Animation’s roller-coaster ride on Netflix and other streaming services leaves creators demoralised but hopeful they can get their independence back
- Streaming platforms thought animation was ‘pandemic proof’ and poured money into developing content. Then their algorithms told them otherwise
- A new age of ‘Darwinism’ is seeing Max, Apple TV+ and even Disney cancel slow-to-produce cartoons. Those who make them aren’t happy, but say there’s hope
Developing an animated show takes time. When Tze Chun pitched his Gremlins prequel series about five years ago, it was for an “unnamed Warner streaming service”.
“I think it was [one of] the first things that they bought, so that gives you an idea of how long we’ve been working on this,” recalls Chun, executive producer of Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, which premiered last month on streaming platform Max.
Even that was “very quick in animation time”, adds executive producer Brendan Hay.
The same can’t be said for streaming itself. In the four years since the first reports that a Gremlins prequel had been approved, that “unnamed streaming service” was given a name, launched, acquired in a mega media merger and relaunched with a brand new name and catalogue – and with a slimmed-down animation portfolio.
The result has been a roller-coaster ride for animation.