Toon Zone’s message board community was hit with the following question earlier this week…
Is Conventional Animation Doomed?
New Jersey’s JD Weil supposed that because of the increased use of “CGI and Flash, conventional 2D animation may not survive.”
The question hit a nerve, and the discussion that followed attempted to answer JD’s original query while touching on the essential topics surrounding the Flash ‘revolution’ – Why is Flash becoming so popular? Does Flash limit animation quality? Can a digital project ever supplant the appeal of hand-painted cell animation? The discussion eventually veered way off track and inevitably digressed into chest-pounding, taste-bashing and people sticking up for shows they once worked on.
A few highlights from the thread are listed below.
Matt Wilson
Flash animation creates jobs for animators in the US that is not possible with “conventional” animation.
joshualane
Hand-drawn 2D animation is evolving to a point where things are done entirely on computers. Whether they use flash for the animation, or some other program, it really doesn’t matter. So, yes, “conventional” hand-drawn animation is doomed.
Matt Wilson
The programs certainly don’t do it for the animator. It’s no magic money tree, there’s hard work involved.
Prism
Don’t write off any form of animation as being doomed because there are always comebacks and this includes all mediums.
SirLemming
…I must point out again that Flash animation isn’t very limited. It’s just that most people who use it don’t have big budgets.
Prism
After all Lilo and Stitch would not have been the same without the watercolors that were everywhere. Right now cel is the most versatile of all the animation techniques and digital has a long way to go before it can catch up. (Editor: I can’t let this one go without commenting – Flash allows an artist to import ANY type of non-digital medium, as long as it can be lifted onto a flatbed scanner. Granted, the lens of a scanner may not capture the soul of a watercolor rendering the way film would, but it should be understood that Disney’s feature film ‘Lilo and Stitch’ could have been made in Flash. I wouldn’t have advised Disney to attempt this, but Flash can act as an ink and paint program if need be.)
Scythemantis
…hand-drawn animation has never shown and is not showing ANY sign of being “replaced” by Flash. Flash may be cheaper and quicker but that only means we get more cartoons, rather than different-looking cartoons,
livingfruitvirus
If you want cancelled shows , here’s more: Home Movies (they were the first), Gary the Rat, This Just In, Yakkety Yak, Atomic Betty, Harvey Birdman, O’Grady, Stroker and Hoop (coming soon), Hey Monie!, Shorties Watching Shorties, and probably a couple more I’m forgetting.
Scythemantis
Some people seem to also be confusing “bad animation” with “bad art”. They are totally, totally different things. A bad drawing can be animated well and a good drawing can be animated cheaply.
Desdiablo
Conventional animation isn’t doomed, it’s just taking another turn.
I think Desdiablo’s very civil post sums it up best. Whether the shows being produced in Flash suit your artist taste, wallet or funny bone, the medium is upon us and gaining ground – fast.
this years’ 
on January 10th on Canada’s YTV. It’s a Flash animated series “created by Heroic Film Company and developed with YTV, Breakthrough Animation and Atomic Cartoons, this 26-episode series, commissioned by YTV, is a co-production of Breakthrough Animation (Atomic Betty), Heroic Film Company (Our Hero), Atomic Cartoons (Atomic Betty) and PASI Animation (Bob and Margaret),” according to the 
the 
The 2004 Annie Award nominations were announced yesterday, and three Flash-animated shows grabbed the spotlight. Cartoon Network hosts all three programs, including the show that led all nominees, ‘Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends,’ with 4 category mentions.
