Animation : What is your thoughts on clean animation or strong storytelling by Abidoye Ezekiel

in mine opinion they’re both important but if you have to focus more on one than another you should prioritize storytelling

Abidoye Ezekiel - I agree with Simon Breuer . A strong storyline can grab attention and keep it there. A clean animation might look cool but can become uninteresting, fast.

Not sure what you mean by clean animation, but storytelling comes first. I’ve been moved by rough animatics before.

Bad animation will never tell (I say never, but...) a good story. If the audience notices that the animator either skips a frame or the arm movement is wonky, it will stand out and the story will be lost. That said, no amount of clean animation can keep an audiences' attention when the story is bad.

I sat through a movie about a superhero dog. The animation was excellent, but the story was hit or miss. It is the best feeling in the world when the audience is drawn into the story and the feeling of comradery within the audience as they experience the story. So both are difficult, but necessary.

This is a good question. With awesome animation, if the story is bad, the animation is wasted. So for me, the storytelling has to come first. If the story is good and the animation is great, that completes everything.

You would have to do both in order to pair well. Don't divide into either clean animation or great storytelling. You need to make sure to pull off a little bit of risk on going both. There's no guarantee that if the bad storytelling comes with clean animation or vice versa. You have to compromise to add both in order for those criteria to stand out.

Strong storytelling is always better. You can have great animation and bad storytelling and it doesn't work but the opposite isn't true.

That said, as someone who has worked as an animator and board artist in animation, I can say that both do matter but story is what gets people in.

Storytelling is always first in my book. I have loved clean animation, sketching animation, low frame animation, you name it. the story is the key to selling it all. This is not to say bad animation is fine once the story is good. Good animation helps tell the story. Bad animation can distract from a story, however good animation cannot save a bad story.

Great question — I think both are challenging in their own ways, but strong storytelling is ultimately harder to achieve.

Technical precision can be learned, refined, and improved with time and tools. But storytelling requires a deeper understanding of human emotion, perspective, and how to connect with an audience on a psychological level.

In my view, audiences may appreciate clean animation, but they remember how a story made them feel. Even a technically imperfect piece can resonate deeply if the emotional core is strong.

So for me, storytelling is the foundation — technique enhances it, but can’t replace it.

They're both important but good writing is more important

I agree — strong writing really is the foundation.

Without a compelling story, even the best visuals can’t create a lasting impact.

Story telling is everything

Absolutely — storytelling is what gives everything meaning.

Even the most polished animation can’t stay with an audience without a strong narrative behind it.

There has to be both a plot and animation. Otherwise, it won't be interesting to watch. I ran into some technical problems with the animation. I make animation with puppets.

That’s a great point.

Both strong storytelling and clean execution really need to work together to keep the audience engaged. Puppet animation also sounds like a very interesting medium—definitely comes with its own unique challenges.

I enjoy Bluey and Pixar films because I feel like they are incredibly clean and light-hearted while focusing on strong storytelling. What do you think?

I agree—Bluey and Pixar are great examples of how strong storytelling can work hand in hand with clean, simple animation.

What stands out to me is how they focus on emotional clarity and relatable characters, which makes even simple moments feel meaningful. It shows that when the story is strong, the visual style supports it rather than needing to overpower it.