The End of Hand-Drawn Animation?

Here we go - you knew it was coming. The musical was dead, too...and then Moulin Rouge and Chicago came along and proved that, no, the musical wasn't dead; only the bad musical.

The following statement in particular, made by Jeffrey Katzenberg, irks me: "I think the idea of a traditional story being told using traditional animation is likely a thing of the past."

Um...what? A blanket-broad statement like that serves absolutely no purpose. He's also quite wrong. There's absolutely no question that there will be "traditional" stories told using traditional animation in the future - and sooner or later, one of them will be a huge box-office hit. That is, unless all the animation studios take Katzenberg's word for it and stop producing traditionally animated movies. If that happens, we will have lost one of our great art forms.

Yes, right now CGI-animated movies are the soup du jour, but at some point the audience will crave something different - and then cel-animation will appear fresh and original. And around and around it goes.

King Kong is on TV. Best. Movie. Ever. They don't make 'em like that anymore, though I have great hopes for the Peter Jackson "reimagining", due summer 2005. While you can't top the original's special effects for pure genius and craftsmanship - and significance in the history of filmmaking - you can certainly retell a great adventure story for a new generation, and utilise all the latest tricks of the trade to design and bring to life a stunning new vision of Kong. Go Pete.  ¶ 21:58