It’s been almost 12 years since Disney produced a fully 2D film; that simple fact has gotten me utterly upset. Don’t get me wrong, I go feral every time Frozen, Ratatouille, or Up are played on the big screen, but I feel like the more modern, 3D-style films just don’t carry the same magic as the 2D ones do.

There’s something so much more comforting and organic about 2D films that somehow gets stripped away as soon as they’re made 3D. Oftentimes I find that 3D animations have so many details in them that it takes away from the simplicity of the story and makes the film seem more cluttered. As that one famous saying goes, “there’s beauty in simplicity.”

To me, 2D characters have always felt more human than 3D ones, as ironic as that may sound since 3D characters tend to be more realistic.

I think back to movies like Mulan, Pocahontas, and Cinderella: all Disney classics that almost every kid grew up with– myself included. Whenever I’m feeling moody, anti-social, and in need of a pick-me-up, I usually turn to either old live-action films or 2D movies for comfort. 

While 3D films take a whole lot less work to make, the technology used in the animation process takes away from the magic of the film.

Recently, while I was playing piano, my mom said something to me that I thought pertained to this. As I made a sad attempt at playing Joe Hisaishi’s “One Summer’s Day,” she told me that I had the gift of being able to play music on the piano without making it sound robotic, something that apparently not everyone can do.

I feel like the same idea applies to movies, except instead of it being an ability differential of a person to person, the robotic-ness of a drawing is a matter of it being drawn, simply, by either a robot or human.

What really stirs my emotions during a movie is when I feel like I can connect with the character. And part of what fuels this connection in 2D movies is the human touch that’s felt in every single 2D frame, thus creating what I like to classify as “movie magic.”

One of my favorite “movie magic” moments is in “The Wind Rises” by Hayao Miyazaki. In one of the scenes, the female lead, Nahoko, tucks her husband, Jiro, into bed after a long day of work. The moment feels unbelievably warm, from the way Nahoko tucks Jiro in with such gentleness to the comforting color palette the scene is painted in. I can’t imagine the feelings being conveyed in the same way if the movie had been animated in a 3D style.

The simplicity of the 2D drawings is what I feel really helps  emphasize the gentleness, as well as give the color palette used a softer feel. The simplicity of the blanket, as well as the surrounding objects, allowed the moment to really shine, not adding any unnecessary details that could take away from the story. There was no need for hyper realistic shadows or blankets where you could see each individual fiber of the fabric. There was just Nahoko and Jiro.

In the past, Studio Ghibli produced a 3D film, “Earwig and the Witch.” However, it just didn’t have the same “soul” that typical 2D Studio Ghibli films have. Even though the movie itself was silly, had a pretty fun storyline, and was really well animated, as totallynotazombi said in the trailer’s comment section, “it lacks the warm cozy feeling of the usual ghibli films.”

This idea popped up again recently with the release of the new Mickey Mouse series, “The Wonderful World Of Mickey Mouse.” Although I hav en’t had the opportunity to watch it yet, I heard that people liked it a lot because of the 2D art, which was very reminiscent of the original Mickey

Mouse show–something that the 3D “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” lacked.

I’m not saying to get rid of all 3D animation and that 3D movies are horrible. There are certainly many incredible 3D movies like Toy Story, Coco, Big Hero 6, and How to Train Your Dragon, all of which have breathtaking scenery, insanely cool character designs, and hyper realistic looking textures that almost feel like you could touch them through the screen. 3D movies are wonderful and unique in their own ways, providing the viewers with a fantasy world, different from our own,, yet looks so familiar to it too. However, I feel that the recent usage of 3D animation has become overdone, as virtually all of the animated films coming out (ex. Elemental and Super Mario Bros) are produced using that style.

I think it’d be nice to see more 2D movies come out, providing the same movie-magic that films of the past had.