Just recently, there have been new additions to this new timeline of art in the US. Looking back on the past few years, Disney has been the leading player in the animation industry, with its signature 2D style and later smooth 3D style dominating the screens.
In 2018, a team of directors and writers, including Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, directed a new feature film. It was called Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse. This movie is centered on Miles Morales and his journey across the multiverse. When this was released, it was highly liked by audiences as the story and the new characters were unique and nothing that had not been seen before. However, something unprecedented about this new film was the newfound blend between 3D and 2D styles. It had vivid imagery with comic book-like effects spread out in panels. This new style wasn’t just vivid, but it allowed itself to be “imperfect” with the idea of 3d smoothly rendered characters transitioning to hand-drawn lines and effects that dominated the screen. This saying would seem like a paradox, but it was this “imperfect” style that made it so perfect.
In a couple of years, many other films and shows were released. With Spider-Verse setting a path, many others began innovating and thinking outside the box. One prominent example of this was the creation of the show Arcane. A recently made series that follows the journey of sisters, Vi and Jinx, who are caught up in the politics of the pristine city of Piltover and the undercover city of Zaun. Like Spider-Verse, it emphasized the use of both 3d and 2d elements. It used painterly textures that put more focus on the facial features, using a mixture of both soft and hard edges on the face.
Many others include Mitchell’s vs the machines from Sony and Flow from Latvia. Mitchell’s and the flying machines, in particular, evoke a sense of fun and a heartwarming feeling, making it a delightful watch for all ages. On the other hand, Flow is insightful with its concept of ‘show, don’t tell through a group of animals going through a journey via a non-human world. Another major film includes K-pop Demon Hunters. Their fun and well-written songs, mixed with an expressive style, shine a well-needed light on animated films. With the songs “Golden” and “Sodapop” showing more music styles.
With this new uprise comes a new outlook on its narrative telling. With the upgrade in art style, studios around the world are more determined to create original stories that cater to a broader audience, not just children. This new addition shifts the normalized “realism” to allow for stylization in its art style. It shows that animation has no limits and that movies don’t have to just be one thing.
Even though people proclaim that the Spider-verse style is a blueprint for all these other series, they all utilize the “style” in their own ways. Each of them uses it in a way that correlates to the plot and mood of the story, with Spider-Verse being vibrant and graphic, connecting to the fast-paced and comic book origins, spanning to Arcane’s painterly style that complements the depth of the cities and characters.
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