Let's set the record straight. Animation isn't an art. Neither is film. Music isn't art. Literature is also not art. They are tools, techniques, ways to MAKE art. What I'm saying is animation in off itself isn't an art, but AN animation most certainly is. Now to buckle in for my rant on Charlie Kenny's rant.
He says that as long as animation has been around there has always been "disposable" animation. He categorized as cheap cash ins with no impact. He said that the "disposable" animations of the past may have cult followings, but aren't true classics. He shows how one-sided (or stupid) he is here with that claim. If something has a cult following then those people probably hail it a classic. Something doesn't have to be flawless to be significant. He even had the audacity to call Hanna-Barbera an institution of "disposable" animations. The company that held animation in such high regard that they didn't do anything else. Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters are household names and they have revolutionized animation just as much as Walt Disney did. But oh, they were on a budget and cut corners. Their cartoons were low quality and cheap so they're garbage. But I digress, the inspiration for him to infuriate me was born from the rise of amateurs that came from animation software and the internet. He sees the influx of new cheaply made shorts as a sort of plague on the medium. Poor quality shorts whipped as fast as possible. He feels that it brings animation down and ends by asking where the next Walt Disney is.
I'll tell you where the next Walt Disney is: He's us. We use animation as our tool to make our point in our style. Charlie might think he's got it figured out but he has less respect for animation than any amateur animator. He wants one type of animation and the rest he dismisses as trash. He has no respect for diversity and is utterly close minded. Disney was indeed great, but the old ways were pricey, the new ways are cheap. The new amateur animators don't need to pay off production costs. They can make exactly what they want without compromise. Nothing off limits, any message or story can be told, but this guy doesn't respect animation as a way to convey a message. He wants perfect, polished animation, not an interesting message, not an engaging story, not memorable characters, not an original style, no, he wants "classics" his subjective "classics." So his opinion doesn't matter. Animation is more than a smoothly moving picture, it's a stylistic choice by the artist to get their point across, and those who don't respect that don't get to pass judgement on the creations of those who do.
