Indian Animation Industry has been gaining pace continuously year after year. With some percent of the showbiz industry moving from conventional filmmaking to the animation, the industry is outsourcing animation services since India lacks these services.
Most of the animation projects in India are dependent on the outsourced services. Among these outsourced services, 85% are by the film and television industry. During 2016, the animation and VFX industry saw a growth of 16.4%, based on the outsourcing work hired by the Indian film and television industry.
In the upcoming years as well, the Animation Industry will be in demand for digital advertising, film and television industry. The prediction for the growth in the animation industry largely based on outsourced services for the segment 2016-21 is 17.2% of CAGR.
Many Indian broadcasters are tying up with international animation studios to avail the services that can come up with new and original designs that can help shape their ideas. As high as 50 percent of the localized content comes from channels like Nickelodeon Sonic with leading shows like Shiva, Gattu Battu, Power Rangers and so on.
Media service providers that work through digital platforms also witnessed the increase in demand for content exclusively for kids. Netflix is desperately wanting to partner with Indian studios to bring up some kids content in Indian regional languages like Hindi, Kannada etc. Apart from Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube are also headed in the same direction.
Other major giant animation companies like Sony, Warner Brothers and Walt Disney have also been providing amazing animation services to Indian firms leading to rise of Animation Industry.
The increase in demand for animation outsourcing has lead to the initiation of many animation companies throughout India. The main focus has been brought on these services from cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Trivandrum.
Some of the leading Indian animation companies like DQ Entertainment, Prime Focus, DNEG, Maya Entertainment Ltd, Crest Animation Studios Ltd, Pentamedia Graphics, Toonz Animation India, UTV Toonz and many more have excelled in providing services like content production, designing, Visual Effects, 2D Animation, 3D Animation, Gaming content among others. These leading Indian animation industries are incorporating art with the new age digital technology to give top-notch outcomes that keep them at par with the international industries in this business.
Unlike the US, the animation works produced for India are strictly confined to kids category. Animated films like Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Despicable Me, Smurfs and many more are perceived majorly by the adult audience in the US with great enthusiasm. But the case in Indian market in the animation industry is completely the opposite. Most of the animated movies produced for Indian audience often receive a mundane response and only a bunch of them go a little further than mundane.
The production of animation content costs much more than a daily soap on TV which when combined with inadequate revenues through advertising, has led to a slight decline in the funding for animated productions for TV. Also with the emergence of Over The Top Networks, there is still scope for animation industry in the Television field but through other digital platforms.
With the rapid development in digital technology, the animation industry in India is also changing. Indian Institutes should aim to impart high-end knowledge and keep students on the edge with the ongoing trends in the animation industry. In turn, the heavy dependence of outsourcing animation services from foreign countries may be reduced in the near future.