I worked in the Animation Industry in Hollywood for thirty years and during that time I’ve seen it wax and wane. In the Seventies it was so depressed the people who depended on it for their livelihood dragged their relatives, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the studios to sit in cubicles and learn how to draw in-betweens just so the studio could stay open. I know it sounds like a cruel joke in these days of mass chronic unemployment to suggest that a job, in what some might consider a glamorous occupation, had to forced upon people but most of the animation studio employees of my generation back then were related to someone in the industry and all had ambitions other than as television series animators. Animation in the 1970s had become decidedly “unhip” and the Baby Boomer Generation considered themselves a very hip group. Then, in the 1980s, we entered into the “Second Golden Age of Animation” and around the start of the 21st Century it all dried up again.
Animation execs love to blame the economy on the ups and downs of the business but that’s just a symptom, not the disease. To understand the tidal surges of the cartoon business one must understand basic demographics. Despite what animation nerds will always insist, animation is an art form for children (and animation nerds). Many adults claim to still love cartoons but what they don’t realize is that animation is a loss leader, it is too work intensive to really be profitable. Animated movies and television series are produced primarily to sell products. Toys, books, T shirts, Happy Meals, comic books, lunch boxes, posters, tennis shoes, note books, and practically anything upon which a color graphic can be printed can be more easily sold with a popular cartoon character attached to it.
When my kids were small they would always beg to go to McDonalds. One day, seemingly out of the blue, they insisted we go to Taco Bell for dinner. As far as I knew they had never had any food from Taco Bell before so why were they so insistent now? It was because of the cheap little China produced toy that came with Taco Bell’s Kid’s Meal. It wasn’t even the toy they wanted but the fact that the toy was a figure of a popular cartoon character which triggered their obsessive toy collector compulsion.
An adult might claim to be an animation fan and may buy a movie ticket or a DVD but not enough adults will bother to buy a hamburger because a particular cartoon character is printed on the bag or included as a cheap toy or will chose one brand of underwear or breakfast cereal because of the design printed on the box or the crotch to make adults a viable fan base.
In the Eighties I was sitting at the kitchen table working on animation exposure sheets for the show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while my three little boys, dressed in their Ninja Turtle pajamas and sitting on their Ninja Turtle blanket while playing with their Ninja Turtle Action Figures sat watching their Ninja Turtles VHS tapes. I realized the amount of money spent on all this particular merchandise solely because it was “Ninja Turtle” gear. And no, I did not get any special price break because I worked on the show.
Animation execs love to blame the economy on the ups and downs of the business but that’s just a symptom, not the disease. To understand the tidal surges of the cartoon business one must understand basic demographics. Despite what animation nerds will always insist, animation is an art form for children (and animation nerds). Many adults claim to still love cartoons but what they don’t realize is that animation is a loss leader, it is too work intensive to really be profitable. Animated movies and television series are produced primarily to sell products. Toys, books, T shirts, Happy Meals, comic books, lunch boxes, posters, tennis shoes, note books, and practically anything upon which a color graphic can be printed can be more easily sold with a popular cartoon character attached to it.
When my kids were small they would always beg to go to McDonalds. One day, seemingly out of the blue, they insisted we go to Taco Bell for dinner. As far as I knew they had never had any food from Taco Bell before so why were they so insistent now? It was because of the cheap little China produced toy that came with Taco Bell’s Kid’s Meal. It wasn’t even the toy they wanted but the fact that the toy was a figure of a popular cartoon character which triggered their obsessive toy collector compulsion.
An adult might claim to be an animation fan and may buy a movie ticket or a DVD but not enough adults will bother to buy a hamburger because a particular cartoon character is printed on the bag or included as a cheap toy or will chose one brand of underwear or breakfast cereal because of the design printed on the box or the crotch to make adults a viable fan base.
In the Eighties I was sitting at the kitchen table working on animation exposure sheets for the show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while my three little boys, dressed in their Ninja Turtle pajamas and sitting on their Ninja Turtle blanket while playing with their Ninja Turtle Action Figures sat watching their Ninja Turtles VHS tapes. I realized the amount of money spent on all this particular merchandise solely because it was “Ninja Turtle” gear. And no, I did not get any special price break because I worked on the show.
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The Future Golden Age of Animation Part 2
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The Future Golden Age of Animation Part 2
What do you say? Please leave a comment below.
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