Where Is 2D Animation Used? All That You Need To Know

If you are not an artistically inclined person, you might look at a Ghibli movie Howl’s Moving Castle, or 1950’s Disney’s Cinderella and think “My God, how did this beautiful piece of work come into fruition?”.

When you look at these movies, Cinderella or Howl are characters full of charm and a life of their own that you forget, for a second, that they’re not real. You feel for Cinderella and you pity Sophie. 

You might have even heard that it is drawings stuck together to make a scene, just like those booklets we made when we were children and we drew a small face on the corner to make it smile and frown, we would flip it and BAM! It looks alive!

Well, you are not really far from the truth. Those movies we just mentioned are 2D animations.

What is 2D animation?

2D stands for 2 Dimensions, and animation is something possessing or characterized by life. To make these animations, you make ‘scenes’ by drawing multiple drawings to make the desired action, and you show them in rapid succession to perform the action.  

Where is 2D animation used?

2D animation is heavily used in a plethora of fields and industries, such as movies, TV shows, video games, marketing, entertainment, education, business and so many other fields. 2D animation, albeit being the oldest of the two forms of animation we mentioned earlier, is still very much in and around us. It’s crazy to think that the first animated movie was in 1908, but this specific art form of animation still thrives today.

“2D animation has always had a strong presence on television. From “Looney Tunes” to “The Flintstones”… Let’s also not forget eastern animation from Japan… Anime has also been thriving over the years ranging from classics like “Dragon Ball Z” … to the newer shows like “My Hero Academia”… Netflix has also been sponsoring its own variety of animation…”

Matthew Payne, North Texas Daily.

Let’s explore some instances where you can find 2D animation used.

1. Movies

When we say ‘movie’ the usual thought here is a movie with real people and real settings and such, but don’t be surprised when you see that 2D animated movies are extremely popular, win awards, have a great legacy, AND are up to par with other types of movies.

Just because these movies are 2D animated doesn’t make them worth any less in comparison to other ‘real’ movies. They have a captivating narrative, lovable, and well-developed characters as well as beautiful visuals.

Let’s take Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 Spirited Away as an example, this movie has had countless pieces written about it, exploring its themes, characters, narrative, and much more. On top of that, the animated feature has won many awards, among which, according to IMDb, is an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

And that’s not it, the animated movie won many awards that we won’t be listing unless we want the video to last 4 hours. It’s a given that 2D animation can be a great vehicle for storytelling as any other medium is. Another great example of how 2D animated movies can excel in any facet is Satoshi Kon’s 1997 psychological horror movie Perfect Blue. (God, I really hated that damn stalker!).

Although this movie’s genre is far away from that of Spirited Away, we can see a similar level of excellence in both of these animated movies. What sets 2D animation as a movie medium apart from regular movies is how this medium gives absolute creative freedom, there is no angle, lighting, atmosphere, or setting that cannot be accessible to make the movie as exactly imagined.  

2. TV Shows

Animated shows, mostly known as cartoons/anime (depending on where they’re from), have always been a staple. Iconic funny shows like the Flintstones for children, or Family Guy for an older audience have a great legacy and are considered some of the most iconic shows of our time.

The tv shows I mentioned above and more are all delivered to us using 2D animation, and although this medium in the 2D style has historically been used for content aimed at children, there are countless iconic shows for adults, such as BoJack Horseman or Rick and Morty. 

While the latter has more of a comedic vibe, the former tends to delve into deep topics with a comedic hint. BoJack Horseman has so much depth, you can find a good amount of pieces analyzing and delving into its depth. 

For the previously mentioned style, we can see the art style tends to be simple and there is a lot of focus on the narrative instead of the aesthetic of the show, but other shows have a different approach.

Over The Garden Wall, for instance, has a beautiful and very aesthetically pleasing style with a fantastical element to them. The show has a brown-ish aesthetic to it, which reflects the narrative. Steven Universe, on the other hand, is another show with a beautiful aesthetic that is much more on the sickly sweet pastel-land side.  

All of this proves that 2D animation cannot be bound by any shackles or style, and you can tell whichever story you’d like using the medium, aiming for whichever vibe or theme and you can pull it off just right. 

3. Video games

You might be thinking: “whoa hold on a second, how on earth do 2D animations have any place in video games?”  Well, you’ll be surprised at how they can be used. 

First, some indie game developers who cannot afford the equipment or talent to be able to produce a 3D game can use 2D animations to build their game world and breathe life into their characters. Although they can cut on some expenses by using free game engines and such, a high-end video game studio quality is not to be expected.

Using suitable 2D animation software, a character can be animated in “sprites” which are just images of a certain action cycle put together to produce walking, running, attacking, or healing animations. Even environments can be in a 2D style and animated using the same techniques as a 2D animation.

These styles can be implemented in Isometric, platformer, side scroller games, etc. Some smart game developers make very simple 2D animations of their environments that are cost-effective and time-efficient. For example, they can have a 2D drawing of a street that’s looking too stale. What they could do is add a flickering lamp post with bugs flying around it.

Lights from an apartment’s window turning off, and another turning on, a faint shadowy figure passing by a window, an ever so slightly movie moonlight, and twinkling stars. All of these can be easily done using simple 2D animations, and not only do they come out beautifully but they are easy to make.

What I can only call a legendary example of 2D animation is the spectacular Cuphead, a completely 2D animated video game. Seriously, if you have never heard of this game, you must at least check it out.

This gem of a video game is completely and entirely 2D hand–animated. Yes, you heard it right! It’s just like those oldies of Disney (Think Mickey Mouse) both in style and in execution. The animations for this game were hand-drawn and then digitally cleaned and colored.

And even though 3D video games are considered the staple for the best and most respected games in the industry, Cuphead with its excellence and pure beauty managed to take the gaming world by storm, and sweep it off its feet.

This proves how 2D has a big role to play in game development and possibly set the tone for how 2D can be used in video games. 

4. Marketing

Marketing can be the biggest source of attraction for a brand, however, it can be extremely costly. From getting the filming equipment to the setting, actors, and what have you, all of that can be way too much for a brand’s pocket to handle. But then again advertising for your product is a big pillar of being in business, so what do companies do? They use 2D animations.

Can’t afford to hire an actor, a cinematographer, and an advertising/marketing specialist? Fear no more when you can hire an artist and pair him with your marketing specialist to give your product that one advertisement you dream of. 

Why do you think Canva is so popular among brands that are trying to get a space on the Gram? Among other graphic design software, it provides countless free 2D assets to make your stories, reels, and, even photos shine, one that ANY brand no matter the budget can get. 

Between its cost-effectiveness and the many aesthetics achievable with 2D, it is one of the biggest assets for affordable marketing strategies. And even more so when we see that the minimalist aesthetic has been taking the world by storm. Do you have a sweater you want to advertise? Have it be in a simple 2D animation of the sweater being worn by a pretty girl while she strolls the streets of Paris in the soft warm sun.

Done! You got all the girls pre-ordering, heck even I want this imaginary sweater now!  

That’s going to be it for our post, 2D animation is certainly a world of its own, and we hope that we have provided you with enough insight to quench your thirst for what 2D animation is all about.

Comment below if you think that we’ve missed something, or if you have any other suggestions.