Cartoons are another major staple in American pop culture. From Mickey Mouse to Big Bird, the Muppets to She-Ra, everyone can easily recognize a character within three seconds flat. France’s very own Émile Cohl created Fantasmagorie (1908), which is recorded as the first cartoon (via hand drawn animation, later known as cell animation). However, fast forwarding to the present, the 21st century, we have undergone change. An evolution, if you will. Now, cell animation is more of a thing of the past. CGI and computers claim animation for dominance and with brutal force, starting with Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story, the first CGI animated film. Despite its lackluster marketing, the nostalgic film was an explosive hit for the mouse. Thanks to this movie, it managed to turn the heads of its competitors and made them realized that the times are changing. Like music, it was time for animation to transition and be digitized. Since the release of Toy Story, Disney’s competitors followed this trend like kids do with fads. Unlike mom jeans, bell bottoms, the gameboy, and the early gaming consoles, CG animation was here to stay and it continues to dominate the industry. Soon after Woody and Buzz made their debut, followed franchise rivals such as Shrek and Ice Age.

In addition to this transition, animation faces another issue. For years, a stigma has been established, that animation is only for children and only they can appeal to that particular audience. However, that stigma is incredibly false. With content like Bojack Horseman, Bob’s Burgers, South Park, Futurama, and Sausage Party, they prove the critics who’ve established this stigma wrong. Animation is not limited to just one particular audience or age group. It’s one of the many methods of storytelling. Saberspark elaborates more on this in his video essays below.