Traditional vs Digital

Traditional

Traditional animation is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until the invention of computer animation.  Traditionally animated productions similar to now would start with a storyboard, which allows the animation team to plan the flow of the plot and the composition of the imagery. A soundtrack is then recorded featuring music, sound effects and dialogue performed by the voice actors. Often an animatic would then be created to give the animators and directors work out any timing and script issues. Model sheets of each character were made, to gives looks from a variety of angles and a variety of facial expressions. In the traditional animation process, animators will begin by drawing sequences of animation on sheets of transparent paper often using colour pencils.  The drawings are then transfrerred to a clear cel sheet and are inked & painted. Each of these cels is then stacked in sequencial order and photographed using a special animation camera. Then lastly the photographs sent in for development and the film is created.

An example of a classical film that uses the traditonal animation method is Walt Disney's "The Aristocats" (1970)-

URL- http://www.listal.com/viewimage/4351213

Digital 

Nowadays, most films and cartoons are created using a 100% computer animation process. Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. Computer generated animations are more controllable than other more physically based processes.  To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new image that is similar to it, but advanced slightly in time. For 2D vector animations, the rendering process is the key frame illustration process, while tweened frames are rendered as needed.

An example of a typical Digital animated television series is Pendleton Ward's "Adventure Time"-

URL- http://animatedtv.about.com/od/picturegallerie1/ig/-Adventure-Time--Pictures/Princesses.htm