Anyone paying attention to the movies can notice something that has become a rising trend: 3-D animated movies. Have you noticed that each one that has come out has been a big hit?

Remember back in 1995 when "Toy Story" came out? Then in 1999 when "Toy Story 2" was released? Those two combined to bring in over $846 million worldwide. How about "Finding Nemo" which made over $864 million worldwide? Think back to this past summer when "Shrek 2" became the biggest comedy of all time, making $882 million worldwide. See the trend? All of these movies are 3-D animated films and they average over $800 million worldwide. Now think back: When was the last time a 2-D animated film brought in big numbers? That would be Disney's "Lilo and Stitch" back in 2002, which made $145 million at the domestic box office, but couldn't clear $300 million worldwide (the last one to reach that mark was "Mulan" in 1998, which made $304 million). Let's face it: 2-D animation is going out of style. It's sad, but it's true.

2004 has been completely overrun by 3-D animated films: "Shrek 2," "Shark Tale," "The Incredibles" and "The Polar Express." Combined, these movies have brought in $1.6 billion so far. They are still making money. So it's obvious to see where the money is. So, what happened to 2-D animation? Well, Disney, our leading 2-D animation company, is falling apart. In addition to 30%-50% salary cuts, Disney laid off 70% of its 2-D animation team. Now that Disney has parted ways with its business partner Pixar, what are they going to do? Disney and Pixar produced a wave of five films that brought in $2.5 billion. So why on earth would they split? When Pixar started, they were a small company that has obviously grown over the last ten years. Disney demanded a large cut, plus all merchandise and sequel rights to the movies Pixar made. Now that Pixar has grown up, it wanted 100% of the revenues made from their movies and planned to offer Disney, their distributor, a 10% distribution fee. Disney executives said "Hell NO!" and the two parted ways earlier this year. Their last films together are "The Incredibles," already in theaters, and "Cars," set to come out later next year. Pixar will probably have no problems finding a distributor, but what luck does Disney have with finding a new animation company? Lucky for Disney, they can still rely on their live production movies such as "Pirates of the Caribbean," which is to begin shooting two sequels early next year.

Dreamworks, the other leader in animation, has taken full advantage of this new obsession with 3-D animation. The company has had great success with "Shrek," "Shrek 2," and "Shark Tale." They seem to be sailing through the process of producing hit movies. There is already much anticipation of its upcoming movie, "Madagascar," which will be released this summer.

The biggest hope for 2-D animation "lives in a pineapple under the sea ... SpongeBob Squarepants!" "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie" was released on November 19th. It is expected to do very well at the box office mainly because it already has a huge fan base. Hopefully, SpongeBob will be able to breathe some life into the ailing 2-D animation studios. Even if it does, it still may be safe to say that the era of 2-D animation has come to a close.