r/Design • u/Virtuall_Pro • 3d ago
Discussion Who else wants Disney to bring back 2D animation?
Okay, so I've done a detective level of research on this one 1. because I'm a huge 2D animation fan and 2. because I think the people need to know.
So here’s the full story behind the transition:
It's more complex than it might seem at first glance…
The Transition from 2D to 3D
Disney was dominating with 2D classics like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King, but by the early 2000s, box office returns for hand-drawn films started to decline. Meanwhile, Pixar was releasing massive 3D hits like Toy Story and Finding Nemo.
But the shift wasn’t just about chasing trends. 3D animation opened up new opportunities, making it easier to integrate characters into video games, expand into visual effects, and develop more complex cinematography.
Did Disney Ever Try to Keep 2D Alive?
When John Lasseter and Ed Catmull took leadership in the 2010s, they actually made an effort to revive 2D. The Princess and the Frog (see image) was meant to prove that traditional animation still had an audience. But when Tangled and Frozen became massive successes, it was clear which direction the industry was heading.
The Ongoing Demand for 2D
Here's where it gets interesting - you might have seen that X/twitter is full of people who desperately miss 2D animation. Fans argue that 2D has a warmth and charm that 3D can’t quite replicate. And The Princess and the Frog did show that there’s still demand for it.
Will Disney Bring Back 2D
The biggest issue is production. 2D animation requires every single frame to be hand-drawn, which takes time and money. While 3D has a high upfront cost, it allows for more efficiency in big productions.
So, is 2D gone for good, or could Disney bring it back in a big way? Would audiences actually turn up for a fully hand-drawn film today? Would you like to see more 2D animation from major movie studios?
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u/Busy-Room-9743 3d ago edited 19h ago
I much prefer 2D to 3D. I miss seeing cartoons before the featured main film shows. Now we have to sit through advertisements. At least an animated short would make ads more tolerable.
ETA: if you want to check some animated shorts, look at the NFB (National Film Board of Canada) website. I especially like Bob’s Birthday, George and Rosemary and The Big Snit.
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u/Virtuall_Pro 3d ago
I totally forgot about those 2D shorts before films they were awesome! It is sad film production seems to be a bit hit and miss nowadays did you watch "Wish"? That one was definitely rushed out the door..
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u/oliviaisarobot 3d ago
My fear is that if they were to bring it back, they would use AI instead of giving jobs to human artists to do the work.
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u/Virtuall_Pro 3d ago
That's probably what’s going to happen right..lets just face it. What AI films are out there I haven't watched any yet? I think there was a few indie ones at film festivals etc
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u/DJ_bustanut123 1d ago
Nah, I think we'll be fine. Idk how realistic it is, but I to want to be optimistic (as an artist myself).
But I think many people are alread mad asf about AI and people will boycott it. And I've also heard that AI is losing investors and funding because it's losing money with every use. So yeah I think we'll be fine.2
u/Virtuall_Pro 11h ago
Your positivity is super appreciated here thank-you! I hope you keep creating your art.
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u/johanndacosta 3d ago
me 100%. always felt much much more emotions coming from the 2D days. I understand it takes way more efforts and time but to me the "Disney Magic" comes from these human drawings and their imperfections
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u/honeyflowerbee 3d ago edited 2d ago
Disney could bring back 2-D (they do not want to) but their big animated hits have only ever been the results of one of two things: (1) frantic attempts to save the animation department during budget cuts; (2) crushing competition
Now they just buy up anyone who tries to make anything, do more remakes, and tell everyone to be grateful we get anything. At this point, I don't want Disney making these things, I want the people who want to make these things to be able to do so without being eaten by the corporation where art goes to die.
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u/Virtuall_Pro 3d ago
Well said..it is sad how much corporations can stifle newcomers and creativity in the animation space I think you’re right somebody different might need to come into the market at this point..
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u/honeyflowerbee 2d ago
Part of the problem is how specifically Disney views 'existing' as 'competition' when most people just want to be able to make art and tell stories because it is a natural part of being a human. Art should be something people are allowed to do as their job, but businessmen should never be in charge of it.
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u/dizzi800 2d ago
Why is this in the design subreddit, and not the animation subreddit?
Why was your account created 12 hours ago (basically right at midnight EST) and immediately post engagement bait before making a post on your account about a Gen-AI service you offer?
bot alert
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u/Top5hottest 3d ago
I’ve been loving shows like “uncommon side effects” and “scavengers reign”. But those are there own style. I would love to see more explorations like the spiderverse movies.
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u/Virtuall_Pro 3d ago
Ooh, I've got a whole other post coming soon about Netflix's "Entergalactic" — done by the same people who made the Spider-Verse films. They incorporate 3D design and 2D pretty well, don't they? Need to check the other two you mentioned!
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u/UntestedMethod 1d ago
Yes when I was a kid my dream was to become an animator but by the time I was in high school, everything was going 3d and I hated it so I gave up on that dream.
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u/Ident-Code_854-LQ 3d ago
Uhh, have you ever seen
Paperman (2012)?
While searching for a “way to merge 2D and 3D” animation, Kahrs discovered Meander, “a hybrid vector/raster-based drawing and animation system that gives artists an interactive way to craft the film”.
You can read further about it here:
The inside story behind
Disney’s Paperman
So, it’s totally 3D, this animation,
but animators, place 2D key drawings
that are mapped onto the 3D objects
and can be changed, redrawn,
frame by frame.
Watch the 6 minute short here.
It was originally shown
as the cartoon short before
Wreck-It Ralph.
Otherwise, why this sub?
Surely, more robust discussion
of this topic, can be had
at the animation, cartoon,
and Disney subreddits.
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u/Virtuall_Pro 3d ago
Will check these out and pretty new to Reddit apologies if not quite the right place to post! There’s only certain communities that let you post anything at all as a total newbie with no karma :(.
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u/RedHood_0270 3d ago
mufasa & snow white are the example that 2D is never gonna be in their ideas.
Unfortunately that's what built the foundation of what they're.
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u/farkleboy 2d ago
Always thought this as well. 2d really forces the production to focus more on the storyline, less on visual fluff. True there are a lot out there that do both, but I think the pendulum has swung too far towards relying too much on fancy visuals, and not enough on the actual content.
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u/_the_last_druid_13 2d ago
Disney 2D. American animation is really cool with its own aesthetic. Embrace it. Disney “3D” for shows and one-off movies (thinking Lizzie McGuire and SmartHouse, etc).
Pixar for 3D. Dreamworks did Shrek and people are rabid over it.
This has been the winning combo.
Pay writers, pay actors/voice actors, pay artists, pay techs.
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u/Silent-Assignment-87 2d ago
Crazy when I was a kid I didn’t acknowledge those were 2D. And when I say “was a kid”, I mean five minutes ago
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u/Ereliukas 2d ago
I like how it's implemented in Kung Fu Panda; they use both 2D and 3D animation, and I think it's a great option.
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u/Rusty_Flapjacks 2d ago
Me please, but proper 2d with creative character design not what some studios use to save money.
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u/Glytch94 2d ago
I don’t care if it’s 2D, 3D, or 5D with multiverse time travel; just make it animated.
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u/Galactic_Crypto 2d ago
2D hand drawn animations were always better than 3D or CGI films visually because they never feel uncanny.
All of Studio Ghibli’s films are hand drawn (every frame) and Hayao Miyazaki even said “we humans are losing faith in ourselves” when asked about adding new technology that doesn’t require humans to draw.
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u/paputsza 1d ago edited 1d ago
there was this 3d animation technique that looked 2d called "paper plane" which you can watch on youtube here
It is made using a 3d model with a unique type of cell shading (video here ). The short film is actually made by disney like 12 years ago so it's not hard for them to use a combination of 2d and 3d to quickly push out animations. Maybe the kids just aren't into it as much. The technology is clearly there. squash and skew and all those animation techniques were added to the 3d wheelhouse decades ago. and no one is making fully 3d movies for backgrounds and such. The kids like cocomelon-like things though. I think the reputation of 3d movies is really bad though. Kids think they're scary probably because of all the things tom does to jerry family guy and so on. They no longer feel like cartoons are for kids
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u/krsCarrots 3d ago
Yes please and stop twisting great stories just to fit them in some made up and highly untrendy agendas. That’s not how Bambi became legendary.., yeah not because he felt like a dolphin for a moment.., yeah right?
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u/Old-Rhubarb-97 3d ago
The death of high quality 2D animation in North America is tragic and I don't think there is any going back. The masters are long gone and the amount of work to resurrect classic Disney or Warner Bros animation is just not happening today.
At least we have the occasional Ghibli movie until Miyazaki finally retires.