Is Retro Design in Animation Having a Comeback?
Nostalgia can get us when we least expect it. Being nostalgic about something we never experienced is one of the most interesting feelings that can take a hold of us. Another interesting thing is retro design, which also brings back nostalgic feelings.
Animated movies change and evolve, but they also go through trends, every now and then. Trends are alright, but they make more sense if they are implemented to tell a certain story, not just for the sake of it.
Retro design can work in certain scenarios, but, will we be seeing it in animation? Will it make a comeback?
Some Cartoons Might be Back
It is sad that we might not see much hand-drawn animation, but we might see styles that look like hand-drawn animations. The problem is that technology just makes everything faster. Why draw it by hand when you can render it?
Some cartoons still feature a lot of stuff hand-drawn and that is what makes them so appealing to us. We like things that are imperfect because, in reality, nothing is perfect and without flaws so cartoons which mimic life in that regard, are also really great for us. Most children also grew up with hand-drawn cartoons, albeit that is going to change in the following decades.
3D Animations are Less Expensive
Modern technology has its perks. One of the perks of technology is that time-consuming labor is no longer a necessary option. When people have access to technology, they can make almost anything work faster. Artists are prone to rendering and using CGI to make “better” animations, or rather, faster ones. Huge studios like Disney are very likely never going to return to hand-drawn animations unless they want to re-release a special version of a cartoon sometime in the future when a 100th anniversary takes place.
Some Still Draw by Hand
Hand-drawn cartoons still exist, or rather, some parts of the cartoons are made by hand. Given how much you could save on time by using various digital means of creating animations, few companies resort to drawing by hand. But, some cartoons like the Simpsons and many Japanese animated movies are made by hand.
The West has a problem nowadays with hand-drawn cartoons, which is why they are not featured unless they are already very popular or about to become popular.
Appearing to be Hand-Drawn
This is one of the ways you could fool people into thinking that something is hand-drawn. Retro design can do that if the animations are done in a way that mimics the cartoons of old. It would most likely be cheaper to do it this way, but the question remains, is it done for nostalgia or does it have a purpose?
The retro design might be making a comeback in animation, depending on which company and market you are looking at. There are amazing hand-drawn cartoons nowadays, as well as computer-animated ones, which still look great and vintage. It is all about the complete package, after all.
