I think the thing that’s incredibly universal about animation is that all kids, or most kids, draw. And I think, when you’re drawing as a child, you’re imagining your drawings moving. And I think what animation does subconsciously is it creates drawings that come alive. And so it fulfills that fantasy that you have as a kid, just like stop-motion animation. I think a lot of us as kids played with action figures and toys, and I think stop-motion fulfills that fantasy of seeing these toys come alive. And I think it’s an unspoken magic that happens when these things have a life of their own.
As much as I love live action, there are certain things that animation can do that are very unique. This idea that paintings can move, and inanimate objects can move, and they can emote, and they can make you laugh, and they can make you cry, that’s very specific to animation. And I think, historically, the other thing that animation does is, because a lot of the animation is consumed by children, it kind of stays in them. And I think a lot of kids when they’re growing up and they’re watching animation, it’s a connection to their childhood. So, as you get older and you look back, that nostalgia becomes really, really strong, because you equate your childhood to those images