I grew up with Disney animation. It was an incredibly formative aspect of both my imaginative life as a youth, as well as an artistic one, and it continues to hold a special place in my mind and heart to the present day. Of course, the quality of 2D animation that came from Disney Studios over the years has varied, and I must admit that for the last several years I have not found the 2D releases very entertaining or artistically interesting. Nevertheless, it was with great sadness that I read The Guardian‘s recent piece with a title that says it all: “Disney turns away from hand-drawn animation.” This does not come as much of a surprise, but it is still unfortunate. Not only has the quality of Disney’s 2D animation declined in recent years, but the continued popularity of computer animation, particularly through Pixar ironically in partnership with Disney, has led to the demise of the hand-drawn forms of art and storytelling that so many of us grew up with. On a recent trip to Disneyland it was hard to find many of the characters and films I hold dear. So another factor is changing demographics and the need for Disney Studios to keep up with market preferences and the bottom line. I understand, but I hope that perhaps a small group of artists will keep 2D animation alive in special projects, just as some have kept stop-motion animation alive. However, in the middle of my mourning for the loss Disney’s hand-drawn animation, their recent Academy Award winning”old school animation” film Paperman gives me hope.