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Is it just me or is it harder to "make it" for cartoonists and animators these days?

Jamesmac

I've been watching a lot of documentaries about animated films and comic books lately and one thing I've noticed is that for so many talented people back then, all they had to do was prove they could draw and some big studio executive or someone would notice them and be like "hey, wanna come work on this thing we've got?". It used to be so easy, all you had to do was show some people you could draw and they'd be thrilled for you to join them.

And yet these days, it seems none of the major studios and companies are looking for new, fresh talent anymore. Nowadays it seems all the aspiring artists are forced to go indie all while the old heavy hitters are also leaving the big studios to go indie too... are TV and theatre animation and the big comic book publishers just letting themselves die or something? The rise of AI is also taking valuable opportunities away from talented human artists too, as well.

It's kinda depressing really. Indie works are rising up and being recognised, but at what cost?

Parents

  • It's interesting that you say it was really easy back in the day, I had always thought it was a hard industry. I haven't watched any documentaries like you so I take your word for it. I was basing my belief on a film I watched about Walt Disney. He failed over and over before he eventually made it. I guess he was trying to run his own business rather than just work for somebody.

    I think AI definitely has something to answer for. But I also think what people want is changing too. Comic books are not such a big thing anymore. People that like things like superheroes watch the films etc. Comic book collecting is a rarity now. The images expected in something like that have changed as well. People don't seem satisfied with someone's drawings anymore. It needs to be more flashy and impressive. That's how I see it anyway. For TV animation, technology has just moved on far past needing someone to draw all the image. It was a very time consuming way to make film. A handful of films may still use that and stop motion. But most now will use digital animating skills. This massively reduces the time needed to employ someone to draw.

    The exception to all this seems to be manga and anime. These are still currently extremely popular and do have a signature drawn style. I don't know whether the films still use drawn animation or if their digital animation is in the style of a drawing. But the books would still need artists.

Reply

  • It's interesting that you say it was really easy back in the day, I had always thought it was a hard industry. I haven't watched any documentaries like you so I take your word for it. I was basing my belief on a film I watched about Walt Disney. He failed over and over before he eventually made it. I guess he was trying to run his own business rather than just work for somebody.

    I think AI definitely has something to answer for. But I also think what people want is changing too. Comic books are not such a big thing anymore. People that like things like superheroes watch the films etc. Comic book collecting is a rarity now. The images expected in something like that have changed as well. People don't seem satisfied with someone's drawings anymore. It needs to be more flashy and impressive. That's how I see it anyway. For TV animation, technology has just moved on far past needing someone to draw all the image. It was a very time consuming way to make film. A handful of films may still use that and stop motion. But most now will use digital animating skills. This massively reduces the time needed to employ someone to draw.

    The exception to all this seems to be manga and anime. These are still currently extremely popular and do have a signature drawn style. I don't know whether the films still use drawn animation or if their digital animation is in the style of a drawing. But the books would still need artists.

Children
  • in reply to Expecto_Patronum

    Yeah, there was a lot of hard work put into it back then, but at the same time, that hard work did pay off. By showing people what he could do with his art, he showed people the value of artistry and creativity, something that the current Disney company seem to be actively sabotaging by rehashing old ideas and making "live action" remakes. 

    Digital animation, especially with anime, is still hand drawn, it's just done using touch screens and is traced over drawn pencil scans.