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Inside Netflix: The revolution will be animated
In the third of a series of reports from Netflix studios, ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK reveals a coming explosion in animated content
Many platforms, many voices
Netflix also understands better than most content providers that kids watch content on numerous platforms.
“As Netflix has proliferated to many devices and you can stream on any device that you have access to, the kids experience has followed suit,” he says. “So now we have kids experience on the television, we have kids experience on tablets, on phones and on the website. And, as we have iterated and learned, the usage of the kids experience has grown. In just the last month alone we have had over 50 million profiles stream from the kids experience around the globe.”
The session is hosted by James Baxter, himself an animation legend who created the Disney versions of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the Lion King’s Rafiki. For Dreamworks, he created the lead characters in Sinbad and Spirit, as well as Valka in How Train Your Dragon 2.
He was, therefore, responsible for several creations that represented diversity and marginalised characters. Last year, he joined Netflix as Director of Character Animation. We ask him to what extent he is bringing that sensibility of diversity to Netflix.
He replies: “One of the great things about working here is just the fact that Netflix does focus a lot on inclusion and going out and finding creators that might have a different voice, or a voice that is, if not marginalised, you don’t hear very often. So, we actively are out there looking at creators from all over the world to tell stories that reflect their story.
“That’s really exciting. As an animator, I get to be whoever I want to be. But it’s really, really nice to be able to work somewhere where you are seeing different kinds of voices in animation and kids’ entertainment.”
A protest song once warned us that the revolution would be televised. Now that television has been reinvented by streaming services, a new revolution is coming, and it will be animated.
- Arthur Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram on @art2gee
