True, with some hand-drawn stuff. But when I see anime fans slagging 3D animated films, which can have infinitely detailed backgrounds and are animated with movement on every single frame (as opposed to on every other frame for traditional hand drawn animation or every 3rd for anime or even worse) I have to wonder not just about their aesthetic sense but their eyesight.
If one can’t meet the standard of motion smoothness set by Windsor McKay with his Gertie the Dinosaur (generally considered the first animated film with a story) a hundred years later, you’re not even trying.
In terms of rating how good a film is, I care far more about how good the script and acting is than the quality of animation. I’d find it hard to fault a studio for trying to keep their film in budget. (And, with a global marketplace for a kid’s film, you’re going to be dubbed over for 90% of your customers, so spending a lot of time and effort on lip syncing is a waste of effort.)
I’m often a pretty harsh critic of anime, but these criticisms feel very off base. Anime films are made with high budgets, by capable, visionary people who dedicate their lives to the craft. To suggest they’re just dummies, is, well, wrong. They’ve chosen different things to pay that attention to.
It can be jarring and weird, but these things are choices made intentionally.
And “infinitely detailed backgrounds” and “movement on every frame” mean nothing without a strong visual design and the ability to actually convey something with those movements. Anime is a more abstracted style, and the best manage to convey a lot with sparse backgrounds and limited movements.
ANNNNND to hop back off the tangent wagon: on AVERAGE, I’d say I like Disney more than Pixar. During Pixar’s existence, however, I like Pixar better. Disney’s best works were early on with a few gems peppered in later. Pixar’s had a shorter run. Their hit-to-miss ratio has been very good.
I watched the making of documentary on the Spirited Away disk, and it was clear - they just animated lips flapping, long before the voice was even cast. The best definition of animation I’ve ever heard is “the illusion of life”, and disregarding such a vital aspect destroys that illusion. It is as if a generation of Japanese animators watched all the classic Disney films and absorbed the weird stylistic things like Bambi eyes, but didn’t get the basics, and now it’s become as ritualistic as Kubuki.
By the way, Pixar still exists. Lasseter and Catmull took over Disney animation.