Death of 2D ?

Could this be the end of traditional animation, the fantasy world that captured my mind in my childhood years till now?
I remember when I saw the majestic split of the Red Sea in The Prince of Egypt and decided then to study the art of animation...
...so I went to a famous studio here in Egypt and took a course in drawing and computer generated motion style…it was a hard and a time-consuming process…and you can imagine yourself working in the center of Cairo and having so many cartoon episodes to draw to be showen in the national television in Ramadan…of course as a result the characters will talk and walk like mentally retarded handicapped people.
The youth I was working with were not passionate about their work.

Some told me they try to finish as fast as they can because when they do more pages of drawings they earn more money.
So it has been my life long dream to work in Disney as an animator…they are the masters of this field.

I grew up with many of their classics, The Beauty and the Beast, Alladin , The Lion King, Pocahontas and Tarzan …and I still remember the first time I saw Pixar's Toy Story…it was like a new world for me…so real, so plastic and so "rounded"…and when they have found out that these 3D movies make a lot of money and 2D movies do not sell well…they decided to change the future of animation…and stop making hand-drawing pictures.

Well...2D did not sell well at that time because of "the story" and not because of the fact that it is "2D"...we need movies like Spirited Away.

Of course I was amused by Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles…and DreamWorks and other studios started CGI with movies like Shrek and Ice Age…and then sequels…they know that 3D movies can be made in no time compared to 2D...they are less expensive... mmm... and their heroes are already saved with their movements and facial expressions in their computers…so anytime they want to make another movie…they easily can.

But somehow I lost the sense of imagination…and I felt the same when I went with my brother's kids to see penguins and penguins and penguins…it leaves little room for children to imagine and fill the blanks…I am even afraid that the children of this generation will grow up cold hearted with no child laughter or innocence…and we can not forget that PlayStation also plays a parallel role in changing their behaviour...they are becoming more aggressive, less creative and hyperactive.

It is so beautiful to pick up a pencil and make wonderful artwork into a masterpiece of modern media…it is something beyond this world...something that comes from the human heart and hands to the screen…and if Walt Disney were alive today, maybe he would not recognize the company that has his name.

What is the future of 2D animation? The Princess and the Frog?
Seriously I do not know…because I am sure that Ratatouille (a magnificent, fantastic achievement in animation history and maybe the best 3 dimensional animated picture ever made) will make adults leave their movies and watch cartoon instead.