Adult Animation Revolution: ‘Pencils vs Pixels’ And The Much Needed Return of Hand Drawn Feature Animation

Pencils Vs Pixels is a celebration of 2D hand-drawn animation and an exploration of how the Disney Renaissance of the late 1980s and early ’90s led to an animation boom that was quickly upended by the computer animation revolution that followed.

Being born in 1992, I was the perfect age to engage with the many hand-drawn animated films from Disney’s Renaissance and beyond. I watched Aladdin, Tarzan, Mulan and The Emperor’s New Groove habitually as a kid. When I entered college, I found a new appreciation for movies like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahontas, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and The Prince of Egypt for daring to explore more mature subject matter.

The more time that passes, the better the hand-drawn animated films have aged in comparison to their CG counterparts. It’s sad and frustrating that hand-drawn feature film animation is currently missing in action. Yes, we do have excellent 2D animated TV shows but there’s no denying the cultural impact and enduring resonance of theatrically released films.

I think 2D animation disappeared from Disney because they made so many uninteresting films. They became very conservative in the way they created them. It’s too bad. I thought 2D and 3D could coexist happily.

Hayao Miyazaki

Pencils Vs Pixels acknowledges that there have been excellent hand-drawn animated films coming from Japan and Europe. The Boy and the Heron won the Oscar for best animated feature in 2024. In 2020, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train became highest-grossing anime and Japanese film of all time. There is clearly a hunger and passion for hand-drawn animation and now we have the ability to have the depth of field and camera work of a CG feature in 2D.

What needs to evolve within 2D hand-drawn animation is the subject matter explored. It would be smart to cater specifically to people who grew up on 2D animation and age-up the subject matter with them. Sergio Pablos did amazing work with Klaus — what if he were to adapt the seminal Noir graphic novel, Blacksad into an animated film? From its richly drawn characters to its nuanced social commentary, it is exactly the kind of natural evolution that the animated art form needs.

I see the return of hand-drawn 2D feature films and the adult animation revolution to be “simpatico.” When hand-drawn animation returns to the big screen, it will need to explore stories unseen before in animation — and we’ll need to support the creative risks as audience members.

Pencils Vs Pixels is now streaming on Tubi.