OPINION: Streaming services are killing animation

Comic by Emily Tran

Editorial by Emily Tran

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff––

Many teens remember coming home from elementary school and watching their favorite cartoons live on their television. But as streaming services make sacrifices to find the next big hit, this treasured childhood memory might not be accessible for kids today.

Like many other issues, this is partially a byproduct of COVID-19. The pandemic caused a rise in viewers looking to strea shows, resulting in popular streaming services such as Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+ fighting neck and neck to survive the ‘streaming wars’.

Many animated shows have been cut in the process.

“It seems like what networks are trying to do now is that they are trying to find the lowest possible cost model for creating shows…Animation is really expensive so shows that have nice animation or animation in general, they’re just gonna cut it,” senior Alex Burston said.

Being cut off short is one thing, but with the merger of HBO Max and Discovery+, some shows are receiving an even worse fate than cancellation. HBO Max has recently removed 36 titles from its platform, 23 of them animated shows.

This surge of cancellations in the animation industry has caused fans of the medium to become pessimistic about the future.

“You’ll find something you really like on Netflix or HBO and be like ‘Wow I like this a lot!’ and then you’ll be like ‘Oh. It has one season. That probably won’t last,’ and then you don’t feel like following. It’s very demotivating.” Burston said.

Without an incentive to be loyal to these shows, the few surviving shows will get fewer viewers, ultimately contributing to the cycle of animation dying out.

“It’s like a never ending cycle of (corporations) killing creativity,” Burston said.

The streaming wars have destroyed the “quality over quantity” notion, killing animation and all the representation and creativity it displayed in the process.