The genre that is see dying out would be cartoon based children films and the genre I believe is thriving or growing stronger would be computer animated films. I feel this is the case, from the prospective of cartoon films, is that they normally don't have a strong showing in the box offices and there aren't a lot of them shown per year. Even if some are shown, they're greatly overshadowed by whatever Pixar film is coming out for that year or Dreamworks film. To me, computer animated film has taken over some of what cartoon animated film had. The cost and production values of computer animated films is much higher, but the returns from the box office is significantly greater. Which is why I believe cartoon based films are dying out, not that they will completely go way, but they aren't as thriving as they used to be in the early to late 90s.
The reason for this transition, I feel, is because of the wonders and spectacles that can be rendered on a computer. Think of how magnificent Wall-E was, trying to do something that wonderful as a cartoon would be difficult. The progression of the genre has overstepped the boundaries of cartoon-based film, and soon, I feel, it will take it completely. Since computer animated films are derived from the cartoon medium, a lot of them share the same beliefs and code of ethics, if you will. The endings will normally be a good one. No one will rarely, if ever, die. And there will always be a moral somewhere hidden between the lines or spoken aloud so that it's clear why this film is trying to do what it's doing. I think that's magical, which is why I love the genre.
