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It's also wild that it somehow makes financial sense to outsource a core input into your product. A company that makes animations outsourcing animation makes a

by x0x0 3y ago

It's also wild that it somehow makes financial sense to outsource a core input into your product. A company that makes animations outsourcing animation makes as much sense to me as a software company outsourcing engineering. Though we do have a plane company that outsources making planes, but that's going some sort of way right now...

laborcontract 3y ago
To be fair, the outsourced tasks seem to be for edits, and not for original artwork. There’s a lot you can hide with outsourced software engineering. With animation it’s all on display.
bathtub365 3y ago
Animation has been outsourced for decades, typically with in-house artists providing the key frames and outsourced animators doing the “in between” frames. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation
dannyphantom 3y ago
Oooh I can try tackling a bit of this (I'll try not to ramble... ) But anyway studios have been outsourcing animation work to Asian countries for a while now. You might have seen some of the work product from one of the larger Japanese animation studios: TMS Enterainment who has worked on things like Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The New Batman Adventures in addition to shows like Tiny Toon Adventures and Transformers in the 80-90s. Some more recent(ish) examples are Cartoon Network outsourcing the animation for Steven Universe to Rough Draft Korea located South Korea and Nickelodeon outsourced some of the work for Korra to a Japanese company called Pierrot. I'm just rambling at this point so I'm going to just leave a few links below that can do a better job of illustrating than I'm able to. Wikipedia, Outsourcing of Animation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation [DCAU Fandom Wiki, TMS Entertainment: https://dcau.fandom.com/wiki/TMS_Entertainment,_Ltd https://dcau.fandom.com/wiki/TMS_Entertainment,_Ltd. Reddit thread, Stylistic differences between two studios: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1m4wbn/stylistic_differences_from_the_switch_to_studio/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1m4wbn/st... AnimeNewsNetwork, American animation outsourced to Japan (2015): https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2015-11-02/.94920 https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2015-11-02/.94920
- XajniN 3y ago
  I guess everyone remembers those strange Tom & Jerry episodes that felt like watching Twilight Zone. They were made in Czechoslovakia. https://www.awn.com/animationworld/tom-jerry-produced-prague https://www.awn.com/animationworld/tom-jerry-produced-prague
- jhbadger 3y ago
  Heck, The Simpsons has been largely animated in South Korea since the beginning over thirty years ago! They've even made jokes about that in the show itself. https://www.today.com/popculture/simpsons-rides-seoul-train-wbna7069645 https://www.today.com/popculture/simpsons-rides-seoul-train-...
cnasc 3y ago
This is fairly standard for mature products. In the early days the whole production process is tightly integrated, but as components and processes mature there is less room for there to be some “secret sauce.” Once that happens it makes sense to outsource it to other firms who compete on cost while you focus on parts where you can differentiate. That said, companies frequently misstep determining where they can safely outsource and where they must keep things integrated.
metalspoon 3y ago
Software companies don't outsource engineering in your country?
- x0x0 3y ago
  Almost never the entirety of it, no. back of office / LOB apps, sure.
aaron695 3y ago
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mitthrowaway2 3y ago
I can see how one company might focus only on developing its technical skill in animation, rather than other aspects that are important to a production (like writing, music, marketing, etc), and do contract work for anyone who wants to make an animated production, no matter the story / market / etc. Sort of like how TSMC mostly focuses on semiconductor manufacturing excellence and leaves the design to other companies, with only a small amount of its production used to manufacture its own component designs. But for studios where mastery of a certain animation style is critical to their work, vertical integration makes sense too.
spamizbad 3y ago
From the prospective of these companies, the "core input" of the product is already in their hands: The intellectual property of the stories/characters. Media productions from this core IP is down the value chain.
Dalewyn 3y ago
Consider that Intel, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, and Micron, all manufacturers of semiconductors, outsource their semiconductor manufacturing. Consider that most game development studios outsource most development on a per-project basis. Consider that most car manufacturers outsource most of their parts manufacturing to other manufacturers. Basically: It's more unusual for a business to not be outsourcing their line of business.

by x0x0 3y ago

laborcontract 3y ago

To be fair, the outsourced tasks seem to be for edits, and not for original artwork. There’s a lot you can hide with outsourced software engineering. With animation it’s all on display.

bathtub365 3y ago

Animation has been outsourced for decades, typically with in-house artists providing the key frames and outsourced animators doing the “in between” frames. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation

dannyphantom 3y ago

Oooh I can try tackling a bit of this (I'll try not to ramble... ) But anyway studios have been outsourcing animation work to Asian countries for a while now. You might have seen some of the work product from one of the larger Japanese animation studios: TMS Enterainment who has worked on things like Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The New Batman Adventures in addition to shows like Tiny Toon Adventures and Transformers in the 80-90s. Some more recent(ish) examples are Cartoon Network outsourcing the animation for Steven Universe to Rough Draft Korea located South Korea and Nickelodeon outsourced some of the work for Korra to a Japanese company called Pierrot. I'm just rambling at this point so I'm going to just leave a few links below that can do a better job of illustrating than I'm able to. Wikipedia, Outsourcing of Animation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation [DCAU Fandom Wiki, TMS Entertainment: https://dcau.fandom.com/wiki/TMS_Entertainment,_Ltd https://dcau.fandom.com/wiki/TMS_Entertainment,_Ltd. Reddit thread, Stylistic differences between two studios: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1m4wbn/stylistic_differences_from_the_switch_to_studio/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1m4wbn/st... AnimeNewsNetwork, American animation outsourced to Japan (2015): https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2015-11-02/.94920 https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2015-11-02/.94920

XajniN 3y ago
I guess everyone remembers those strange Tom & Jerry episodes that felt like watching Twilight Zone. They were made in Czechoslovakia. https://www.awn.com/animationworld/tom-jerry-produced-prague https://www.awn.com/animationworld/tom-jerry-produced-prague
jhbadger 3y ago
Heck, The Simpsons has been largely animated in South Korea since the beginning over thirty years ago! They've even made jokes about that in the show itself. https://www.today.com/popculture/simpsons-rides-seoul-train-wbna7069645 https://www.today.com/popculture/simpsons-rides-seoul-train-...

cnasc 3y ago

This is fairly standard for mature products. In the early days the whole production process is tightly integrated, but as components and processes mature there is less room for there to be some “secret sauce.” Once that happens it makes sense to outsource it to other firms who compete on cost while you focus on parts where you can differentiate. That said, companies frequently misstep determining where they can safely outsource and where they must keep things integrated.

metalspoon 3y ago

Software companies don't outsource engineering in your country?

x0x0 3y ago
Almost never the entirety of it, no. back of office / LOB apps, sure.

aaron695 3y ago

[dead]

mitthrowaway2 3y ago

I can see how one company might focus only on developing its technical skill in animation, rather than other aspects that are important to a production (like writing, music, marketing, etc), and do contract work for anyone who wants to make an animated production, no matter the story / market / etc. Sort of like how TSMC mostly focuses on semiconductor manufacturing excellence and leaves the design to other companies, with only a small amount of its production used to manufacture its own component designs. But for studios where mastery of a certain animation style is critical to their work, vertical integration makes sense too.

spamizbad 3y ago

From the prospective of these companies, the "core input" of the product is already in their hands: The intellectual property of the stories/characters. Media productions from this core IP is down the value chain.

Dalewyn 3y ago

Consider that Intel, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, and Micron, all manufacturers of semiconductors, outsource their semiconductor manufacturing. Consider that most game development studios outsource most development on a per-project basis. Consider that most car manufacturers outsource most of their parts manufacturing to other manufacturers. Basically: It's more unusual for a business to not be outsourcing their line of business.