Disney has some of the most iconic, classic animated movies. When you think of “animated movies,” what do you think of? Tarzan, Jungle Book, Aristocats, 101 Dalmations, etc. What do all these movies have in common? They’re all 2D animated. This 2D animation style has such an impactful, while nostalgic feel to it. Why have they switched to mainly 3D animation?
Animation goes back centuries. One example of this is the magic lantern. According to Kate Kelly, “The device was created in Europe during the 1600s and introduced in America during colonial times. The first documented use of a magic lantern in the colonies was in 1743 in Salem, Massachusetts.” She continues to say, “A magic lantern is a simple form of image projector that requires a light source, a concave mirror to help intensify and focus the light, and a lens to project a painted picture from a glass slide onto a wall or projection screen.” This invention started a whole world of animation. Eventually leading to early cartoons such as “Humorous phases of funny faces”, which led to “Steamboat Willy” and Disney. 
2D animation has a more passionate feel. You can see the sketch lines, almost as if it’s being drawn right in front of your eyes. This simple detail subconsciously makes it seem more magical. You can see all the effort it took just to make a 1-second scene. Not only the character, but also the background and voice play a big role. According to Anthony Austin, “There’s something about the simplicity of a shape on a page that allows us to easily give it meaning, and a story to emerge. The immediacy of 2D animation, with its simple, stylized characters and expressive line work, perhaps has a unique ability to hark back to this universal experience in a way that we can all connect to.“ This statement ties back to the expressiveness of 2D animation. You get to see the expressive line work, and sometimes even the under sketches. 
Although 2D animation is adored, its convenience has declined, leading to a decrease in popularity. 2D animation requires thousands of drawings just for a super-short scene. 2D animation was done at 24 fps, which means that for every second, there were 24 drawings. Every small action that the character does has to be drawn by someone. Also, it took a bigger team to do 2D animation. Everyone had to learn the same style and draw the same character in the same way, 24 times per second. This is a very tedious task. With 3D animation, this process becomes extremely easy. CGI is used to perfect it. Storyboard artists just need to block out the scene in their own art style, and then, using a computer, the character is depicted exactly how they want it to look.
So while 2D animation does have that magical, nostalgic feel we all love, it’s unfortunately the less effective way to create animation. Animation will always progress, and it’s important to remember what started it and what brings us back to our childhood.
