Animation: Then, Now and the Times to come !

There are two kinds of people in the animation industry today. First, those who run the Animation business and make money out of it. Second, those who work on the projects and make a living out of it. There is a fast emerging third kind as well, but it is still in the making and we can discuss it towards the end.

As far as we can trace back the history of animation being done as a business, we can notice that the people who started running studios were animators themselves. It was their love for the trade that inspired them to turn it into their profession and later on into their business. Walt Disney is perhaps the most appropriate example of an animator turned entrepreneur. He has written a success story like no other, which is still going strong and continues to inspire budding animators. And for quite a while after that, animation remained a relatively low key affair, taking place in small but creatively rich studios mainly in the US and Europe. But as the features churning out of these creative melting pots started to make their presence felt on the big screen more and more often, the scenario started changing rapidly.

Smelling the big bucks and even bigger revenue generation streams, the whole showbiz and entertainment industry started opening its doors for animation. Today, Animation and its first cousin, Gaming, together form an industry bigger in size than any other in the entertainment sector. This trend is marked with the exit of the small animator turned entrepreneur from the centre stage. Bigger (not necessarily better) players with deeper pockets have changed the business model of the way animation is done. So now we have the Management, who knows nothing about animating but knows something about running the business (they think it is the same as running the 'show').And we have the Animation professionals who work (read salary) for the management on the projects that the management thinks they should work on (because of the profitability) and go home at the end of the day. This is the commercialization of Animation. Something like what happened to the hand made cloth with the coming of industrialization and mass production in the 18th century. One can counter saying this is inevitable and is an essential byproduct of the growth of the mankind, which is true up to a certain extent. But then there are animators like me on the face of this earth that want to see things change in the future.

The emergence of the third kind holds the key to the future of animation. The idea of resurrecting Disney in the modern animation business thrills me. Some of the small entrepreneurs in animation have survived the onslaught of commercialization but have largely remained as specialized players catering to a very small section of the clients.

Their work gets refrained to some local audience or a few shows here and their. The time has come for the third kind. For the entrepreneurial animator to take on the bigger players, head on. I dream of a future where platforms such as the internet will enable the guy sitting as an employee in that biiigggg animation studio will finally hear that inner voice and start doing something about it. A future where the talent of a young animator will screened right next to Pixar's and 20th century fox's biggest releases, right there in the big league. How will this happen? What will be the market dynamics that will facilitate this? How can the romantics and the capitalists coexist? Well, the answers need to found out in due course of time. Me, I just mean to put the questions in your mind.

And as John said, " I'm just a dreamer, but I'm not the only one! Maybe someday you will join us…"

Vivek Singh,

Creative Director,

http://www.nh24studios.com/

Author: NH24 Studios