Reacting to feedback and suggestions from your cartoon pitch
When it comes to receiving studio feedback, show creators tend to fall into one of three categories:
Stubborn, stretchy, or spineless.
A stubborn artist won't change anything, or feels that their concept is already perfect. They'll earn a reputation of being "hard to work with" and won't get called back.
A spineless pushover eagerly agrees to every suggestion from the executives. And the project suffers. It's obvious when an original idea gets so watered down that it's lost its charm.
Now, the stretchy, or flexible artist a) understands (or seeks to understand) why the note was given, and b) can wisely pick what's worth pushing back on. That person's show has the best shot of getting greenlit.
Now, with that being said, be true to yourself. (I know, I just told you to be flexible, but hear me out.) Know ahead of time what parts of your idea you are willing to change, as well as the parts you are firm on.
Producing commercial animation is a team effort, but it's still your baby. Your name will forever be tied to the show. If you've made it this far into this book, you expect to sell an idea to a big company. You can also expect changes to your concept along the way. The sooner you realize this, the better.
Networks don't invest millions of dollars into an idea and stay silent. You are there to sell the DNA of your idea, not the final execution of it. Remembering this will save you some heartache when your show is a smash hit, but only 70% of your original vision.