quite possible that you learned about it only now.

And if you return to the examples from the series and the show, then the next example was the extreme point for large studios, after which they finally decided on changes.
Remember I talked about the fact that in 2015, 2 revolutionary projects started into production at once? So, the second of them is Arkenin.

Arkyn was able to combine an excellent plot, amazing style and memorable characters, and this is all despite the fact that he is only telecadation of the LEAGUE of Legends universe games. That is, if it has not reached someone, then Arken taught the world of animation creation masterpiece style And how it is worth creating Correct television -adaptations of games.

Arken has collected exactly the same developments from various projects as Sony, gathered his ideas and rushed into the development of his own animated series. The creators had complete freedom in actions, so they adapted their unique style for the animated show, and on the final they gave something really incredible:
Stage setting up, a detail in everything, a non -standard plot structure, magnificent work with light, effects and, of course, flowers. Well, the most amazing thing that is found in the series is the scenes with the battles and the same “25 shots”.
This series is the highest point of animated chaos. He, as if, recouped in his field for others, thereby challenges large studios. Arken was able to overshadow the success of Spider-Man, despite the fact that this is the first large-scale Fortiche project. What to talk about, you just look at this chaos and confusion, is it not skill in all its greatness?

What if this project was able to surprise me so much that it was in it that I saw the best battle in the animated series in my life?

And I am still silent about production hell in which this animated series was created.
I understand that this is the only example in which I affected the plot component, but it is in this project that the plot and style is simply unrealistic to separate. This series secured all the innovations that were examined all this time, and after, made a revolution in game adaptations.

And so, a second boom occurred in the animation industry.

Answering the question of how all that I just said, the huge studios affected, I can give you a very non -standard example: Pixar.

Pixar is famous for its craving for realism – all this wool, grass, textures in their animations are their business card. But since the world is constantly changing, and the Indie Studio begins to drag trends behind it, Pixar had to take measures to save their own salvation. And you know what? They did it. Partly ..

“I am blushing” became the first Pixar project, which moved away from ultra-realistic technologies and was completely immersed in style. The visual in this project is an integral part of the narrative, because even the color palette in each scores carries a great meaning.
Animation is simplified here, some effects were created in 2D, and colors carry the meaning-somehow it does not quite look like Pixar, but is it not true?

If you look at the story of the creation of this cartoon, you can notice that the hype around Spider-Man and Arkein did not pass by Pixar and instead of moving on, they finally saw a complete picture of what they did all 30 years of their existence. Perhaps this is not the same chaos that everyone is looking for in this project, but its influence here is definitely visible, at least in the fact that he forced to move away the giant studio from his own principles.

I won’t go into details, because again, Dima Kungurov made an amazing video version on the topic of changes in Pixar. So be sure to look at it if you are interested in this topic.

The following example literally saved the studio from oblivion.
“Cat in boots 2” follows almost all the rules of chaos, which was set by 2 chic projects about which I have already talked about. Here, all the same mixed 2D and 3D, a frame is a frame, a constant game with a collision of frames per second and many mixtures of a plot with a visual. DreamWorks created the Universe of Schrek, based on fairy -tale plots. And in order to enhance the effect of fairy tales, the second cat in boots simplified its animation, as if creating the effect of revived fairy -tale illustrations. As a result, the stylization played with a bang, because without a beautiful, slightly arthouse picture it is impossible to perceive the plot.

And if Pixar used other people’s achievements to rethink myself, then Dreamworks used other people’s achievements to save themselves from closing. The plot here is spelled perfectly and there is nothing superfluous in the adventure of the cat, and the unusual animation attracts the viewer and does not allow him to break away from the screen. Yes, what is there, not only stylistics, but also the correct construction of the antagonist prophesied this cartoon success.
I do not really like such videos, but it is it that fits here perfectly:

And I can’t leave aside the plot component of the data of animated projects, so I have to touch on the scenario craft in this Long.

The main thing is that everyone had to understand for a long time: cartoons are not always about children. Animation – exactly the same art as other types of creativity and animation can tell amazing stories, as well as convey various non -standard thoughts to the viewer. And whether it is a TV show or a cinema film – the script is important everywhere.
No matter how chic your visual is – the script must be of the same level. All these changes in the animation industry show that the plots must be echoed with the visual part of the picture, otherwise the animation will again go into some oblivion.
Another conclusion that is noticeable from all the projects that I have listed here is that each script is unique. Hence, A unique scenario requires a unique visual solution, which will not allow the project to get lost in the mass of “dubious content”

And if you conclude everything that I now told in one phrase, then, probably, it will sound in this way:

Learn to show, not tell.

Jacques Fresco

I have listed several of the most significant examples in the current animation that literally arrange a revolution in the industry. But still, I cannot help but mention some other chic works:

Firstly, work of Alberto Mielgo In the almanac “Love Death and robots”, Namely, The Witness series in season 1 and Jibaro in season 3. In general, everything touches Mielgo, becomes many times more interesting, as well, with Spider-Man, and then his personally produced series, which will surely bring the viewer in delight.

Secondly, no matter how strange, but “Chip and Dale are in a hurry to help”, where all possible reality in the film is mixed. Here is a very funny, but original plot, with a style, very much reminiscent of the “amazing world of gambol”.

Thirdly, in a hurry “Entergalaxy” by Kid Cudi, in honor of the album of the same name. Animation here is a little crooked, but still in places it is amazing and good to mention this project.

In the fourth, the most amazing thing – even in Russian animation, Arthaus began to be welcomed for a long time. Indeed, in 2016, an animated series was released “Fairytale patrol”, based on fairy -tale creatures, therefore, as in the “cat in boots 2”, the effect of revived fairy -tale illustrations is greatly noticeable here.
If you think about it, then the Russian animation, it turns out, was the first who began to focus on style in their projects.

So, summarizing the results, I want to say that animation is one of the thinnest types of art. It’s really sad to observe how such a creative business turned into a landfill, gradually dying in a shortage, no matter how strange it was, creativity in this lesson.
But 2018 gave a sharp, strong and impudent impetus in the development of animation, brought it to a new, unusual level, where the plot is not separated from the visual. And most importantly, the Indie-Studio produced it for this revolution, and large players began to change their principles in favor of paying attention to style in their projects.
Creativity is the main element in all creativity and finally, it returns to my favorite craft – animation.

What about me? I love animation experiments, and especially chaos, which appeared in it not so long ago. I really love the animation and is very glad that she began to get out of some stagnation into which she was driven by Disney and Pixar.

Animation is primarily about non -standard, and not about realism.

Jacques Fresco

Thank you very much, dear reader, for all the time to my mini-investigation. I am happy to read your thoughts about this topic in the comments, and on this, unfortunately, everything.