Alain Gagnol Talks New Animated Feature ‘Dog My Cats!

The Renaissance of the ‘Painterly’ Aesthetic in Modern Animation

For years, the animation industry seemed locked in a race toward hyper-realism. The goal was often to make digital renders look as “real” as possible, leading to a sea of polished, plastic-looking 3D characters. However, we are currently witnessing a seismic shift back toward the “painterly” aesthetic—where the hand of the artist is visible in every frame.

This trend is exemplified by projects like Dog My Cats!, where director Alain Gagnol and artistic director Lilas Cognet treat animation not as a series of renders, but as a sequence of paintings. By utilizing sable-hair brushes and watercolor ink on MBM Arches paper before moving into the digital realm, they are tapping into a growing audience desire for authenticity and tactile art.

Hybrid Workflows: Where Analog Craft Meets Digital Precision

The future of animation isn’t a choice between “traditional” and “digital”—it is the seamless integration of both. The industry is moving toward a hybrid workflow that preserves the soul of analog art while leveraging the efficiency of modern software.

Take the production pipeline of Dog My Cats! as a case study: 150 reference drawings created with traditional watercolor and pencil are then adapted via Photoshop, TVPaint, and After Effects. This approach allows filmmakers to maintain the “dreamscape” ambiance of a physical painting while utilizing 2D-style VFX and subtle 3D elements to add depth and movement.

Essential Tools for the Modern Hybrid Artist

• TVPaint: The gold standard for traditional 2D animation in a digital environment.
• After Effects: Crucial for compositing layers to create atmospheric lighting and depth.
• Photoshop: The bridge between raw scanned art and animatable assets.

The Rise of the Multimedia Auteur

We are seeing a blurring of lines between different artistic disciplines. The collaboration between Alain Gagnol and comic book author Lilas Cognet highlights a growing trend: the migration of graphic novelists and illustrators into the director’s chair.

Because graphic novelists are trained to think in terms of composition, lighting, and storytelling within a single frame, they bring a unique “cinematic” eye to animation. This cross-pollination results in films that feel less like “cartoons” and more like living galleries, challenging the traditional boundaries of the medium.

For more on how visual storytelling is evolving, check out our guide on the evolution of cinematic composition.

The Economics of International Co-Production

Creating high-art animation is expensive and time-consuming. To combat this, the industry is leaning heavily into international co-productions. The partnership between French, Belgian, and Canadian entities for Dog My Cats! is a strategic blueprint for modern independent cinema.

By spreading production across borders, studios can access multiple streams of government grants, tax credits (such as those provided by the CNC in France), and diverse talent pools. This “shared risk” model is what allows auteur-driven, non-commercial styles to reach the big screen without being forced into a generic “corporate” look.

According to industry data from Animation World Network, co-productions have become essential for mid-budget European animations to compete with the marketing budgets of major US studios.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 2D animation making a comeback?
Yes, but not in its original form. It is returning as “stylized 2D” or “hybrid animation,” blending hand-drawn aesthetics with digital tools to create unique visual identities.

Why are more comic book artists moving into animation?
The skills required for graphic novels—storyboarding, character design, and atmospheric lighting—translate perfectly to the role of an Art Director in animation.

What is a “painterly” animation style?
It is a style where the visuals mimic physical art mediums (like watercolor, oil, or charcoal), prioritizing artistic expression and texture over photorealistic accuracy.