A Celebration of Animated Flight

Give me hand-drawn animation over computer animation any day of the week.

As advanced and powerful as computer animation can get (e.g., the Unreal Engine 5 demo), there’s an immediacy and energy to traditional cel animation that computer animation just can’t match. For a good example of what I’m talking about, look no further than Hobbes Sakuga’s compilation of hand-animated flight sequences from various anime titles including The Wings of Honnêamise, The Wind Rises, Castle in the Sky, Cowboy Bebop, and Macross Plus.

There’s something magical and vibrant about scenes like these that pulls at the imagination in a way that computer animation doesn’t (and, in my opinion, can’t). And regarding the Macross Plus clips, I can’t imagine a computer-animated scene possessing the same sort of visceral intensity. (I’ve previously written at length about Macross Plus’ technical merits.)

Related: If you enjoyed this compilation, then I recommend checking out Hobbes Sakuga’s other animation compilations, which spotlight themes ranging from hand-to-hand fighting and explosions to machinery.

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