As a digital artist, this question is simple.
It impacted us greatly. We used to use paper to animate simple cartoons, like the all famous Disney's "Skeleton Dance". But ever since digital art was discovered, professionals and hobbyists alike are now able to produce art and animations like "Inside Out" quickly, more efficiently, and all in all, it's just more fun.
It's also been profitable, digital paint tools like Adobe Photoshop and Paint tool Sai are flourishing financially.