Louder than Disney? How Netflix became the new king of animation

When you are told animation, it is likely that your brain automatically sends you images from Disney movies: The Lion King, Aladdin or even Snow Queen. It’s normal, the studio has been a historical reference in this field since the 1930s and the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

But the era of streaming platforms has reshuffled the cards in the world of film, series and production in general, and a service today can challenge the title of king of animation: netflix.

netflix

Netflix is ​​a paid subscription application and service that provides access to an online library of several thousand films, series, documentaries, shows and TV shows.

• Downloads:
  960
• Release date :
  01/05/2023
• Author :
  Netflix, Inc.
• Licence :
  Free license
• Categories:
  

  Video – Leisure

• Operating system :
  

  Android, Online service All Internet browsers, Windows 10/11, iOS iPhone / iPad
  

In today’s era where content takes precedence, animation has become an important issue for SVoD services wishing to diversify and expand their catalog. A phenomenon that was seen in 2021 and 2022, a time during which Disney+ highlighted the series Star Wars: Visions, What If…?, Hit-Monkey, Zootopia+ or Tales of the Jedianimated derivatives of his Marvel franchises and Star Wars.

Mickey’s house is not the only one sinceAmazon Prime Video celebrated the recent arrival of The Legend of Vox Machina or Diabolicalanimated spin-off of the series The Boys.

The most diversified offer?

Since its evolution as an SVoD service in the early 2010s, Netflix has continually added content to its catalog, including animation aimed at children and adults alike. And for good reason: 60% of subscribers watch content intended for a family audience, consisting mainly of animated programs.

In addition to these original productions, Netflix has added several films from studios whose fate in theaters was compromised by the pandemic. In recent years alone, we have seen the arrival in the catalog of films The Sea Monster, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, live, The Genius Dragon Where Aya and the witch from Ghibli studios. It’s even more impressive on the series side, with among others the acclaimed Arcane, Masters of the Universe Revelation, maya warrior princess or season 3 of Love, Death & Robots.

Netflix is ​​increasingly highlighting all the tones and facets of animation, whether 3D, traditional 2D animation or even stop motion, such as the recent Wendell and Wild. A real Eldorado for animators and professionals around the world. Result: in 2022, Netflix is ​​the SVoD platform with the most animated programs in the world.

Of course, Netflix’s animation offer is generalist, and specialized platforms offer a more consistent catalog in the anime sector, such as ADN (Anime Digital Network) and Crunchyroll and its more than 12,000 episodes. Nevertheless, the strike force of Netflix is ​​impressive and is not about to stop.

Partnerships around the world

This interest in animation is not new. Netflix has for several years forged partnerships with animation schools and studios around the world in order to distribute their productions. Among them, Fortiche Productions (Arcane) and the Gobelins school in France, Mappa, Science Saru and Anima & Company in Japan, or recently Aardman Animation (Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep) in Great Britain.

After the first co-productions with Dreamworks Animation in 2013, the company even created its own dedicated studio in 2018, Netflix Animation. 14 films have been released or are about to be released from this dedicated branch, including the Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro, The Journey to the Moon or the very successful Klaus. These last two feature films were even nominated for the Oscars for best animated film, a first for a platform film.

Netflix Animation Studios, to infinity and beyond

Netflix does not intend to stop there. His co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in an October 2020 interview with variety that the streaming service would increase its investment in animation: “Our animation ambition right now is not just to grow, but to be as big as everyone else. We are on track to release six animated feature films a year, which no major studio has ever done, in addition to a good slate of animated series.”

Producing six animated films a year is a mind-blowing undertaking, but not impossible, as the 2022 production schedule shows:

• Apollo 10½by Richard Linklater
• The Sea Monsterby Chris Williams
• Wendell and Wildby Henry Selick
• My Father’s Dragonby Nora Tworney
• Scrooge: A Christmas Carolby Stephen Donnelly
• Pinocchioby Guillermo Del Toro

In addition to this impressive program, a dozen other feature films and animated series, still produced internally by Netflix Animation, are in development, including Sonic Prime, Magic: The Gathering, tomb Raidernew movies Wallace & Gromit and chicken runor a series Asterix led by Alain Chabat.

Thanks to the resources invested and its ever-increasing audience (222 million subscribers at present), the streaming platform can offer original and diversified programs, in various tones and styles, to meet all types of public. The fluffy movie Ruby fallen from the nestor the series The Cuphead Show!inspired by Silly Symphonies of Walt Disney of the 1930s, are still magnificent examples.

And at a time when cinemas are still suffering from the effects of the pandemic, when the few films to find their audience are super-rich blockbusters, animation may have found in Netflix a new oasis in which to develop and grow. as art.