Talk:Independent animation

Wrong Critic

I tried to find an article for Mel Brook's "The Critic" (1963) to re-direct that link, but it either doesn't exist, or it's very well hidden. Anyhow, that link should be removed, since it incorrectly points to the 1994 TV show by the same name. Lurlock 20:56, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Independent animation history

You know something is wrong when there's an article on independent animation that doesn't even mention some of the most important independent animation features in history. Fritz the Cat was the first independent animated film to gross over $100 million in the US. Ralph Bakshi made more successful and important independent animated films than any of the contemporary directors on this list. Matt Stone and Trey Parker don't even acknowledge their own works as real animation. They use cheap-looking animation as an easy form for adolescent jokes - and say so themselves. Why would you mention a pair of non-animators, but not one of the industry's most important figures? (Sugar Bear (talk) 02:57, 2 March 2009 (UTC))

Do anime count as independent animation

Just a question — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.100.186.169 (talk) 23:50, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

More representations

We got LGBT, but no Black, Asian, Indigenous or even disabled ones as well? Espngeek (talk) 20:10, 19 March 2023 (UTC)

If there's reliable sourcing to show that, than sure. Historyday01 (talk) 19:19, 9 March 2025 (UTC)

Wrong opening sequence for RWBY (and is it really notable?)

The opening sequence of RWBY used in this page is from Volume 7, 5 volumes after the show stopped being independent. In case you didn't know, Rooster Teeth used to be independent until November 2014, when AT&T acquired it, and RWBY only had 2 volumes out before that.

Also, is it appropriate to call it notable? Yes, it was huge back in the mid-2010s but nowadays? An actual notable independent web series would be Murder Drones because it's not like current readers (specifically those born in Generation Alpha) would know what RWBY is or care about it. If anything, it's obscure to them and the only takeaway they could get is that the show and Monty were huge inspirations for GLITCH Productions' CEOs getting into indie animation.

https://x.com/kevdevz/status/1765514895490265449

Furthermore, shouldn't we mention how Rooster Teeth was exposed for bigotry in October 2022, which makes their minority representation hypocritical? Tubbybloxian (talk) 01:52, 9 March 2025 (UTC)

Well, RWBY may not even count as an independent animation. I may remove or not remove it later on. I would say it is a notable animated series in its own right. In solidarity - Historyday01 (talk) 21:15, 13 June 2026 (UTC)

This articles needs to be less about the United States and more about independent animation.

To my understanding, this article is biased for the reader to assume the United States animation workers invented independent animation, when there's evidences in this article it didn't (like Germany, Brazil and France). This article places the United States on top of the section describing about racial and gay representations and lacks informing on WHY animation workers seek to go independent. I think it should cover the history as a whole about how independent animation thrived as a medium, instead of focusing on one single country. I think this article has a huge potential to be more expansive.

In my point of view, it has absolutely no sense to mix the United States' most recent indie animations with the overall independent animation history, which the country indeed is a big part of.

Kukth (talk) 17:08, 13 June 2026 (UTC)

Well, we would need strong reliable sources on indie animation elsewhere. Would you support spinning off all the information about U.S. indie animation into it's own article? Would that help reduce the bias focused on the U.S. as you describe it? Or no? In solidarity - Historyday01 (talk) 21:12, 13 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi, Historyday01. I guess so, but I think we can go further and be more specific, like creating an article named Independent animation by country and including every country's history and its most notable productions there, including the United States. My suggestion would be to keep this article more informational about indie animation and less about countries, and to only link this article to another in the "See also" section.

Nowadays, Independent animation is arguably a part of internet culture, given it's essentially decentralized and not country specific. Independent animation existed globally even back then, and the evidences of other indie animations outside the United States in the 20th century challenges how the article is currently written. I think we'd need to contextualize it better on this article.

Finding sources about indie animation being currently part of internet culture is incredibly easy (Kidscreen.com, Animation Obsessive, AWN, Animation Magazine, Cartoon Brew, industry workers posts worldwide and so on) and some sources are already included on this article at the "Later independent animation" section, which I believe is mistakingly attributed to the United States, as if it was a exclusive thing to this country, you know? I guess it's not the case now, or if it ever was.

This would clean like 80% of the page? Clearly, but I think it suits better to categorize it, so I think it could be more focused on independent animation, its creators, streaming and other platforms, funding information (crowdfunded, Ko-fi, Patreon), minority representation, culture, impact (like theatrical release of a media, or it being acquired, licensed, or so profitable that creators can be capable of opening studios), etc. Much like how the article independent film is.

Subjects like 1-Newgrounds, 2- the overlay of independent animation and indie games, 3- internet being a place for artists to learn, share and creating an fanbase (YouTube, social media, Gumroad), 4- web-based indie animated celebrities like Lucas the Spider and Pusheen and Nyan Cat, 5- formats available for a indie animation to be transmitted (reels? short film? feature? webseries?), aren't even covered in this article properly; instead, what we have are mismatched informations describing an notable indie animation and its singular characteristics. So, IMO there's a whole scope to yet cover about independent animation...

The U.S. has a bigger history with it, yes, but it doesn't represent completely independent animation globally or the subject alone.

Kukth (talk) 21:59, 14 June 2026 (UTC)