Abstract: With the advent of digital media processing, non-photorealistic rendering and interactive entertainment techniques, novel approaches are proposed to assist 2D cartoon animation. From the point of view of research methodology, a survey is made in this paper on these computer aided techniques for cartoon production, and the relevant work is summarized into four major types: video-based approach, 2.5D/3D geometry guided, reusing the available art-work and extensions of 3D animation pipelines. The fundamental ideas and key techniques in those aspects are analyzed in detail. We also discussed the future work, and concluded that it might bring a breakthrough for computer assisted 2D cartoon animation if the beyond-2D information, such as 3D geometry, temporal relations, emotions, etc., can be combined with the computer assisted pipeline of 2D cartoon production.