Love, Death and Robots, which just launched its 3rd season on Netflix, seems like a crash course in the unlimited storytelling capacity of animation. It bounces from an adorable entry about robots exploring the residues of human civilization (the series very first follow up, 3 Robots: Exit Strategies, written by sci-fi author John Scalzi), to a near-silent, visually lavish video game of feline and mouse in between a deaf soldier and a mythical siren (Jibaro), to a harrowing tale of whalers being boarded by a huge man-eating crab (Bad Traveling, the first animated job directed by series co-creator David Fincher).
Jennifer Yuh Nelson, supervising director for Love, Death and Robots, informs Engadget that the animation industry has certainly made progress when it comes to telling more fully grown stories. “Everyone that works in animation has actually been discussing attempting to get more adult things done since its [about] the liberty of checking out the entire spectrum of storytelling,” she said. “Youre not attempting to do things for a particular age.”
She says, animators were likewise told the audience for mature jobs wasnt always there. “I believe it takes a show like [this] to prove that it can [work], and that makes the whole business and the entire business town basically take a look around and state, Oh, this is a feasible thing that individuals in fact want to see.”.
Series co-creator Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate) likewise points to the power of video games, which has been informing fully grown narratives with interactive animation for years. Games and animation are almost evolving together, with audiences demanding more intricate concepts and developers who were raised on earlier generations of those mediums.
” Animation has grown a lot and shows a taste of individuals making it and the people that are watching it,” Nelson says. “Its a generational shift. People demand a particular level of intricacy in their story, and so its not princess films anymore.”.
What happens when animation geeks get the greenlight to produce whatever they want? You get Netflixs Love, Death and Robots, an anthology series thats indicated to remind audiences that animations arent just for kids. You d believe that would be a foregone conclusion in 2022, years after anime has become mainstream, Adult Swims profane funnies took over dorm spaces, and almost network/streaming platform has their own “edgy” animated series (Arcane and Big Mouth on Netflix, Invincible on Amazon Prime).
Still, its all too typical to see the medium being decreased. At the Oscars this year, the very best animated feature award was introduced as something completely meant for kids, prompting the filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), to require that Hollywood raise the category rather. Even Pixars library of compelling and smart movies still arent seen as “adult” stories.
Netflix
Netflix.
” The tech does not replace the art, but the experimentation enables these studios to discover ways of doing things better,” Nelson said.” [The show gives] liberty for all these different studios to attempt their own language.”. Miller has a slightly different view, stating on some level its like “tech is the art and they somehow blended together.” While he concurs with Nelson, who was quick to explain “artists can make art with a stick,” Miller said youll still require a particular level of advanced technology to develop photorealistic stories.
The excellent thing about an anthology series like Love Death and Robots? Some of our stories include affiliate links.
You get Netflixs Love, Death and Robots, an anthology series thats meant to remind audiences that animations arent just for kids. You d believe that would be a foregone conclusion in 2022, decades after anime has actually ended up being mainstream, Adult Swims irreverent comedies took over dormitory rooms, and just about network/streaming platform has their own “edgy” animated series (Big and arcane Mouth on Netflix, Invincible on Amazon Prime).
Series co-creator Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate) also points to the power of video games, which has actually been telling mature stories with interactive animation for years. The series likewise serves as a display for a range of animation techniques. The great thing about an anthology series like Love Death and Robots?
And while none of the shorts have been turned into standalone series or films yet, Nelson notes thats a possibility, especially since some authors have actually explored other ideas within those worlds. (I d definitely like to see those three wacky robots poking fun at humankind for a whole season.).
The series also serves as a display for a range of animation methods. And theres still plenty of love for more standard 2D methods, like the wonderfully bloody Kill Team Kill (directed by Nelson, a far cry from her playful Kung Fu Panda follows up).