The balkanization of animation.(view point)

Outsourcing has become an election-year battleground, as the American economy adjusts to a globalized world, where location is no longer a major factor in the search for the lowest-priced goods and services. While "Benedict Arnold CEOs" are criticized for "exporting America" by sending jobs overseas, the issue is not black-and-white.

The outsourcing of computer animation and game development provides an interesting lens through which to view the phenomenon. The industry is by no means immune; it is, in fact, very well suited to distributing production widely, and can provide a positive example of globalization.

My contention is that distributing production globally is both inevitable and beneficial 2to all sides. Among other benefits, the efficiencies from outsourcing: A. Democratize the financing of animation, opening it up to a much wider pool of independent creators; B. Expand the market (more movies, shows, and games will be made because of lower-cost requirements); C. Protect creative jobs in otherwise marginal businesses; D. Create more and better work in the developing world that will benefit all; and E. Improve job stability by evening out the boom-and-bust cycle of big-budget productions.

Historical Context

One way to look at the issue is to remember one simple fact: We would not have television animation as we've known it for the past 40 years if Hanna-Barbera, et al, had not figured out how to outsource traditional cel animation back in the 1960s.

The "limited animation" techniques--such as animating "on twos," cycling backgrounds, and so forth--developed in the '40s and '50s by UPA and others were driven largely by a desire to open up the medium to smaller studios. Until then, the large studios dominated commercial animation, theatrical shorts were the only practical outlet for others, and television was simply out of the question because the cost of production couldn't be recouped. Those techniques were quickly adopted and were ultimately critical to the profusion of cel animation today, from The Simpsons to SpongeBob SquarePants.

By isolating the parts of the process that required great skill (such as writing, layout, and key animation) from those parts that didn't (in-betweening, inking, and painting), it was natural for studios to seek out the least expensive way to produce the latter. Hanna-Barbera led the way in establishing studios in the Philippines and Taiwan, and in creating production processes that accommodated the shipping of designs overseas and finished cells back.