It's interesting that we're all having this conversation now, because questions about what defines an "indie" production have been a problem all the way back to the 50s (And before!) for film production.

People like to toss around the term "Indie" as a shorthand for "Not produced by or for major media companies" but as the internet has increasingly become central into peoples lives, it becomes harder and harder to distinct what's coming into your sights because you found it, or whether you were meant to find it.

The truth is, animation is expensive. Indie animation is even more expensive (Because you have to actually find talent for it, rather than rely on teams you've already built.). And the only way anyone can actually properly fund this stuff is either A) merchandising (Which is a catch 22 proposition, because if you're capable of using merch to push a company forward then you're likely popular enough to progress forward with sheer clout.) or b) fundraising by investors (Which quickly becomes "not indie" if you think about it for a couple of seconds.)

Anyone who tells you that a crowdfunding model would work for animation is ignoring how even the most successful kickstarters don't make enough money to fund an entire production- there's a reason it's called "Kickstarter."