Database for Animation Studies

All Documents
Document Type
Order
Keyword Filtering
No documents found.

Ub Iwerks' (Multi)Plain Cinema

While pioneer animator Ub Iwerks has often been praised as a driving force behind the early success of the Walt Disney Company, his independent work has received scant attention. That relative omission from animation history seems curious given two key features of his cartoon work: an emphasis on gags involving protean, transformative effects – a characteristic often linked to avant-garde filmmaking; and his pioneering work on a multiplane camera – a device that would become crucial to a developing realist aesthetic in American animation. This article examines these features to situate his work in terms of American animation's shifting aesthetic in the 1930s. It suggests that we see Iwerks' cartoons as symptomatic of a larger struggle in this period between the avant-garde and an emerging realism, closely linked to the classical narrative mode of live-action cinema, and the relative failure of his films as indicative of an inability to negotiate between these different pulls.

Image Future

Today the techniques of traditional animation, cinematography, and computer graphics are often used in combination to create new hybrid moving image forms. This article discusses this process using the example of a particularly intricate hybrid – the Universal Capture method used in the second and third films of The Matrixtrilogy. Rather than expecting that any of the present ‘pure’ forms will dominate the future of visual and moving image cultures, it is suggested that the future belongs to such hybrids.

Platonic Sex: Perversion and Shôjo Anime (Part One)

Anime abounds in images of ‘nonhuman women’, that is, goddesses, female robots, gynoids, alien women, animal girls, female cyborgs, and many others. This article provides an introduction to problems of gender and genre in relation to the nonhuman woman, followed by an extended discussion of the animated television series Chobits, based on a manga series by the four-woman team CLAMP. In a manner eerily consonant with psychoanalytic theory, Chobits reads problems of media and technology almost exclusively in terms of human desire, in terms of the weird substance of enjoyment. Yet, because the nonhuman woman remains nonhuman, structures of desire are subject to perverse material twists, and Chobits offers a very unusual logic of suture. The nonhuman woman becomes the catalyst for ways of looking that appear to bypass relations with Others altogether, promising the production of entirely new worlds at some elemental level of perception.

Critique of the New Historical Landscape of South Korean Animation

This article introduces and critically engages with the animated films produced in the geopolitical reality of South Korea from the colonial period under Japanese occupation to the present, and the animation-related phenomena they caused. In the past, studies of South Korean animation have tended to describe it merely in terms of a production factory on the international scene of animation. However, the history of South Korean animation, many parts of which have been forgotten or not recorded, is as extensive as that of South Korea itself. In exploring the historical and political contexts of South Korean animation in chronological order, the aim is not to present a grand narrative of national cinema. Rather, the article hopes to shed some light on the complex web of animation production, aesthetic expression and South Korean ideologies and political situations.

Comics and the Critique of Chronophotography, or ‘He Never Knew When It Was Coming!’

In the wake of Muybridge's and Marey's experiments in recording movement, comics quickly began to emphasize the depiction of continuous movement. Chronophotography mapped the kinetic body onto the regulated spaces of industrial culture: it was a means of revealing the body and a tool for its containment and control. Comics by Wilhelm Busch, Steinlen, Winsor McCay and others, however, mimic the fixed viewpoints and measured progress of chronophotography, but caricature the instrumental reason that supplied its motivation. Each episode of Winsor McCay's Little Sammy Sneeze, for example, offered systematic and meticulous time–motion breakdowns of everyday activities, but the rhythm of efficient motion is subverted by the mighty sneeze that turns all to chaos. With an emphasis on the pioneering comics and animation work of McCay, this article explores the peculiar, parodic counter-logics that mark an oasis of disorder in a time of insistent regulation.

The Cathedral Is Alive: Animating Biomimetic Architecture

By analyzing The Cathedral as an animation with implications for genetic architecture and strategies for design-biomimetics, this article argues (with experimental illustrations) for the use of animation in architectural research that is consistent with software visualization and fully capable of contributing to the design-thinking process. Repudiating the use of animation as merely a medium for architectural presentation and affirming the coupling of animation and design-biomimetics, Dollens considers how animation can stimulate and develop architectural ideas, forms, and design through the digital revisualization of natural elements evolving from plants, shells, and skeletons.

Re-Animating Space

Animation has the capacity to re-invigorate how we think about cinematic space. Cinematic space is able to represent and be expressive, and its place in generating narrative meaning is taken to be central to cinema. This, however, overlooks another aspect of space, one associated with intensive spatial experience and other kinds of transformation. As it is rare for live-action images to show space in the process of change, this aspect is not often addressed in the cinema. By contrast, in many animations, space is caught in the act of changing, making it especially relevant to thinking about experiences of spatial transformation. The emphasis in this article is on exploring animation as a revitalization of cinematic space. By paying close attention to both the form and content of Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones, 1953), The Street (Caroline Leaf, 1976), The Metamorphosis of Mr Samsa (Caroline Leafs, 1977), Flatworld (Daniel Greaves, 1997) and Nocturna Artificialia (Brothers Quay, 1979) the author shows how animation re-animates space. To generate this position she formulates a view of space as undergoing processes of reverberation: existing beyond the location of events, fluid and marked by heterogeneity, shifting between familiarity and uncertainty, and finally, as chaotic and potentially unknowable.

All Aboard The Polar Express: A ‘Playful’ Change of Address in the Computer-Generated Blockbuster

Following Tom Gunning’s assertion that each change in film history implies a change in its address to the spectator, this article closely analyses The Polar Express (Robert Zemeckis, 2004) in order to interrogate what kinds of changes are at stake for the contemporary spectator of the wholly computer-generated blockbuster. The article also considers the extent to which the immersive, video game-like visual aesthetic and mode of address present in The Polar Express strive to naturalize viewer relations with digital spaces and characters such as those inherent to both computer-generated films and the ‘invisible’ virtual realm of cyberspace. Finally, the article argues that The Polar Express functions as a compelling historical document of an era when cinema and video games have never been more intertwined in terms of aesthetics, character construction, and narrative, and raises compelling questions about whether video games have begun to exert the type of formative influence upon cinema that cinema previously exerted on video games.

From Shadow Citizens to Teflon Stars: Reception of the Transfiguring Effects of New Moving Image Technologies

This article examines and compares a couple of moments of fleeting strangeness punctuating the history of the cultural reception of moving image technologies. Maxim Gorky read the early cinematographic image in terms of ‘cursed grey shadows’ (1896), while recent reviewers of Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) have rendered the film’s computer-generated cast as cadavers, dummies, dolls and silicon-skinned mannequins. This article argues that it is not merely the image’s unfamiliar and new aesthetics that evoke the uncanny. Rather the image is received within a cultural framework where its perceived strangeness speaks allegorically of what it means to be ‘human’ at that historical moment.

Immobile Sections and Trans-Series Movement: Astroboy and the Emergence of Anime

This article contrasts the different economies of motion found in cinema and animation, and explores the particular economy of movement and libidinal investment that accompanies Japanese anime, paying close attention to the first anime TV series, Astroboy (Tetsuwan Atomu). Metz and Lyotard argue that cinema generates an impression of reality through its particular economy of motion. Cel animation, in contrast, relies on a different economy of motion. This is especially the case in the specific kind of limited animation found in Japanese anime. This article focuses on the specificities of this kind of animated movement (particularly its emphasis on stillness), and the way Astroboy relied on commodity serialization to generate a particularly immersive image environment - one that set the stage for what is now known as ‘anime’.

‘We’re Okay with Fake’: Cybercinematography and the Spectre of Virtual Actors in S1MØNE

This article considers Andrew Niccol’s comedic cyberpunk film S1MØNE, a story about the development of computer-generated animated actors. When a has-been Hollywood director secretly uploads a digital actress to save his career, passing her off as real, fans fall for the trick and delight in the newest ‘It girl’. Soon the synthespian’s celebrity eclipses the director’s fame, yet he finds it impossibly difficult to delete the program and get the genie back into the bottle. Niccol’s film is part cinematic fable and part philosophical inquiry into how the use of virtual actors (‘vactors’) in Hollywood cinema will affect filmmakers, actors and audiences.

Some Thoughts on Practice-Theory Relationships in Animation Studies

The article examines theory-practice relationships in the field of Animation Studies via three conceptual frameworks: legitimate peripheral participation, critical practice and recontextualization. The overarching argument is that Animation Studies must be understood in an ‘interdisciplinary’ way, and that means evaluating how different communities of practice work with similar or related terms. The article draws upon email discussion group data as a way of beginning to map the discourses used by people working within the field of Animation Studies. The perceived role of technology is given specific attention, particularly the ways it can be seen to be straitjacketing the development of a truly critical Animation Studies community - one that attends to theory and practice in equal measure.

Platonic Sex: Perversion and Shôjo Anime (Part Two)

Carrying on from part one published in the July 2006 issue of animation: an interdisciplinary journal, part two continues its exploration of the animated series Chobitswith an eye to how it reads problems of media and technology almost exclusively in terms of human desire, much as psychoanalytic theory reads technology in terms of the weird substance of enjoyment. Part two takes up an analysis of partial objects and perversion in order to show how the materiality of manga and anime as media do not entirely disappear but haunt the dynamics of sexual enjoyment. Materiality returns in an evocation of ‘full blankness’ associated with the white manga page or transparent celluloid sheet, which allows Chobits to pervert the logic of suture and the associated dynamics of the male gaze. The nonhuman woman becomes the catalyst for ways of looking that appear to bypass relations with Others altogether, promising the production of entirely new worlds at some elemental level of perception.

When Pigs Fly: Anime, Auteurism, and Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso

This article addresses Western views of the Japanese animation form known as ‘anime’ through an analysis of a lesser-known film by one of the most important anime filmmakers, Hayao Miyazaki. In seeking to build what scholar Thomas Lamarre refers to as a ‘relational’ understanding of anime, we address Miyazaki’s film Porco Rosso through the lens of film studies concepts of auteur theory, and also in relation to the medium of animation. In a range of aspects, from visual approach to its deeper themes, Miyazaki’s work is found to draw on a distinctive set of strategies that might be described as ‘creative traditionalism’. Using Porco Rosso as a case study, our broader argument is that anime, as a form of postmodern popular culture, can be best understood in the West through a triangulation of different approaches that balance issues of form, medium, cultural context, and individual creators.

The Animated Resurrection of the Legend of the White Snake in Japan

This article analyses and elucidates the factors involved in the animated reappearance of the Legend of the White Snake in Japan in the 1950s. Driven by the multiple demands of a new post-Second World War era in East and Southeast Asia, where the business of making new images was more urgent, profitable and competitive than ever before, the tale served both micro and macro purposes. Since the legendary tale was well known in the Chinese-speaking world and was initially a joint film project between Japan and Hong Kong, one would have expected the producers (Toei Animation Studio) to envisage the animated tale as primarily for Chinese audiences. However, the Japanese producers had, or later discovered, a wider hidden agenda in making the film that promised more lucrative and geopolitical rewards. Using the concept of ‘performativity’, this article interprets the course of the animated performance within several dimensions, and traces the history of the foundational role of Toei Animation Studio and its dream-making enterprise.

Bones of Contention: Thoughts on the Study of Animation

Within the academy, animation is still a relatively under-studied subject field - though, clearly, this is beginning to change. This article is a polemical response to the nascent field of animation studies. It explores some implications of the marginalization of animation and confronts what it views as significant obstacles (and cul-de-sacs) with respect to the progress and consolidation of the subject as a legitimate field of scholarship. An overall approach is suggested which - in certain respects - is at odds with what has been undertaken in the field in the past and with what is professed as legitimate and epistemologically productive in the present.

_grau – an organic experimental film

The experimental film _grau (Robert Seidel, 10:01 min, Germany 2004) deals with personal issues on a visually abstracted level. It establishes a system of interwoven complexity born out of memories, scientific visualization and real data to create a modernized version of a tableau vivant, dealing with surreal and abstract images that come alive. The film is part of ongoing research to create organic imagery that is inspired by nature, art and technology. The ideas and inspirations of the film are partly disclosed, as the works are sometimes perceived as ‘eye candy’ or some kind of screen saver: somewhat related to the classic problem of modern art when it is often claimed that abstract paintings could just as easily be created by children. It is important to recognize that no technique is in itself predestined to capture an emotional experience, rather it is the artist’s vision that shapes the experience to become more than just pretty pictures.

Romancing the Rotoscope: Self-Reflexivity and the Reality Effect in the Animations of Jeff Scher

In this article, the author considers the experimental animations of Jeff Scher in relation to the current obsessive quest for a total `reality effect' in much contemporary commercial computer animation. While Scher does not use a computer to create his works, he does extensively use a rotoscope, a device with a long and complex connection with the construction of illusionistic effects in animation. The author discusses Scher's unusual appropriation of rotoscoping techniques, his links with certain historical tendencies in avant-garde cinema, his interest in the relationship between the individual frame and the creation of movement in animation, and his reflexive engagement with fundamental principles of cognitive and visual perception.

Video Anekdot: Auteurs and Voyeurs of Russian Flash Animation

In this article, the author addresses the issue of flash animation and humour in computer-mediated communication. He traces Russian national graphic traditions of humour and publicity and provides historical insight into the aesthetics of flash animation. He also suggests a notion of the video anekdot, a form of flash animation that relies on the tradition of oral humorous performances that proliferated in the USSR as an attempt to overcome state censorship. With the abolishing of censorship, the anekdot continues to exist on the internet in the form of short flash animation films. The author analyses new structures of the anekdot and its relation to the previous forms of humorous and satirical art (lubok, the Soviet poster and caricature). Reflecting on the dominating themes and narrative structures of the video anekdot, he concludes with general remarks on transformations in Russian culture in regard to its traditions of oral performance and visual representations.

The Disappearance of Disney Animated Propaganda: A Globalization Perspective

This article examines Disney animated propaganda of the 1940s from the perspective of globalization literature, media studies, sociology and communication studies. Using examples from September 11 and the War in Iraq, the author shows how changes in media corporations, technologies and politics have limited the use of animated propaganda since the Second World War. One of the factors influencing this change is the absence of a mass audience caused by the fragmentation and proliferation of media from cinema to television to the internet. In addition, electronic communication is facilitating a more democratic exchange of information, thus reducing the influence of nation-states over their citizens. Animated propaganda exists today in other forms such as simulations on news broadcasts and internet caricatures, and adopts a more grass-roots approach on mainstream websites and cable television channels.

Tarantino the Cartoonist

In cinema it is not uncommon to see the interrelation of animation and live action but, despite this, the ascription of characteristics of one medium onto the other has been largely one-dimensional: live action upon animation. The films of Quentin Tarantino, however, illustrate an attribution of a cartoon-like aesthetic in live-action sequences, which the author subsequently terms cartoonism'.Cartoonism' and its development have been highlighted in Tarantino's work, showing his continual desire to realize this aesthetic in his own work whilst, ironically, only fully achieving this aesthetic in another's film. The conclusions are illuminating with respect to Tarantino's filmic politics and provide a potential mode of inquiry within film theory.

Vanishing Point: Spatial Composition and the Virtual Camera

This article examines new aesthetic modes of cinematic space. Specifically, the author examines the `virtual camera' (in practical and technical terms derived from animation born of computer-generated 3D graphics, layer-based motion graphics and most distinctly from computer and video gaming) as a construct for spatial composition, scenic depiction and viewer immersion that possesses distinct and unique qualities of engagement. The article argues that under the influence of the virtual camera, both a hybridized and re-mediated means of moving-image acquisition, cinema aesthetics are shifting; from the duopoly of composition in the frame and the staging for the camera, to a new mode entailing a composition of space and a staging of the camera. This article also examines the virtual camera in the framework of three key, oppositional, cinematic animation and narrative concepts -- diegetic positioning; mediated and unmediated engagement; and diegesis and mimesis in narrative and perspective condition. This examination also scrutinizes the impact of the virtual camera on the production process and conceptual assembly of cinematic media.

The Changing Space of Animation: Disney's Hybrid Films of the 1940s

In the early 1940s, Disney animation underwent a critical reassessment, one in which commentators who had previously praised Disney's efforts, particularly for the studio's realistic advances, began to emphasize how, in its efforts at realism, Disney had moved away from, even betrayed animation's avant-garde possibilities. That seeming `break' with animation's subversive spirit, however, was hardly as definitive or deliberate as many critics claimed. This article examines Disney's hybrid animation efforts of the 1940s, particularly films like The Three Caballeros (1945), Song of the South (1946), and Fun and Fancy Free (1947), in light of the tension between animation's realistic and subversive possibilities. In these films, the author suggests, we can see the Disney studio's interest in recouping something of the modernist attitude with which it had earlier been associated, or at least an effort at finding some accommodation between what Disney had been and what it was becoming as it came to dominate the American animation industry.

Concrete Animation

This article was originally delivered as an illustrated lecture at the 2007 Pervasive Animation' symposium at Tate Modern, London, 2--4 March 2007. My goal was to describe a category of animation practice emerging today and to compare its various tendencies with my experience making films, books, and installations. I have attempted to balance my personal art history with an analysis of larger issues in animation.Concrete animation' refers to work that focuses primarily on materiality and process. It has a precedence in contemporary art practice; it has one foot in the distant, pre-cinema past, and one foot on a path leading to a future of digital and manual animation.

Explosive, Expulsive, Extraordinary: The Dimensional Excess of Animated Bodies

Animation's excursions into the impossible allow bodies to erupt and explode, fly and roar. While the histories of animation and special effects cinema are deeply linked in this regard, the sensation of viewing the physically impossible in animation has its own visual and cultural idiosyncrasies. The experience of watching bones splinter to thrash metal refuses psychology's primacy and transforms it into a kind of pure ornament. This article proposes a specific symbolic discourse of violence-animated texts, and more specifically anime via the European and Australasian releases of Manga Entertainment.

Character Animation and the Embodied Mind—Brain

This interdisciplinary investigation of aspects of 3D character animation synthesizes relevant research findings from diverse perspectives, including neuroscience, narratology, robotics, anthropology, cognitive psychology and philosophy of mind, and considers how they might be integrated as theory for animators and animation studies. The article focuses on the creative nature of character conception and creation in a 3D animated environment and on aspects of character -- narrative and style, in particular. It examines how findings from interdisciplinary research on the embodied mind--brain, including neuroscientific research with regard to mentalizing and simulation theory, can inform the creative animation process and might be gainfully synthesized in an animation studies context to inform both pedagogy and creative practice.

Observations on the History and Uses of Animation Occasioned by the Exhibition Eyes, Lies and Illusions Selected from Works in the Werner Nekes Collection

The exhibition Eyes, Lies and Illusions held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne and the Hayward Gallery in London was a selection from the 20,000 optical toys, scientific instruments, antiquarian books and visual entertainments in the collection of Werner Nekes, the German experimental film maker. This article begins with a consideration of the historical trajectory of belief in the afterlife in relation to animation', the imputation of a soul to anything that appeared to move itself. The second section suggests that animation techniques bear witness to the persistence of atavistic beliefs in modernity.The third addresses the proximity of technology and magic in animation, and proposes a more extended use of the termanimation'.

Learning from the Golden Age of Czechoslovak Animation: The Past as the Key to Unlocking Contemporary Issues

Can Czech animators resurrect the Golden Age of Czech animation or will they succumb to the changes of an open market economy? The post-1989 privatization of animation studios and subsequent withdrawal of government funding are commonly considered as one of the most significant factors contributing to the current decline of Czech animated films. This article argues that a number of additional factors associated with the post-1989 change of political regime have impacted on Czech animation production. These factors include: (1) the change of themes due to the removal of the communist regime as the common antagonist; (2) the fragmentation of the Czech audience due to the importation of animated films from the west and new methods of distributing content; and (3) economic censorship pressuring artists and producers to ensure financial success. In examining the history of the Czech animation industry during and after the communist regime, the authors present an outline of the conditions of the Prague Spring in 1968, during which the Czech animated films further elevated their international reputation and experienced exponential growth. In contrast to these conditions, this article highlights the contemporary issues that are affecting Czech animation studios today.

From the `Cinematic' to the `Anime-ic': Issues of Movement in Anime

This article explores the way that movement is formally depicted in anime. Drawing on Thomas Lamarre's concepts of the cinematic' and theanime-ic', the article interrogates further the differences in movement and action in anime from traditional filmic form. While often considered in terms of flatness', anime offers spectacle, character development and, ironically, depth through the very form of movement put to use in such texts. The article questions whether the modes of address at work in anime are unique to this form of animation. Taking into account how the termscinematic' and `anime-ic' can be understood (and by extension the cinematic and animatic apparatus), the article also begins to explore how viewers might identify with such images.

Star-Spangled Ghibli: Star Voices in the American Versions of Hayao Miyazaki's Films

This article offers an examination of the use of American stars in re-voicing a set of Japanese animated texts. The author argues that a new industrial, contextual and textual understanding of stardom is required to penetrate the dense network of meanings attached to star voices in animation. Furthermore, she utilizes a mixed textual and contextual approach to several of Studio Ghibli's American DVD releases to consider the markets for and meanings of anime in America. In so doing this article represents an intervention into a range of academic debates around the nature of contemporary stardom and the significance of anime in America.

Nervous Light Planes

Electronic streams appear to be most illuminating when they fail or break down. At these moments, they make apparent our desire of wanting to keep continuity, to experience things uninterruptedly. In the contemporary artistic environment marked by electronic pulses and lightscapes, the flickering screen, with its conflicting modes of engagement, provides the thinking of a limit and erasure. Philippe Parreno's analogue line animation What Do You Believe, Your Eyes or My Words? Speaking Drawing: . . . (2007) inhabits such a corruptive site of no single continuing line' where the various time structures inherent to the work resist to create unity, both in terms of the work's spatiality and its relation to our sense of time. In Semiconductor's digital piece Inaudible Cities: Part One (2002) the flickering strips the image of the failed electronic stream, its supposedly essential element. The animated cityscape presents us with yet another kind of electronic light movement co-dependent on the sonic pressures of an electrical storm. What is expressed is the process of image-forming itself, the image's potential for self-variation which is linked to imagination and Brian Massumi'svagueness of the virtual'. Referring to notions such as Gilles Deleuze's point flicker' or Massumi'simaginative and non-systemic', the article addresses the sensation of flickering as an experience of spacing and rupturing inherent to animation. Not only does this sensation propose animation as an often paradoxical work, but, proposing a particular site its image can occupy, it allows us to think of the animated image as an erasure itself, with its potential of becoming art.

The Many Faces of Internationalization in Japanese Anime

This article explores the internationalization of Japanese anime (animation) in an effort to help explain the cultural politics behind this popular cultural product. The internationalization of anime includes the incorporation of de-Japanized elements into anime's background, context, character design, and narrative organization. A theoretical framework for understanding anime's internationalization is developed, proposing that there are at least three kinds of cultural politics working behind anime's international success: one, de-politicized internationalization, which primarily serves as a commercial tactic to attract international audiences; two, Occidentalized internationalization, which satiates a nationalistic sentiment; three, self-Orientalized internationalization, which reveals a cultural desire to establish Japan as an ersatz Western country in Asia.

Hallucinatory Vision and the Blurring of the Subject in Jeremy Blake's `Time-Based Paintings'

From the turn of the 21st century until his death in 200 Jeremy Blake worked at the convergence of animation, digital technology and painting, synthesizing them through the use of cinematic strategies. This article discusses the debt Blake's early abstract works owe to the experimental animated films of the Visual Music artists and American post-war Color Field painters. During this period, Blake applied his exceptional facility with emerging animation software to sequential figure/ground abstractions based on literary narrative structures. Subsequently, Blake shifted from `time-based painting' to richly textured non-narrative biographical sketches created in collaboration with maverick protagonists in contemporary popular music. The visuality of Blake's hallucinatory moving images intensified emotionally as new digital software became available. The deep hybridity of his visual compositions, transmitted through constant fades and overlays of photo-based images and abstracted color patches, doodles and animation characters, create a richly textured bridge between subjective consciousness and the world of appearances.

`Yeah Looks Like It N'All . . .': The `Live Action' Universe and Abridged Figurative Design and Computer Animation within Modern Toss

This article will discuss formal aspects of the Channel Four TV show Modern Toss. Through a minimalism in image and dialogue it looks at how a range of characters negotiate miniature social rebellions. What is of interest here is the highly distinctive approach to animation form that utilizes deliberately abstracted figurative designs framed in collusion with previously filmed backgrounds and actors. This specific approach of placing Flash computer figures within an agreed universe accesses, firstly, a sense of `distance' that is pertinent to the show's humorous register. Secondly, this complements the fatalism inherent within the narratives themselves and then, lastly, this process allies the show to the original graphic/web cartoon sources in service of a signature aesthetic endemic to this concept.

The Line and the Animorph or `Travel Is More than Just A to B'

One of the elements that separates live-action, photoreal cinema from animation is the line, a conceptual meta-object that has no existence other than as an idea or a graphic representation. Lines are not essential to photoreal cinema. Using five animated television advertisements for Hilton Hotels made by German animator Raimund Krumme, the essay raises some of the paradoxes inherent in the single, two-dimensional, animated graphic line as both an abstract geometric construct and an eccentric visualization of energy and entropy. What Krumme's animations emphasize (even if in the service of an advertising campaign) is that, never a `thing', the line in motion intends and marks its own differánce and is always more lived and contingent than its geometry would suggest.

The Politics of Media in Stan Vanderbeek's Poemfields

This article provides a context for understanding the series of computer-animated films -- Poemfields -- that Vanderbeek made at Bell Labs between 1966 and 1969, using the first moving image programming language, Bflix, invented by Bell computer scientist, Ken Knowlton. Through an analysis of these works, the author shows how Vanderbeek's politics were deeply and consciously socialist in orientation, how he aimed at nothing less than changing social consciousness through a radical conception of the then emerging information and communication technologies, and how computerized animation as it was emerging at that moment was central to both of these aims.

Extracinematic Animation: Gregory Barsamian in Conversation with Suzanne Buchan

Gregory Barsamian's strobe-lit kinetic sculptures create an experience that places observers in a perceptual paradox that oscillates between the illusion of animated cinema and the phenomenal presence of real objects that share the viewer's physical presence in space and time. The conversation reveals Barsamian's working methods, his aesthetic and philosophical influences and intentions and his artistic relationship with animated illusion.

Line and Colour in The Band Concert

This article addresses the techniques and materials used in the production of The Band Concert (1935), a seven-minute Technicolor Mickey Mouse cartoon. An investigation of the standardization of drawing and line in the context of the histories of technical drawing and the industrialization of animation is followed by a description of the use of colour, particularly of the relation between the inks used on the cels and the dyes used in film prints at the time. The author asks whether it is possible to articulate a materialist theory of the aesthetic, ethical and political meanings of technique and technology without losing sight of the techniques and technologies themselves.

In Memory of Meishu Film: Catachresis and Metaphor in Theorizing Chinese Animation

This article looks at historical catachresis and cultural metaphor in producing and theorizing Chinese meishu (fine arts) film in relation to the socialist, artistic discourses of the ethnic/national style. By investigating some of these issues raised by the Chinese School, the author explores the conceptualization and constitution of meishu film as a powerful metaphor for producing nationalist identity. This identity brings visual arts and the socialist nation-state discourses into a shared space to recreate Chinese aesthetics in animation filmmaking. The author argues that the Chinese meishu film, identified as a unique, nationalized cinematic form in Chinese visual history, conceptualizes and mediates the national/ethnic style, as well as constituting a discourse-based aesthetic school that has helped it survive within socialist culture and politics.

Technologies of Perception: Miyazaki in Theory and Practice

The current Western fascination with Japanese animation can be understood in relation to the experience of the digital in cultural production that opens new avenues of understanding about the self-as-subject. Visualization to engage with the image in interactive, virtual environments involves relinquishing control to recognize the individual as emerging through the unique pattern of their relationships, both human and non-human. This reality is articulated in Eastern philosophical notions of interrelatedness and pre-reflective thinking, what Marshall McLuhan called `comprehensive awareness'. The Japanese animator Miyazaki Hayao draws on a Zen-Shinto religious imaginary to empower the individual to relinquish the self. As an alternative politics to the moral confusion of the post-modern age, his practice demonstrates that Walter Benjamin's gamble with cinema is in play.

The Spiritual—Functional Loop: Animation Redefined in the Digital Age

Can animation bring life to the computer? Can the computer take animation to a new horizon extending from cinema and visual art? This article starts with a scrutiny of the conventional definition of animation and its connection to the continuum of liveliness, followed by an examination of the two furthest points on that scale: lively movement, which is spiritual; and inorganic movement, which is functional. The author shows that, in the digital age, movement of various degrees of liveliness can be significant and meaningful through a wide array of motor--sensory functions. This brings about a new notion of materiality, which constructs an innovative meaning of animation. The author then argues that, when combined with the unique functions of the computer, animation can find a shortcut between the two extremes of liveliness: spirituality and functionality. Therefore, the field of animation could benefit from an expansion of its digital attributes. Finally, the author discusses a corpus of artefacts created in different historical periods and different media that exemplify the spiritual--functional loop.

Animated Expressions: Expressive Style in 3D Computer Graphic Narrative Animation

The development of 3D animation systems has been driven primarily by a hyper-realist ethos, and 3D computer graphic (CG) features have broadly complied with this agenda. As a counterpoint to this trend, some researchers, technologists and animation artists have explored the possibility of creating more expressive narrative output from 3D animation environments. This article explores 3D animation aesthetics, technology and culture in this context. Synthesizing research in CG, neuroesthetics, art history, semiotics, psychology and embodied approaches to cognitive science, the nature of naturalistic vis-avis expressive visual styles is analysed, with particular regard to expressive communication and cues for emotional engagement. Two foundations of naturalistic 3D CG, single-point perspective and photorealistic rendering, are explored in terms of expressive potential, and the conclusion considers the future for an expressive aesthetics in 3D CG animation.

Soft Body Dynamics After 9/11

Endowing buildings with the capacity for movement and transformation, animated architecture represents the expansion of animation from cinematic and televisual space to real-space environments. A key example of animation in architecture is Oosterhuis.nl's proposal for a new World Trade Center. In line with similar work by fellow Dutch firm NOX, Oosterhuis.nl's Ground Zero embraces animation through references to mobility, liveliness and metamorphosis. It points to the prominence of animated form in contemporary design practice and the ubiquitous use of animation software in the process of architectural design. At the same time, Ground Zero reveals post-9/11 anxieties surrounding the soft and tender flesh of the object world. The author's analysis of Ground Zero's discursive production of life maps crucial changes in our spatial imagination and the politics of form.

Beowulf: The Digital Monster Movie

Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf (2007) is the latest film made using motion capture technology, a film that tells the story of a hero's quest to defeat a series of monsters.This article examines not only the thematic role of monstrosity in the film, but also the way in which the film's very construction, through motion capture and CGI, can be understood as monstrous. That is, after Deleuze's Cinema 2: The Time Image (1989[1985]), Beowulf can be understood as typifying a cinema that has seen a shift from montage to montrage, a cinema that shows. Analysing the aesthetics of monstrosity in Beowulf, the author also considers how the film's motion capture synthespian performances can be understood as comic through Henri Bergson's (1912[1900]) theory of laughter, which suggests that humans laugh at mechanized human beings.

What Race Do They Represent and Does Mine Have Anything to Do with It? Perceived Racial Categories of Anime Characters

Is the intended race of anime characters distinguishable because of their facial features or are they too international' to tell? This study addressed this question empirically by comparing the intended racial categories of static frontal portraits of 341 anime characters randomly selected from anime produced between 1958 and 2005 with the perceptions of 1,046 raters. Results showed that, although the race of more than half of the anime characters was originally designed to be Asian and only a small fraction were intended to be Caucasian, many were perceived as Caucasian by the largely Caucasian raters. Response patterns also indicatedOwn Race Projection (ORP)', i.e. perceivers frequently perceived anime characters to be of their own racial group. Implications for anime's international dissemination are discussed.

Borderline Animation

As an artist and filmmaker working in what is notion-ally called animation', Thorsten Fleisch works at intersections of art, science and technology. His works belong to a genre of Structural--Materialist film as well as being highly self-reflexive investigations into the minute workings of natural phenomena. In this article, Fleisch reveals some of the underlying ideas and concepts of his films as well as the techniques involved in creating them. Fleisch has been making experimental films for more than a decade now; most of them fall under the general rubric ofanimation' but their production processes and techniques belie an unusual complexity of source materials, concepts and techniques. These processes are very important to the result as Fleisch tries to find unusual ways to generate images. Fleisch's work is notable for its aesthetic and technically masterful treatment of organic materials (blood, skin, ashes) and scientific phenomena (fractals, crystals, voltage). This richly illustrated article contains many colourful details about the following films: K.I.L.L. -- Kinetic Image Laboratory/Lobotomy (1998), Bloodlust (1998), Silver Screen (2000), Skinflick (2002), Gestalt (2003), Friendly Fire (2003), Kosmos (2004) and Energie! (2007).

The Frenzy of the Visible in Comic Book Worlds

This article argues that the comic book form is anything but static. The panels that litter its pages are riddled with a dynamism and motion that presents its own unique articulation of time and space. Some of the narrative action represented within a comic book panel can ‘freeze’ time, but other panels — while remaining visually static as still images on a page — open up complex depictions of time and space that create modes of perception that are particular to comics. The comic represents the animated flux of time and space through stasis.

The Fastest Man Alive: Stasis and Speed in Contemporary Superhero Comics

In the world of the superhero, action is everything. Focusing on DC Comic’s ‘Fastest Man Alive’, the Flash, this article examines the techniques used by comic book artists to animate the seemingly static images of superhero adventures. Taking its cue from superheroes’ success as the stars of recent action cinema, it takes cinematic theories of action and applies them to the comic page. The frozen poses of superhero splash-pages refute the supposed opposition of narrative and spectacle, while also bestowing perceptual mastery onto the reader. Superhero comics also use their elastic temporality — made possible by the peculiar spatial and temporal aspects of sequential art — for hyperbolic representations of the impossible. The Flash’s heroic feats are rendered through conceptual mechanisms for expressing motion existing within, and between, the panels.

Movements within Movements: Following the Line in Animation and Comic Books

Animation and comic books share a common field in that both are composed of images sequenced in time: one is driven mechanically and electronically in projection, and the other by the peripatetic and wilful actions of the reader. However, the single comic book panel has its own duration which is co- ordinated both by the exigencies of the narrative and the graphic properties of the two-dimensional pictorial plane. The gestural movement of the artist is implied in each line and it is this movement that presents itself as a ground for understanding movement in both comic books and two-dimensional drawn animation. It is movement that is retained in the animated figure, in the form of the outline, but also runs tangentially in the articulation of both reading movement and artistic gesture.

Derrida, Deleuze and a Duck: The Movement of the Circulating Differential in Comic Book Analysis

The search for the ‘secrets between the panels’ in the ‘strange and wonderful’ medium of the comic book certainly evokes the appeal of a narrative adventure — a quest to find a hidden treasure in an unknown realm — but when comic book analysis is consumed by the search to locate a hidden ‘x’ that ‘marks the spot’ of a concealed presence in the medium, does the logocentric form the academic treasure hunt prevent the journey from being anything other than a linear quest progressing towards a concealed presence? In this article, the author applies Deleuze’s extra-structural object = x to the structuring of sense in comic book analysis; she submits this third thing to the ‘irreducible difference’ of Derridean and Deleuzian thought and proposes an alternate reading of the medium, one which attempts to avoid closure through an aporetic reading of the formal structure.

Dryden Goodwin in Conversation with Barnaby Dicker

Dryden Goodwin’s frame-based films both challenge and reaffirm the principles and conventions of animation. A fundamental component of his wider artistic project, this form of filmmaking is intertwined with his other concerns, which include drawing, portraiture and notions of ‘series’. In this interview, Barnaby Dicker invites Goodwin to discuss, from a number of perspectives, his approach to frame-based cinematography and how it relates to his work in general. Dicker finds this a rich and important but neglected topic in animation studies; a problem the present interview aims to contribute to correcting. The interviewer is particularly interested in the links between Goodwin’s work and 19th-century chronophotography, which he proposes is more usefully applicable here as photochronography — Etienne-Jules Marey’s original term for the process. A further link is drawn between the ‘documentary’ aspects of Goodwin’s art and Jean-Louis Comolli’s theory of direct cinema. Although the two would seem to be poles apart, the interviewer finds a number of Comolli’s remarks exemplified through Goodwin’s approach. Other themes running through the interview include the role of film within gallery and installation contexts and the relationships between classical and contemporary art practices and technologies.

The Politics of Powerpuff: Putting the ‘Girl’ into ‘Girl Power’

This article examines the politics of The Powerpuff Girls. It situates the series' three super-powered heroines within the 1990s popular discourse of Girl Power', presenting empowered images of young femininity. The narrative premise of child characters triumphing over adults also engages with a generational politics with some precedence in television for children. However, an assessment of the limitations of the politics of this Girl Power' series reveals the marginalization and vilification of certain identity formations outside the white middle-class heterosexual girlhood represented by the show's protagonists.

Pure Sensations? From Abstract Film to Digital Images

This article is a study of film as sensation'. It provides a new approach to abstract cinema practices and demonstrates that they include the idea of pure sensation'. Therefore, abstract cinema should not be interpreted as purely structural and conceptual. The author argues that film as sensation' has been part of the essence of cinema since the very beginning. The argument proceeds from a brief rewriting of the history of abstract cinema with a view to demonstrating how film as sensation' is present in the essential moments of cinema's history. Furthermore, it is argued that this concept of film as sensation' does not correspond to an idea of cinema or visual effects as pure entertainment' but should be understood as critical rupture'. This idea of critical rupture' finds its theoretical justification in the concept of perceptive shock' or perceptive trauma' from which Walter Benjamin justified the aesthetic intentions of the new-born art.

Violence, Chases and the Construction of Bodies in American and Soviet Animated Series

This article explores the work of violence in animated films. The economic and social contexts of animated film production (of the USA and the USSR) are connected to the construction and dynamics of characters' bodies. By analysing animated chase series, the author suggests that violence that results in the fluidity and changeability of animated bodies can be regarded as a manifestation of an intrinsic feature of animated film, similar in function to what Sergei Eisenstein called plasmaticness'. This feature disappears from animated films when animated characters become humanized.

Heavy as a Feather: On Agnieszka Woznicka’s Birdy, Object Animation and the Moral Gravity of Things

Digital technology now defines our representational order. Paradoxically, digital hegemony creates new conditions for the representation of materiality through the loss of the photographic index. Object animation is especially well able to stage this emerging conception of materiality. Woznicka's object animation film Birdy creates an allegory of materiality in addition to representing it. The film foregrounds its main character's project, the construction of wings, and the ethical implications of treating materials as mere resource for human use. Elements of the narrative structure and the camera work give the materials used in the character's project a moral standing in the film, which draws audience and filmmaker, as well as the character, into an ethical situation which is significant to our shared moment in the digital era.

A Film of One’s Own: The Animated Self-Portraits of Young Contemporary Female Animators

This article analyses animated self-portraits created by contemporary young and emerging women in animation, and elucidates significant differences between this new generation of women animators and previous ones. Through their animated self-portraits, the animatrices from previous decades explored their own identity as women and artists, developing new discourses and models for a subgenre that existed from the early days of cinema animation. But the animated female self-portrayal of the new generation comes closer to documentary and has more universal concerns, appealing to a wider audience and reaching theatrical distribution; Marjane Satrapi's feature-length animation film Persepolis (2007) exemplifies this and is a focus of the article.

Raimund Krumme — Play for Lines and Figures: An Animated Film Exhibition

The Raimund Krumme -- Play for Lines and Figures exhibition, organised by the German Institute for Animated Film (DIAF) and held in the Dresden Technical Museum from April to September 2009, showed artistic work by the German animated film director and author, Raimund Krumme. An important starting point for his film work is his graphic brainstorming sessions -- scribblings, studies of movements, collages -- during which he visualises ideas and emotions without words. The article provides an insight into the preparatory work for the exhibition that focused especially on his creative artistic processes through to the final films and also analysed the unique way in which Raimund Krumme animates space. Central aspects of the exhibition concept, such as the thematic criteria, the selection and arrangement of the exhibits as well as the presentation form of the exhibits and the moving images, are explained in detail. In doing so, the author deals with various considerations which arise with regard to both the uniqueness of an exhibition about animated film and the possibilities this provides.

Strategic Canonization and the Audio-Vision-ary Pragmatics of Stan VanDerBeek’s Culture: Intercom

Revisioning the significance of Stan VanDerBeek is beset with a number of historiographical problems that tell us a great deal about history-making in technological times. Why, and more importantly, how, does a key experimental filmmaker breaking radical ground in animation and a technoart innovator of the American avant-garde of the 1960s and 70s fall into complete obscurity? The author argues that a very similar process is taking place around the reductive term digital media', the shift in technocultural production and consumption that rendered all filmic consciousness as animation.

‘A Curious Chapter in the Manual of Animation’: Stan VanDerBeek’s Animated Spatial Politics

This article aims to flesh out how Stan VanDerBeek created what Time magazine in 1964 rather glibly described as a curious chapter in the manual of animation'. The main focus is on his pre-computer painted and puppet animation and collage animation works. After considering relevant terminologies, the author explores VanDerBeek's own writings to see how and why his artistic and cultural philosophy could be expressed using animation techniques. After a discussion of a stop-motion puppet film and a painted film, she introduces, via Modernist contexts of collage and photomontage, some of VanDerBeek's many collage and cutout animation films, proposing how his visual neologisms bear comparison with James Joyce's portmanteau technique. She then undertakes an aesthetic and socio-political analysis of his praxis within found footage genres and techniques, and suggests viewer strategies for watching his works. The article concludes by describing some of VanDerBeek's manifold poetics and aesthetics as a curious chapter' within the continuum of political photomontage and independent animation production.

From Pictorial Collage to Intermedia Assemblage: Variations V (1965) and the Cagean origins of VanDerBeek’s Expanded Cinema

Post 1964, after a half-dozen years pursuing an increasingly successful career as an independent producer of animated films, Stan VanDerBeek began to devote himself to a more performative and interdisciplinary practice he termed expanded cinema'. This article contends that the most significant moment and motivation in this transition was the artist's close collaboration with John Cage and Merce Cunningham in the production of Variations V, and that an examination of VanDerBeek's Movie-Mural in the context of that production helps us to understand the important role played by his former Black Mountain College teachers in the genesis of this vision. The author proposes that an interdisciplinary rhetoric of assemblage' in this period can help bridge the aesthetic and conceptual gap between the artist's early practice of collage animation and his later turn to expanded cinema and intermedia performance.

POEMFIELDs and the Materiality of the Computational Screen

This article explores how the POEMFIELD series of computer animations, created by Stan VanDerBeek and Kenneth Knowlton between 1964--70, consciously mines a terrain between visibility and invisibility, drawing numbers and letters into cascades of representation simultaneously pictorial, linguistic and schematic. Skating the border of legibility, the animations exhibit a double vision of text and image, code and picture and, in so doing, work to figure a larger, epistemic question of computational visibility at the close of the mechanical age'. The subtitle of the MoMA 1968 exhibition -- The Machine' -- marked the emergence of a computational model in which mechanical animation would no longer be visible to the human eye. The resulting crisis of visibility takes on a particular importance in light of the model of the graphical user interface' being explored at that time. In the POEMFIELD series, VanDerBeek and Knowlton attempt to convey both the complexity and the promise of this emerging paradigm of layered pictoriality, language and code.

Diegetic Short Circuits: Metalepsis in Animation

This article explores a highly striking phenomenon termed metalepsis. A metalepsis is a fictional and paradoxical transgression of the border between mutually exclusive worlds that cannot be transgressed in our actual world. The hand of the animator reaching into the diegesis of his creations as well as characters communicating with the audience, escaping to the world of their creators, or altering their own worlds are all different types of metaleptic transgressions. Even though this phenomenon appears extensively throughout the history of animation, it has not been theorized in animation studies thus far. This article introduces transmedial narratological conceptualizations of metalepsis as an analytical tool for animation. It discusses a wide range of examples, testing the applicability of the framework to various animated forms.

Sketching Under the Influence? Winsor McCay and the Question of Aesthetic Convergence Between Comic Strips and Film

The formal similarities between comic strips and film have often sparked a contentious debate about aesthetic intersections between the two mediums as well as discussions of influence. Comic historian David Kunzle, drawing from the work of Francis Lacassin, has described how characteristics of film form can be traced back to comic strips of the mid to late 1800s. Film historian Donald Crafton, on the other hand, posits that comic strips had little, if any, influence over the evolution of film language. Analyzing both Winsor McCay's comic strips and animated adaptations, this article hopes to utilize historically informed textual analysis to complicate the question of aesthetic influence.

Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks and its Transition from Comic Strip to Animated Series

This article explores The Boondocks and its transition from daily newspaper strip to animated series. The article is particularly concerned with the ways in which the animated series exceeds the expectations set up by the printed comic strip and emerges as a complex, highly inter-textual work with a large number of subtle cultural references. In order to account for The Boondocks, transition from one medium to another, the animated series is analyzed via theories of appropriation and adaptation, with special attention paid to the series' deft cultural borrowing and the use of formal conventions typically associated with Japanese anime. The article also examines The Boondocks' relationship to The Simpsons, and establishes The Simpsons as an important forbear to The Boondocks in terms of realism and social commentary.

Disney’s Alice Comedies: A Life of Illusion and the Illusion of Life

Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871) have inspired various Disney texts, including the studio's Alice comedies of 1923--27, the films that essentially brought the company into being. This early series helped shape Disney's development of a film mode, that of hybrid animation, which would pay dividends throughout the studio's history, and despite their often crude style, forecast the studio's ongoing efforts at negotiating the relationship between the real and the fantastic, including its development of a house style' that would become known as the illusion of life'. This article examines these foundational texts particularly in light of their emphasis on a hybrid style -- i.e. their combination of live-action and animation -- which necessitated a greater awareness of realistic spatial issues, as they invited audiences to enter into a fantasy space, to undertake the same sort of liminal explorations as Lewis Carroll's Alice.

Disney-Formalism: Rethinking ‘Classic Disney’

With the release of The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2009) the phrase Classic Disney' has re-entered popular discussion. Unfortunately, the concept of Classic Disney' has evolved in recent years, developing from a seemingly straightforward term featured in numerous discussions of Disney, to one which lacks the specificity required to support shorthand' critical engagement with the studio's animated features. This article develops the neologism Disney-Formalism' as a potential alternative to the term Classic Disney', referring to the formation, and continuation, of the aesthetic style forged in the films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand, 1937), Pinocchio (Ben Sharpsteen et al., 1940), Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941), and Bambi (David Hand, 1942).

Drawing Animation

Drawing is a key component of traditional' practice in classical animation that is sometimes seen as an outmoded form lacking relevance to a digital age. On the contrary, the use of digital tools and virtual materials can still be seen as problematic by some animators schooled in traditional methods. In contemporary art, however, there is an explosion of experimentation with different tools, processes and paradigms, and a resurgence of interest in drawing around issues of time, performance and materiality. This article considers the processes and theorization of drawn animation in light of these different practices and tools. Drawing is reflected on in terms of material basis and conceptualization. It is explored as a process that can represent the passage of time and the performance of a character, yet is in itself a performative activity with duration.

Voice and Vision in Oshii Mamoru’s Ghost in the Shell: Beyond Cartesian Optics

This article investigates Oshii Mamoru's experiments with voice and vision in his film Ghost in the Shell (1995). The audio-visual inversion articulated by the disembodied voice in the film dissolves the conventional image-voice conformity. The inorganic gaze adopted by Oshii breaks out of the human observer's body to spread into space, unlike the anthropocentric gaze standard in cinema. While this depersonalized sight expresses the subject's dissemination, it also echoes the film's motif of mankind's ontological opening up towards the environment. Oshii's audio-visual experiment can be considered a critique of Cartesian optics: whereas the bodiless voice undermines the Cartesian domination of vision over other senses, the inorganic gaze produces a non-perspectival space and non-human vision supplementing Renaissance perspectival systems. Consequently, Oshii's tendency to separate the voice from vision renders his animated bodies as heterogeneous, discrete agents distributed through multiple spatiotemporal dimensions beyond classical constructions of subject--object boundaries. The result of his challenge to Cartesian optics produces in the audience an intense affectivity reminiscent of Eisenstein's ecstasy' of animation.

Rethinking Plasticity: The Politics and Production of the Animated Image

Writings on animation have often noted the plastic quality of the image: objects stretch, squash and change forms. Such discussions of the plastic quality of animation tend to equate plasticity with the appearance of the image. This article proposes a rethinking of plasticity in animation, suggesting that it is not simply an attribute of the finished image, but an aspect of the material conditions of its production. Introducing the work of Imamura Taihei and Hanada Kiyoteru, two leftist Japanese intellectuals who wrote on Disney animation during the 1940s and 1950s, and contrasting their work with the writings of their European counterparts, this article will suggest that these Japanese thinkers focus our attention on the importance of Fordism in the production of Disney animation. The work of Imamura and Hanada enables us to critically approach plasticity in animation in terms of the material conditions of the image production within Fordism, thus enabling us to consider plasticity at the level of the medium as well as that of labor.

Woody Abstracted: Film Experiments in the Cartoons of Shamus Culhane

In his autobiography, animator Shamus Culhane describes the mid-1940s as a period of artistic awakening for him, when he engaged with the works of film theorists such as Russian Formalists Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin.Working at that point as a director at the Walter Lantz studio, he resolved to put theory to practice and began experimenting within the Lantz cartoons, taking liberties with approved storyboards to apply modern techniques. Working largely on such commercial fare as Woody Woodpecker cartoons, Culhane had little latitude to create anything that was avant-garde, so he employed a hit-and-run approach, offering moments of musical and filmic experimentation. Although the Woody cartoons might seem an unlikely vehicle for this, this article reveals how the wild and zany Woodpecker characterization provided a fairly ideal opportunity for Culhane's modernist mischief to blend in with the frenetic vigor of these short films.

Subanimation: Verina Gfader in Conversation with Takehito Deguchi and Koji Yamamura

This article is a conversation with Takehito Deguchi and Koji Yamamura, two distinct voices in animation practice and theory. Situated in Tokyo, Japan, the discussion follows a concept of expansion through decentralization, both in terms of the subject of animation and the place from where one speaks. Decentralization is considered in relation to how our understanding of the contemporary artwork, including animation, is formed, de- and re-formed through transforming and widening socio-political grounds. Addressing the complexity and hybridity for grasping the evolving layers in the field of anime, the dialogues with Deguchi and Yamamura gather questions and responses particularly about the status of experimental work, social change, the institutional and non-histories, seen as manifestations of incomplete historical understanding. Links are drawn between experimentation and time rupture, drawings and their shifting status in society, institutions and traditional statements, and social sentiments and animation's intrinsic qualities. The text concludes with a summary of the conversations, including valuable statements that have been made, which open out the research subject for further debates.

The Veiled Genealogies of Animation and Cinema

This article challenges the widely held view that cinema is a subcategory of the larger entity, animation. Tracing the etymology of the word ‘animation’ reveals how it acquired two separate meanings: one to endow with life or to come alive, and the other, to move or be moved. In trade and professional discourses about cinema, ‘animation’ did not refer to single-frame cinematography or to the class of films using that technique until the early 1910s. The genealogical argument that animation was the ancestor of cinema exploits the semantic serendipity of these two meanings, but the approach distracts from a larger understanding of animation as a film form, genre and social practice. A negative result of this line of reasoning is that the distinctive features of the optical toys of so-called pre-cinema are valued only inasmuch as they resembled later cinema and may not be studied in their own right.

The Blow Book, Performance Magic, and Early Animation: Mediating the Living Dead

This article explores the history of early animation and modern magic in light of discourses on the cinema’s capacities for bringing inanimate objects (including the still photograph) to life. The cinema’s early encounter with a metamorphic magic book known as a blow book, which is constructed like a flip book without sequential imagery, will be considered in order to specify the terms of one form of animation and its structures of illusion and belief. The principles of modern magic will also be addressed to explain the significance of a number of trick films that featured the blow book directly as a means of demonstrating the animating ‘powers’ of the cinema. This analysis will challenge the use of animation as an umbrella concept within cinema and media studies, and provide a basis for beginning to think through the return of new media studies to 19th-century magic as a model for understanding digital illusions.

Magic Lantern, Dark Precursor of Animation

This article works through a contrast between the magic lantern and movie projector, focusing on Meiji Japan (1868—1912) as a pivotal site in order to address the relation between cinema and animation, historically and ontologically. Using Simondon’s notion of technical objects to transform Foucault’s notion of dispositif into a theory of technical paradigms, the author finds that the difference between cinema and animation is not primarily one of materials but of qualities of movement. An exploration of the projection-image (utsushie) of the magic lantern suggests that cinema and animation share a technical paradigm, linked to electromagnetism, one that is shadowed by Cartesian technism. Modifying Deleuze’s emphasis on any-instant-whatever and on time as the virtual of the cinematic movement-image, this study finds that cinema and animation share a dark precursor, any-matter-whatever. Because animation stays close to any-matter-whatever, it offers a direct experience of life-in-matter, and anticipates the any-medium-whatever of the digital.

‘Picture by Picture, Movement by Movement’: Melbourne-Cooper, Shiryaev and the Symbolic Body

This article seeks to position the early pioneering 3D stop motion animation of Briton Arthur Melbourne-Cooper and Russian Alexander Shiryaev within wider discourses of turn-of-the-20thcentury modernity. The discussion suggests that the significance of such work has been lost amidst the dominant discourses about the development of both the modern city and early cinema and, crucially, the ways in which the 2D ‘cartoon’ has been recognized as possessing the agency of modernist practice, while the 3D form has gone relatively uninterrogated and absorbed within other aspects of cinematic or cultural practice. The author argues that Melbourne-Cooper and Shiryaev self-consciously use 3D animation as a mediation between live-action photo-realist observation and the graphic freedoms of the early drawn forms, focusing on a ‘symbolic body’, which revises notions of the ‘attraction’ in early cinema, re-defines the city-space and documents the meaning in the motion of modernity.

A Trick Question: Are Early Animated Drawings a Film Genre or a Special Effect?

By abandoning a linear understanding of film history, the author revisits animated film history by placing its emergence within the lineage of trick films. Analysis of discourses on the first animated cartoons — such as the critical and publicity discourses found in trade papers — reveals that these films were seen like any other trick films, not as a distinct type. How, then, can we explain the popularity of the first animated cartoons in the mid-1910s when trick films had almost disappeared? How can we account for the popularity of a variety of ‘trick films’ —animated drawings — precisely when these same trick films had almost ceased to exist? This article addresses these issues by looking at the process by which a major shift occurred in the way we look at the earliest animated drawings. More precisely, the author tries to outline the context of the transition from the perception that animated drawings were trick films to their eventual consecration as a genre within the institution.

Entertainment and Instruction as Models in the Early Years of Animated Film: New Perspectives on Filmmaking in France

This study of the oeuvres of Emile Cohl, Marius O’Galop and Robert Lortac, united by reason of their biohistorical and aesthetic kinship, helps to reconstruct the specificities of the first school of animated film in France. In their films, these animators, formerly caricaturists, combined models whose function was either entertainment or educational, and specific either to the illustration industry or to the children’s books and toys market, with spectacular paradigms borrowed from the stage and other performance arts. By showing how these multiple cultural series combine and interact, this analysis of their oeuvres thus opens up an arena in which the historiography of the Seventh Art in its infancy can be viewed and appreciated as a whole.

Absence, Excess and Epistemological Expansion: Towards a Framework for the Study of Animated Documentary

This article gives an overview of the history of animated documentary, both in regard to the form itself and how it has been studied. It then goes on to present a new way of thinking about animated documentary, in terms of the way the animation functions in the texts by asking what the animation does that the live-action alternative could not. Three functions are suggested: mimetic substitution, non-mimetic substitution and evocation. The author suggests that, by thinking about animated documentary in this way, we can see how animation has broadened and deepened documentary's epistemological project by opening it up to subject matters that previously eluded live-action film.

Experiments in Documentary Animation: Anxious Borders, Speculative Media

Animated documentaries like Julia Meltzer and David Thorne's It's Not My Memory of It: Three Recollected Documents (2003), Jackie Goss's Stranger Comes To Town (2007), and Stephen Andrews's The Quick and the Dead (2004) invite us to consider the larger implications of the intensified dislocation and movement of individuals and information over the past decade. Through these exemplary texts, this article examines a trend in experimental animated documentaries in which artists visibly and self-consciously investigate the current status of the documentary guarantee'. How can current documentary establish truth claims in a context in which there is widespread cultural anxiety regarding visible movement in a world assumed to be uncertain, unstable, and precarious?

Drawing Voices

This article presents a series of images, transcriptions, and musings on the making of Stranger Comes To Town (2007): an animated documentary that centers on the stories of six immigrants and visitors to the United States who describe their experiences crossing the border. The author chooses 10 images that are accompanied by transcriptions of each interviewee's statements. She follows each pairing with a musing on either the process of making the animation - what she gleaned about the interviewee from the process of syncing a fabricated image to a real' voice, the different ways voice and text can play off each other in animation - or the (still surprisingly) subversive gesture of using subjective hand-drawn animations in documentary form.

Animation on Trial

This article first considers Kota Ezawa's video installation, The Simpson Verdict within the broader context of the rising interest in animation on the contemporary art landscape. After exploring three trends within this proliferation of artists' animation - works that animate moments from film history, works that animate reality', and works that use popular media such as cartoons, television and video games as source material, this article examines the difference between Ezawa's work, which re-draws already overexposed live footage, and those documentaries that use animation as a supplementary visual tool when live footage does not and/or could not exist.

Reenacting Ryan: The Fantasmatic and the Animated Documentary

In this article, the author discusses the animated documentary in relation to the use of staged reenactments in works that are generally understood as documentaries. His conceptual foundation draws especially on recent work by Bill Nichols on documentary reenactments, which he argues have specific fantasmatic' and reflexive qualities. These qualities clearly dovetail with key attributes of animation, with the animated documentary standing as a significant and interestingly hybrid creative form. Key ideas are applied to a case study of Chris Landreth's Ryan (2004), in which Landreth deploys fantasmatic visual flourishes partly in order to destabilize the documentary's conventional discourse of sobriety, pushing it in the direction of its mirroring discourse of delirium, and partly to explore the current status of animation (and animation tools) in the realm of visual simulation.

Animating with Facts: The Performative Process of Documentary Animation in the ten mark (2010)

This article examines how animated films re-present and re-interpret real world occurrences, people and places, focusing on an area that has been overlooked to date: the process of performance and how this manifests itself in animated documentary films. Not simply a notion of performance' as we might understand it in an acting' sense (someone playing a role in a re-enactment), but that of the animator performing specific actions in order to interpret the factual material. The central questions addressed are: how does an understanding of performance' and the related term performativity' help us to frame animated/nonfictional acting? What ontological questions are raised by thinking about notions of acting in animation (and the performance instantiated in the very action of animating)? How do viewers relate to, interpret or believe in' animated films that are asserting real/factually-based stories? The article uses a recent film, the ten mark, as a case study to explore possible answers to these questions.

Calligraphic Animation: Documenting the Invisible

Calligraphic animation shifts the locus of documentation from representation to performance, from index to moving trace. Animation is an ideal playing field for the transformative and performative qualities that Arabic writing, especially in the context of Islamic art, has explored for centuries. In Islamic traditions, writing sometimes appears as a document or a manifestation of the invisible. Philosophical and theological implications of text and writing in various Islamic traditions, including mystic sciences of letters, the concept of latency associated with Shi a thought, and the performative or talismanic quality of writing, come to inform contemporary artworks. A historical detour shows that Arabic animation arose not directly from Islamic art but from Western-style art education and the privileging of text in Western modern art - which itself was inspired by Islamic art. A number of artists from the Muslim and Arab world, such as Mounir Fatmi (Morocco/France), Kutlug Ataman (Turkey), and Paula Abood (Australia) bring writing across the boundary from religious to secular conceptions of the invisible. Moreover, the rich Arabic and Islamic tradition of text-based art is relevant for all who practice and study text-based animation.

Animating the Real: A Case Study

The ethics of collecting testimonies in documentary filmmaking has been the subject of academic discussion for decades, in particular since Claude Lanzmann's landmark film Shoah (1985). There are occasions however when a subject of a potential film would like to tell his or her story but for some reason is unable to speak. Language breaks down when an attempt is made to symbolize the trauma. This article gives an account of the author's experience of such an instance in making a three-part documentary series for the National Geographic about refugees coming to London. The article uses Lacanian psychoanalytical thought to give a theoretical framework to the events leading to the use of animation in the series.

Animated Recollection and Spectatorial Experience in Waltz with Bashir

This article explores the ways in which Waltz with Bashir (2008), Ari Folman's animated war memoir, combines a commentary on memory with a moral stance on war. The authors argue that the film exemplifies the capacity of animated documentaries not only to show what is otherwise difficult or impossible to represent in non-animated documentaries, but to serve as a vehicle for fostering new relationships between the viewer and the documentary text. In this vein, the authors argue that Waltz with Bashir synthetically produces a rich, consistent, and thus trustworthy sense of reality for its viewers not despite but because of its unique aesthetic choices - its innovative animation techniques and mixing of reality with fantasy. Accordingly, the authors weave together analyses of the film's content and form with accounts of their reception, discuss how the film evokes certain somatic responses with individuals, and consider the political significance these responses may engender.

Animating the Photographic Trace, Intersecting Phantoms with Phantasms: Contemporary Media Arts, Digital Moving Pictures, and the Documentary’s ‘Expanded Field’

This article investigates the ways in which contemporary media artworks across various platforms provide a fresh look at the photographic inscription of reality by animating the still photograph with digitally produced movement. These artworks are based on what the author calls digital moving pictures', hybrid images in which photographic stillness and cinematic movement are interrelated in a single picture frame by the mediation of digital imaging systems. Examining the works of Jim Campbell, Ken Jacobs, David Claerbout, Julie Meltzer and David Thorne, the author argues that the pictures' blurring of the boundaries between the live action and the animated images, and between the recorded and the manipulated, is meant to satisfy documentary epistephilia (a desire to know') and stimulate the viewer's pensive' and investigative' engagements with the photographic trace as possible spectatorial modes of the documentary. The pictures then ask us to envision the documentary's expanded field' (Rosalind Krauss), in which a series of binaries defining the modernist conception of the documentary are problematized, including prioritizing the photochemical qualities of analogue film and photography as directly guaranteeing evidential claims about their representations over the animated or graphically rendered image.

Flotsam and Jetsam: The Spray of History

Renowned collage filmmaker Lewis Klahr has created a collage of personal statements and images from his films to reflect upon his cut-out animation films. The piece discusses his artistic process and his use of artifacts, documents and detritus to explore ephemeral aspects of history and the passage of time. He comments on his use of animated movement and stillness and the idea of reanimating objects from the past.

‘Don’t Box Me In’: Blurred Lines in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly

This article seeks to evaluate the visual style of Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, predominantly through an analysis of the films' aesthetics. The use of Rotoshop as an expressive means to illustrate character and theme, where identity becomes sketched and multi-faceted rather than fixed or stable is explored here. Yet this aesthetic play with borders has a greater resonance than simply a means by which to delineate thematic preoccupations with troubled identity. While such representations are indeed key to these two films, the darkly outlined contours of character borders, which move and slide incessantly, also comment on the blurred divide between live action and animation. Central to the argument is the use of the animated line in understanding these two films; the line provides impetus for exploring several issues raised by the films and the use of Rotoshop. This article explores the following key ideas: the animated line and aesthetic analysis; Rotoshop technology; the representation of fragmentary identity; and the relationship between photo-real cinema and animation, with a particular focus on narrative and spectacle. The author addresses Rotoshop within the context of technology and spectacle; taking industry practices into account allows for an appreciation of how a technological innovation such as Rotoshop can change the shape of live-action cinema.

Uncanny Indexes: Rotoshopped Interviews as Documentary

This article considers the several animated interviews made by Bob Sabiston between 1997 and 2007, and the implications of considering these films as documentaries. The author argues that the films are liminal, discursive texts that negotiate tensions between reality and make-believe, observation and interpretation, and presence and absence. Textual analysis of the short films in question demonstrates an aesthetic presentation that confirms their documentary status at the same time as exploiting the expressionistic potential of Rotoshop. The nature of Rotoshop also emphasizes the absence of the physical body of the interviewee, replacing it with an excessively present style of animation. Other conventional markers of documentary authenticity and evidence, such as the visual index, are also absent in these films. These absences, coupled with the presence of an aesthetically liminal style of animation infer a pleasurably complex and challenging epistemological and phenomenological viewing experience.

Roto-Synchresis: Relationships between Body and Voice in Rotoshop Animation

Rotoshop, a proprietary digital incarnation of rotoscoping, has been discussed as a visually innovative process, but its capacity to tread new ground aurally has been overlooked. However, the recurrent appearance of the talking head' in the Rotoshop animations to date invites critical reflection on the soundtrack of the films, as well as their images. This article follows Michel Chion in arguing that novel ways of altering bodies on-screen can involve a reimagining of the relationship between those bodies and their accompanying voices. Analyses of the experimental Rotoshop short Figures of Speech and the feature-length Indiewood productions, Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, are used to demonstrate different possibilities in the coordination between voice and body. These range from an adherence to accepted conventions of lip-synchronization, which cast the voice as the guarantor of the body's authenticity', to a much more free-floating assembly, in which words and bodily movements break down into independent elements of pure form'.

Independent Animation, Rotoshop and Communities of Practice: As Seen Through A Scanner Darkly

The article examines a particular instance of animation practice through a reading of how Bob Sabiston's Rotoshop software was used in the 2006 film A Scanner Darkly. By discussing the notions of communities of practice' and legitimate peripheral participation', and contextualizing the film in relation to different modes of working, the author excavates the ways in which a range of people came to work on the project. Moreover, he outlines some of the production history of the film to argue that certain assumptions and expectations about accepted working practice point to wider perceptions of independent' and studio' animation. Questions of division of labour and standardization, and how they relate to creativity, autonomy and animation production will be addressed; Rotoshop's position in the history of animation forms an interesting case study for interrogating these issues.

Bob Sabiston in Conversation with Paul Ward

Bob Sabiston has been working in animation since the 1980s, when he studied at the Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this conversation with Paul Ward, he talks about his development of the software with which he is most associated, the digital rotoscoping program Rotoshop, as well as the artists and animators who have influenced him. Central to Sabiston's work is an interest in the everyday and how animation can capture and creatively treat it. Any discussion of animation and realism, or animation and documentary, arguably has to engage with his work. Rotoshop's often misunderstood status as a form of image filtering rather than a sophisticated form of digital mark-making means it also goes right to the heart of debates about how we define animation, what constitutes proper' animation (as opposed to some form of short cut') and how we view different kinds of animation labour. Although Sabiston is most associated with Rotoshop films, he is also active in the development of software for other platforms.

Animating Joyce: Tim Booth’s Ulys

According to Paul Wells, the lengthy and intimate relationship of the animation auteur to the animated text is similar to the writing process, and the animated form's sense of its own artifice highlights the transformative aspects of adapting literary sources for the cinema. It is this expression of interiority, translation and textual process that makes the animated film a perfect vehicle for an adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses (1922), which utilizes multiple narrators to construct and deconstruct representations of urban, Dublin society in the early 20th century. It is the purpose of this article to consider Tim Booth's animated short Ulys (1998), which is in part a commentary on Joyce's writing authorship, and also an adaptation of Joyce's novel. The author considers Booth's use of animation to recover the image-schemas' that underpin Ulysses, and the small spatial stories' that inform human cognition of both the literary and animated text.

Reading Animation through the Eyes of Anthropology: A Case Study of sub-Saharan African Animation

This article aims to present an argument for why anthropology could provide animation studies with a new set of critical models that move away from the dominant paradigms that currently circulate in Western academic discourse. The author discusses how these models can be drawn upon when reading animation and she utilizes supporting examples of sub-Saharan animations to promote the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to reading animation. This approach is bidirectional, flowing from anthropology to animation studies and the reverse. Where this article shows how animation theory stands to gain from anthropology, it will also illustrate how one can include animation in the visual anthropologist’s methodology.

Computer Generated Animation as Product Design Engineered Culture, or Buzz Lightyear to the Sales Floor, to the Checkout and Beyond!

The relationship between the cinematic image and the industrial commodity was the subject of many product placement studies during the 20th century. This article argues that the contemporary computer automation of perspective and rendering has had far-reaching consequences for the relationship between cinematic image and manufactured object. The emergence of Renaissance perspective structured a new relationship between the image and the object, both of which were rationalised under the visually representable specificity of geometrical and mathematical precision. Taking this as a departure, contemporary computer generated (CG) animation renovates ‘the visual nominalism’ of Renaissance perspective with one crucial difference: computer automation adds the fourth dimension of time to the perspectival image. This facilitates an image form qualitatively different from either hand-drawn Renaissance imaging or mechanically reproduced film, an image form that is instead both hand-drawn and mechanically reproduced at the same time. The implications of this difference are explored through a close analysis of contemporary CG animated features, which offer much to an understanding of the future development of all cinematic imaging and consumer culture. Perhaps most significantly, the objects and characters that populate CG features are integrally related to contemporary practices of industrial product design engineering: a development that has considerable implications for contemporary understandings of ‘product placement’. When every object on screen is literally an industrially manufactured, carefully placed product, traditional theories of film, advertising and consumer culture need to be retriangulated. This article asserts that CG features demand a new approach to the relationship between cinematic image and manufactured product on multiple levels.

Phonograph Toys and Early Sound Cartoons: Towards a History of Visualized Phonography

Between 1909 and 1925, a number of toys were patented and produced that were operated by the spinning motion of a phonograph player. In this article, the author argues that these ‘phonotoys’ complement and refine our understanding of the genealogy of the sound cartoon, and suggests that popular recordings should be considered as an important expressive resource for early sound animators just as were film, vaudeville, and newspaper comic strips. By outlining a constellation of family resemblances shared by phonotoys and sound cartoons made by the Disney, Fleischer, Warner Brothers, Van Beuren, and Iwerks studios in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the article establishes a dialogue between sound cartoons of this era and phonograph culture that provides a fresh perspective on discussions in Animation Studies having to do with the representation of race, ethnicity, and gender, as well as strategies of sound/image synchronization.

Toward Holistic Animacy: Digital Animated Phenomena echoing East Asian Thoughts

In a previous article published in 2009, the author showed how animation, when combined with computer technology, makes movements of different degrees of liveliness that are meaningful to humans. Following this thesis, this article draws on insights from perceptual and cognitive psychology to propose a new typology of liveliness for classifying digital animated phenomena. This classification emphasizes balance and spread of liveliness in today’s digitally mediated environments, echoing traditional East Asian holistic thoughts, including the core ideas of Dao and Shinto. Using analyses of exemplary animated artifacts from contemporary East Asia, including a montage sequence from the Japanese animated film Ghost in the Shell (Mamoru Oshii, 1995), an animated version of the Chinese painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival exhibited in Shanghai Expo 2010, and Electroplankton, a video game released on a Japanese portable game console, the author argues that today’s digital animated phenomena incorporate co-creation between animators, computers and even spectators/users, thus provoking thought on the human–machine relationship in pursuing the illusion of life.

The Shadow Staff: Japanese Animators in the Tōhō Aviation Education Materials Production Office 1939–1945

Despite the attention paid by Japanese animation historians to cartoon propaganda films made during the Second World War, twice as much animation may have been produced in the period for military instructional films. These films, now lost, were made by a group of animators seconded to the Tōhō Aviation Education Materials Production Office (Tōhō Kōkū Kyōiku Shiryō Seisaku-sho). Occasionally running for five or six reels (c. 48 minutes), and in one case consisting of a feature-length eight reels, they form the missing link between the one- and two-reel shorts of the 1930s and Japanese animation’s first feature, Momotarō Umi no Shinpei (1945, Momotarō’s Divine Sea Warriors). The films included tactical tips for the pilots who would bomb Pearl Harbor, short courses in identifying enemy ships, and an introduction to combat protocols for aircraft carrier personnel. This article reconstructs the content and achievement of the Shadow Staff from available materials, and considers its exclusion from (and restoration to) narratives of the Japanese animation industry.

Avatar and Utopia

Compositing multiple plates into a single image creates challenges for lighting, grading and editing, while the distinct methods of each produces aesthetic challenges in creating apparently coherent space. The challenge is all the greater because digital screens and projectors afford only a strictly limited form of display, and the codecs associated with them share features that force these constructions of space to conform to the Cartesian grid of two-dimensional geometry. Avatar (James Cameron, 2009) attempts to build a coherent diegesis but fails because of these issues, which are redoubled in other technical domains, notably motion capture, and in the narrative. Nonetheless, ideological readings can only provide a negative response: careful analysis reveals utopian possibilities in composited live action and animated spectacle that need also to be included in the critical armoury.

The Birth of a Stereoscopic Nation: Hollywood, Digital Empire and the Cybernetic Attraction

This article argues that Avatar (James Cameron, 2009) is a key moment in the development of stereoscopy, cinematography and animation. On both an aesthetic/formal level and in terms of its narrative, Avatar talks back to the origins of Victorian stereography, American cinematography and the racist discourses of ethnography and ecocide that ensued. Echoing 19th-century stereographs of ‘natives’ and their resource-rich environments, together with DW Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, Avatar also attempts to negotiate the atrocities of the past and to relate them to our present. But this negotiation also takes place on a more subtle ontological level: originating within the structures of a ‘cybernetic empire’, Victorian stereographic imaging is strikingly indicative of Avatar’s contemporary position as a work of culture in the age of cybernetic systems. It has been argued that monographic imaging reputedly replaced stereographic forms in popularity because the latter disrupted the scopic regimes of modernity by emphasizing the role of the body in the process of vision. Avatar’s computer generated composite form circumvents this equation, however; while photography may have sought to minimize viewers’ awareness of their own bodies in the process of beholding the indexical form, such a framework is questionable in an age of fabricated CG composites. If the origins of stereography predated photography, and if its founding image was hand drafted, then what originally appeared a technical footnote in the history of stereography now becomes a key factor in understanding Avatar and the new ‘cybernetic regime of modernity’.

Avatar: Stereoscopic Cinema, Gaseous Perception and Darkness

This article offers a theoretical analysis of the 3D cinema experience, paying particular attention to the paradoxical manner in which a further apparatus, medium, or filter – namely 3D glasses – enables what many viewers perceive as a greater level of realism in the cinematic image. That 3D glasses constitute a further apparatus, medium or filter between the image and the viewer ultimately will lead to a more abstract discussion of the differences between ‘solid’ and ‘gaseous’ perception – or, briefly, between seeing objects as solid barriers or as permeable, and of the importance of ‘darkness’ in perception itself. The author’s argument is that darkness, equated here with the extra medium of the 3D glasses, is a key but overlooked aspect of film viewing, something made clear by 3D cinema. Into this argument, he includes analysis of Avatar (James Cameron, 2009), which enacts some of the theoretical arguments that he wishes to make.

Seeing Movement: On Motion Capture Animation and James Cameron’s Avatar

This article proposes that motion capture (mocap) animation relates movement to cinema in a unique way, in that rather than being a quality of the profilmic, in mocap animation movement is itself directly the profilmic. Motion capture records imagery consisting of data of a profilmic object’s positional change in space, rather than data of the object itself. Using this critical distinction between movement and object, the author argues that the experience of mocap changes the nature of the image so that it involves, or is, a specific sense of being, rather than seeing. Due to its thematic treatment of seeing as well as its own application of mocap technology, she also draws on James Cameron’s film Avatar (2009) as an illustration for this thesis on mocap and seeing/being. In the process, she revisits our experiences of seeing light when watching films and considers how mocap and the experience of movement change our engagement with cinema. This discussion is thus not only about our understanding of and interaction with the moving image, but also points to how we can understand movement and being, and the sum of our sensory experiences in the world of cinema ensconced in light and darkness.

Going (Digitally) Native

This article demonstrates first that, in epistemological terms, Avatar relies on scientific ‘documents’ to legitimize its radical political–aesthetic fantasy with such anthropological and historical accuracy that it attains documentary status. The author shows that Avatar constructs its viewers as both hypothesizers of and experimenters with fact, while simultaneously constituting them as critics of fiction. Secondly, he illustrates how scientific legitimacy in Avatar sits in judgment of aesthetic imagination, just as aesthetic imagination sits in judgment of scientific legitimacy. Thirdly, he argues that Avatar is a radical, animated spectacle committed to scientific realism while at the same time being an animated spectacle committed to radical political fantasy. Lastly, he demonstrates how the film offers an alternative model for identity formation, based not on the psychoanalytic processes of introjection, but on the quasi-phenomenological processes of projection into a life form that is factually alien to modern Humanism – into a model of social relations that incorporates symbiotic alliances with the non-human, with flora and fauna, with networked ecological systems in which all actants are interdependent, cooperative, co-constitutive and co-creative.

Where Codes Collide: The Emergent Ecology of Avatar

Ecological approaches give an insight to the story-world of Avatar. They are extended in this article to facilitate an exploration of the connectivity between the feature film and its associated texts (production culture disclosures, making of featurettes, interviews). Drawing on the ecological thinking of Gregory Bateson, Félix Guattari and Jane Bennett, this article argues that Avatar and its associated texts are considered as an ecology of emergent space. The materiality of such a space is drawn from the various entities involved in its configuration: animation software, motion capture technologies, actors, designers and filmmakers. This argument is pursued primarily through a discussion of the ways in which real-time motion capture technologies alter our understandings of the ecologies of CG imagery in Avatar. Remaining focused on only the realism of these images, or the traces of humanness within them, misses the way in which such spaces emerge at an intersection of codes.

‘This New Mode of Expression’: The Idea of Animation in 1930s France

In France during the 1930s, the popular press and film journals offered a lively and multifaceted discussion of animation. This article examines how, within this discourse, animation was envisioned as a new form of art with its own expressive potentials. The author traces how ideas of the form were articulated in terms of animation aesthetics, animation’s relationship to other artistic and cultural forms, and animation’s history. Developing an approach to animation history that focuses on its reception and discourse, this article elaborates on the cultural formation of an idea of animation.

The Making and Re-making of Winsor McCay’s Gertie (1914)

In addition to creating legendary comics like Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay was a pioneer of animation. His Gertie (1914) was the first American masterpiece of animated film. Two versions are known to have existed: the original in which McCay appeared on the vaudeville stage with an animated dinosaur named Gertie projected on screen, and a later one that contained a live-action prologue and epilogue filmed and distributed by William Fox’s Box Office Attractions Company. The Fox version is still extant as original nitrate prints, but McCay’s vaudeville version was lost. However, an examination of 334 of McCay’s original drawings reveals that near the end of the vaudeville version there was a ‘Curtain Call’ sequence not included in the Fox version. Fifteen drawings from the lost segment allowed its reconstruction by the Gertie Project applying digital technology. The authors have dated Gertie’s vaudeville chronology more precisely and have demonstrated McCay’s animation techniques, including his ‘split system’, by decoding his original annotations. The authors examine the filmmaker’s claim that he had made 10,000 drawings for Gertie. The resulting historic analysis of a milestone in silent film animation discusses the artistic mastery of Winsor McCay, issues of historical authenticity, and the archival implications of digital reconstruction.

Muybridge’s Magic Lantern

Though widely known for his contributions to instantaneous photography and studies of human and animal locomotion, the figure of Eadweard Muybridge was equally renowned during the final decades of the 19th century for his tours of the magic lantern circuit. At this time, the photographer entertained and educated audiences with a poly-generic, multi-media show alternating still views with animations produced through his projecting apparatus, the zoopraxiscope. This article examines the temporal and material dimensions of Muybridge’s lantern practice to demonstrate how it builds on 19th-century anxieties about changing epistemologies of vision and visuality, as well as time and temporality. As a dynamic process animating still images into motion, Muybridge treated animation as a palliative measure designed to bring his ungainly images of animals back into the realm of natural human vision. In so doing, he bred truth through illusion and helped prepare audiences for an emerging cinematic sensibility. By emphasizing the temporal dimensions of photographic indexicality, the author further argues that Muybridge’s endeavors amount to an archive of time, and that his lantern slides evince time made material. While the slides’ projection displayed a virtual immateriality, an examination of broken ones reveals that photographic beauty emerges from their ephemerality and fragility. The animating interchange between stillness and motion, between the material and the immaterial, functions as an indicator of the emergence of epistemic assumptions and anxieties about time and sight that took hold as cinema emerged.

Mamoru Oshii’s Production of Multi-layered Space in 2D Anime

This article articulates a Japanese spatial device: layering. In contrast to Western perspective, layering creates depth with contours by overlapping some 2D images. Through Mamoru Oshii’s theorisation of three layers, the author investigates the application of layering in traditional woodblock prints and anime and speculates on its derivation from calligraphy as an art form. This article addresses the idea that in anime, unlike in a unified perspective drawing, the layering system allows different depiction styles to be overlapped. Moreover, through Oshii’s films, his experiments in audio-visual exchange and the temporal application of concept of ma, pose and pause in anime’s movement are explored. The goal is to investigate the concept of ma and layering further by examining one locus of spatiotemporal experience – anime. It is speculated that the spatiotemporal concept of ma was generated by the written Japanese language, the combination of kana and ideograms.

Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress: A Feminine Journey with Dream-Like Qualities

Satoshi Kon is a Japanese animation film director whose works, story, and imagery suggest altered mental states, such as insanity or dreaming. Millennium Actress (2001), which this author regards as Kon’s magnum opus, uses a dream-like style of animation and filmmaking to create the narrative of a biography of a fictional actress. In this feature-length animated film, Kon reifies theories and findings from the functions of dreaming and the mechanics of dream that have developed over a hundred years since the early 20th century. The oneiric quality of the animation film is explored using both psychoanalytical/psychological theories and neuroscientific frameworks to reveal its story of a feminine journey in relation to the collective unconscious and mythic story structure, and the cinematic editing techniques that help the storytelling lead to the dream state.

The Aesthetics of Keyframe Animation: Labor, Early Development, and Peter Foldes

This article discusses weightless kinetics of computer graphics animation by investigating its core mechanism and aesthetics through the practice of ‘keyframing’, that is, the generation of computer animation by setting ‘keyframes’. The author argues that it is the practice of keyframing that contributes most to the impression of a lack of gravity associated with computer graphics. More importantly, the method of deformation employed in keyframing inadvertently evokes rubber hose animation, the style popular in early animation. Rubbery movement was what struck Eisenstein as ‘plasmatic’ in Disney. Rubber hose animation resurfaced in the pioneering computer animation works by Peter Foldes, who explored free distortion and metamorphosis with the new automated movement. In the end, the technology of keyframe animation may be part of the teleology of labor rationalization, but it has come full circle back to where the animation industry began with rubber hose animation.

The Mastery Machine: Digital Animation and Fantasies of Control

For decades, the notion of the creator’s absolute control over the drawn image has remained a staple of animation discourse, and the advent of computer animation has recently reinvigorated this discussion. The animated science fiction features Metropia (Tarik Saleh, 2009), Metropolis (Rintaro, 2001), and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Hironobu Sakaguchi and Motonori Sakakibara, 2001) engage utopian daydreams and articulate anxieties about the high degree of artistic mastery facilitated by advanced technology. Using these three films as case studies, this text examines computer-animated futuristic urban spaces as architectures of control. It discusses digital bodies as products of animators’ increased mastery over mimetic representations of the human form and explores the ways in which computer animation foregrounds its technological and artistic control over the image as a feat to marvel at. In doing so, this analysis highlights the evolution of the dream of the omnipotent creator into a fantasy of omnipotent machinery, while also foregrounding concerns about the possible danger of technology undermining animators’ labor and making it obsolete in the context of contemporary production practices.

Spirited Away: Conceptualizing a Film-Based Case Study through Comparative Narratives of Japanese Ecological and Environmental Discourses

This article discusses interpretations of environmental themes in the film Spirited Away (2011) directed by Miyazaki Hayao, including views that do not agree with any environment-related reading of the film’s contents. In analyzing this diversity of views obtained through fieldwork and secondary sources, the discussions involve interpretations of the characters and symbolisms related to the physical settings found in the animated feature. This includes: correlations with the Japanese economic fast-growth period in the Showa period from the 1960s onwards; contrasts between characters that are representations of pollution versus traditional symbols of nature; the inter-related ideas of consumption and waste; the delicate co-existence between nature and humans; traditional conceptions of nature; spirituality and interpretations of the environment; human–nature interactions; ideas about state and non-state stakeholders in Japanese society; the impact of economic production; changes in community bonds with development, etc. The methodology is based on textual analysis and interpretive work of scholarly arguments about ideas related to the environment in Japan. A second methodology is based on oral interviews with instructors and scholarly experts within the intellectual community who have experience in teaching or writing materials related to this topical matter. The concluding section discusses reception of the film and the way audiences cognitively react to and interact with the film’s contents to arrive at their own understanding (or rejection) of its environmental themes.

The Shot Length Styles of Miyazaki, Oshii, and Hosoda: A Quantitative Analysis

How does a director express his or her film style in animated films produced by a group? To address this issue, the authors analyzed the shot length of 22 Japanese animated films directed by Miyazaki Hayao, Oshii Mamoru, and Hosoda Mamoru. Their analysis reveals the statistical measurements of shot length were clearly dependent on directors. Miyazaki’s films show that he avoids both longish and brief shots, Oshii’s shot length is relatively long on average, while Hosoda prefers relatively short shot length. Furthermore, both Oshii’s and Hosoda’s first films deviated from their subsequent films in terms of statistical indices, suggesting that they established their style of shot length during their first or second time directing. The authors determine that all three directors controlled shot length primarily through their own storyboarding as a crucial process of determining the value, since the shot lengths correlated well with the designated shot lengths on the storyboards. In conclusion, the authors identified the distinctive shot length styles of the directors.

Morel_Moreau_Morella: The Metamorphoses of Adolfo Bioy Casares’ Invention in a (Re)Animating Universe

Adolfo Bioy Casares’ short novel The Invention of Morel (La invención de Morel, 2003[1940]) envisioned the wish of human beings to define themselves through technology, indeed to reanimate the human as a technological double in an environment that gradually becomes virtual. This article develops the relationships connecting The Invention of Morel with three animating forms – the phantasmagoria, the automaton, and the machine-environment – to stress the privileged association they make between invention and (re)animation. With this purpose, this article examines key contributions to our understanding of simulation and automata in the field of animation theory, such as Alan Cholodenko’s ‘Speculations on the animation automaton’, but also Joubert-Laurencin’s La lettre volante. Quatre essais sur le cinema d’animation, which directly addresses Bioy Casares’ story as a metaphor of animated cinema. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical approach to the field of aesthetics in ‘The Uncanny’, and subsequent theories like Masahiro Mori’s ‘The Uncanny Valley’, are also taken into consideration.

Animating the City: Street Art, Blu and the Poetics of Visual Encounter

Street artist Blu creates remarkable wall-painted animations, in which he depicts cartoon figures cavorting along, around and through actual urban surfaces. Through this activity, his film Muto (2008) pictures a fraught relationship between urban space and its dwellers. In some way, the film seems to epitomize contemporary thinking about urban space. Emphasizing the primarily visual and spectacular character of the modern city, such thinking casts it as a space where a totalizing gaze elides the embodied experience of the individual. Yet, in Muto, Blu deploys this visual aspect to conceive of the metropolis as a complex ballet of individual choreographies. Envisioning the city as paradox, Muto casts urban space as both highly spectacular and embodied multiplicity. As a work of animation, Muto also encodes this contradiction formally; even as it depicts the city as a capitalistic sphere of exhaustion, it imbues its morphing bodies with the capacity to redefine place. Connecting the shapeshifting bodies of its beings, the bodies of its spectators and the body of the artist, Muto invests urban space with a sense of plurality. Incarnating urban movement as inscription, and urban inscription as movement, his artistic practice recognizes how bodies shape the spaces in which they dwell.

Cinematic Collecting: The Continuous Discontinuity of the Still Frame in Oskar Fischinger’s Walking from Munich to Berlin

The contingent instant that Walter Benjamin, among others, claims photography uniquely makes palpable has no place in film. Cinema relies on the impermanence of such elusive moments to generate continuity and presence. This article shows how Oskar Fischinger’s 1927 experimental short Walking from Munich to Berlin combines photography and film in a way that stages the incompatibility of these technologies, while also forging a new visual language – a radical form of animation – with which to overcome it. The article both examines Fischinger’s work as a singular contribution to animation and the avant-garde of the Weimar era and beyond, unraveling its philosophical implications for theories of collecting, film, photography, and animation.

Quantification and Substitution: The Abstract Space of Virtual Cinematography

In order to assign space value and enter it into an exchange economy, capitalism works to reduce it to an abstract plan. Writing about this process, Henri Lefebvre coins the term ‘abstract space’ and describes the logics of this kind of space in detail. These logics are also at work in the digitally animated spaces of virtual cinematography, such as those used in The Matrix Reloaded (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 2003). Creating totalized, predictable spaces and populating them with highly instrumental and manageable digital replacements of actors (sometimes known as synthespians), virtual cinematography takes space and individuals to be open to geometric abstraction. Using Lefebvre’s work to interpret this virtual spatial production allows a critical evaluation of the motives and consequences of this kind of computer animation to take place, and emphasizes the manner in which virtual cinematography joins up with other visual systems of spatial representation and quantification.

A Universe of Boundaries: Pixilated Performances in Jan Švankmajer’s Food

Czech surrealist filmmaker Jan Švankmajer is known to animate any sort of thing: leaves, the surface of a wall, socks, nails and raw flesh. But he does not limit himself to inanimate objects; he also stop animates live actors through a technique called pixilation. This article examines the performances of Švankmajer’s pixilated actors within the 1992 short, Food, which constructs a dialectic between the agency of the actor and that of the animator. The author argues that Švankmajer undermines embodied autonomy, positing limits to human agency and suggesting that the boundaries of our bodies are more permeable than we like to think.

Sonic Subjectivity and Auditory Perspective in Ratatouille

Using examples from Ratatouille, this article illustrates how sound can be used to create identification with characters through an auditory perspective. This auditory perspective is created through reinforcing or contradicting the on-screen image with microphone placement to create distance, loudspeaker positioning to create location, digital signal processing effects to create environments, and subjective perspectives that position us as an insider or outsider, and which illustrate the internal subjectivity of characters.

Alice in Cartoonland: Childhood, Gender, and Imaginary Space in Early Disney Animation

The ‘plasmatic’ world of Mickey Mouse famously enchanted everyone from small children to European filmmakers and philosophers in the late 1920s and 1930s, but Disney’s attempts to use media technology to envision the freedom of childhood imagination can be traced back to his first successful series, the Alice Comedies (1923–1927), which featured a live-action girl who navigated animated wonderlands in her dreams and her imagination. Like Lewis Carroll’s original character, Disney’s Alice acts as a conduit into an irrational and magical world – the opposite of rational life in modernity. For Disney, Alice provided a way to both tie his own cultural productions to a long tradition of beloved children’s literature, and present his own vision of an animated wonderland as coming from the innocent perspective of a little girl. At the series’ outset, Alice’s trips to Cartoonland were motivated by live-action framing stories that depicted children at play, inviting audiences young and old to escape to a world of childhood imagination. But Disney didn’t just depict an idealized childhood in live-action film; he also used animation to gesture toward the existence of a universal, unassailable imaginary space. This emphasis on the child’s perspective in rendering the relationship between real and animated space speaks to larger cultural concerns at the time surrounding early education, psychological development, and the importance of protecting childhood in an increasingly rationalized world. This article examines the way childhood play is figured in both live-action and animated space in the first series of Alice cartoons – as mimicry, as performance, and as transformation of ‘real’ space – in order to show that Disney’s early work owed much of its impact to the ability of media technology to represent an idealized version of children’s imaginative play, and to evoke childhood perception through the use of animation.

Folktales and Other References in Toriyama’s Dragon Ball

The aim of this article is to show the relationship between Japanese folktales and Japanese anime as a genre, especially how the intertextuality with traditional tales and myth subvert its conventional use. To meet this goal, the author examines Toriyama’s successful Dragon Ball series, which has enjoyed continued popularity right from its first publication in the 1980s. The article analyses the parallelism between Dragon Ball and a classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West, its main source. However, there are many other references present in Dragon Ball that are connected to religion and folktales. The author illustrates this relationship with examples taken from the anime that correspond to traditional Japanese folklore but that are used with a subversive goal, which makes a rich source for analysis and for literary education.

Cognitive Animation Theory: A Process-Based Reading of Animation and Human Cognition

This article considers both animation and human cognition in terms of process philosophy, and articulates some common ground between the processes of animation and the processes of human cognitive imagery. In doing so it suggests a new cognitive theory of animation – one that differs dramatically from the bulk of the literature surrounding cognitive film theories, which tend to focus only on the viewer’s cognitive response to the completed film. Instead this theory will address a number of process philosophy-based ideas that, together with a discussion of the use of cognitive imagery, can position animation quite apart from other mediums. Firstly, the author suggests that movement and image should be considered as distinct entities both in the animated form and in human cognition. Next, he suggests that animation and cognitive imagery are often made up of numerous layers signaling a unique set of processes and facilitating greater creative and epistemic potential. And finally the article considers the influence of sound as well as the comparative uses of metamorphosis.

With a Philosopher’s Eye: A ‘Naive’ View on Animation

Animation has never been a subject that has attracted much interest from philosophers, except perhaps from a very few interested in the philosophy of film or perhaps in visual aesthetics. Aspects of philosophical thinking may well be relevant to animation, however, and animators and theorists of animation have certainly shown an interest in philosophy: most often in time, movement, and process. But it is one thing to draw on philosophy in working within a field, and another thing to try to think philosophically about that field. In this admittedly naive view of animation – naive because it comes from philosophy to animation rather than the other way around – animation is explored from an explicitly philosophical perspective, with a particular focus on animation as a ‘making move’.

Never Quite the Right Size: Scaling the Digital in CG Cinema

In contemporary digital culture, computers are shrinking in size while computer networks grow increasingly large. At the same time, individuals have an array of technologies at their command, but are also faced with overwhelming options and information, and are subject to extensive and intrusive data collection. This article explores dichotomies between the miniature and vast or gigantic in recent films with narratives of scalar difference, including Jack the Giant Slayer, Pacific Rim, and Wreck-It Ralph. The author suggests that the representations of scale in these films offer implicit commentary on the digital technologies used to produce their scaled effects and images, and further serve as allegories of containment and excess, control and the uncontrollable, as pertaining to digital imagery and technologies.

Scalar Travel Documentaries: Animating the Limits of the Body and Life

Scalar travel documentaries and their adaptations in interactive media present animated models of the body’s interior and the physical worlds at a variety of scales. Featuring increasingly comprehensive animated images at microscopic and macroscopic scales, they help scientists better understand the structure of the universe. This article examines the poetics of scale and the diverse rhetorical mechanisms used in these documentaries. In Powers of Ten and Cosmic Voyage, for instance, the metronomic overview of the underlying organization of the natural world generates ideological discourses on the position of humankind in the universe. The mechanical gaze these films produce, it is argued, reveals the instrumentality of new modes of knowledge and the posthuman nature of our perception. Finally, comparing the various ways with which scalar documentaries animate scientific models, this article suggests that the visions of the natural world these films construct should be more reflexive of the limits of representation at the edge of the knowable.

Remediating Panorama on the Small Screen: Scale, Movement and Spectatorship in Software-Driven Panoramic Photography

Examining what the author calls ‘small-screen panoramas’, a set of software-based digital panorama services that provide the production and navigation of panoramic photographs available for users’ experience on small-screen devices (laptops, mobile phones, tablet PCs), this article argues that the panoramas’ algorithmic view and movement signal an emerging visual regime that remediates the scale and mobility of their pre-digital predecessors. Digital compositing technique reinstates the sensory and epistemological conditions of the panoramic, ‘tourist’ gaze of modernity as it combines discrete pictures of a location into a 360-degree seamless visual field that proffers an immersive form of spectatorship. At the same time, however, the applications undermine the visual field and spectatorship of the traditional panorama as their technological features activate the embodied, material, and contingent aspects of mobile media spectatorship: the portability of laptops and mobile phones and the applications’ algorithmic streamlining of 2D photographs. These examples, the author claims, demonstrate that, despite the applications’ efforts to create seamless virtual 3D images, they lead to the paradoxical coexistence of the animated and the static, of the immersive and the miniaturized, and the embodied and the disembodied.

Tilt-Shift Flânerie: Miniature View, Globalscape

The recent adaptation of tilt-shift photography by digital technology has produced a fascinating optical illusion that makes film captures of real landscapes appear as if they are fake miniatures – an animated tilt-shift flânerie that encapsulates cities into toy-like visions of themselves, using time-lapse photography to create the effect of stop-motion animation. This sophisticated reimagining of 19th-century postcards utilizes early 20th-century innovations in aerial photography to create a radical shift in scale – both visual and temporal – that results in startling alterations in perception and a new phenomenology of seeing. The confluence of micro and macro perception into one animated image challenges the human perception of time and space in a way that mirrors modernization and globalization. Tilt-shift flânerie also, as this article argues, echoes changes in global perspective that encourage greater cosmopolitan awareness and the reworking of cultural and national boundaries in line with a postmodern erosion of the monocular eye and universal vision. It results in an enhanced spatial perspective that allows us, like Alice in Wonderland, to scale ourselves to an unexpected new relationship with the world, inscribing individuals into a landscape that fits energetically, tilting and shifting, into the eye of the beholder.

Ecology without Scale: Unthinking the World Zoom

‘Scale’ is a nest of complications: it is a highly contested term in a range of disciplines, from geography to ecology, from philosophy to science and technology studies. The heart of the problem is the dispute over its ontological status and topological properties. ‘Scale’ is often assumed to be an ordered totality that one can navigate by zooming in and out, as in Powers of Ten and Google Earth. Such modes of visualization not only give form to a planetary consciousness, but also enable surveillance and warfare in what the author calls ‘the age of the world zoom’. Whereas some geographers have called for the rejection of scalar thinking altogether, he demonstrates how object-oriented ontology (OOO) and actor-network theory (ANT) can offer new insights into conceptualizing the interrelations of entities without falling into the traditional pitfalls of ‘scale’. These approaches lay the groundwork for ‘ecology without scale’, or thinking about interconnectedness beyond scalar notions.

The Multilocal Self: Performance Capture, Remote Surgery, and Persistent Materiality

Over the last two decades, the technologies of performance capture and robotic surgery have increased in both use and visibility. While these technologies might initially seem quite dissimilar, they each produce a human–machine assemblage that enacts itself across different scales. Each technology ‘captures’ a performance, translates that performance into digital information, and recodes that performance into another body. This article argues that both performance capture and remote surgery penetrate the materiality of the body and reconstitute that materiality elsewhere, as a human’s bodily movements are captured, transmitted, translated, and finally recoded into that of another body, be it an analogue or digital form of embodiment. The shift in scale produced by each technology – in terms of movement, perception, experience, and sensation – demonstrates the extent to which these technologies of telepresence foster a multilocal experience of the body, the dispersion of authorial control across the human–machine assemblage, and a reinforcement of embodied experience despite an embrace of cultural fantasies of the disembodiment of information. This article takes an explicitly phenomenological position, examining the connective tissue that binds actor and avatar, surgeon and robot. The ligaments that connect human and nonhuman both separate and draw the entities close together, and this article explores the resultant shifts in scale, perception, and experience engendered by performance capture and robotic surgery.

Reach In and Feel Something: On the Strategic Reconstruction of Touch in Virtual Space

The drive to make human–computer interactions more efficient and effortless has pushed interface designers to think about new methods of information transmission, display and manipulation. The incorporation of haptic feedback cues into the computer interfacing schematic allows the tactile channel to be opened up as a means of complementing and challenging the data provided by the senses of seeing and hearing. In this article, using the Novint Corporation’s Falcon three-dimensional touch interface as a case study, the author examines the strategic aims of animating and scaling computer-generated space for the haptic. Spaces of heterogeneous scales, from the microscopic to the macroscopic, can be rendered as analogous force sensations using the Falcon’s three-dimensional workspace. The author argues that the project of incorporating complex touch feedback into computing entails not just a transformation of spatiotemporal field accessed by touch, but a wholesale redefinition and rearticulation of touch as a category of human experience.

Proteus and the Digital: Scalar Transformations of Seawater’s Materiality in Ocean Animations

This article analyzes the discursive and conceptual equation of the ocean and the database. Considering how the chemical and vital properties of seawater serve to transform what is ‘stored’, the language of flow and fluidity is inadequate to describe what seawater actually does to things – it encrusts them, rusts them, adheres burgeoning life-forms to them. Seawater asks us to rethink terrestrial notions of the archive or database as informed by the language of earth and sediment, and instead consider the ocean-as-database in terms of seawater’s capacity for protean transformation. Although the protean properties of seawater are meaningful at a macro scale, on increasingly microscopic scales, multiple processes of abstraction make seawater commensurate with digitality. The author considers the stakes of focusing on different scales of seawater and its materiality, taking as her examples two different data visualizations/animations: Google Ocean (scaling the ocean down to the size of a computer screen) and ATLAS in silico (scaling ocean microbial genomic data up to the size of a projection, or cluster of computer screens). She concludes by asking, how might a theory of media evolve from the materiality of seawater differently on macro and micro scales?

Playable Virus: HIV Molecular Aesthetics in Science and Popular Culture

Viral aesthetics have become increasingly present in representations of health and illness. Since electron microscopy was first used to graphically isolate HIV, the ‘viral look’ has influenced academic and popular discussions about life and death. Commonly, the virus is associated with rapid and unseen transmission, hiding and genetic recoding that make identification and elimination difficult, and ‘sleeper cell’ behavior that delays detection and treatment. Visually isolating, eliminating and controlling molecular matter suggests that, in order to preserve life, foreign matter must be visually as well as biologically controlled. Recent attempts at imaging molecular space have shifted the practices of researchers. Using algorithms, models, and graphical interfaces, researchers now gain visual access to molecular space via simulation rather than photography, enrolling the public in the production of scientific research. Games such as Foldit use competitive play as a research method. Overcoming the problem of molecular scale using computer processing, and operationalizing the critique of ‘expert knowledge’ formulated by ACT UP in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, some successes have already been reported. This article demonstrates how scalar travels, the practices of visualization that disclose them, and the participatory possibilities of research remind us of the power of cultural practices in creating scientific knowledge.

Telling ‘What Is’: Frame Narrative in Zbig Rybczynski’s Tango, Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis’s When the Day Breaks, and Yuri Norstein’s Tale of Tales

Using analytic tools developed by the literary critic, James Phelan, the author investigates frame narrative organization in three animated films. Zbig Rybczynski’s Tango uses addition and subtraction to frame mini-stories layered one over the other; Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis’s When the Day Breaks uses an A–B–A structure with repetitive events mirroring and revealing each other; and Yuri Norstein’s Tale of Tales uses character narrators that serve as observer/participants, allowing the film to cross narrative genres. This article also investigates the layered viewer response that frame narration requires. All three animations, while not digitally produced, demonstrate the ontological montage Lev Manovich ascribes to the aesthetic logic of digital compositing, which he maintains is layered and ‘first and foremost a conceptual [and] not only a technological operation’.

Animated Worlds of Magical Realism: An Exploration of Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress and Paprika

This article looks at two of the films of Japanese anime auteur Satoshi Kon – Millennium Actress (2001) and Paprika (2006) through the lens of magical realism. The authors argue that animation can be read as magical realist (which is applied to literature) as opposed to magic realist (which is applied to art), as animation is flowing art and hence has a narrative structure as in literature. While incorporating Wendy Faris’s five characteristics of magical realism in the analysis, the article also introduces additional concepts that are unique to Millennium Actress and Paprika. The authors engage with magical realist apparatuses in these anime, arguing that the two films use unconventional narratives and modes to reveal an Asian (Japanese) identity, uniqueness in form and sense of self. Kon’s films, although rooted in realism, explore the magical that embodies desire and longing in Millennium Actress and an exploration of the unconscious in Paprika.

Behind the Scenes: A Study of Autodesk Maya

Automation lies at the centre of many debates surrounding computer-generated animation. Rarely used as a neutral term, it is frequently a marker of changing practices somehow outside the control of human users of technologies, often threatening the terms on which agency is founded. This understanding of automation and computer animation software can be complicated by insights from software studies. Accordingly, 3D animation software Autodesk Maya is explored through a methodology that places an analysis of the visual organization of the user interface alongside interviews with users of the software, in particular modellers and animators. Discussion of the interview material is framed through Noah Wardrip-Fruin’s ideas on expressive processing and Adrian Mackenzie’s account of software and agency. The argument put forward is that users experience the automation of software via their interactions with the user interface, and that inputs generated through human users and automation counterpoint rather eclipse each other.

Walt at War – Animation, Transformation and Indoctrination: The Hypothetical Image of Disney’s Animal Soldiers

Taking as its theoretical framework Sergei Eisenstein’s writings on Walt Disney, as well as recent studies of corporeal transformation in moving image animation, this article explores the link between bodily and political transformation through the role of cartoon animals in the mass mobilized, machine war of World War II. The repercussions of the hypothetical images and scenarios that Walt Disney Productions employed reveal the absurdity and ease of transformation not only between life and death but also between seemingly disparate political ideologies. By approaching the contradictions at play in the visual and political ideology of World War II propaganda and wartime entertainment, and offering a pre-cinematic genealogy of animal caricature, the author explores the shifting manifestations of animality and humanity presented in the Disney brand’s wartime scenarios.

Whole-Screen Metamorphosis and the Imagined Camera (Notes on Perspectival Movement in Animation)

This article uses a special kind of distortion of spatial orientation in animation, which the author calls whole-screen metamorphosis, to problematize the relation that theories of camera movement often assume between a camera and its world. Recent developments in digital imaging have prompted confusion among scholars as to whether or not it makes still sense to talk about ‘camera movement’ – since, in many cases, real cameras were barely used (as in Gravity) or not at all (as in Frozen). The author argues that this confusion is frequently misguided: camera movement, as a tool of critical analysis, has always been based on a phenomenology of perspectival movement, regardless of any use (or non-use) of a real camera. However, animators sometimes play with perspectival movement in ways that undercut the more fundamental impression of a cinematic world, effectively metamorphosing our relation to it. Two kinds of this metamorphosis are explored. One, found in Norman McLaren’s Blinkity Blank, creates a Gestalt switch of our impression of space; the other, found in Caroline Leaf’s The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa, dissolves the sense of ground that is needed to support an impression of world, in a kind of becoming-animal of the camera. These phenomena point to a need for more nuanced accounts of relations between live-action, animated, and digital images.

Hybrid Image, Hybrid Montage: Film Analytical Parameters for Live Action/Animation Hybrids

The typology proposed in this article comprehensively illuminates the formal characteristics of live action/animation hybrid films. By reference to six film analytical categories, the interplay of animation and live action film is explored within single images as well as on the level of montage, and is illustrated by means of examples from a wide variety of films. The flexible and adaptable set of parameters comprises all animation techniques and is applicable to whole films as well as to longer or shorter sequences. A further goal is to disintegrate the boundary that is often drawn between so-called mélange films and digital hybrid films. The only requirement is that the disparity between animation and live action film must be discernible to the viewers. Ideally, the application of the proposed typology will lead to a new historical positioning of hybrid tendencies within film history.

Criteria for Defining Animation: A Revision of the Definition of Animation in the Advent of Digital Moving Images

The definition of animation has become problematic with the advent of digital media. The informational character of digital moving images has made it difficult to distinguish between what is animated and what is a reproduction of recorded movement. Previous definitions of animation, as a non-recorded (non-live action) illusion of motion and as a frame-by-frame production, do not encompass the automation of many digital illusions of motion, nor do they describe the way in which some digital moving images derive from records of movement. In this light, this article contends that animation can be distinguished in digital media by virtue of traits specific to its solely illusory motion and that are general to all animation production techniques, whether analogue or digital. The article develops a set of criteria to emphasize animation’s illusion of motion; it also examines which aspects are shared with other moving images and which are exclusive to animation. Additionally, the author deals with the persistence of the index in digital media and the authorship of automatic animations.

Cartoon Vision: UPA, Precisionism and American Modernism

Postwar animation studio United Productions of America (UPA) is credited with bringing a modern art sensibility to the American cartoon, a simplified, abstract style that transformed the look of studio animation throughout the 1950s and 1960s. This article examines UPA’s signature style alongside that of Precisionism, a little-discussed school of modernist American painting peaking in the 1920s. In so doing, it complicates our understanding of UPA’s relationship to modern art, and to modernism more broadly. Precisionism sought to bring order to a chaotic modern environment by reducing the visible world to a semi-abstract form in which urban and industrial scenes are built from geometric shapes, hard-edged lines, and solid color fields – precisely the traits defining UPA’s style. Through an analysis of the animation studio’s cartoons in the context of its beginnings in wartime training films, and of the written statements of its artists, this article positions UPA as a resurgence of the particular modernist energy driving Precisionism’s visual style: a theoretically engaged attempt to develop a new mode of vision capable of navigating the sensory overwhelm of modern life. It thus draws a line between these two periods in American cultural history, enabling a clearer understanding of mid-century modernism as a cultural phenomenon, and of postwar animation’s place within a decades-long current of modernist experiment.

Puppet Animation Films and Gesture Aesthetics

Gestures are meaningful acts of being. All gesture speaks of the formation of posture, and by this posture we can even comprehend the culture that is bound and produced in the action of gesture. This article examines the aesthetics of gesture found in puppet animation. Puppets are rich in their textured and sculptural forms and yet they have limited, wooden-like performance. However, it is their limitations – unlike smooth computer-generated imagery (CGI) or 2D animated drawings – which make every nuance in their performances exceptionally important and instructive in understanding the character’s motivation. Three short animation films – Jiří Trnka’s The Hand (1965), Kihachirō Kawamoto’s The Demon (1972) and Suzie Templeton’s Dog (2001) – are chosen as the case studies in this article. The authors elaborate on the way gestures are communicated through poses, shots and framings to then construct and discuss categories of gesture.

Music Video’s Performing Bodies: Floria Sigismondi as Gestural Animator and Puppeteer

Auteur music video director Floria Sigismondi has a reputation for creating beautifully macabre imagery that has been described as surreal and uncanny. Less obvious is the way in which she uses animation and gesture to estrange the movement of performing bodies. While pixilation and stop motion animation are used together to invert the agency of humans and objects, Sigismondi’s use of gesture extends this manipulation of agency beyond technical processes. This dialectic of cinematic agency is discussed through an examination of three music videos directed by Sigismondi: End of the World (2004) for The Cure, Montauk Fling (2013) for Lawrence Rothman and The Stars (Are Out Tonight) (2013) for David Bowie. Considering these videos in relation to puppet animation, live-action film and the cultural and historical migration of gesture, the author argues that Sigismondi puppetises humans and animates gesture as a means of transgression.

Boiling Lines and Lightning Sketches: Process and the Animated Drawing

Animation has often involved some degree of drawing, but ‘boiling’ and animated sketching are two unique forms of drawn animation that overtly foreground the process of drawing. In this article, the author looks at these two specific approaches to drawn animation, paying special attention to the history, process, and evolutionary qualities of animated sketching; he focuses on the processes and material essence of the ‘boiling’ image. Both of these approaches produce forms that are at once immobile and mobile and, within this dichotomy of movement, the process of drawing is further accentuated. These will be discussed in light of broader discussions of the theory and process of animation and drawing. Additionally, these discussions will be set against a (somewhat informal) backdrop of process philosophy in an effort to further underscore the importance of the drawing process in the production and presentation of these two methods of animation.

The Reception of Japanese Animation and its Determinants in Taiwan, South Korea and China

The reception of Japanese animation in East Asia is a topic of special interest in social sciences; however, little empirical research has been performed that explicitly examines the determinants of its audiences in different countries using quantitative methods. This article studies historical, social and cultural factors that affect the reception of Japanese animation in East Asia, and investigates its determinants among audiences in Taiwan, South Korea and China using a logistic regression analysis model to analyse the data of the East Asia Social Survey 2008. The authors’ findings primarily indicate that higher schooling and the consumption of other cultural goods such as Chinese movies or South Korean dramas are positive factors concerning Japanese animation. In contrast, older audiences have a negative attitude towards Japanese animation. These variables and the self-assessment of community are discussed in the context of previous research. Through empirical analysis, the authors’ findings support this previous research, confirm possible new tendencies and suggest a possible transition in the concept of ‘Japan’ in the context of East Asian cultural consumption.

How Time Works in The Simpsons

This article uses two groups of case-study episodes to explore the complexities and perplexities that arise from the long-running use of a ‘floating timeline’ within The Simpsons. First, the conflicting representations of the youths of Homer and Marge in two ‘flashback’ episodes (‘The Way We Was’ and ‘That 90’s [sic] Show’) are examined. The logical quandaries presented by departing from a floating timeline and introducing fixed (but multiple and contradictory) historical reference points in individual episodes are outlined, and it is suggested that it may be better to accept the fictional paradoxes created rather than to try to resolve them. Second, the episodes featuring ‘Sideshow Bob’ are surveyed, and Bob is offered as being granted the unusual capacity (within The Simpsons’ fictional universe) to experience the passage of time and accumulate and retain an eventful history. This is contrasted with the temporal experiences of the Simpsons themselves, for whom there is eventfulness without progression. The article concludes by suggesting that The Simpsons’ status as an animated programme allows it to exhibit in a particularly pure and sustained form some of the relationship to time, history and the everyday of situation comedy and television more broadly.

Girl Cartoons Second Wave: Transforming the Genre

The US girl cartoon genre began in the 1980s with the Federal Communication Commission’s deregulation of television, allowing the programming of toy-based cartoons. The toy industry’s gender binary of girl toys vs boy toys was translated into the definitive split of girl cartoons and boy cartoons. This first wave of girl cartoons defined the gender normative parameters that would identifiably label a cartoon program as a girl cartoon: rainbow unicorns and star sparkles in friendship communities with motivational girl leaders that displayed confidence, determination and savvy while processing emotions and solving conflicts through communication. These characters were young girls, not teenagers or young adults with developed bodies. It is rarely addressed that these cartoon characters presented an empowered girl media product in popular culture a decade before the nomenclature ‘Girl Power’, and did so sans sexualization. In this article, the author discusses the second wave of girl cartoons that came about with US television’s cartoon renaissance in the 1990s. This research explores the ways that lead girl characters were newly portrayed and how they evolved from the girl cartoon representations in the first wave era. Along with the representation of empowered girl characters, this research identified a feminine triptych. In character settings with more than one girl lead, the feminine portrayals were represented in the triptych of the beauty, the brains and the brawns. This research also revealed a persistent glitch to the empowerment of girl cartoon protagonists in the form of secondary characters, identified as mean girls and misogyny boys or no-homo boys. Another shortcoming is identified as boobs and boyfriends, to demonstrate the compulsion to give characters above the age of 12 sexualized bodies and heteronormative relationships. Several cartoon episodes of The Powerpuff Girls, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Dora the Explorer, Ni Hao- Kai Lan, Franny’s Feet, Lilo and Stitch: The Series, Maya & Miguel, Word Girl and Mighty B! are textually analyzed to document both verbal and visual gender cues.

Animation as Intertextual Cinema: Nezha Naohai (Nezha Conquers the Dragon King)

This article is an intertextual reading of Nezha naohai (Nezha Conquers the Dragon King), the second cel-animated feature produced at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, the major animation film studio in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from the 1950s until the 1980s. Released in 1979, the story of Nezha Conquers is an adaptation from three chapters of a popular Ming Dynasty 16th-century novel about a rebellious boy-god. The year Nezha Conquers the Dragon King is released, 1979, is a turning point for the hero in PRC cinema. Visual design for Nezha Conquers the Dragon King seems to be a combination of Osamu Tezuka’s Astroboy and Chinese Communist sports propaganda. Chief director and screenwriter Wang Shuchen considered the film to be a return to fantastic subject matter after the Cultural Revolution. Nezha Conquers the Dragon King signaled a return to mythological themes in PRC film and ends with an elliptical, open-ended finale, suggesting the propensity for future social and cultural contradictions.

The Politics of Animation and the Animation of Politics

This article demonstrates how political inquiry can guide the study of animation. It proceeds by investigating animation’s minor status within film and media studies and then the expansion of its definition and conceptual associations. This expansion has philosophical implications, which are explored in this article through the work of Jeff Malpas and Bruno Latour. By examining how these philosophers discuss animation and animated examples – puppets, in particular – this article demonstrates a shift from thinking of animation as expressing mastery and illusion to thinking of animation as expressing transformation, heterogeneous action, and distributed agency. This shift challenges philosophy’s opposition to rhetoric, poetics, and technology, and in turn challenges modern binaries between nature and culture, science and politics, reality and artifice, facts and fetishes, and it presents the world as animated. The author argues that this idea need not obfuscate the many different moving-image technologies that have been designated animation or cinema, and contends that some of these, such as animated cartoons, directly engage the confusion about animation caused by modern binaries. This argument proposes studying animation through multiple modes or lenses in order to prevent dominant realist modes of inquiry from stifling the uncertainty and pluralism that are central to animation’s capacity for political expression.

Traces of the World: Cel Animation and Photography

The animated cartoon has traditionally been excluded from photographic theories of cinema on the grounds that the animation camera is only incidental to the cartoon’s production, an assumption this article challenges. Taking as its basic premise that all works of celluloid animation were photographic in origin, this article demonstrates the ways in which the physical reality of our world, and particularly the world of the animation studio, leaves its mark on the cartoon image. Through the frame-by-frame analysis of cartoons by Warner Bros and other major American studios of the mid-20th century, the author catalogues the various visual imperfections that testify to cel animation’s photographic origins. These include improperly placed cels, reflections of the camera apparatus, dust and dirt particles, and even the fingerprints left by anonymous labourers. Although these mistakes may only appear on the screen for a fraction of a second, each has been preserved for posterity as a still photograph. In effect, an animated cartoon is a photographic record of its own production. A model for this method is the work of the artist Andrew Norman Wilson, whose ScanOps (2012) consists of a series of photographs culled from Google Books. Ultimately, this method of analysis serves as an inquiry into both the politics and the aesthetics of the labour process.

Collaboration without Representation: Labor Issues in Motion and Performance Capture

Classical film theory topics, such as the divide between live action and animation, the definition of cinematic performance, and the configuration and impact of the star system continue to shape – while also being reshaped by – discourse on animation labor in the digital age. Focusing on motion capture in contemporary Hollywood, the first part of this article historicizes and examines the diminishment of the animators’ contribution to this filmmaking process in promotional materials and public discussions, and the accompanying overemphasis on the star persona’s performance. In doing so, it aims to contextualize and shed light on the practices and imperatives that determine current labor policies and power dynamics in the industry. The second part introduces questions of gender relations and gender-based hierarchies of representation into the discussion of motion and performance capture’s labor climate. In order to highlight and reflect on the ambivalence of the motion capture industry’s labor politics, it offers a feminist reading of a distinct, yet related form of disenfranchisement in motion-capture filmmaking, namely digital voyeurism and the objectification of the female performer in films such as Beowulf (Robert Zemeckis, 2007) and Avatar (James Cameron, 2009), and video games such as Beyond: Two Souls (Quantic Dream, 2013). Finally, by highlighting such interrelated policies of marginalization and erasure of labor, the author aims to emphasize the inadequacy of describing motion capture as a collaborative process and to call for a reconceptualization of the critical approaches towards its study.

Slapstick after Fordism: WALL-E, Automatism and Pixar’s Fun Factory

In its history, production, plots and gestures, slapstick comedy was tied to the rise of modern labor in terms of both Taylorist theory and Fordist practice. Comic heroes ranging from live action comedians Chaplin or Keaton to animated animals Felix or Mickey worked against work through the playful excesses of their obediences and transgressions within an increasingly rationalized, industrial world. The digital animation studio Pixar summoned slapstick and its specifically Fordist resonances in its 2008 feature, WALL-E, yet offered a twist in humanizing a figure of perfected Fordism itself with its title character, a robot repetitively working in a post-apocalyptic earth devoid of human life. Explicitly modeled after Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd, WALL-E contrasts with the film’s humans, who are entirely liberated from labor through automation in a satirical reflection of both post-Fordist accounts of the ‘end of work’ as well as broader critiques of a distracting digital culture. This article focuses on the film’s revitalization of slapstick traditions within the context of recent debates about post-Fordism, the future of automated labor and the transformation of working human bodies. Just as slapstick’s relationship to modern labor touched on the playful mode of its cinematic production as well as their form as indexical montage so too does Pixar’s corporate reputation as ‘Creativity, Inc’ suggest a complex relationship between its slapstick hero and the digital labor animating his movement. The same will be argued of Pixar’s vaunted techniques with both digital image-making and commodity generation, both of which suggest a nostalgic animation of slapstick’s antinomies as much as a disavowal of the post-Fordist production of which Pixar is vanguard.

Designing for India: Government Animation Education and the Politics of Identity

This article examines animation education at the two Indian government design schools, the National Institute of Design (NID) and Industrial Design Centre (IDC), looking beyond the transfer of skills to the negotiation of social and professional identity. The accounts of faculty, students and graduates express symbolic values of local relevance and cultural continuity rooted in a tradition of ‘purposeful design’ as a tool for post-independence national development. Moreover such testimony not only reveals fraught discourses of national, regional, class, and gender identity, but also creative independence and entrepreneurship. By placing design instruction in a context of communities of practice, the author argues that this reflects an overt politicised effort on the part of educators and students to respond to the current industrial conditions of Indian animation, rejecting market-driven labour standardization in favour of ideologically-based professional networks of their own devising.

The Animated Esperanto: The Globalist Vision in the Films of Sándor Reisenbüchler

This article examines the work of the Hungarian collage animator Sándor Reisenbüchler, whose career lasted from the mid-1960s until his death in 2004. It poses theoretical questions concerning the concept of an animation Esperanto, pivoting off Béla Balázs’s early theories of an international film language. Through close studies of two of his films, the author claims that Reisenbüchler develops an animation Esperanto through his construction of landscapes, a significant break from an animation tradition that develops an Esperanto through the body. The article ties Reisenbüchler’s animated Esperanto to his globalist, transcendental politics and situates him within the context of Hungary’s socialist system. Finally, the article places Reisenbüchler’s work in the context of Pannonia, the major animation studio in Hungary, to which he was affiliated throughout his career. The films of Marcell Jankovics, Hungary’s most famous animator, suggest a more complicated reading of the interactions between the body and the landscape in the animated Esperanto. In conclusion, the author posits a possible dialectic between internationalism and globalism within the animated Esperanto, and applies this dialectic to Balázs’s initial conception of the international film language.

A Tale Humans Cannot Tell: On Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

This article explores the interrelated questions of form and identity in the Japanese anime feature Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. The film is a reworking of the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, set in an alternate Japan which was conquered by Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. The main character of the film is a young recruit to a special police unit named Kazuki Fuse. His inability to kill a young girl carrying a bomb leads to disciplinary action from his superiors, but also draws the attention of the rival division in the police force, which is looking for a way to abolish the special unit. The narrative explores whether or not the traumatized young officer will be capable of using violence to defend himself and his unit. The question of whether Fuse is a rapacious wolf, capable of remorseless violence, or a sensitive victim of trauma converges with the question of the status of the film in relation to its medium. For Jin-Roh is a political thriller that, with the exception of one scene, might as well have been shot as a live action feature. Engaging the work of animation scholar Thomas Lamarre on the distinctions between the animetic image and the cinematic image, the article seeks to demonstrate that the question of the film’s film can only be addressed by reference to how the narrative resolves the question of the protagonist’s interiority. It is the one scene that resists being translated into a live action sequence that holds the key to the enigmatic behavior of the protagonist. Fuse proves fully capable of defending himself against armed men and defeating the conspiracy to destroy the special unit, while remaining a traumatized individual who becomes complicit in worsening his own state of psychic anguish.

The 3-D Animated Codescape: Imperfection and Digital Labor Zones in Wall-E (2008) and Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Live-action film and video games share a presence and convergence in each media’s visuality and narrative storytelling; this is especially apparent over the last four decades – from Tron (1982) to Run Lola Run (1998) to The Beach (2000) and now ‘machinima’ as new computational genre cinema via Minecraft (2014). To complicate matters, only recently are cinema and video games now tropes in 3-D computer animation, with films such as Wall-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) and Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore, 2012) absorbing these cultural relations. In this article, the authors explicate on two interwoven yet separable themes in the Walt Disney/Pixar films. First, they theorize aspects of the ‘imperfect aesthetic’ as connected to an audience and industry’s desire to aesthetically ‘deskill’ – as explained in John Roberts’s article ‘Art after deskilling’ (2010) – the image of its characters, in the process making the characters more vulnerable and thus more endearing. This imperfect aesthetic is typically associated with avant-garde animation or animated shorts, yet to link imperfection to 3-D computer animation illustrates a new visual tendency since the 2000s. Second, they draw on the scholarship of Maurizio Lazzarato to relate immaterial labor to what each character does in their animated worlds, what they call ‘digital labor zones’: the Wall-E robot is prone to affective labor while in Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph, the goofy villain, begins to question the reasons for his rampaging behavior and the labor behind such actions.

Studies in the Efficacy of Motion Graphics: The Effects of Complex Animation on the Exposition Offered by Motion Graphics

Motion graphics (MGs) are utilized in various venues for the purposes of informing and entertaining audiences. Most graphics have intricate finishes and use complex animation to present visual explanations of subject matter (i.e. exposition) or to convey narratives. Within an MG complex animation is demonstrated by the use of dynamic virtual cameras and depth cues, the motion exhibited by the phenomenon being visually explained, and photorealistic rendering. Presently, very little empirical research exists on MGs in general or the effects of complex animation on the viewing experience associated with MGs. The goals of the quasi-experimental study presented in this article were to explore how viewers interact with expository graphics that provide visual explanations and to characterize this interaction according to a synthesis of two theories that address different aspects of the viewing experience. The results suggest that the MG viewing experience is dynamic and that complex animation can be beneficial to viewers.

The Technologically Determined Decade: Robert Zemeckis, Andy Serkis, and the Promotion of Performance Capture

Between 2004 and 2011, Robert Zemeckis directed or produced five films – The Polar Express, Monster House, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol, and Mars Needs Mom – which utilized performance capture technology. Zemeckis and his effects team on The Polar Express refined the existing standards of motion capture to produce the more sophisticated performance capture, which allows for the digitization of an actor’s complete performance. This article charts two competing discourses that surrounded these films: the generally negative critical reception that saw the performance capture aesthetic as uncanny and creepy, and Zemeckis’ own promotion of the technology in industry interviews. Zemeckis’ early work with the technology is contrasted with Andy Serkis’ acclaim as a performance capture star, and how both men have worked as advocates for the technology, foregrounding their claims that performance capture could enhance or even revolutionize film production and, in particular, film acting.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Mythic Poetics: Experiencing the Narrative Persuasions in Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo

Some of Miyazaki’s mythic narratives, rendered within dreamlike figurations, are certainly not detached fantasy. The director portrays relatable human actions and a reasonable amount of setbacks during the (heroic) spectating process. Miyazaki’s animated realm infuses the audience with a bright outlook for the future. His narratives are often based upon graphical details and a calculated emplotment. The present study proposes reading Miyazaki’s animated tales by means of the audience’s internal projection onto the signs in the film frame. In this article, the narrative highlights that render Spirited Away (2001) an archetypal quest will be discussed. Finally, the article examines the narrative oscillation in Ponyo (2008). Alluding to Gaston Bachelard’s phenomenological perspective, the study aims to look into the textual aspects of the three cases, demonstrates how Miyazaki renders the film frame to exert persuasive impact upon the audience, and describes Hayao Miyazaki’s persuasive artistry.

From Animation to Augmentation: Dennō Coil and the Composited Self

When cities are covered over with layers of augmented reality, what shadows are cast by this new ability to see? The Japanese anime series Dennō Coil explores exactly this question, following a group of children living in a near-future society where augmented reality glasses have become as essential to daily life as smartphones have today. Comparing debates over ‘seamful’ design in ubiquitous computing with the role of the alpha channel in digital image compositing, the author argues for understanding the sensory environments of augmented reality as part of a longer history of bringing the animated image out into the spaces of everyday life. This article explores the new physical and psychological demands placed on individuals as they seek to navigate the protocols of this newly augmented world, while cultivating and conditioning what the author calls the ‘composited self’.

‘I’m Not a Real Boy, I’m a Puppet’: Computer-Animated Films and Anthropomorphic Subjectivity

This article rethinks anthropomorphic representation and animated animality within the context of the contemporary digital era and, more precisely, against the rise of the computer-animated feature film. By interrogating the fractured identity of the anthropomorph as a necessarily hybrid figuration, it suggests how popular computer-animated films have rejected ánthrōpos and instead exploited the non-human morphē element to manipulate virtual space through anthropomorphic subjectivity. The anthropomorph is here refined into a more prescriptive and functional agent, absorbing viewers into a spectatorial game that sharpens their awareness of the digital realm. Films such as Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007) and Bee Movie (Simon J Smith and Steve Hickner, 2007) are offered as case studies that reflect the shift towards the form or morphē element, one that is registered through a particular mode of subjectified address. Drawing on Gilles Deleuze’s notion of ‘gaseous perception’ to elucidate this delivery of enlivened space, this article argues that the computer-animated film is implicated in a hierarchical switch away from humanlike behaviour to embrace the possibilities of the anthropomorph’s non-human morphē identity, thereby upturning the received narrative of how anthropomorphism has been conceptualized among critical studies of animation.

Animating Best Practice

This article discusses the affordances of the explanatory animation creation process on the person who makes the animation, specifically, how his or her own conceptual understanding of any chosen topic is challenged, deepened, and ultimately consolidated throughout this process. Third generation activity theory was used in this study as a methodological lens to examine the explanatory animation process at various stages as both a tool and an object. Whilst educational animations have traditionally been the result of collaborations between professional animators and educators, this article documents how children can be engaged in this same process, as a means in itself, for the sake of their own learning. Our claim here is that the children’s mental models, as depicted through the animation key frames, functioned as both flexible models and diagnostic tools.

Karol Irzykowski and Feliks Kuczkowski: (Theory of) Animation as the Cinema of Pure Movement

Karol Irzykowski’s The Tenth Muse: Aesthetic Aspects of Cinema (1924) is the first extended study exploring the status of cinema as art in the Polish language. This article looks at these aspects of Irzykowski’s book that relate to his theory of animated film. As the author shows, Irzykowski’s perception of animation can be seen as an effect of his rapport with a Polish animator, Feliks Kuczkowski, as well as Irzykowski’s admiration of Paul Wegener’s films. However, as will be discussed, Irzykowski did not always perceive film as art in the same way as he did painting and sculpture. It is the author’s contention that it was the German critical thinker Rudolf Maria Holzapfel’s theory of appropriate and inappropriate arts that prompted Irzykowski to reconsider his views on film as art. As will be shown, Irzykowski’s theory of animated film developed largely through his familiarity with Kuczkowski’s work and Kuczkowski remains the only known Polish figure who made animated films since 1916. In line with many contemporary developments in the arts, Kuczkowski made his films according to his principle of ‘synthetic-visionary’ film. His innovative ideas are thought of as having influenced such key figures of Polish animation as Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk, while aspects of Irzykowski’s theory can be found in the work of such key Polish avant-garde filmmakers of the 1930s as Jalu Kurek and Stefan Themerson. This article will demonstrate that the rapport between Irzykowski and Kuczkowski was crucial to establishing a dialogue between theory and practice as will be later seen in relation to the emerging film avant-gardes.

Animation, Branding and Authorship in the Construction of the ‘Anti-Disney’ Ethos: Hayao Miyazaki’s Works and Persona through Disney Film Criticism

Walt Disney (1901–1966) is one of the most important figures in the history of cinema, but he may also be one of the most criticized. Adjectives referring to Disney in their different forms (‘Japanese Disney’, ‘Asian Disney’, ‘Disney from the Orient’, etc.), have also been applied to the analysis of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (1941–). Disney’s legacy has been reviewed and examined through different theoretical lenses derived from cultural studies and film criticism. In contrast, scholarship and cultural criticism have decoded Miyazaki’s works in terms of auteurism. These approaches also emphasize similarities based on high quality of production and individual signatures while differentiating between ideological and cultural readings of each author’s legacy. In this construction of what has been referred to as ‘anti-Disney’, the most common strategies of classical auteurism act together, including the mythical construction of the creator’s persona through cultural criticism and other film paratexts. In order to better understand the role of authorship in animation, a distinction between brand, style and creator’s persona is suggested.

Developing Expressive Ani-Morphs

The expressive potential of the morph is most fully realized in animation, a technique known as the ‘ani-morph’. Though ani-morphing has a fascinating history, there is no critical systematization of this technique that allows for direct comparison of one such transformation to another. This article introduces a taxonomical framework that provides a consistent and organized method of examining the visual expressivity of the morph, enabling comprehensive comparisons to be made between diverse morphing sequences. This framework is particularly useful in evaluating the practice of ‘continuous ani-morphing’, or the use of multiple morphs in sequence. The article begins by entering into a detailed taxonomical analysis of several ani-morphs, first by typifying each category of the taxonomy, and then following with a full cataloguing of their progressive stages. A case study supports the conclusion that high expressivity in continuous ani-morphing exists in sequences that employ a range of object relationships and feature-based mid-morphs, particularly through highly active and spatial transformations. The stylistic development of the ani-morph ultimately is instructive in predicting the future of the photo-real or digital morph. Though continuous photo-real morphing has yet to demonstrate the level of expressivity apparent in the history of continuous ani-morphing, the evolution of ani-morphing ultimately suggests how the expressivity of the photo-real morph will develop in the future.

The Translocalized McDull Series: National Identity and the Politics of Powerlessness

The animated film Me & My Mum was released in mainland China and Hong Kong in 2014 and proved to be a huge box office hit, cashing in on the existing McDull animated films that are hailed as the best animations in Hong Kong. Previous scholarship suggests that the McDull animated film series is a symbol of Hong Kong local culture; it serves as a repository of the changing landscapes of Hong Kong and demonstrates hybrid identities. However, this article argues that the McDull animated film series is more translocal than local, a fact which reveals the dynamics of the Hong Kong–mainland China relationship after Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. The translocalized McDull series demonstrates an obsession with Chineseness which helps to evoke the national identity. By aestheticizing powerlessness as cuteness through anthropomorphic animals, the McDull series used to be highly political; they grappled with the wounds of society in Hong Kong. However, the articulation of a well-rounded McDull in the translocalized film Me & My Mum indicates that it is conforming to the Chinese Communist Party’s ideology of ideal children while the political power of aestheticizing powerlessness is repressed, revealing the dominant power of the Chinese film market.

Resistance to a Posthuman and Retrograde Oughtopia: Exploring the Narrative of South Korea’s Sci-Fi Animation, Wonder Kiddy

This article analyzes the narrative of South Korea’s first animated science fiction TV series, 2020 Space Wonder Kiddy, which presents the model of a posthuman society and seeks to demonstrate the characters’ perception of this imaginary world. The study provides insight into the so-called ‘oughtopia’ model, proposing a possible way to organize the society of the future. By portraying the community of Wonder Kiddy, where humans, aliens (elves) and robots of all kinds coexist as one social organism, the author carries out judgments about a technological civilization of the future and analyzes concerns associated with the technophobia of modern people. The first concern is the fear that intelligent machines could start living according to their own rules of self-evolution, imitating the governing principles typical of human society. Secondly, Wonder Kiddy reflects the fear of the collapse of modern humanity and the death of the human race, followed by a shift to a posthuman society. Thirdly, it presents concerns about how mythological value, an essential component of humans’ spiritual richness, might collapse if a technological civilization’s speed and sense of direction get out of hand. Finally, it questions the belief about the historical progress of the human race, which rests on the concept of linear time. On the other hand, Wonder Kiddy presents the model of an ideal solution for preserving all ecological, natural and scenic values. This adds strength to the view that the oughtopia of Wonder Kiddy was not planned as a realistic model, but designed to symbolize a simple outcome of general environmentalist logic.

Anime’s Performativity: Diversity through Conventionality in a Global Media-Form

Anime is a globally prominent media-form with a multitude of styles, yet it maintains a relative uniformity to sustain a recognizable identity as a particular category of media. The performance of the recognizably ‘anime-esque’ is what distinguishes anime as a type of animation, allowing it to be sold and consumed as ‘anime’. Anime, and its recognizable identity, are performatively constituted by a series of anime-esque acts performed in animation, citing a system/database of conventionalized models in each iteration. What we recognize as ‘anime proper’ are not just ‘animations from Japan’, but animations that perform large quantities of anime-esque acts. However, anime must continuously work through the problematic of maintaining its identity without redundancy, each performance working through the tensions of diversity and uniformity: in straying too far from a conventional model, it loses anime-esque recognizability and cannot be sold/consumed as anime. As such, anime’s identity negotiates the dynamic divisions between uniformity, repetition and the global on the one hand, and diversity, variation and the local, on the other. Working through this problematic entails a different type of creativity as combinations of citations from conventional models in each performance negotiate that particular anime’s identity as an anime production and its distinction from other anime. Anime’s problematic is not only invoked through the engagement of conventionalized models of character design and narrative, but also in the technical processes/materiality of animation, which cite character models and conventionalized acting expressions when animated. Yet it is not just the material limits of the medium of animation. There is another limit in the performance of anime in the act of citation that facilitates the doing (and selling) of anime: in the repeated acts of the anime-esque, in the serialization of anime as a media-form, the contours of anime’s formal system become a factor of convergence.

The Similarities and Nuances of Explicit Design Characteristics of Well-Received Online Instructional Animations

Online learning is becoming more prevalent throughout the years and there are various methods available to learn via the internet, one of which is by watching educational videos from online streaming sites such as YouTube. With the increasing availability of instructional animations on the internet, it can be beneficial to know how well-received instructional animations are designed. Hence, this explorative article focuses on a hybrid of directed and interpretive content analysis study of explicit design characteristics and visual representations of these animations. Animation samples for the study were selected from established educational animation content creators on YouTube using several criteria. Aspects such as design characteristics and visual representations were analysed and discussed in relation to the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning principles and a characterization system of expository animation. Based on this approach, common characteristics and unique approaches to creating well-received instructional animations for online viewing are found. Thus, by being able to identify and being aware of these salient design characteristics (i.e. visual representations, sound and visual cues), educators and animation designers can incorporate them in their own instructional animations.

Lev Kuleshov on Animation: Montaging the Image

The Soviet film director Lev Kuleshov has not been historically associated with animation, and yet his legacy includes: an article on animation published in the Soviet central specialized newspaper Kino Gazeta; a film, a substantial part of which is animated; as well as a text of four lectures preserved in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI). In the lectures that he delivered to animators at the Soviet central animation studio Soiuzmul’tfil’m, he repurposes his theories of montage and acting for the needs of the medium of animation. Analyzing these materials, with the primary focus on the lectures, this article introduces Kuleshov’s contribution to animation theory and production, and suggests that Kuleshov’s legacy not only sheds light on the historically specific situation in animation production characteristic for the Soviet Union in the 1930s, but also facilitates a deeper understanding of the animated image as a phenomenon.

Disorienting the Past, Cripping the Future in Adam Elliot’s Claymation

Acclaimed Australian animator Adam Elliot dedicated his career to illustrating the experiences of people with disabilities. Elliot’s first trilogy – Uncle (1996), Cousin (1999) and Brother (2000) – is a black and white claymation accompanied by narration reminiscing beloved family members with disabilities. The article intersects disability studies, phenomenology and film studies in an analysis of the disabled body in Elliot’s claymations and the crip ethics they may evoke in spectators. The author argues that Elliot’s clayographies disorient the past by yearning for it and crip the future by criticizing the marginalization of people with disabilities, and focusing on the desire for life ‘out-of-line’. The hybridity of the trilogy is an infusion of documentary ‘domestic ethnography’ or home videos, centering familial ‘others’ with fictional film-noir that allows entrance into the dark realm of recollection. The viewers are offered bodily experiences that emphasize the body’s vulnerability and perishability, presented not in a tragic or inspirational fashion, but as inseparable from human existence. By conjuring these oppositional cinematic styles and genres in clay, disability is represented as the definition of the human experience through an ethical remembrance.

Frank Grimes’ Enemy: Precarious Labour and Realism in The Simpsons

Although many fans have identified the end of The Simpsons’ golden era in 1997, at the beginning of season nine, there has been little critical analysis of what that shift signified for the show and for popular culture as a whole. For The Simpsons, this shift signifies two important qualitative changes: first, in the changing definition of work, from a Fordist model of employment to a precarious one, and second, as a result of the first, in its mode of realism, moving from an internally coherent to a fractured portrayal of the characters’ lives. The first sign of this transformation comes in season eight through the character of Frank Grimes. His relationship to Homer marks a turning point, after which characters and viewers alike are no longer able to inhabit a stable Fordist universe. If the task of realism, as a mode of expression is to approach social reality then The Simpsons’ failure to provide consistent characterizations reflects neoliberalism’s own dislocations.

Make-Believing Animated Films Featuring Digital Humans: A Qualitative Inquiry Using Online Sources

A qualitative inquiry of reviews of films featuring digital humanlike characters was performed by sampling user comments from three online reviewer aggregator sites: the Internet Movie Database, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. The films chosen for analysis were: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (dir. Hironobu Sakaguchi and Motonori Sakakibara, 2001), The Polar Express (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 2004), and Beowulf (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 2007), all produced using CGI animation, together with A Scanner Darkly (dir. Richard Linklater, 2006) whose visuals are depicted by rotoscoping using Bob Sabiston’s Rotoshop software. The authors’ analysis identified individual differences in the viewing experience, particularly in relation to the uncertain ontology of the humanlike characters created using CGI (CGI-Humans). They found examples of reviews indicating an inability to distinguish between real and CGI-Human actors, observations of characters transiently exhibiting realism before returning to their artifice, and of characters being viewed as eerie (analogous to the uncanny valley), thus illustrating a complex and dynamic response to this phenomenon. In some situations, character uncanniness was related to the presence of an atypical feature such as movement of the eyes. Whilst specifically for Beowulf, perceptions became more problematic when there was familiarity with the actor playing the CGI-Human character, with some reviewers describing difficulties in categorizing the character as either real or animated. CGI-Human performances were also characterized by a lack of, or inappropriate, social interaction. Online reviewers did not perceive characters depicted using Rotoshop (Rotoshop-Humans) as eerie; rotoscoping was found to preserve, and possibly enhance, the natural social interactions between actors recorded from the live-action film which was used as the source material for the animation. The authors’ inquiry also identified user motivations for viewing these films and the importance placed by reviewers on the form of display when viewing the CGI films. They situate their interpretation of these findings in relation to Walton’s make-believe theory (Mimesis as Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts, 1990).

Into the Choppy Waters of Peace: An Inquiry into Peace- and Anti-Violence Animation

This article examines the use of animation for the purpose of peace-building. It does this by first examining key definitions of peace, and how these have been applied for matters of art. It appropriates these definitions for the specific context of animation, and uses case studies to illustrate how animation could be used in this context. The article concludes by supporting a participatory approach to animation for peace-building purposes. The values that drive the research derive from the paradigm of positive peace developed by Johan Galtung. These can be summarized as justice, equality, prosperity, non-violence, cooperation and solidarity.

Simulation and the Labour of Invisibility: Harun Farocki’s Life Manuals

This article focuses on Farocki’s four-part film cycle Parallel I–IV which explores the image genre of computer animation. In Parallel I–IV, Farocki traces the development of video-game graphics from the crude two-dimensional images of the early 1980s to the hyper-realistic environments of contemporary titles, such as Grand Theft Auto. The article situates the film cycle in relation to Farocki’s wider body of work and thematic interests, while also considering how Parallel I–IV sheds light on a media–archaeological reassessment of cinema history. Five interrelated topics are addressed: representation and reproduction; operational images; surveillance and the military; simulation and role play; and the labour of invisibility and the invisibility of labour.

Cloud Animation

Clouds are animate forms, shifting and evanescent, mutable and always in movement. They have also long been a subject of imagery, especially painting, because paint, most notably watercolour, as John Constable knew, seeped into thick drawing papers much as a cloud seeped itself through the sky. The drama of clouds in the 20th century was seized by film and it is striking to note that many Hollywood Studio logos use clouds. Clouds from Constable to the Hollywood logos are Romantic clouds. They drift and float, produce ambience and mood, along with weather. But the cloud appears in the digital age too, in more ways than one. Clouds have been constituted digitally by commercial animation studios and used as main characters in cartoons; they are available in commercial applications, such as architecture and landscaping packages; they have been made and represented by art animators. This body of work, kitsch and dumb as some of it is, is treated in this article as emblematic of an age in which the digital cloud looms as a new substance. The cloud in the digital age is a source of form, like a 3D printer, a source of any imaginable form. As such, it comes to be less a metaphor of something else and more a generator of a metaphor that is itself. Now we live alongside – and even inside – a huge cloud metaphor that is The Cloud. In what ways do the clouds in the sky speak across to the platform and matter that is called The Cloud? What is at work in the digitalizing of clouds in animation, and the production of animation through the technologies of The Cloud? Are we witnessing the creation of a synthetic heaven into which all production has been relocated and the digital clouds make all the moves?

Media Mix Mobilization: Social Mobilization and Yo-Kai Watch

Animated television programs have been considered an integral element of the ‘media mix’ or transmedia in Japan. In multiple contexts, the place of such television shows has been framed as a ‘30-minute commercial’ or ‘program length commercial’. This article examines the 2014 anime and media mix Yo-kai Watch as an example of the animation episode as something else: part of a call towards total mobilization. Taking seriously the incendiary remarks by one of Japan’s media mix pioneers – Kadokawa Haruki – who claimed that his model for the media mix was taken from Hitler’s ‘total mobilization’ of fashion, sound, and image for a nationalist endgame, this article considers the Yo-kai Watch media mix in light of the concept of total mobilization. Through a close analysis of the objects, games and animation of Yo-Kai Watch, the author suggests that the endgame of this media mix geared towards very young audiences is their total mobilization towards collection-based consumption. This means thinking a ‘logistics of consumption’ that requires in part an examination of the circulation of objects as well as the function of the anime as an incitement and manual to play.

Animation and the Powers of Plasticity

This article studies the notion of plasticity that Sergei Eisenstein identified as key to the practice of animation. But rather than approaching plasticity only in aesthetic terms, the article extends its meaning to consider animated figures’ power over their beholders. By looking at both historical and contemporary case studies, from Athanasius Kircher’s experiments in the 17th century to present-day virtual reality applications developed by the US military, the author seeks to understand the transformative potential of animation with regard to psychic life, and how this potential has been turned into a practice of power.

Interjections and Connections: The Critical Potential of Animated Segments in Live Action Documentary

This article explores animated segments that appear in otherwise live action, mainstream commercial documentaries made since 2000. An examination of films including The Age of Stupid, Bowling for Columbine, Searching for Sugar Man, Camp 14: Total Control Zone, Cobain: Montage of Heck and Everything’s Cool suggests that animated sequences function either as ‘connective tissue’ or ‘disruptive interjection’ and that this function is not necessarily determined by the animation being aesthetically or ontologically distinct from the live action context in which it appears. Instead, other narrative and rhetorical devices determine to what extent an animated section interjects. Ultimately, the author suggests that the ability to interject into the realist veneer of documentary representation demonstrates animation’s critical and political potential within a non-fiction context.

Speculative Animation: Digital Projections of Urban Past and Future

This article explores the growing presence of digital animation within the work of contemporary visual artists, architects and designers concerned with urban geography. While contemporary theorists such as Bernard Stiegler and Mark Hansen have emphasized the ways in which digital media technologies have colonized cultural memory and foreclosed access to a collectively envisioned future, socially engaged architects and artists have turned to animation as a medium that retains an important aesthetic potential. Digital animation has thus become a primary method for both envisioning alternative urban futures and reconstructing the traumatic past within politically engaged work. This article focuses on four examples, two past and two future-oriented. The conceptual artist Stan Douglas has recently, and uncharacteristically, adopted digital animation and gaming technologies in his Circa 1948 collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The interactive app allows Douglas to re-activate a repressed period of Vancouver’s past, thereby questioning the narratives of progress and property speculation that dominate the contemporary city. The work of Eyal Weizman and the Forensic Architecture project has increasingly involved the use of digital animation techniques to both reconstruct and visualize key dates or events within moments of humanitarian crisis. In the Rafah: Black Friday case study, for example, digital animation and 3D modelling are used to reconstruct a particularly intense four days of bombing during the 2014 Israeli military offensive in Gaza. The artist Larissa Sansour merges live action and digital animation to visually depict bleak and disturbingly convincing Palestinian futures, and the ‘speculative architect’ Liam Young has been employing animation techniques to present urban scenarios that teeter between the technologically utopian and dystopian.

Rango, Ethics and Animation

The first task is to describe if not define ethics: in the film context a quality of the unique instance (where politics might instead be about the consequences for all or for a majority or a group). Documentary for example has a duty to the unique events and subjects it pictures. The question then might be phrased: what is unique in animation? This suggests some distinctions. Simulations based on large data sets do not address the unique and particular and therefore should be considered in this frame as political. Hand-drawn and handmade stop-motion animation might be read as unique expressions of gesture and require a distinct ethical approach. The more mediated forms of computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation do not so much sit between these poles as establish a third: how to distinguish ethical from political obligations of animation. No promise of a solution, but tactics for posing the question.

Digital Unreason: Jordan Wolfson’s ‘Evil Jew’

This article privileges an analysis of the artwork Animation, masks (2011) by the Jewish-American contemporary artist Jordan Wolfson. This animated film is over 10 minutes long and features only one character, based on a collection of references Wolfson found under the Google search terms ‘evil Jew’ and ‘Shylock’. One of the key references for this ‘evil Jew’ stereotype, ‘Le Happy Merchant’, is a popular meme circulating on the 4chan media network and has become a mascot of the so called ‘alt-right’ – a loose network of racists and anti-Semites that became militant supporters of the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign and presidency. In Wolfson’s version of the meme, professional American animators were hired to give this stereotype the illusion of life. The result is a fascist stereotype restaged as an endearing Dreamworks character, unpredictable and incoherent, lurching between violent and placatory gestures. Rather than attempt a close analysis, this article argues that Wolfson’s social link to stereotype, conspiracy theory and fascist rebellion requires greater interrogation in light of the Donald Trump campaign, Brexit and the Le Pen candidacy. In all these campaigns, a vitalistic critique of metropolitan ‘elites’ or ‘globalists’ became the anti-establishment pretext for verbal assaults on immigrants, people of colour and Muslims. Alberto Toscano and Jeff Kinkle in Cartographies of the Absolute (2015) connect a popular upsurge in conspiratorial thinking to an absented critique of capitalism. They claim that if the abstract and impersonal character of capitalism is never awarded popular interrogation, conspiracy theory is an easy substitute, leaving the door open to anti-Semitic and racist projections. In turn, they call for art and popular culture that creates a systematic link to the bewildering movements of late capitalism, rather than fall into conspiratorial thinking. In this article, the author suggests that Wolfson in Animation, masks is using animation and caricature to bear witness to the circulation of anti-Semitic conspiracy and the narcissistic social networks that have been emboldened by the rise of the international far Right. However, by ambivalently playing around with stereotype, Wolfson also risks falling into complicity with forces of unreason that are indifferent to ironic treatment. This article discusses the critical contributions and limitations of this artwork, leading to an evaluation of Wolfson’s conceptual performance as a whole.

San Andreas and the Spiralling of the Analogico–Digital Animated Image

This article considers the contemporary state of mainstream Hollywood cinema as a profoundly animation-driven form of spectacular entertainment characteristic of global digital media in the era of what Bernard Stiegler calls hypercapitalism. With reference to the work of Esther Leslie, Dick Tomasovic and Stiegler, the author develops a critical account of what Leslie calls the ‘petrified unrest’ evident in the deployment of animation techniques and technologies in contemporary mainstream film and media through analysis of the recent Hollywood blockbuster, San Andreas (dir. Brad Peyton, 2015). This film’s big budget, spectacle-driven narrative and extensive deployment of the latest digital ‘motion design’ tools qualifies it as an exemplary instance of the paradoxical form of contemporary mainstream digital cinema, one which is both innovative and utterly conventional at the same time in Leslie’s account. The author elaborates what Stiegler describes as the spiralling instability of the current, hypercapitalist dynamic in which this paradoxical but ultimately unsustainable ‘petrified unrest’ manifests as a disorienting experience of technological and cultural transformation. For it is only in coming to terms with the profound connections between technological and cultural becoming that the potential can be found to move on from this disorienting condition of digital transformation under the prevailing hypercapitalist mode animating what Leslie terms our ‘dreamt reality’.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty: The Components of Costume Design in Disney’s Early Hand-Drawn Animated Feature Films

Costumes in feature films can be deliberately used for narrative purposes to reveal or conceal something related to the plot, functioning as a key element for cinematic storytelling. Costume design in animation is an integral part of character creation; however, relatively little is known about the design process. Previous research concentrates on either the history of hand-drawn animation, the principles of making animated films or character construction. This article presents several key components of the animators’ costume design process in Walt Disney’s animated feature films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959). The author demonstrates that the costume design in these films was a multi-layered process. For example, for Snow White, the costume silhouette of the final animation is visible in the early conceptual designs whereas, for Cinderella or Princess Aurora, the principal character animators designed the final costume. Additionally, the slow production time influenced the style of the costumes: small details on costumes and complex constructions were not used as it would have taken too long for them to be drawn. The article also reveals that animators used live-action filming and rotoscoping as tools for designing costumes. Furthermore, costumes that were used in pre-production filming for rotoscope were different in their construction from everyday garments. The work of a costume designer existed in the character design process, although not as a separate profession. This article aims to highlight the importance of characters’ costumes in Disney’s early hand-drawn animated films and the different ways costumes have been designed for animated characters.

Gender and Cartoons from Theaters to Television: Feminist Critique on the Early Years of Cartoons

From adults to children, from theaters to television, cartoons are one of the few major popular art forms that have been able to consistently redefine their audience as they experiment and change and, as such, have proved their importance in culture and society. This article discusses the social critique that originated with cartoons’ theatrical beginnings, which were met with substantial praise from the intellectual and art community of their time. An exploration into the massification of the medium reveals its role in the marginalization of women in the animation industry as underpaid and unrecognized labor. This article also explores the industry’s creation of a compulsory gender coding associated with the animated female form by investigating Disney’s and Warner Bros.’ competing portrayals of women as a ‘madonna–whore’ duality, and further looks into Disney’s feminine triptych perpetuating heteronormative gender coding in the form of the princess, the witch and the fairy godmother. The massification of the medium, as television programming shaped the industry into children’s programming, was led by Hanna-Barbera who did not consider girl cartoons a priority and continued to marginalize women in the workforce.

Jan Švankmajer’s Don Šajn (1970): Puppets as intimate objects

The puppet form has caught the imagination of many artists and writers. However, coming to terms with this riddling figuration is difficult. As a configuration characterized by tensions and conflicts, it eludes easy determination. This article focuses on the paradoxical nature of the puppet form: the tension in between the external bodily existence and the internal dramatic life of the puppet – two existential states that invest the puppet form with a perplexing double life. The paradox of renegotiating communicative flows between interior and exterior worlds is examined in relation to the phenomenon of intermediality. Amidst the intermedial concatenation of different modes of expression – puppetry, theatre, cinema and object animation – the puppet form acts as an intimate space. Concrete instances of medial interchanges carry metaphorically a long way towards the most intimate relation of knowing and feeling in resonance with the puppet form. Working with one of the finest examples of the use of puppetry in film, Jan Švankmajer’s Don Šajn (1970), these thoughts are developed through a series of readings ranging from the film critic Michael O’Pray’s view of the film, André Breton’s notion of communicating vessels, Deleuze’s concept of the baroque fold and Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutic phenomenology.

Walt Disney Treasures or Mickey Mouse DVDs? Animatophilia, Nostalgia, and the Competing Representations of Theatrical Cartoon Shorts on Home Video

Theatrical-era short animation has often acquired a complex, even contradictory, textual identity: most cartoons were originally produced for a general audience, but were then marketed almost exclusively towards children as repeats on television. The rise of DVD has further complicated the status of these films. On the one hand, the format has facilitated the release of a lot of rare animated material, most notably within a series of multi-volume special editions entitled the Walt Disney Treasures, explicitly aimed at the previously marginalized adult viewer. However, Disney has also produced lower priced, ‘family friendly’ discs featuring many of the same cartoons. Unlike the Treasures volumes, the latter sets tend to censor problematic content and generally lack contextualizing bonus features. The choice to watch one of these collections over the other can thus have a significant impact upon one’s interpretation of the collected films. Thomas Elasasser argues that film culture – embodied most fervently by the devoted cinephile (and, for the purposes of this study, the equivalent figure of the animatophile) – has often failed to recognize itself as a product of generational memory. It is frequently implied by such groups that DVD special editions are the most ‘authentic’ because they privilege the original cinematic experience, without acknowledging the degree to which the format itself serves to remediate its contents. For instance, while the Treasures discs generally present the films uncut – sometimes ‘restoring’ footage unseen since the 1930s and 40s – these are often prefaced with mandatory disclaimers providing historical context for contentious elements such as racism. The sheer volume of material that these collections provide, including opportunities for binge-watching with ‘play all’ functions, similarly alters the portioned availability of these texts in the theatrical sphere. This article will suggest that both the special edition and ‘family friendly’ DVD options ultimately reflect a nostalgic struggle to appropriate and define the present and future reception of the films, rather than to truly reclaim the past.

Animated Images and Animated Objects in the Toy Story Franchise: Reflexively and Intertextually Transgressive Mimesis

This article explores how animation can manipulate a reflexive intertextual framework which relates to religious prohibitions on artistic mimesis that might replicate and threaten God’s creative act. Animated films are most intertextually reflexive, in these terms, when they narrativize the movement of diegetic objects from another medium which also transgresses God’s prohibition: sculpture. In the media of both sculpture and animation, the act of mimesis is transgressive in fundamentally ontological terms, staging the illusion of creation by either replicating the form of living creatures in three-dimensional sculpture, or by giving the impression of animating the inanimate in two-dimensional film. Both media can generate artworks that directly comment on these processes by using narratives about the creative act which not only produce the illusion of life, but which produce diegetically real life itself. Such artworks are intensely reflexive, and engage with one another in an intertextual manner. The article traces this process from the pre-historic and early historic religious, mythic and philosophical meditations which structure ideas about mimetic representations of life, via Classical and Early Modern sculpture, through a radical proto-feminist revision crystallizing around the monstrous consequences of the transgression in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and finally into film and more specifically animation. The article culminates with a relatively detailed account of these processes in the Toy Story franchise, which is a heightened example of how animation can stage a narrative in which ostensibly inanimate sculpted toys move of their own volition, and of how this double form of animation does this reflexively, by ontologically performing the toys’ animating act. The animated films analysed also engage with the transgressive and monstrous consequences of this double form of animation, which derive from the intertextual life of those narratives that challenge God’s prohibition on mimesis.

Mediating a Disney-style Islam: The Emergence of Egyptian Islamic Animated Cartoons

As early as the 1930s, Egypt was the first Arab country to establish an animation production. While the majority of productions in the eight-decade history of the industry have been aimed at a national audience and conveyed through locally relevant messages, a growing number of films and series on Islamic topics targeting a transnational Muslim audience have emerged since the 1990s. This article examines the growth and characteristics of Egyptian Islamic animated cartoons and the Islamization of animation. It explores how the Egyptian state’s politics in the 1990s and its tightening affiliations with al-Azhar, the country’s highest religious authority, paved the way for such a production. Through a close study of the case of Qisas al-Qur’an (Stories from the Qur’an), the country’s most significant production to date in terms of budget, quality and distribution, this article provides an introduction to the characteristics of Egyptian Islamic animation.

Early Childhood and Media Representation: How does South Korean Animation Pororo the Little Penguin Reproduce Patriarchal Family Ideology?

This study examines the deeper cultural and social meaning of a South Korean popular edutainment animation Pororo the Little Penguin by analyzing 50 of its episodes. The article expands upon earlier studies of Pororo by not only analyzing gender stereotypes in Pororo’s narratives and aesthetics but also investigating these features within the larger frame of social discourse. The authors found that, despite the fact that Pororo seems to display friendship formation among children without adults’ intervention, it really reflects family relationships in South Korea and functions to reveal adults’ perspectives on them. Through positioning adult and children characters within the typical patriarchal Korean family, they argue that Pororo reproduces the patriarchal family ideology of today’s South Korea. This study therefore contributes to the field of children’s media and gender representation and the sociology of childhood.

A General Aesthetics of American Animation Sound Design

From the inception of sync sound in the late 1920s to the modern day, sound in animation has assumed a variety of forms. This article proposes four principal modes that have developed in the commercial realm of American animation according to changing contingencies of convention, technology and funding. The various modes are termed syncretic, zip-crash, functional and poetic authentication. Each one is utilized to different aesthetic effect, with changing relationships to the image. The use of voice, music, sound effects and atmos are considered as well as the ways in which they are recorded, manipulated and mixed. Additionally, the ways in which conventions bleed from one period to the next are also illustrated. Collectively, these proposed categories aid in understanding the history and creative range of options available to animators beyond the visual realm.

‘Diagrams of Motion’: Stop-Motion Animation as a Form of Kinetic Sculpture in the Short Films of Jan Švankmajer and the Brothers Quay

Jean-Luc Godard wrote that ‘The cinema is not an art which films life; the cinema is something between art and life’ (cited in Roud’s, 2010, biography of Godard), an observation particularly true of stop-motion animation. The filmmakers discussed in this essay, Jan Švankmajer and the Brothers Quay, share a fascination with the latent content of found objects; they believe that forgotten toys, discarded tools and other such objects contain echoes of past experiences. Extrapolating Švankmajer’s belief that memories are imparted to the objects we touch, the manipulation of his found objects as puppets in his films becomes a means of evoking and repurposing their latent content, just as the Quays develop their dreamlike films from the psychic content they perceive in their armatures. Making a case study of a selection of these animators’ short films, this article examines the practice of stop-motion animation against that of kinetic sculpture, unpicking the complexities of the relationship between the inherently static mediums of sculpture and photography – symbolic of a fixed moment in time – and that of stop-motion animation, a temporal pocket in which these fossilized moments are revived once more.

How Animation Won Over the Lightning Sketch: Re-Evaluating Humorous Phases of Funny Faces

The short film Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, released in 1906 and directed by J Stuart Blackton (1875–1941), is considered to be one of the earliest examples of cinematic animation. This article aims at examining the film’s influence from another perspective, beyond its pioneering use of film camera: the author argues that Blackton’s film has also laid the foundation for common design principles in subsequent animated productions, particularly in the design of animated characters. The analysis of Blackton’s film aimed at supporting this argument is based on Scott McCloud’s seminal book Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (1993) and this article offers a modified method of McCloud’s ‘Vocabulary of Comics’ to demonstrate how Blackton has introduced the basic building-blocks of animated characters’ design that are common to this day: designs that rely on an emotional, universal core upon which culture-specific items are overlaid. Moreover, through appearance and performance of his animated characters, Blackton broke the design process of animated characters into such building blocks, emphasizing their importance.

The Rotoscopic Uncanny: Aku no Hana and the Aesthetic of Japanese Postmodernity

CGI has led to a theoretical revolution in media studies. What is cinema when reality can be created on a computer? What is animation when superflat 2D aesthetics are becoming haunted by 3D digital graphics? This article adds a third term to the debate: rotoscoping. The author analyzes the first exclusively rotoscoped Japanese anime, Aku no Hana (The Flowers of Evil), a contemporary reinterpretation of Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal that reflects on postmodern malaise, rural decay and depopulation, and otaku escapism, in order to examine the aesthetic of the rotoscope in relation to cinema and anime. He argues that rotoscoping is an uncannying of the cinematism and animitism, or a polemical response to both the ideologies of Disney immersive realism and anime flat animation. The article investigates the narrative’s ‘writer of postmodern life’ Sawa Nakamura in relation to Baudelaire’s modernism and the conditions of postmodernity themselves: the structure of Japanese imperialism today and its effect on Gunma prefecture, the setting of the show. Finally, the author analyzes the hostile response to the show among otaku to explore how the hauntology of the rotoscopic machine channels the ghosts of neoliberalism, the super-exploited laborers of the third world.

Dong for Movements, Hua for Paintings: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Investigating Chinese Donghua

This article questions a longstanding definition of animation that lacks aspects of cultural diversity in part; it reexamines the socio-cultural formation of modern animation from less known regions of China and investigates Chinese animation known as donghua (动画). The goal is to demonstrate the transdisciplinary nature of donghua acquired through dynamic interactions in this heterogeneous site of production of visual culture in modern China. The author suggests a concept-based framework to more accurately describe animation in China composed of three specific dimensions of donghua: translinguality, transnationality and transmediality. To conclude, the author reveals that the study of donghua helps generate a more widely defined spectrum of the now divergent ‘cultural field’ of ‘animations’ and therefore leads to a ‘translocal imagining of animation’ appropriate for today’s increasingly mobile world.

The Ambivalent Image Factory: The Genealogy and Visual History of Chinese Independent Animation

This article examines how the emergence, constitution and diversification of independent animation in mainland China was formed with minjian discourse and the rise of independent creativity over the past two decades. This was an era in which the animation mainstream was transformed from a primarily political discourse to a fully commercialized entity, while the aesthetic parodies and pastiches of an imaginary ‘Chineseness’ have undergone a renaissance within a power struggle between individuality and independency in animation practice.

The Animator as Inventor: Labour and the New Animated Machine Comedy of the 2010s

Around 2010, the inventor character started to populate animated blockbusters. Computer 3D animated films and their sequels such as Robots (Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, 2005), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, 2009), Despicable Me (Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, 2010) and Big Hero 6 (Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014) all feature inventors and their extravagant machines. In this article, the author explores the inventive artisan character as a self-reflexive trope of the animator. She expands Crafton’s thesis of the animator’s self-figuration and Tom Gunning’s work on machine comedy and operational aesthetics to further discussions on the animator and thereby the labour of animation. The article seeks to reveal the political agenda in the new animated machine comedy of the 2010s, which not only reflects the modes of production of contemporary animation studios, but also the larger concerns in the post-Fordist mode of production.

(In)Animate Semiotics: Virtuality and Deleuzian Illusion(s) of Life

It is well known that, despite his close engagement with cinema, Gilles Deleuze was less concerned with animated film, being somewhat dismissive of its capabilities. In recent years, however, a number of attempts have been made – most notably by William Schaffer, Thomas Lamarre and Dan Torre – to construct Deleuzian positions in animation theory. This article outlines some of these approaches, whilst engaging critically with Torre’s writings. In particular, it foregrounds Torre’s neglect of the post-structural, political dimension of Deleuzian thought through an examination of the concepts of faciality, the close-up, and relation as they occur in Deleuzian and Deleuzo-Guattarian philosophy. This is in part facilitated through a comparison of Stuart Blackton’s Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) – a work directly addressed by Torre, and Emile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie (1908) – a work which he largely passes by. It is claimed here that, despite a number of apparent similarities, the animations of Cohl and Blackton express a radically divergent series of ontological commitments. Cohl offers the audience an experience of chaotic, mutable, relational complexity that revels in its incoherence, whilst Blackton presents a series of more straightforward set pieces, dwelling for the most part upon object-centric representational form. The tension between representation and becoming that occurs between these works is employed to facilitate a critical engagement with Torre’s process-cognitivism. It is suggested that Torre’s work, though exceptional in its pedagogic value, is likewise expressive of this tension, and that in its effort firstly to combine a series of process-philosophical and cognitivist ideas, and secondly to unpack the radical ideas of Deleuze through the more conservative philosophy of Nicholas Rescher, it runs the risk of falling back into a quasi-Kantian philosophy of generality and representation.

Shaping Girls: Analyzing Animated Female Body Shapes

The debate over whether television and film affect girls’ body image has been contentious. Researchers argue that film and television negatively affect, only partially affect, or do not affect girls’ body image. These studies have one common limitation: they approach animated female bodies as if they are the same because they are, mostly, thin. In this project, the author seeks to extend and complicate this existing scholarship by analyzing bodies in 67 films produced by several American animation studios from 1989 through 2016. In this study, she classifies 239 female characters as one of four body types: Hourglass, Pear, Rectangle, or Inverted Triangle. Her argument is two-fold: (1) over the last 30 years, there has been a shift from a singular dominant shape (Hourglass) to the dominance of several body shapes (especially Pear and Rectangle); and (2) young girls may be affected by characters their own age who have been largely ignored in studies thus far. The author argues that young girls see diverse images of bodies rather than the singular image that scholars study. Girls’ body image may be affected by animation, but animated images are so diverse that this effect may be difficult to determine. A more nuanced understanding of the body shapes animation utilizes may allow researchers to study the more complex messages that girls do or do not internalize.

Absent Patriarchs and Persuasive Enforcers of the Future Nation: A Contextualized Reading of American Wartime Fathers in Walt Disney’s Pinocchio, Dumbo and Bambi

This article discusses the portrayal of fatherhood and paternity in Walt Disney’s benchmark features Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942) through a contextualized historical and cultural analysis. The author aims to provide a coherent study of how the father figure is constructed in each of these films and why the tone of this presentation varies considerably within the short time span between the theatrical releases. The article proceeds to demonstrate how, with their prominent father characters, these features exhibit metaphorically the transitional and challenged sentiments regarding fatherhood and masculinity in early 1940s America. The immense societal crises, the Great Depression and the Second World War, destabilized prevalent gender roles and, as a response, sparked ideologically charged discourses that were pretentiously spread in contemporary mainstream film, and which sought to restore the former patriarchal order. This article intends to discover to what extent the Disney studio participated in these popular discourses or used them for its own interests. Finally, the article investigates how these films contribute to the construction and understanding of ‘reality’ of this past and the role of fathers within it.

Rocko’s Magic Capitalism: Commodity Fetishism in the Magical Realism of Rocko’s Modern Life

This article presents a textual analysis of the Nickelodeon animated series Rocko’s Modern Life. Drawing from the theories of Guy Debord and Imamura Taihei, the series is posited as a revelatory lens into the spiritual crisis of late capitalism. The author then argues that the series employs magical realism to depict an animist capitalism in which the fetishization of commodities literally brings them to life. The show’s characters experience the alienation of labour as the draining of their spirit, haunting their workplaces as dead labour reanimated through the necromancy of commodity fetishism. As consumers, the characters attempt to recapture the enervated agency of their alienated selves by populating their lives with commodities. Ultimately, they are unable to find meaningful agency and spiritual fulfilment amidst the distributed agency of animated commodities. Despite its often problematic engagement with both indigeneity and animism, this close analysis of Rocko’s Modern Life supports Imamura’s theory that Western animation appropriates elements of indigenous animism to bring dead labour back to life in the form of fetishized commodities. It also suggests further research into the interconnection and contestation between capitalist animism and indigenous animism within animation.

Unveiling and Revealing the Mirror: Mobile Reverberations in Patrick Bokanowski’s Animated Films

The principal focus of this article is to provide an analysis of some of the most significant works by the independent filmmaker Patrick Bokanowski and the methodology he uses to create those animated films. It addresses Bokanowski’s technique of filming on various kinds of reflective surfaces as a strategy for transforming the image through optical deformation and thereby expressing his subjective vision in films and animation. He explores the practical application of creating reverberation as visual echoes, as well as the use of unusual reflections that appear in mirrors and other more unstable reflective surfaces, such as liquid mercury, and the refraction occurring in sculpted lenses, glass or water. The aim of this strategy is the pure expression of subjective experience, with the director using a camera as if it were an entirely free-moving paintbrush that inspires creativity and breaks loose from automatic camera movements. Accordingly, this study examines the dynamic, expressive potential of the language of catoptrics, taking as paradigmatic examples two of Bokanowski’s short films: La Plage (1992) and Au bord du lac (1994). The authors’ analyses of these films are aimed at demonstrating how the artist manages to bring about qualitative, transformative changes of forms and space by reflecting images on mirrors, ripples in mercury and movements of water, and by combining these elements. The system developed by Bokanowski successfully transports us to an ever-changing, poetic universe and breaks new ground in the field of animation.

Expressive Motion in the Early Films of Mary Ellen Bute

Between 1935 and 1938, Mary Ellen Bute began her career as a filmmaker with a series of mostly animated films, including Rhythm in Light (1935), Synchromy No. 2 (1936), Parabola (1938) and Escape (1938). This article examines how these films offered an innovative, subtle and purposeful investigation of the potentials of animation to create artistic and expressive motion. Paying close attention to Bute’s own writing, the article explores how these films related to Bute’s expansive vision of cinema as a new form of kinetic art that was both composed and free-flowing. Drawing upon painting, music, sculpture and chronophotography, Bute’s work was highly intermedial, investing these arts and media with the dynamic potentials of filmic and animated motion. Tracing how Bute composed motion, displayed motion and used motion expressively, this article aims to develop our understanding of a pivotal 20th-century filmmaker, while at the same time investigating the distinctive ideas of the aesthetics, forms and effects of animated motion that were articulated in her filmmaking practice and theoretical writing.

Who Benefits from the Past? The Process of Cultural Heritage Management in the Field of Animation in Poland (The Case of the Se-Ma-For Film Studio in Łódź)

With a view to studying the social and institutional practices related to the post-1989 approaches to film animation under socialism, this article addresses the transformation of the state-owned Se-Ma-For Film Studio in Łódź and the private company that later took over its name (the Se-Ma-For Film Company). The chronological scope of the study extends from 1989 to 2016; however, to identify the impact of the 1989 watershed on the animation market in Poland, modalities of operation of animation film studios in state-socialism era are presented. This article addresses the question of which heritage communities work with the memory of the animated film studio in Łódź, as well as the issue of the ways in which cultural heritage management processes have taken place. The article makes the case that the approving attitude towards the organizational and aesthetic values of Poland’s film industry under socialism has become a characteristic feature of strategies leading to the cultural heritage management of Polish film animation from this period.

In conclusion, the author asserts that the commercialization of the cultural heritage of the former state-owned studio benefited the economic and symbolic capital of two institutions, the Museum of Cinema and the Se-Ma-For Film Company, as well as the city of Łódź, which branded itself as a city of film.

Letting Go: Representation, Presentation, and Disney’s Art of Animation

This article considers two linked developments in Disney animation at a major point of change for the studio. One is the effort to craft a new ‘logistics of perception’ or way of seeing and appreciating Disney’s work in this period. Prompting that effort is the other, a shift from the studio’s early emphasis on realistic representation, or an ‘illusion of life’, to what might be termed a presentational approach that repackaged Disney animation and re-framed its experience. These developments, observed in episodes of the Disneyland TV series of the 1950s–1960s dedicated to ‘the art of animation’, anticipate the emergence of new styles in Disney animation and of a new approach to animation that would eventually be reflected in the development of audio-animatronics and theme parks.

Disney’s Final Package Film: The Making and Marketing of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

As the last of Disney’s package films in the troubled decade of the 1940s, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) has acquired the reputation of an awkward ‘marriage of convenience’ of two separate stories based on well-known literary properties, one American and one British: Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. This article, by reconstructing the gestation of the film over eight years, demonstrates the degree to which the stark contrast between the two halves was not only inevitable but deliberate. This is especially visible in the handling of the narrative – action set pieces for Toad and a full-fledged musical for Ichabod – as well as the art direction, which favors realism for Toad and stylization for Ichabod. An analysis of the marketing campaign shows that the film was presented as a facsimile of the standard double bill of the period, with an A picture and a B picture. In lauding its new cast of sympathetic Disney characters and stories that stimulate a full range of emotional responses, some film critics in Britain and the US compared Ichabod and Mr. Toad favorably to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo and the Silly Symphonies, calling the film a harbinger of a Disney renaissance – a revival that would be fully realized with the premiere of Cinderella in 1950.

Past the End of the Catbus Line: Mushishi’s Apparitional Actants

After evaluating some of the limitations in the reception of Hayao Miyazaki’s films as advocacy for climate change reform, the author suggests the need for a new path in animation toward animating the nonhuman. He nominates the anime series Mushishi as the ideal trailblazer for a more ecologically sound and posthumanistically inclined future. Mushishi envisions a fairly realistic turn-of-the-20th-century Japan in which beings called ‘mushi’, simple organisms that are neither plant nor animal nor Miyazaki-esque fantastic spirit, exist alongside small agrarian communities. Using Mushishi and its barely animated titular beings as a test case, he argues that animation’s allusory–illusory nature and depiction of nature can combat the central tenets of anthropocentrism, generating a visually figurative ontology in which humans and nonhuman animals, subjects and objects, and characters and landscapes are democratically leveled down to symbolic totems, all rendered unreal through the filter of cartooning.

Carefully Constructed Yet Curiously Real: How Major American Animation Studios Generate Empathy Through a Shared Style of Character Design

Contemporary computer-animated films by the major American animation studios Pixar, Disney and DreamWorks are often described as evoking (extremely) emotional responses from their ever-growing audiences. Following Murray Smith’s assertion that characters are central to comprehending audiences’ engagement with narratives in Engaging Characters: Fiction, Emotion, and the Cinema (1995), this article points to a specific style of characterization as a possible reason for the overwhelming emotional response to and great success of these films, exemplified in contemporary examples including Inside Out (Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen, 2015), Big Hero 6 (Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014) and How to Train Your Dragon (Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, 2010). Drawing on a variety of scholarly work including Stephen Prince’s ‘perceptual realism’, Scott McCloud’s model of ‘amplification through simplification’ and Masahiro Mori’s Uncanny Valley theory, this article will argue how a shared style of character design – defined as a paradoxical combination of lifelikeness and abstraction – plays a significant role in the empathetic potential of these films. This will result in the proposition of a new and reverse phenomenon to Mori’s Uncanny Valley, dubbed the Pixar Peak, where, as opposed to a steep drop, audiences reach a climactic height in empathy levels when presented with this specific type of characterization.

The Gollum Problem: Empathy and Digital Characters in Cinema

In her article ‘The soul factor: Deception in intimations of life in computer-generated characters’ (2009), Kathryn S Egan argues that digital characters in cinema have no soul and are incapable of being empathized with. For evidence, Egan assesses the character of Gollum from Peter Jackson’s adaptations of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003, NZ, USA). This article finds, however, that there are many who have empathized with Gollum, in direct contradiction to Egan’s findings. The author argues that Egan produces academic scholarship rather than phenomenological research, and that there is an opening for empathizing with and relating to digital characters such as Gollum. He posits that further research is required in the area of mediated characters and relationships, and that more precise language is required around terms like ‘empathy’ to accurately communicate the nuance in relationships between real people and digital or artificial characters. In addition, he suggests a term, ‘directed empathy’, to evoke the kind of empathetic relationship that exists between digital characters and viewers.

Animation in the Core of Dystopia: Ari Folman’s The Congress

Ari Folman’s The Congress (2013) borrows freely from Stanisław Lem’s dystopian view in his Sci-fi novel The Futurological Congress (1971) to propose the gradual dissolution of the human into an artificial form, which is animation. By moving the action of the novel from a hypothetical future to contemporary Hollywood, Ari Folman gives CGI animation the role of catalyst for changes not only in the production system, but for human thought and, therefore, for society. This way, the film ponders the changing role of performers at the time of their digitalization, as well as on the progressive dematerialization of the film industry, considering a dystopian future where simulation fatally displaces reality, which invites relating The Congress with Jean Baudrillard’s and Alan Cholodenko’s theses on how animating technologies have resulted in the culture of erasing. Moreover, this article highlights how Lem’s metaphor of the manipulation of information in the Soviet era is transformed in the second part of The Congress into a vision of cinema as a collective addiction, relating it to Alexander Dovzhenko’s and Edgar Morin’s speculative theories of total film – which come close to the potentialities of today’s Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. In addition, although The Congress is a disturbing view of film industry and animating technologies, its vision of film is nostalgically retro as it vindicates an entire tradition of Golden Age animation that transformed the star system into cartoons, suggesting the fictionalization of their lives and establishing a postmodern continuum between animation and film.

Green Cartoons: Toward a Pedagogy of the Animated Parable

The use of short animated films to address important social issues and societal needs has a rich tradition. These cartoons follow a stream of ecological propaganda in a variety of films that promote pro-environmental values and beliefs. After surveying films for both the cinema and television, the authors focus on exploring short animated films as pedagogical texts that teach pro-environmental beliefs and encourage ordinate behaviors in entertaining ways. They then discuss the application of the entertainment–education communication strategy through animated films as a means to advance environmental education. In particular, they view short animated films as pedagogical tools that function as exemplary or revelatory parables.

Across the Traces: Lawrence Jordan’s Animated Documents

Since the early 1960s, Lawrence Jordan has appropriated a variety of Victorian engravings transforming them into experimental animations through the use of cut-out stop-motion techniques. In their outmoded style and technique, the dense tapestry of collaged ephemera begins to function as indices of their original Victorian context and its printing processes. But the stop-motion manipulation also renders these indexical documents surreal through the juxtaposition of apparently unrelated images. This amounts to a reflexive approach harking back to the early days of cinema when audiences perceived the new technology as a source of wonder, amazement and magic. Jordan’s animations, such as Patricia Gives Birth to a Dream by the Doorway (1961–1964) and The Centennial Exposition (1961–1964), employ a productive tension not just between animation and documentary but between indexicality and illusion as well. In these animations, the use of such tensions exposes history and culture as fragmentary constructions of memory, fantasy and experience, thereby open to alteration, re-reading and reconfiguration in the present moment.

Phytograms: Rebuilding Human–Plant Affiliations

This article proposes the phytogram, an image made by using the internal chemistry of plants in conjunction with photographic emulsion. First, a theoretical framework is set out, drawing inspiration from structural/materialist film theory, biosemiotics and perspectivism. The notion of plant sensations/perceptions is questioned, developing the real possibility of human–plant communication. Subsequently, a summary of the materials and methods involved in making phytograms is included in order to show how an inter-dependency of technological and natural elements can lead to evocative results and spontaneous animation. Instead of bringing inert matter to life, the image moves by itself. This practice can bring people together, sharing knowledge about their environment while enjoying the cohesion of a wider community and history of people and plants. Making such an extended community visible is significant with regard to a heightened awareness of the natural environment. Instead of preaching ecological propriety and austere behaviour, phytography offers a positive and fulfilling engagement with our living environment.

The Golden Age of Spanish Animation (1939–1951)

During the 1940s, the Spanish animation industry based in Barcelona reached a high technical level. Despite the Franco dictatorship and austerity following the Spanish Civil War, the Catalan animation industry produced feature-length films that bore comparison with those made elsewhere in Europe. This article looks at the reasons for and the nature of Barcelona’s Golden Age of Animation, and follows the steps on the industry’s path to technical mastery. The author revisits the history of the Spanish Golden Age of Animation (which lasted from 1939 to 1951) in the context of the international animation scene at the time.

Animating Management: Nonlinear Simulation and Management Theory at Pixar

Existing scholarship finds that early industrialized animation studios sought to emphasize the unpredictable liveliness of creativity at their studios, while also demonstrating their ability to control and manage production through industrial management techniques that promoted regulation and efficiency. This article examines how this dynamic between unpredictability and control has been negotiated by digital animation studios since the early 1980s, with a focus on the way Pixar Animation Studios represents its management theory through popular books, business journal articles, DVD extras, and behind-the-scenes promotional material.
This article highlights how computational principles for creating and managing unpredictability via nonlinear simulation inform Pixar’s promoted management theory. The principles of simulated unpredictability ground many of Pixar’s key technological advances, especially for animating fluids and materials (water, smoke, fur, and cloth), but they also ground concepts within the field of management science such as industrial dynamics and organizational resilience. This epistemic frame leads Pixar to represent creativity as the unpredictable product of carefully controlled conditions and parameters and this collapse of technology, animation, and management helps to sculpt Pixar’s own corporate image as both an animation studio and technology company. The research in this article offers contributions to the study of both post-Fordism in animation industries and algorithmic control.

Making Sense of Complex Narration in Perfect Blue

Although identified as a feature of the film by both critics and researchers, the narrative complexity of Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon, Madhouse, 1997) has been ambiguously defined. In this article, the authors examine the complex narration in Kon’s first feature film, equivocal and obscure in its more confusing points, through a narratological analysis of the film’s most ambiguous scenes. Using cognitive film theory as introduced by David Bordwell and Edward Branigan, they link its approach in terms of the modulation of information flow throughout the film – high knowledgeability, high self-consciousness and (occasionally) low communicativeness – with the conventions of the slasher genre. Their analysis of the more perplexing scenes in Perfect Blue is reinforced by monitoring the veiled changes of focalization between the film’s three focalizers: Mima, Uchida (aka Me-Mania) and Rumi. In order to do this, they explore how the narration – in the tradition of contemporary puzzle films – makes use of judgements, preconceptions and cognitive illusions in the spectators’ activity to conceal Rumi’s involvement in the persecution of Mima and the murders committed. In the conclusion, they associate the film’s complex narration with its critical commentary on the representation of Japanese pop idols (and former idols) and the state of audiovisual entertainment in Japan.

Reanimating the Dark Knight: Superheroes, Animation and the Critical Reception of The Lego Batman Movie

This article explores the critical reception of The Lego Batman Movie (Chris McKay, 2017) in the context of Batman’s long history of multimedia storytelling, anchored to divergent parallel narratives across numerous platforms, and the ways the film appeals to nostalgia through metatextuality. The manner in which critics championed The Lego Batman Movie and derided the earlier live-action Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Zack Snyder, 2016) gave rise to a complex discourse around the cultural value of animation and the larger blockbuster superhero cycle, and discussions of morality, merchandising and commercialism. This article therefore engages with questions of animation’s apparent suitability for particular kinds of child-centric narratives regarded by critics as a vital part of American popular culture.

Situating Netflix’s Original Adult Animation: Observing Taste Cultures and the Legacies of ‘Quality’ Television through BoJack Horseman and Big Mouth

This article aims to expand upon a key aspect of Mareike Jenner’s work on Netflix original comedy by considering how the streaming network’s original adult animated series reflect developments occurring within the sitcom format post-TV III. Using Netflix original animations BoJack Horseman (2014–) and Big Mouth (2017–) as case studies, this article will consider how thematically complex, ostensibly ‘smart’ animated shows illustrate changing industrial dynamics and taste cultures. While exhibiting qualities found in preceding key adult animated shows such as South Park (Comedy Central 1997–) and Family Guy (Fox 1999–), including lewd humour, metatextual in-jokes and topicality, the knotty storytelling and ambiguous characterizations of the shows under discussion reflect links to other contexts of TV production. Exploring these links, this article uses BoJack Horseman and Big Mouth to explore current trends in animated television, situating their characteristics and reception within a broader network of influences. The author argues that the turn towards complex storytelling manifests both in inherited production tactics, changing taste cultures and in the multifaceted and multifarious potentialities provided by the medium itself.

Crowdfunding as a Catalyst for Contemporary Chinese Animation

This study explores the online financing forms and practices of contemporary Chinese animation cinema. The research focuses on the use of crowdfunding by this industry, and analyses three recent cases, One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes (2014), Monkey King: Hero Is Back (2015), and Big Fish & Begonia (2016), selected based on the perspective of the high economic revenue earned and the artistic and creative singularity of these films, as well as the consideration of the undeniable influence of these productions on the imagination of new generations. Using an exploratory and descriptive research methodology, the authors uncover the main features of the production of animated films based on crowdfunding. The results show that obtaining funds is a secondary objective for these movies that mainly use crowdfunding as a promotional strategy for creating an active fan base and channelling their affective involvement towards the communicative interests of each project.

The Korean Socio-Political Context of the 1970s in Robot Taekwon V (1976)

As one of the masterpieces of early South Korean animation, the film Robot Taekwon V has instilled hopes and dreams in a younger generation of Koreans since the late 1970s when it was released, while critics have cited Robot Taekwon V as being influenced by American pop culture, particularly the Disney animation style, and have accused it of plagiarizing the designs of the popular Japanese animation Mazinger Z. In the 1970s, the Korean government actively promoted economic development for the ‘modernization of the country’ under the military regime’s inculcation of anti-communism. Robot Taekwon V was produced with the intent of being an anti-communist tool and, further, it sought the nationalism of postwar South Korea and promoted the country’s confidence in the future that eventually resulted in rapid economic development. This socio-political context is portrayed both in the form of a ‘gigantic robot’ and in the use of non-Korean appearances for Korean characters. Considering these aspects, the author examines how Robot Taekwon V navigates the intricacies of the postwar ideological framework, manages foreign cultural influences and suggests transnationalism through its character design and narrative.

‘Tones from Out of Nowhere’ and Other Non-sensedness: Re-membering the Synthetic Sound Films of Oskar Fischinger and Làszló Moholy-Nagy

Synthetic sound film, a genre in which sound is directly animated onto the soundtrack of a filmstrip, is an avant-garde practice which remains seldom theorized and too often neglected. Expanding on Thomas Y Levin’s canonical work on the genre, ‘“Tones from out of Nowhere”: Rudolph Pfenninger and the archaeology of synthetic sound’ (2003), this article argues that there is a fundamental divide amongst the artistic approaches to synthetic sound film between filmmakers seeking to create specific aural objects through a new form of visual representation, and filmmakers focused on the graphic object and its direct translation into a new/unknown form of aural representation. Concentrating on the latter group which begins with Oskar Fischinger and Làszló Moholy-Nagy, through a materialist framework, this article shows how their produced sounds re-member the objects from which they emerge and, as such, are bound to a material encounter defined by this sensorial return to objectness.

The Afterlife as Emotional Utopia in Coco

This article situates the Pixar computer animation Coco (dir. Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, 2017) within a recent selection of afterlife fictions and questions why such narratives might appeal to our contemporary moment. The author’s response is structured around the idea of utopia. In Coco, he identifies several conceptions of utopic space and ideals. The afterlife fiction places characters and viewers in a reflexive location which affords them the opportunity to examine their lives as lived (rather than in death). Transplanting Richard Dyer’s work on classic Hollywood musicals as entertainment utopia to a contemporary animated musical, the article proposes that such a film can be seen as adhering to a kind of ‘new cinematic sincerity’. Coco’s particular depiction of The Day of the Dead fiesta and the Land of the Dead has its roots in the Mexican writer Octavio Paz’s poetic and romantic treatise The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950). A comparison between these two texts suggests that willing encounters with death can be connected to an openness to transitional states of being. Through close readings of key musical sequences in Coco, the author demonstrates how the properties of the musical are combined with animation aesthetics (baby schemata, virtual camera) to lead viewers into their own utopian space of heightened emotions and transition.

From Songfilms to Telecomics: Vallée Video and the New Market for Postwar Animation

From 1948–1952, Rudy Vallée, a successful performer whose career spanned radio, film, recorded music and stage entertainment, expanded his operations into the burgeoning US television market with the launch of his independent production company, Vallée Video. One of hundreds of forgotten companies that arose during this period to meet growing demand for programming content, Vallée Video offers an important case study for understanding animation workers’ role in postwar television production. Drawing on corporate records and films preserved in the Rudy Vallée Papers at California’s Thousand Oaks Library and the UCLA Film and Television Archive, the authors’ analysis documents Vallée’s use of freelance artists and external animation houses for work ranging from camera effects for illustrated musical shorts to animated commercials and original cartoon series. These productions demonstrate the fluid movement of animation labor from theatrical film to small screen markets and participated in larger aesthetic shifts toward minimalist drawing styles and limited character animation that would soon dominate mid-20th century US television.

Is the YouTube Animation Algorithm-Friendly? How YouTube’s Algorithm Influences the Evolution of Animation Production on the Internet

YouTube has become a great showcase for audiovisual products and a source of income for a number of creators. Several pioneers of internet animation migrated to this platform to provide greater visibility and economic security for their productions. A group of YouTubers, so-called ‘Reply Girls’, achieved rapid economic benefits by publishing content without any value, neither artistic nor communicative, but that deceived YouTube’s remuneration system and prioritization algorithm. To fight this phenomenon, YouTube subsequently applied changes to its prioritization algorithm and monetization plans. In this article, the author examines more than 3,300 videos published by 25 animation channels between 2006 and 2018 with Digital Methods tools to analyse how the changes applied to the platform policies have influenced and shaped the evolution of animation production on the internet.

Batman and the World of Tomorrow: Yesterday’s Technological Future in the Animated Film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Examining facets of modernist visions of our technological future and of theatricalized city and stage spaces in the 1993 animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, this article explores the cultural meaning of technology in graphic fiction. The confrontation scene between Batman and Joker in the grounds of Gotham’s World’s Fair, the author argues, echoes the 1939 New York World’s Fair with its modernist urban optimism and pop cultural fascination with new visionary technologies, as well as the modern history of moving pictures and multi-media spectacle. The article spotlights the power of the Batman story to participate in, and contribute towards, complex cultural inquiry and transmedial discourses around technology and popular entertainments. Through the exquisite medium of animation – which allows animated characters to be placed on an abstract architectural city stage – Mask of the Phantasm also embodies modernist visions of the ‘ideal’ stage character in a medium that creates non-realist art and more complex possibilities for movement, thus transporting modernist thinking into the 20th century.

The Animated Document: Animation’s Dual Indexicality in Mixed Realities

Animation has become ubiquitous within digital visual culture and fundamental to knowledge production. As such, its status as potentially reliable imagery should be clarified. This article examines how animation’s indexicality (both as trace and deixis) changes in mixed realities where the physical and the virtual converge, and how this contributes to the research of animation as documentary and/or non-fiction imagery. In digital culture, animation is used widely to depict both physical and virtual events, and actions. As a result, animation is no longer an interpretive visual language. Instead, animation in virtual culture acts as real-time visualization of computer-mediated actions, their capture and documentation. Now that animation includes both captured and generated imagery, not only do its definitions change but its link to the realities depicted and the documentary value of animated representations requires rethinking. This article begins with definitions of animation and their relation to the perception of animation’s validity as documentary imagery; thereafter it examines indexicality and the strength of indexical visualizations, introducing a continuum of strong and weak indices to theorize the hybrid and complex forms of indexicality in animation, ranging from graphic user interfaces (GUI) to data visualization. The article concludes by examining four indexical connections in relation to physical and virtual reality, offering a theoretical framework with which to conceptualize animation’s indexing abilities in today’s mixed realities.

Reviewing and Updating the 12 Principles of Animation

This article suggests a discussion on the reconfiguration of the 12 principles of animation and their necessary refinement for contemporary animation to address the growing complexity and expansion of the animation industry. The expansion of the 12 principles of animation into the various animation techniques requires a consideration of their development, which, in the 1930s and 1940s was sufficient for animation’s hand-drawn animation needs; since then, the principles have proven themselves accurate and incredibly helpful for subsequent decades. Nevertheless, this article indicates that a refinement of the principles is required to accommodate a broader range of animation techniques. The great advantage of the 12 principles of animation is their simplicity and logic; however, they do not apply in their entirety (as the full set of 12) to hand-drawn digital animation, stop-motion animation, experimental or digitally animated media. Therefore, this article explores the initial 12 principles with additions and variations suggested by artists and scholars over the last 30 years, and concludes with a reorganization and expansion of most of the principles’ content, a breakdown into sub points and an updated terminology to reconceptualize the 12 principles of animation for all animation techniques.

Experiments in Hybrid Documentary and Indigenous Model Animation

Nonfiction has proved to be a long-term strategy of Native/First Nations filmmakers and, as this documentary tradition moves across contemporary mediums, one corner of its experimental aesthetics has focalized around animation. This article explores hybrid documentary approaches in Indigenous model animation across techniques and styles, namely digitally-supplemented stop-motion and game-based machinima. It begins by examining three principal characteristics of Indigenous animated documentaries: (1) they engage with the politics of documentary in the context of Indigenous and settler-colonial history; (2) they use animation to record stories and express ideas not authorized by the settler archive; and (3) they communicate via embedded Indigenous aesthetics and cultural protocols. A material analysis of Indigenous animation then accounts for how three Native artists centre re-mediation and re-embodiment in their work. These artists adapt new techniques in animation to documentary as a process of decolonization, precipitating a distinct hybrid aesthetics that travels across forms to question the veracity of settler documentary. Each reconstructs histories of settler colonialism – which has always chosen to record and authorize as ‘history’ some images and narratives and not others – with model animation practices and new media platforms. Indigenous animation expresses slippages between nonfiction and fiction by creating imagined documents, which strike at the legitimacy of settler institutions.

Hanna-Barbera’s Cacophony: Sound Effects and the Production of Movement

Zaps, crashes, boinks, and bangs flooded TV’s airwaves with the rise of Hanna-Barbera Productions at the end of the 1950s, and these sound effects have been heard ever since. Hanna-Barbera Productions created and proliferated one of the most recognizable collections of sounds in television and animation history. This article traces the formation of Hanna-Barbera’s library of sound effects and how these sound effects operate within the studio’s cartoons. Motored by television’s demanding production schedule and restrictive budgets, Hanna-Barbera persistently recycled its sound effects across episodes, seasons, and series. These sound effects, heard over and over again, were paired to the studio’s brand of limited animation – a form of animation that is often seen as kinetically wanting – to enliven images through sonically invoking movement, what this article calls trajectory mimesis. This logic of trajectory mimesis facilitates the repetition of the studio’s sound effects. These conditions – television’s economic restraints and the studio’s limited animation aesthetics –provided the ideal conditions for the creation of Hanna-Barbera’s iconic library of sound effects.

‘I don’t have a skull… Or bones’: Minor Characters in Disney Animation

This article explores the place of minor characters in Disney’s animated features. More specifically, it proposes that Disney’s minor characters mark an aesthetic rupture by breaking with the mode of hyperrealism that has come to be associated with the studio’s feature-length films. Drawing on character theory within literary studies and on research into animated film performance, the article suggests that the inherent ‘flatness’ of Disney’s minor characters and the ‘figurativeness’ of their performance styles contrasts with the characterizations and aesthetic style of the leading figures. The tendency of Disney’s minor characters to stretch and squash in an exaggerated fashion is also reminiscent of the flexible, plasmatic style of the studio’s early cartoons. In addition to exploring the aesthetic peculiarity of minor characters, this article also suggests that these figures play an important role in fleshing out the depicted fictional worlds of Disney’s movies. By drawing attention to alternative viewpoints and storylines, as well as to the broader narrative universe, minor characters add detail, nuance and complexity to the animated films in which they appear. Ultimately, this article proposes that these characters make the fairy-tale-like worlds of Disney animation more expansive and believable as fictional spaces.

Quentin Tarantino’s Cartoon Violence

In this article, the author returns to the study of Quentin Tarantino’s ‘cartoonism’ that appeared in animation 2(2) in 2007. The focus here, as in Chris Pallant’s original essay, is on how filmic live action in Tarantino’s work displays the diegetic conventions of the cartoon, namely, its (1) hyperbolic, (2) graphic novel and (3) comic strip violence. The article adopts Pallant’s interpretive framework in analysing Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time. . . in Hollywood (2019), only this time supplements the analysis with a consideration of the film’s dramatic content. Drawing on Aristotle’s Poetics the author explores whether cartoon violence in Tarantino’s film is inversely related to drama and, more generally, speculates as to whether the cartoon form is inherently non- or anti-dramatic through the ‘private’ and commercial manner of its consumption.

Breaking The Stack: Understanding Videogame Animation through Tool-Assisted Speedruns

This article examines the ways videogames become animated by looking at gaming practices that subvert traditional notions of play: specifically tool-assisted speedruns (TAS). A TAS is a playthrough of a videogame that is preprogrammed by a human so that the inputs can be automatically played back in full without a human operator. This practice requires an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of gaming systems, often to the point of productively breaking the games through glitches and exploits. These extreme practices give a unique insight into the ways animation occurs within videogames and reveals games to be animated in a variety of ways that are often not primarily directed towards the visual nor humans. This article outlines four of these modes of animation separating them into multi-tiered ‘layers of animation’: sensory output, game states, code, material, and operator. TASs help to demonstrate these layers are actually discrete forms of animation that do not necessarily impact one another from becoming individually animated.

The Animation of Gamers and the Gamers as Animators in Sierra On-Line’s Adventure Games

Produced throughout the 1980s using the company’s Adventure Game Interpreter engine, the digital adventure games created by American software publisher Sierra On-Line played an important and largely overlooked role in the development of animation as an integral part of the digital gaming experience. While the little historical and theoretical discussion of the company’s games of the era focuses on their genre, it ignores these games’ contribution to the relationship between the animated avatars and the gamers that control them – a relationship that, as argued in this article, in essence turns gamers into animators. If we consider Chris Pallant’s (2019) argument in ‘Video games and animation’ that animation is essential to the sense of immersion within a digital game, then the great freedom provided to the gamers in animating their avatars within Sierra On-Line’s adventure games paved the way to the same sense of immersion in digital. And, if we refer to Gonzalo Frasca’s (1999) divide of digital games to narrative-led or free-play (ludus versus paidea) in ‘Ludology meets narratology: Similitude and differences between (video) games and narrative’, then the company’s adventure games served as an important early example of balance between the two elements through the gamers’ ability to animate their avatars. Furthermore, Sierra On-Line’s adventure games have tapped into the traditional tension between the animator and the character it animated, as observed by Scott Bukatman in ‘The poetics of Slumberland: Animated spirits and the animated spirit (2012), when he challenged the traditional divide between animators, the characters they animate and the audience. All these contributions, as this articles aims to demonstrate, continue to influence the role of animation in digital games to this very day.

Grains of Sound: Visual and Sonic Textures in Sand or Peter and the Wolf

There is a tendency in animation studies to discuss sound in the language of images, stressing sound’s alignment with visual cues (as in mickey mousing and leitmotifs). But sounds do not only mimic images: they add textures and emotions that change what we see. This article explores grain (texture) and timbre (tone color produced by specific instruments and techniques) as qualities shared by visual and sonic material. To do so, the author closely reads Sand or Peter and the Wolf (1969), where Caroline Leaf’s haptic sand animation is matched by Michael Riesman’s electroacoustic score. Leaf painstakingly molds animals by scraping away individual sand grains, and Riesman sculpts sonic textures with tiny adjustments to knobs and touch-sensitive pads on the Buchla modular synthesizer. Their collective improvisation with sands and sounds reveals new ways to think about artists’ material practices and the friction and interplay between images and sounds. They encourage spectators to perceive the animals as not merely plasmatic, or Sergei Eisenstein’s notion of contour-bending character animation. Instead, Leaf and Riesman deploy what the author calls ‘granular modulation’, expressing sand and animals with sensuous materiality. In Leaf’s and Riesman’s improvisations, grainy textures are the seeds of understanding how sound and vision become symbiotic – and encounter friction – in animation.

‘The Blackest Disney Movie of All Time!’: A Goofy Movie and the Production of ‘Film Blackness’

Disney films have a distinct way of always feeling in-time, a sensation the company understands and monetizes. A Goofy Movie (AGM) was released in 1995, and since its theatrical release, the film has continued to capture the hearts and minds of a cult audience of passionate fans. Among this array of fans is a core of Black millenials who hold the film in high regard due to its R&B soundtrack and relatable narrative. However, the moments of Black representation within the film are less interesting than how a Black reading becomes possible. What are the component parts of the film’s making when arranged in such a way that invokes an essential Black lifeworld? AGM affixes Blackness to its form not through any profound representation of race. Rather, considering its animators as technical performers, the dark history behind the American cartoon, and how Black music is used to not just make Blackness known but believable instantiate what Michael Gillespie terms, ‘film Blackness’ in Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film (2016).

A Study of the Influence of Music on Audiences’ Cognition of Animation

How do animation directors and music composers integrate personal creativity and expression into their work, and how do audiences understand and appreciate it as being important and worthy of discussion? This study explores the influence of music on audiences’ cognition of animation by using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Scholars specializing in aesthetics and music have conducted much research on music aesthetics and music itself. In recent years, further studies on music and film have also been carried out. However, there is a lack of research regarding audiences’ cognition of music in animation. This study focuses on the popular form of sand animation and provides insights into audiences’ cognition differences and preferences in order to uncover the core factors. The findings are that: (1) the audience perceived more consistent and subtle differences in the use of musical instruments, rhythm cadence and video–audio fit; there were also obvious differences in the perceptions of vocal skills, performance skills and musical style as well as emotional transmission; (2) three aspects of the audiences’ evaluation of an animation were affected by music: creativity, cultural meaning and preferences. The seven elements that constitute animation music (use of orchestration, vocal skills, musical style, rhythm cadence, performance techniques, emotional transmission and video–audio fit) exerted varying degrees of influence on the audiences’ evaluation of the animation film. Amongst these, video–audio fit was found to be the most important element, as it simultaneously affected the audiences’ evaluation in terms of creativity, cultural meaning and preferences; (3) audiences of different ages and professional backgrounds showed significant differences in evaluating animation films in terms of creativity, culture and preference; and (4) differences in music had a significant impact on audiences’ perceptions and evaluations of 10 facets of animation films, including the story content, role identification and spiritual fit.

Contemporizing the National Style in Chinese Animation: The Case of Nezha (2019)

In this article, the authors explore the popular animation Nezha (2019), examining the idea that it typifies the ‘national style’. Expanding the work of other scholars who have demonstrated the changeability of the ‘national style’, here they examine this notion in regard to the way in which Nezha (2019) represents ‘Chineseness’ at this particular socio-political moment. Methodologically, they focus their analysis largely upon the film’s narrative and aesthetics, drawing on a number of reviews as counterpoints for the way in which it was interpreted to situate it in popular discourses. The authors argue that Nezha (2019) presents a national image in which traditions and modernity are interwoven, and the focus upon the ‘technological’ – its digitality – constitutes a refiguring of animation in China as symbolic of modernity. Narratively and aesthetically mediating between the past and the present, Nezha (2019) embodies a ‘national style’ which is on one hand hybrid in its inter/nationality, but also culturally delimited in terms of which cultural heritages are held up as emblematic of the nation.

The Discourse of Independent Animation in the Contemporary Chinese Context

Independent animation is a marginal media form in China, and studies describe how both Chinese artists and scholars of film studies have only started to practice or construct this genre and popular cinema since the 1990s, especially after the Shanke (Chinese Flash animators, 閃客) phenomenon. In this article, the existing discourse of independent animation in contemporary China is critically analyzed by studying mainly what is said and written by the local practitioners and scholars in China. The author’s analysis is based on the assumption that animation should be taken ‘as an art form’, which should be able to express itself freely without any external constraints or intervention by others. Hence, the focus should be placed on the ultimate purpose and meaning of art along with the form. Among the various types of discourses constructed by practitioners, the author argues that the discourse constructed by the contemporary Chinese art scene should be encouraged to keep the nature of independent works so as to give voice to true, personal and inner values, and expressions that are outside the institutionalized and dominating discourse or framework.

Scotland’s History of Animation: An Exploratory Account of the Key Figures and Influential Events

Scotland’s history of animation is a forgotten past accomplishment in the animation/VFX sector, with key influential animation professionals having had an impact both at home and abroad. Yet, to date, this history has not been meaningfully documented and such documentation can help inform policy initiatives to help nurture and develop the industry. These developments could help ensure that the importance and accomplishments of its achievements will not be forgotten or remain undeveloped. Indeed, it is argued here that Scotland suffers from historical amnesia with regard to the country’s past accomplishments and missed opportunities, but that public funding and further investment in talent development and retention can help establish the industry as a key player in society and economy. This article presents the results from an investigative literature collection and consultation with central figures in the Scottish animation industry, providing for the first time a clearer picture of the importance of animation in Scotland both for the country and for the industry worldwide. Discussing the initiatives and funding models of other European countries such as France, the article concludes by suggesting ways in which future policy initiatives could help assist Scotland’s animation industry grow and establish itself both for the future development of animation in Scotland and worldwide.

A Modular Genre? Problems in the Reception of the Post-Miyazaki ‘Ghibli Film’

With the eternally looming spectre of Miyazaki Hayao’s retirement, the death of Takahata Isao and the failure to establish a viable new artistic figurehead to follow in their footsteps, Studio Ghibli has been at a crucial crossroads for some time. Over the past few decades, the acclaimed Japanese animation studio has adopted three main strategies to cope with these changes: apprenticeship to foster new talent, co-productions both domestically and abroad, and shutting down their production facilities. Each approach has affected Ghibli’s evolving brand identity – and the meaning of the ‘Ghibli film’ – causing confusion in the international critical reception of the resulting movies. Academic approaches too have shown difficulties dealing with recent shifts. While conceptualizing the ‘Ghibli film’ as the product of a studio brand or as the work of auteurs Miyazaki and Takahata has proven useful, such frameworks have become inadequate for accommodating these changes. This article therefore proposes a new approach for understanding recent ‘Ghibli films’, arguing that, rather than being treated as a brand or genre, they have increasingly been fashioned along modular lines.

Death in Animation

Since Winsor McCay depicted the sinking of a ship, showing the death of its passengers in a documentary manner, the presentation of death has been a kind of taboo in animation. Disney’s introduction of reality to animation brought about the depiction of death. The death of the witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was an evidence of the victory of the good over the evil. Bambi shows the process in which a little deer understands the death of his mother. There are a lot of Japanese animated series whose protagonist is such an orphan. In these, death is a serious issue. Apart from them, the Warner Bros. works dealt with death as a source of humour. Shot by Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny laughs at him, while looking as painful as if he were right now about to die. Such a sense of humour with death shows its recent version in South Park. Furthermore, in his short Cavallette (Grasshoppers) which outlines the history of human being, Bruno Bozzetto makes us aware that death is an end/goal. In Richard Condie’s The Big Snit, an angelic, ex-human, couple still continues to play Scrabble as if nothing had happed to them even after a nuclear explosion. In The Simpsons, hit by a car, Bart travels between heaven, hell, and the world; on the other hand, when told that he will soon be dead, Homer begins to prepare for his death, and in his dream, asked what is the meaning of life, God answers to him that it will be revealed with the coming of death.

A psychological meaning of creatures in Hayao Miyazaki's feature animations

The creatures that appear in Hayao Miyazaki’s animated features echo his mental states. At the moment when he spent twenty years working as an animator, he was in a midlife crisis. It seems that the fatally destructive power of the giant caterpillars and the humanoid robots, respectively in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Laputa: the Castle in the Sky, is a sublimation of the aggressiveness of Miyazaki situated in a midlife crisis. Getting over such a crisis through these two films, he tried to depict Japan in My Neighbour Totoro on a point from which he started his own career. At the same time, it seems that enough equipped to realise his creativity in Studio Ghibli, he felt as if he were almighty like Totoro who is able to control nature. On the other hand, however, he was emotionally left unconnected with the production crew members, while being much criticised by some talented members. His isolation is seen in the process in which Kiki and her black cat Jiji get to be unable to communicate with each other In Kiki’s Delivery Service. Their communicative relationship is recovered when Kiki comes out of her slump (with her independence established) and Jiji is now a father. This means that Miyazaki obtained a patriarchal role among his crew. And in Porco Rosso, he depicted himself as a pig character enjoying a life of leisure. Princess Mononoke is an extension of wisdom resulting from his working on the story of death and resurrection in Porco Rosso and the manga version of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Princess Mononoke is a message with the wisdom of nature (Miyazaki) delivered to encourage the audience (younger generation).

Osamu Tezuka, Given an Honorific Title "the God of Manga", Had His Desire to Produce Animations

This research examines a lifelong relationship between Osamu Tezuka, "the God of Manga'', died in 1989 and his desire to produce animations by analyzing Tezuka's own words and documents. Tezuka had been enchanted with both early Disney animations when he had gone to movie theaters with his family in his infancy and "Momotaro, Divine Sailor (Momotaro no Umi no Shinpei)", which was the first Japanese feature animation, at the end of World War II. Then, Tezuka wished to be an animator in spite of a leader of a manga. Disney animations intensely affected Tezuka's mangas. Tezuka created his manga "Bambi" based on Disney's "Bambi" that was released in 1951 and told that Disney's "Bambi" strongly influenced the story of his manga "The Jungle Emperor". "A Class of the Manga (Manga kyousitu)" and "The Film Lives On (Film ha Ikiteiru)" explicitly express Tezuka's desire to make animation films. The author points out that there was a certain similarity in hairstyle between a hero of the his manga "Black Jack" and a villain, Cruella, of "One Hundred and One Dalmatians". Later, Tezuka had his desire realized.

Cognitive Factors Related to the Visual Stress in the Pokemon Mass Seizure Incident

On December 16, 1997 about 700 people, mainly school children, were taken to hospitals after feeling sick while watching a TV animation of the Pokemon (i.e. Pocket Monsters) series. This is the Pokemon mass seizure incident in Japan. Many experts attributed the main cause to a 12 Hz red-blue flicker scene lasting about 5 s. It is well known that some physical attributes of the visual stimulus (e.g., flicker) can be detrimental to photosensitive people, or people vulnerable to visual stress. However, we think that cognitive factors also played a critical role in the incident. To investigate such factors, we asked normal adults to estimate the magnitude of visual stress induced by scenes selected from the Pokemon show and varied subjects’ knowledge of the story plot. We found that the estimated amount of visual stress depends on cognitive factors. Subjects who know the plot estimate the effect as significantly stronger than those who don’t know the plot.

Isao Takahata: the Animation Director who Worries about the Mental Health of the Young Generation

Takahata has kept his interest in the issue of the mind of the young generation. In his directorial debut, Adventure of Sun Prince Horusu, Takahata presents the issue by depicting the way in which the hero Horusu gets lost in “Forest of Misleading”. In Heidi, a little girl is taken away from an Alpine mountain as her beloved home only to get homesick, depressed, and somnambulist. In A Cellist, Gauche, a young person is depicted as being bashful, having inferiority complex, lacking self-confidence, and tending to fear interpersonal situation. In Grave of Fireflies, Takahata envisages the protagonist as following a principle of pleasure and shows how he ends up. For him, one way of breaking through such a principle is the physical activity that in Distant Childhood Memory, Taeko performs under the sun of the countryside. In Pompoko, a close depiction is made of the returning to a community, which the preceding film could not afford. Envisaging the returning to a community in a variety of ways, Takahata attempted to experiment with thinking of how an individual gets used to a collective. Furthermore, he indicated that in My Neighbors the Yamadas, solace should be more necessary rather than healing the sudden popularity of which he was skeptical. Every member of the Yamadas lacks something, but the family itself works well while one makes up for what the other lacks. The notion of family is a way in which Takahata dealt with the issue of mind as a conclusion.

TEX & TALES: Recurring Theme and Evolving Style

Well known as an animator full of a sense of humor, Tex Avery is part of this great tradition of storytelling. Using famous stories, he presented his own interpretation of their themes. This essay focuses on Little Red Riding Hood. Six pieces which Avery animated from 1939 to 1949 are based on the folktale. These are good examples with which to examine his evolution in idea and style. Starting from incidental gags, Avery’s storytelling proceeded towards setting for gags, and then dealing with how to tell a story. In the early stage, the traditional story was obviously put in the first place; his stories were an interpretation of it with a modern sense of humor. Later, those traditional themes in Avery came to be only a starting point to tell his own story with. At the same time, each of his characters obtained a new personality. Avery went on to transgress the cods of either storytelling or expression. In so doing, he created his own codes, which were as much used as expected by the public throughout the 1940s. Finally, Avery transgresses and mocks the codes of his own establishing in the last piece of the series as a conclusion of the long-lasting story with a girl and a wolf

The Many Faces of Asian Animation

There is a long tradition in Asia, starting in India in 1915, and in China and Japan during the following ten years. However, the first golden age of Asian animation arrived between the 1950s and the 1960s, in that the two decades at least saw animation studios appear in China, India, Japan, Vietnam, while the animators innovating equipment, techniques and technologies, and contents. During the age, some studios in Japan and Korea started to do subcontracted production for major US and European animation companies, and the rest of Asia increasingly has participated in such a business until the end of the 20th century. The merits of Asian animation studios were their inexpensive and stable labor force and competency in computer and Western languages. Beginning with the first offshore production facilities in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, there was a rapid growth of branches throughout the Philippines, China, and Thailand, followed by Vietnam, Malaysia, and others. In Singapore, offshore animation production was due to a high competency in computer rather than inexpensive labor force. In most of Asian countries, animation studios struggled in production for their domestic markets. However, they were sometimes helped by offshore production studios, or supported by their government as were in South Korea, Vietnam, China, and Malaysia. This essay outlines histories and current situations of domestic and offshore animation production in East, Southeast, and South Asia, except for Japan which is much covered in this journal.

Kia Asamiya's "The Corrector, Yui"

Kia Asamiya's "The Corrector, Yui" is an extremely interesting piece of work which corresponds to the tradition of Japanese classical culture. At first glance, the stage appears to be up-to-date, however, it represents the spirit world which human beings have inherited from ancient times. In fact, on the computer network, Yui is identified as a fairy. Further, the eight computer software programs which fight with Yui symbolize the four elements of Buddhism: earth, water, air, and fire. The enemy, Grosser, is obeyed by the Four Devas. This can be viewed as a kind of classical story of the Four Devas. The story of the Four Devas is thought to symbolize the growth of the hero (or the heroine) and Asamiya's work is indeed similar in this sense. The addition of the rival "Haruna" just before the final episode, however, is Asamiya's own original addition, so that the story does not limit itself to a simple duel between two characters.

An Arrangement of Literature Related to Norman McLaren

The purpose of this report is to contribute to future research related to Norman McLaren by collecting and arranging of related literature published to date around the world, including in Japan. Heretofore, other countries have been ahead of Japan in the study of McLaren, who pioneered and developed the field of experimental animation, and numerous papers and interview articles have been published abroad. Although the Japanese laud his style of expression and originality , one cannot say that there has been a systematic study of McLaren in Japan. The majority of the literature produced in Japan either explains or interprets the originality of McLaren's films or describes the viewer's impressions, and very little concerning McLaren has been published since he dead in 1987. On the other hand, while much published abroad also features discussions of the originality of his works, people are beginning to publish papers that venture to undertake new approaches. This includes studies from perspectives other than admiration of his originality and that attempt to uncover some heretofore-unknown aspect of McLaren.

Osamu Tezuka, Given an Honorific Title "the God of Manga", Had His Desire to Produce Animations

This research examines a lifelong relationship between Osamu Tezuka, "the God of Manga", died in 1989 and his desire to produce animations by analyzing Tezuka's own words and documents. Tezuka had been enchanted with both early Desney animations when he had gone to movie theaters with his family in his infancy and "Momotaro, Divine Sailor (Momotaro no Umi no Shinpei)", which was the first Japanese feature animation, at the end of World War II. Then, Tezuka wished to be an animator in spite of a leader of a manga. Disney animations intensely affected Tezuka's mangas. Tezuka created his manga "Bambi" based on Disney's "Bambi" that was released in 1951 and told that Disney's "Bambi" strongly influenced the story of his manga "The Jungle Emperor". "A Class of the Manga (Manga kyousitu)" and "The Film Lives On (Film ha Ikiteiru )" explicitly express Tezuka's desire to make animation films. The author points out that there was a certain similarity in hairstyle between a hero of the his manga "Black Jack" and a villain, Cruella, of "One Hundred and One Dalmatians". Later, Tezuka had his desire realized.

The Ecological Information in Cell-animation

Many animations are a kind of record of natural events. Using their professional skills, animators record portions of natural events in animations. In this report information of natural events in cell animations is argued on the concept of the ecological approach to perception and action proposed by J. J. Gibson. Gibson noted that ambient light fills the environment, and that it constitutes an optic array. Surfaces of objects reflect light, so the component of the optic array is unique to the surface. Natural events include motion of surfaces. These motions produce transformations in the optic array. This transformation should be the invariant as specific in formation of the event. Consider the flow of air in wind. Air is invisible but wind causes visible changes in the environment. It is suggested that perception of wind velocity be based on transformation of surface that is uniquely related to the Reynolds number, a non-dimensional number developed in fluid dynamics. The trial analysis of some animation treating with wind shows that the unique transformation patterns related to the Reynolds number may specify the winds velocity, and that winds have both order and irregularity. This research will contribute to study visual perception and describe skills of animators.

A Study of possibly the First Animation Film in the World Shown in Japan

According to reference books, the first animation film from overseas to be shown in Japan was "Nipparu no Henkei" (Transformations of Nippal). Unfortunately, the original title and the contents are not known. My own research indicates the possibility that the first animation film shown in Japan was in fact "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" by J. S. Blackton, produced by Vitagraph Co. in the United States of America in 1906. This article is a study of this issue. The content of a film called "Fushigi no Bold" (Funny Bold), which is recorded in "The Catalogue of Cinematograph and Films" by Yoshizawa Shoten, a film import company in the Meiji Period, held by Planet Bibliotheque de Cinema in Osaka, is the same as that of the first animation in the world. The film involves faces of a man and a woman, drawn on a blackboard which are changed by animation. The title was changed to "Kimyona Bold" (Strange Bold) and Shown in Tokyo. Although I believe that this fi lm is by Blackton, it is shame that I cannot prove this Without any pictures from the catalogue and the film itself.

Systematic Impression Measurement in Animations of a Few Geometrical Figures

The study aimed to estimate the observers' impression after watching two kinds of animation: the sequence of two figures chasing each other, similar to that described by Heider & Simmel (1944), and the sequence in which two figures walk through a pedestrian crossing. The order in which two different sized figures appeared was also manipulated. To assess the observer's impression, systematically the author used comprehensive adjectives which appeared in the descriptive sentences more than two times in the preceding experiment (Mori, Tuchida, & Jingu, 2000). After watching each animation, the subjects (130 students) evaluated the impression using 19 available adjectives. A factor analysis of the ratings found four factors such as "attractiveness'', "cleverness", "aversion" , and "potency". These factors captured the stories of animation and the characters of the figure recognized as a person. Results of the analysis of variance showed a significant interaction between the order of appearance of two figures and the kinds of animation. The order of appearance of two different sized figures affected the observers' impressions differently in each animation.

Event Perception Produced by Movements of Simple Geometrical Figures: Effects of the Size Change between the Two Figures

Using a simplified version of the Heider, F. & Simmel, M. (1944) animation, I examined the size effects of the two components appearing in the frame sequence. When the small circle moved ahead (small-large condition), 45 observers (54%) regarded the sequence as the chasing and 22 (27%) regarded it as the following. Contrastively, when the large circle moved ahead (large-small condition), 28 (34%) regarded it as the chasing and 39 (47%) as the following. In the second experiment in which the size of the two components was equalized, the observers responded similarly to the large-small condition of the first experiment, i. e., 39 observers (37%) regarded the sequence as the chasing and 49 (47%) as the following. Furthermore, in the second experiment a new sequence was introduced, where the first figure (the moving ahead figure) was caught up with by the second one. Under the condition, 51 observers (48%) regarded the sequence as chasing and 35 (33%) as the following. Thus the size change effects between the two component figure we clarified by the present experiments.

Affective Effects of Moving Dots

Two psychological experiments were conducted using videos of moving dots. Twenty-one and 74 undergraduate students participated in the two experiments, respectively. In experiment 1, we investigated affective effects induced by moving dots with the Semantic Differential method. The result of factor analysis revealed three factors, activity, evaluation and living impression. Analysis of variance showed that wave-form, amplitude-change and speed influenced each factor. Moving dots generated stronger impression of living objects than their still paths. In experiment 2, two video stimuli, each of which consisted of sixteen scenes of a small red moving dot and/or a larger blue one of the same type as those of experiment 1, were presented, and subjects were asked to describe stories from stimuli. In their free description s, many subjects interpreted two dots as living objects. Differences in descriptions were produced by differences in dot movement. These results indicated that movements produce special affective effects including "living or animacy".

Psychological dependence in Japanese animation films: A case of Rin Taro

Rin Taro’s animation films often recount opportunistic stories. The scenes of destruction presented dramatically in the films are likely to make the audience unaware how his opportunistic stories develop. Opportunism builds on psychological dependence. In his films, protagonists amidst troubles or accidents are helped by not only people but also machines that he has just encountered. In his later career, however, Rin Taro comes to depict destructive aspects of psychological dependence; characters sometimes form a symbiotic relationship with a stranger or a machine, only to go to ruin. Weary of dealing with psychological dependence on the basis of which the protagonist overcomes a crisis, Rin Taro proceeds towards depicting an unusual dependent relationship or his refusal of it.

Walt Disney: The Forgotten Years

Here I discuss the films, long ignored, of Disney’s forgotten years. The body of films produced during the 1940s appears to be eclectic, experimental, bizarre, sentimental, and satirical; some of them are urban and urbane or vulgar and tasteful. This absence of consistency shows that the company was willing to learn from others. Furthermore, no attempts were allowed to debase the company's philosophy; scenes with smoking were cut out as detrimental to juvenile audiences. The good news is that many of these films from the forgotten years are now available in a way or another if not in their complete form.

The Outer World & the Inner World of Paul Driessen

It would not be easy for me to explain the sources which inspire my animated films. Many contributing factors come to mind: my own history, upbringing, choice of creative environment, etc. My own attempt at understanding what makes me function will be in two parts: there is the outside world which shaped me into who I am today; and my inner world, shining light on how my films came to be. For the former part, it is discussed how I was brought up and and what I have experienced in my professional career; for the latter, what ideas brought each of my films into being with in reference to relevant figures.

The Analysis of Physiognomic Appearance and Personality on Animation Character

The animation character faces are examined to study their physiognomic appearance and personality. Faces of twelve animation characters were selected. Ninety-one students rated their faces on 20 scales concerning physiognomic appearance and 20 scales concerning personality. A five factor solution (full-faces/fragile/nose/eye/brow) in physiognomic appearance and a four-factor solution (affinity/vigor/negative/cautious) in personality were obtained via factor analysis. And these nine factors may discriminate among animation characters in several production companies via discriminant analysis.

Research on the Achievements of Japan's First Three Animators

Oten Shimokawa (1892-1973, born in Okinawa), Jun-ichi Kouuchi (1886-1970, born in Okayama), and Seitaro Kitayama (1888-1945, born in Wakayama) are regarded as the three originators of animated film in Japan, each releasing works al around the same time in 1917. Shimokawa and Kouuchi were both originally cartoonists, but were then commissioned by film companies to produce animations. Shimokawa animated his own cartoon "Imokawa Mukuzo", but only produced about 5 works. Kouuchi produced around 15 works in all, including the Japanese period drama animation "Hanawa Hekonai, Meito no Maki (Hanawa Hekonai, Famous Swords, 1917)" and government propaganda films. Kitayama, on the other hand, was originally a painter and magazine editor. He developed an interest in the French and American animations he saw at the cinema, and independently sold his works to film companies. Unlike Shimokawa and Kouuchi, his works covered a broad spectrum of fields, including films based on old Japanese tales such as "Saru Kani Gassen (The Crab Gets Its Revenge on the Monkey,1917)" "Momotaro (The Peach Boy, 1918)" , publicity films for the government's insurance and postal operations such as "Chokin no Susume (Recommendation of Postal Savings, 1917)", scientific films to aid the spread of dental hygiene such as "Kouku Eisei (Dental Hygiene,1922)", and films for education in science and mathematics such as "En (Circle, 1937)" . In all, he produced more than 30 animations. Kitayama also had numerous followers, including Zenjiro "Sanae" Yamamoto and Kiichiro Kanai. He even established Japan's first studio "Kitayama Studio" devoted entirely to producing animated film s. These factors make the achievements of Seitaro Kitayama arguably the greatest of the three originators of animated film in Japan. Their methods of animation, it must be added, were primitive: many of their works were cutout, drawing on paper animations, and they hardly ever used cel.

Usurping the Cinematic Screen: “The Prince of the Sun: Hols Great Adventure”

After the end of the Allied occupation of Japan, in such fields as live-action film, manga, and animation, Japanese cultural workers turned aptly and quickly into making use of their own working media, attempting to extend their artistic and social expression. This essay is an interpretation of The Prince of the Sun: Hols Great Adventure (1968) in terms of Gramsci. It includes what surrounded the production of the film and the content of its narrative. Here, in relation to the post-war industrialization of Japan, I attempt to link the film’s political stance to the production crew’s efforts to identify the independence of their own country and its role to be assumed in international scenes.

Tentative Plan for Establishment of Technical Animation Training Course in Art and Design Universities

Until recently, the subject of animation had not been a part of Japan's art and design universities in the form of either a regular subject of study or as a specialty course. However, with the establishment of the Department of Manga at Kyoto Seika University in 2000, and the start of visual media presentation training (as based on the revision of the school course guide lines by the Ministry of Education , Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), together with the advancement in the social acceptance of animation as an industry, part of the culture, and an art form , it can now be assumed that the foundations for teaching animation as a subject at universities have been laid. This paper the meaning and positioning of the establishment of the areas of education, training, and research on animation. It presents the basic ideas concerning the establishment of technical animation courses in art and design universities, as well as tentative plans for the curriculum including equipment, facilities, and courses (lectures, practices, and seminars).

The Exhibition "The Developmental Research of Japanese Anime" and the Research Subjects about Early Toei Doga in Future

From 2001 to 2002, at Kawasaki City Museum and some others, the exhibition of Toei Doga' s films in and around the 1960s, the Japanese animation' s revival era after WWII, opened. The exhibition consisted mainly of materials of a first color feature animation, "Hakuja-den (The White Snake Enchantress,1958)" and presented how this film was created by who with what trial and error in the morning of the Japanese animation through displaying materials of each stage of the producing process. However, the exhibition faced problems: the difficulty of presenting moving image of animations with still photos and of covering the whole history of Japanese animation, including prewar animation and TV-anime history after the 1960s. It was impossible to exhibit a whole history of widely spread Japanese animation even researchers and exstaffs of Toei Doga had supervised the exhibition. In one symposium during the exhibition, a director, an animator, and a cameraman discussed about Toei Doga' s leading role in the Japanese animation and this stimulated researchers to do historical studies of Japanese animation.

The Establishment of Toei Doga and Its Historical Background

The purpose of this paper is to analyze Toei Doga (established in 1956 and renamed to Toei-Animation, Inc.) from a movie historical view point. This paper consists of 12 chapters including introduction, main 10 chapters, and conclusion. In the introduction, I indicated the establishment data of Toei Doga, described a relationship between Toei Doga and Nichido Production and raised its induced problems. In the following main chapter, I mentioned a role of Toei, a parent company of Toei Doga and established five years earlier than Toei Doga, in Japanese movie scene after the World War II. Then, I discuss about a leading role of Toyoko Eiga, the antecedent of Toei, in Japanese movie history. Specifically I focus on the fact that the other film companies did not have a development section but only Toyoko Eiga had. The development section in Toyoko Eiga first mainly worked for traveling film shows and later produced, distributed, and performed educational 16 mm films, which included some short animation films. These short animations burgeoned into Toei Doga und er the leadership of Okawa, the president of Toei. I demonstrated this process with showing data. In fact, the establishment of Toyoko Eiga is based on Negishi1s reorganization plan about the restructure of film industry after the World War II. Negishi has had his wish to establish a film company to give staffs of the former Man-Ei a new job in the film industry. This implies that the producing system of the former Man-Ei was transferred to Toei Doga through Toyoko Eiga and Toei. It is very important for historians to use raw materials to demonstrate their historical descriptions. However, I have missed some important records to verify my historical description and may misread the record and data I used here. Therefore, I hope that this paper be read as a tentative hypothesis that stimulate researchers to make a further study.

From Nichido Studio to Toei Doga (an interview with Mr. Masao Kumakawa)

KUMAKAWA Masao was born in Kyoto in 1916. He started his career in the1930s. After World War II, he worked as a key animator in Nichido-Eiga, which became Toei-Doga later. During World War II, he was involved in creating "Benkei vs. Ushiwakamaru" (1939) and "Kumo to churippu (A spider and a tulip, 1943)". After World War II, as an animator he participate to create "Suteneko Torachan (Torachan: a deserted kitten, 1947)" and "Kobito to Aomushi (A midget and a green caterpillar, 1950)" that were known as masterpieces of Japanese animation. Then, he left the animation field and drew illustrations for a while. In 1956 he was invited to Toei-Doga for a trainer of young animators. At the same time, he was involved in creating "Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke(The Adventures of Little Samurai, 1959) " and "Saiyuki (Enchanted Monkey, 1960) ". In 1964 he left Toei Doga and trained many animators in YAMAMOTO Sanae's animation studio. Yamamoto was an ex-deputy manager of Toei Doga . After resigning Toei-Doga, Yamamoto built his own studio, Kuma Production, and worked as an animator to create TV animation. Currently he is a water color painter.

The Outcome of Toei Doga around the 60s in Japanese Animation.

In the 1960s Toei Doga, a feature animation film company, well contributed to the development of Japanese animation scene. First, Toei Doga developed various animation techniques and trained many young artists by producing a lot of animations including feature and TV animations in this decade. Second, Toei Doga established the originality of Japanese animations, which is influenced by Disney products, but which is not an epigone of them. For example, story oriented animations for adults, rather than action-oriented animations for children, produced by Toei Doga in this era showed one of the originality of Japanese animation. Third, Toei Doga established Japanese style animation produce system. In this system under the strong leadership of a chief animator a number of other animator draw the animations of different scenes, and the chief decide the layouts of all scenes and decide camera angles, camera works, and so on.

The Expectation to Japanese Anime

When Toei Doga created its first feature animation film, it applied the movie techniques having developed by its parent company, Toei, to produce color entertainment movies because Toei Doga had yet produced long animation more than 15 to 20 minutes, then it had no know-how to express stories of more than 1 hour in animation films. Toei Doga made a new role in producing animation, an animation director. Toei Doga did not import techniques to produce feature animations from the USA, the developed country in producing feature animations: It elaborated story-telling methods by itself. Osamu Tezuka is the pioneer of the TV animation series (one episode with 30 minutes length per week) in Japan. He adopted animation techniques requiring low cost and saving labors' work to produce the TV animation series with limited budget and tight time-schedule. Thus, the techniques he adopted were not valued high from a technical view point. However, Tezuka's TV animation series was a great hi t. Then, Toei Doga also started to make TV series. Under the condition with low budget and tight time schedule, the second generations of TV animation have invented many ideas for storytelling and it leads to a great diversity of animations in Japan today.

The Technical Development in the Department of Photography of Toei Doga (an interview with Mr. Jiro YOSHIMURA)

Since camera work division in Toei Doga Studio was established by ex-staffs of NichiDo, printers, photographers, and editors from Toei home office, various backgrounds of the staffs were reflected on the shooting techniques of the division. The division innovated first in Japan a multiplane camera system from the US in cooperation with technicians of Seiki. Further, the division used a multiplane camera for filter-works and a penetrable lighting effect, which were not originally designed functions of the camera. Especially, in producing "Taiyo no ouji Horusu no Daiboken (Little North Prince Valiant, 1968), various effects and special effects were attempted. By the 1960s, a basic studio work, such as camera work, was established, and after then the staffs had concentrated their efforts mainly on developing more sophisticated camera works and effects, such as a penetrable lighting effect. Yearly production of more than 200 CM films and TV series, which were free from severe restrictions in style, provided opportunities to try new techniques. Later, these techniques were used in producing feature animations for theaters and prevailed as standards in Japanese animation scene. Thus, Toei Doga Studio well contributed to Japanese animation scene not only by developing and prevailing camera/studio techniques but also by providing prominent animators into the scene.

A Factor Analytic Study of the Motion Information Contributing to the Perception of Motion of a Single Object

This study aimed to identify the perceptual framework contributing to the perception of the motion of a single object. Fourteen different kinds of computer animations of a single moving object were used as stimuli. They were made on the basis of various motions of living things, such as an ant, a butterfly, or a fish, and those of objects, such as a falling balloon or a glass ball rolling down a slanted board. Using the Semantic Differential Method, 56 participants, who were students of a women's junior college, were asked to rate those stimuli respectively in terms of 21 rating scales, each of which consisted of a pair of adjectives expressing opposite meanings. Through Factor Analysis, two factors were extracted, which were named "animacy factor (percentage of contribution =64.0)" and "smoothness and pleasantness factor (percentage of contribution = 28 .4)". These results provide evidence that "animacy -inanimacy" is the main framework for the perception of motion in a single moving object.

From the autistic world to entertainment in feature animations of Mamoru Oshii

Mamoru Oshii is an internationally renowned animation filmmaker. Division of his filmography into three periods reveals that he has kept some psychological themes. The first period began with making fan-oriented animation series based on the manga Uruseiyatsura. However, Oshii soon turned into bring all his tastes to the fore; in Uruseiyatsura 2 the Beautiful Dreamer (1984), he indicates that the world of dream is more important that the real world, and In The Egg of an Angel (1985) and Twilight Q Vol.2 The Mysterious Thing File 538 (1987), the relationship between a woman and a man echoes the director’s personal life. During the second, Oshii directed live-action films which he had aimed at since his youth; in Red Glasses (1987) and Stray Dog: Kerberos Panzer Cops (1991), he depicts the life of a revolutionary warrior who on the run is left behind the new age. Turning into reality his long-cherished dream of live-action filmmaking, these films reverberate Oshii’s background as a late participant of past student activist movements. The third period saw his animation filmmaking change for entertainment; Patlabor the Movie (1989), Patlabor 2 the Movie (1993), Ghost in the Shell (1995). Audiences were fascinated with these films in which the breaking of suspense serves to dispel social unrest. At first seeking a dream-like, autistic world, Oshii succeeded in presenting entertainments to the world after getting over a midlife crisis by fulfilling a dream in his youth.

The Ecological Approach to the Specific Property of Human Walking and Running: Reffering Biomechanics and the Methods of Making Cell-Animation

All human beings perceive objects which surround them or events which occur in the environment. While these natural events are described in the field of natural science, they are created as so-called representations in cell-animations. In this article, the specific properties of walking and running action, which are found in the biomechanics and the methods of making cell-animation, are argued on the context of ecological psychology. The characteristics of human walking and running found both on the approach of biomechanics and the methods of making these actions are as follows: These two actions have periodicity, vertical motion, frontal sway and sagittal swing in its own cycle. However, walking actions have a double-support phase and don't have an air phase, running actions don't have a double-support phase and have an air phase. Moreover, running actions are more rhythmical and regular than walking actions. These two approaches, the biomechanics and the method of creating an action in animation, have the same process to observe, pick up specific properties and describe the natural events. The properties investigated in them are in variants that are detected by human perception.

Beyond the Mirror: The Functions of Gynoids in Mamoru Oshii's Innocence

American and European films often include robots or sci-fi artificial bodies that resemble women, "gynoids." They stereotypically represent passivity and sexuality, which are equated with the ideal femininity. Gynoids are also projected men's fear, hence are excluded as "the abjection" at the same time. In contrast, throughout Mamoru Oshii's Innocence, girl-figured gynoids serve as a complex metaphor, signifying not only conventional female images but also innocence and vulnerability. Thus, the gynoids could become the boundary-free entity. Then they can function as a mirror, compelling the protagonist to self-reflection, instead of projecting "the Other" or negative images that exist inside him. Additionally, the gynoids in Oshii's film act as messengers, delivering the truth to the protagonist. In this paper, I will critically examine the representations of the girl figured gynoids in Innocence through a comparative analysis with the representations of gynoids in some American and European films.

J. S. Bach: Fantasia g-moll: Complementarity between Animation and Live-action

Jan Svankmajer is a Czech filmmaker, visual artist, and especially celebrated "animator." However, what is "animation"? One can immediately perceive the lack of definition for the actual object animation; nevertheless it has played an important role ever since the birth of "live-action" in 1895. In the thesis, I examine his work J. S. Bach: Fantasia g-moll (1965) to demonstrate how animation and live-action complement each other in his works: first, his characteristic point-of-view shots lead us effectively to abstract images that consist of various walls and animated pictures; second, the film space of two dimensions filled with darkness and constructed mainly by close-up lets us feel the sense of touch and it makes impressive animated images; and third, film techniques such as repetition, swish- pan and zoom give us the illusion of moving walls.

The Descriptive Study of Walking Animated Figures

The aim of this study was to examine descriptions of walking in animations. Some impressions of walking performed by animated figures and a human were rated by 20 subjects. Results of the factor analysis confirmed two factors of "light-heavy" and "natural unnatural" found by Nomura and Yokota (1993). Animated figures and the human were plotted by the mean factor scores into a two dimensional space that was defined by the two factors and, were classified into four groups; they were named as "trot (fast step)" including the human's action, "slow step", "fast motion", and "slow motion" according to their moving characteristics. The former two and the latter two groups give impress ions likely to be realistic walking and to be unrealistic one, respectively.

The Perception of Rotation Made of Cell-Animation

The rotary motion of the disk which has two colored parts of white and black seems to be blend color as gray corresponding to the area ratio of white and black with naked eye observation. However, this rotary motion seems counter rotating or blinking intensely through display media such as the movie and the television. Animators have learned these characteristics of display media from experiences. There is a close connection between motion expression and media of expression. This article focuses on making movement and vision through media and attempts to classify and compare the picture stimulation. To display the animation of rotary motion on media to use as stimulation, a series of freeze-frame pictures made to a continuous shoots, which is a technique of stop motion of cell-animation. The comparisons of the impression between the real movement and the rotary animation are recorded on diagram. The picture stimulations of rotary motion are described as three kinds of types classified by rotation direction, division number of sector and counter rotation of figure-ground. A possibility of quantification and qualitative measurement of rotary motion is brought up based on the result of observation and description of picture stimulations in this article.

Animations as Visual Images

The characteristics of animations as visual images were discussed in comparison with those of paintings, photographs and movies, as follows: 1) Motion perception produced by animations directly gives impression of active, biological and social creatures with individual intentions, even in simple geometrical objects. 2) Independence from the linear perspective rule was pointed out to be one of the important characteristics of animations in comparison with Western traditional paintings, photographs, and movies. In this point, the Oriental tradition of arts has been succeeded by Japanese animations. 3) Because of the psychological limit of visual attention, full animations were thought to be not always necessary. 4) Cross-cultural generality of affective impression produced by colors, forms, and motions was discussed to be an important background of the internationality of animations.

A Study of the Character Marketing Using Internet Media in Korea

In recent years referring to years since late 1990 when local internet media inflation was established, looking at case studies of the three Korean characters of Mashimaro, Pucca and Marineblues, internet media not particular in time and location, provided as an essential tool sharing information in a timely manner providing character contents to broad stratum of consumers, provided not only one-way content but enabled feedback and receiving ideas from the consumer, thus this provided actual advancements in the character business. The expansion in various media enabled increase in the profit structure of internet character business, thus speeded up market globalization. Through the case studies of Mashimaro, Pucca and Marineblues we learned that however, there were limitations in providing contents through active internet media to consumers, in other words it was impossible to reach non-active consumers, therefore, for successful character marketing, appropriate use of other media in reaching potential consumers is necessary.

The finding and evaluation of Takashi Inui's two puppet animations filmed in the 1930s

Takashi Inui (1911-1994), a psychologist and former professor of Hosei University who showed remarkable achievements in the field of children's art education, made some puppet animations using Pathe Baby 9.5 mm film during the 1930s while attending university. One of the authors, H. Yoshimura, was informed of the existence of those films by the family of Takashi Inui. In the present work, we estimate the value of the films in the early history of Japanese animation.Since only Shigeji Ogino, an amateur, had been known as a puppet animator before World War II so far, the finding of Inui's films throws important light on the early works of puppet animation in Japan. Although there remains the possibility of the existence of the original films, we have only found a VHS videotape rerecorded from the origianal films in the 1980s, on which the narration by Takashi Inui himself was imposed. Two titles have been identified: Kagami (Mirror) perhaps made in 1931 and Ningyo to Ningen (A Mermaid and a Human Being) made in 1932, both of which are adaptations from the stories originally written by H.C. Andersen. Inui hand made the puppets for his works and also used novel techniques such as cutout shlhouette animation, sand animation, and double exposure. He have referred to a puppet animation, The Magic Clock (L' horloge magique), produced by Ladislaw Starewicz, and a small number of technical books. We conclude that Inui's works should be highly regarded from the historical viewpoint og Japanese animation.

Encounter of Hayao Miyazaki and Joe hisaishi in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind : Generation of movie music

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind publicly presented in 1984 was Director Hayao Miyazaki's first animation for which Joe Hisaishi composed music, and their relation has lasted for over 20 years since then. They met in the animation boom when the sales method called media mixed, method which puts movie, music and books simultaneously on the market, was in fashion. The composer made "image record" from the image which the director showed to him. The record had Miyazaki stimulate his imaginative power. It was a happy synergistic effect for them to make creation. Especially, young Nausicaä's voice and "the tradition of a wind" played the role to specify the structure of this animation. Producer Isao Takahata contributed a lot to music composition. Instead of Miyazaki, who was indifferent to music, he selected and designed music perfectly for the whole work.

Affective effects generated by the left-right directional difference of a moving dot

The subjective effects of the direction of on-screen movement have been described by aestheticians and animators. In this study, observer's impressions for a dot moving from left to right or from right to left, was investigated experimentally using the semantic differential method, and the results were analyzed statistically. Factor analysis indicated three factors: Activity, Evaluation, and Smoothness. An analysis of variance indicated a significant effect of the direction of movement on Activity and Evaluation. Observers felt that movement from the right to left was signicantly more active than movement in the opposite direction, even if the two movements had the same movement pattern. The resluts confirmed the descriptions of estheticians and animators based on subjective experiences.

A Study on Changes in Animation Topography in Korea

It seems that animation in Korea began to be cognized from the perspective of the cultural industry as early as the latter half of the nineteen nineties, which effected diversified changes in animation in many directions. The government's support and policy and establishment of related organizations to reinforce the constitution of animation in Korea, changes in the production system of the industry to cope with the needs of varied changes in media, multangular techniques of animation production, and intensified education in collage, lead to reinforce infrastructure and short features in animation. In particular, the point here is that the windows through which animation can be presented are undergoing epochal changes owing to the initiaion of the DMB broadcasting.

East of Oliver Twist: Japanese Culture and European Influences in Animated TV Series for Children and Adolescents

Why in many classic Japanese animated series (anime) are there dramatic situations for the characters? The excursus starts from the «social novel» by Dickens, crosses the most important novels for children in Europe and America (Sans famille, Anne of the Green Gables etc.) and arrives at anime strategies, which deal with the contents of western original works but also with values born in Japanese social structure: the concepts of childhood and adolescence, independence and growth, the strategies of Japanese drama and the theatrality of shojo manga (‘comics for girls’). Many similitudes emerge between Japanese and western strategies in Bildungsroman, but also differences rarely noticed in the analysis of anime: a conflict between generations, a different concept of what childhood is and what children can do or should do, different ideas of family. Issues that deal with the transformations of Japanese society and culture since the end of the sixties.

Puppets in a Vignette: Edwin S. Porter's Animation Work

Teddy Bears (1907), made by Edwin S. Porter, who is regarded as the father of narrative cinema, includes one shot made by stop-motion technique. In this scene Teddy Bears perform acrobatics and it can be seen as an example of early cinema that induces a pure visual pleasure, in Tom Gunnin's word, "the cinema of attraction". What causes "attraction"? (1) halt or slackness of narrative flow, (2) "vignette masks" superimposed on a screen, in other words, "keyhole" effect, (3) aesthetic function of stop-motion animation intertwining and intergrating with these two elements: creatures=pupppets, in a "figurative space" enclosed by a vignette of grain pattern, create "figurative time" that is inconsistent to narrative flow, which was made reductively by a stop-motion technique generating movement by piling up frozen moments. This visual representation produced by these multi-formative structure"figurative" structure, in other words, expressive functionality of "tableau" that defines "the cinema of attraction", crystallizes "Porter's position of ambiguity in the history of cinema in a radical and clearly perceptible shape.

A psychological study for puppets created by Kihachiro Kawamoto

Kihachiro Kawamoto is well known as an animation and puppet master in the world. This study investigated physical and personality characteristics of faces of his puppets which were compared with the masks of Japanese traditional performance Noh and Bunraku puppets play. Participants rated 15 stimuli including faces of Kawamoto's puppets, Noh masks, and faces of Bunraku puppet by using 42 rating scales. A factor analysis showed five factors in physical characteristics and three factors in personality characteristics. Further analysis compared the faces of his puppets, Noh masks. and faces of Bunraku puppets in each factor. The result showed the similarities and differences among them. Thus, it sugges ted that faces of Kawamoto's puppets were influenced by the Japanese traditional plays, and he created puppets distinguishably for animation and for puppet play.

A psychological study on the function of Obake, shortly inserted figures between two different postures or positions of animation characters.

The Obake technique in animations has been developed by experienced technicians to realize smooth or spirited motion of characters. Psychologically, it can be investigated in relation to the apparent movement. While the shape of Obake may be immense as far as it is different from the shape of the moving character, we chose a straight or curved line as a representative of Obake in the present study. Fifty participants observed 20 kinds of computer-generated visual stimuli, rapidly transitions of three displays, the second of which was composed of the competing Obake and apparent movement elements. Using this method, we also compared the motion preference between two kinds of Obake. We found several facts such as: (1) Observers generally prefer Obake motions to apparent motions. (2) Obake motions are not necessarily preferred the shortest path, which is different from the apparent movement characteristics. These facts suggest that the function of Obake may closely depend on the meaning of the movement, and we considered that the Obake may be related to the line-motion illusion in the literature on the motion perception.

Animation and Its Copyright

Since the animations have historically been categorized as a kind of movies, we should basically consider the copyright problem of animations as that of movies. Standing on this point of view, I will discuss the problem from the following aspects; ( 1) the author of an animation, (2) the owner of the copyright, and (3) the protection period of the copyright. At the beginning of discussions, some general questions concerning this topic is di scussed. Recently , the copyright problem of movies and animations significantly attract public attention in Japan, because production companies of animations and movies have begun to notice its economical influence, paying special attention to their profitability. Grounded on Basic Law on Intellectual Property enacted in 2002, the Contents Law was enacted in 2004, which aims at protecting the copyright for comics and cartoons and the copyright for animations as well for the promotion of practical applications of them. Today, animations have been diverted to many other applications such as TV-games, and the characters of many animations have generated huge profits. Considering such economical results, we should not turn our eyes away from the problem of the animation and its copyright.

Animating This World: On Yuri Norstein's Tale of Tales

Although Yuri Norstein’s Tale of Tales (1979) has a complex structure, in the director’s words, this film can be summarized in a simple sentence: “We are alive.”
We can understand his explanation by analyzing the episode called “Eternity.” This episode was conceived when Norstein experienced a feeling of absoluteness borne out of a daily occurrence. He constructed this episode using a simple graphic style. His use of this style implies that he wanted to portray a world that was devoid of all preconceived notions, and wanted to transform the world into something new by animating it in the mind of any person who peeked into it. When people realize that each of them can lend a new meaning to the world by watching this film, the feeling of being alive returns.
Tale of Tales is not a film that creates a fantasy world, but a film that animates this world.

The depiction of human figures and human-like figures in Mamoru Oshii’s Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer and Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2

The purpose of this article is making a study of the depiction of figures in Oshii's animation: it will be done by discussing Mamoru Oshii's Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984) and Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 (2004) and especially by giving attention to the difference between the depiction of human figures and that of human-
like figures like mannequin and robot.

Essentially, animation is expected to make lifeless figures appear to move as if being alive, where the difference between human figures and human-like figures, or between organic matter and inorganic one, has been made clear usually by the degree of being
real in depiction. However, Oshii overcame those limitations, giving all his energies, from 1989 onwards, to the process of layout.

In Urusei Yutsura 2, that difference was made clear by whether characters were animated or not and by their features in depiction, eg., the change of the colour of skin, the existence or non existence of hair, a mouth, double lines to show joints and so on. In Innocence, however, that difference was not made clear by that style in design, but by the delicate direction of animator himself. It is there where the originality of Oshii's animation comes clear.

A representation of sound and movement in Japanese animated cartoon

When we look back in the history of Japanese animation, it is possible to divide Japanese cartoon in two types; characters will move and not move. The most of the latter began with an television (animation) series Astra Bay. which was first released in the year 1963. One of the characteristics of this animation is that the movement is not created by the actions of the characters but it is developed through effective camera works and by the process of editing. The main subject of this thesis is to consider how elements such as speech, music and sound effect creates movement in the televison series.

Consideration of Lupin the 3rd about “Novelty” of the early episode ; an analysis of Yamatoya Atsushi and The man they called a magician

Abstract:
The Man They Called a Magician The consideration about how the scenario of TV—animation is converted into the image, in the case of Yamatoya Atsushi.
This study is consideration about how the scenario of TV-animation is convened into the image, in the case of The Man They Called (I Magiciarz. the 2nd episode of Lupin the 3rd (1971-1972).
The writer of this episode is Ymamatoya Atsushi. He is known as a writer of Branded to Kill (1967) and Violent virgin (1969). In the works, Yamatoya adheres to an object strangely. and he doesn't explain the cause of his characters action. Therefore, his works are very strange. Isn't it difficult that he writes the scenario of TV-animation?,...It is because TV-animation needs to be normal.
As a result. this scenario was partially changed, suitably for TV-animation. Most "objet" in his scenario was deleted. However, the cause of character's action was not explained. Why?
As you know, tacit comprehension exists in TV-animation. It enabled the abbreviation of explanation. So. the strangeness which is the feature of Yamatoya's work may be allowed. The reason for having liked that he wrote the scenario of TV—animation is that he knew the possibility of TV-animation.

Effects of figural attributions in Obake on the speed impression

The images that inserted frames inducing apparent motion to express smooth or dynamic motion are called Obake in animations. It has been studied as objects guiding path of apparent motion. In the present study, I investigated the influence of figural information—spatial frequency and luminance contrast— of the Obake to the speed impression. It was shown that the speed impression is larger when any Obake inserted and that the spatial frequency influences on the speed impression while the contrast does not. From these facts. I suggested that the motion detection for apparent motion and figural information of the Obake are processed independently, and that, when the motion expression including Obake is perceived as a whole, figural processing for the Obake is one of the important factors influencing on the speed impression.

Anisotropy of a moving target’s speed perception in the horizontal and vertical dimensions

Y. Tomino, a Japanese famous animator, suggested that leftward motions would be perceived faster than rightward motions. A psychologist Yoshida (2006) found that people held different activity impression to the leftward and rightward motion. The present research aimed at directly catching the directional difference in the speed perception using the method of paired comparisons. Adding to the horizontal motions, we also examined the directional differences in the vertical dimension in which the gravity might influence on the speed perception. The participants were divided into two groups; 31 students were requested to compare the uniform motions and 38 students were requested to compare the accelerated motions. We provided three different speed (accelerated) motions which were moderately difficult to discriminate to each other. The participants in the uniform motion condition showed consistent tendencies; they perceived the leftward motion to be faster than the rightward motion and upward motion faster than the downward motion. In the accelerated motion condition, however, our participants didn’t show any consistent tendency.

Regarding Animatization of the Original Korean Comics

We discuss about the fact that the Korean animation industry is not enthusiastic about production with comics as the original work. Although the Korean animations based on the comic books had enjoyed much better successes compared to those that were based on the novels, a relationship between the comic stories and their selection for animation production had not been established until recent times. In this paper, a brief summary of Korean animation is reviewed. and the results of the animation productions based on the comics and the novels are compared. Furthermore, the astonishing success the comics are drawing from the media mix market including, motion pictures, TV drama, games and dramas apart from the animation production, is reviewed, and in terms of how comics can be established within the media mix market with the quoted FP of Japanese work, Sailarmoon. So, like the Miyazaki Hayao's claim, when the wide spread mutual distrust between the Korean comic artists and the animation producers is broken down, their relationship will develop as brothers and therefore, towards mutual prosperity.

U.S.-Japan Comparison of Animation Production: Effect of Organization Capability on the Introduction of Computer Graphics

In this paper, we asked the questions of what kind of organizational capability is utilized to introduce computer graphics in Japanese and U.S. animation studios and how the competitive edge of contents is obtained respectively. Through the hearing investigation for six Japanese animation studios and three U.S. animation studios between 2004 and 2006, we found that research framework initially designed for manufacturing industry is also applicable to the animation industry: Japanese studios take advantage of the "human oriented" organizational capability typified by a strong leader with multiple skills. The type of capability contributes to supply products with high integrity, ; U.S . studios take advantage of the "system supported" capability typified by the digital system covering the whole process of planning and production. The type of capability contributes to supply a stable flow of products to a world market. In the discussions, we ask the questions if Japan animation studios could introduce 3DCG technology effectively, and we suggested the possibilities utilizing firms ' organizational capability and advanced technologies simultaneously.

The Description Images of the Characters in Satoshi Kon’s Work: The Shift from a Visual Image to an Image of Substance

Satoshi Kon is a talented feature animation director. He states that some characters see a mental image of an unstable protagonist as real in different situations. It is thought that the visible mental image that Kon uses corresponds to the characteristics of animation that make a mental representation become visible. However, Kon changed his style of expression from the effective use of a visible mental image to a drawing of the world in which the mental image was given substance.

Effects of the Reversal of One of the Three Rectangle Axes on Form and Motion Perception: An Investigation Through the Impossible Figure and the Spinning Silhouette Illusion

Belvedere, a famous impossible figure created by M.C. Escher turn to be possible if the lower half of the figure would be reversed in the left-right dimension , which was originally found by Yasushi Kajikawa. Nobuyuki Kayahara, a Japanese media producer, created another interesting work, which also concerns the reversal of one of the three rectangle axes. It was named Silhouette Illusion, which is composed of the spinning shadow of a person. While the reversal happens in the front-back dimension in the latter case, observers perceive it as the reversal of another property such as the spinning direction and/or the reversal of the silhouette person's posture. Based on these phenomena, I discussed that we do not always perceive the reversal as it is, but we would perceive it in the other dimensional reversal or the changes of other properties.

The State of the Animation Industry and Receptiveness to Japanese Anime in Four Countries of Northern Europe and Central America

This report is the state of the animation industry in Iceland, Ireland, Nicaragua, Cuba, and the receptiveness to Japanese anime in those four countries. Although the market scale of Iceland's animation industry is small, I visited the studio of an independent animator who mainlyproduces animation shorts and TV commercials, and Studio CAOZ, which employs a staff of about 30. Studio CAOZ was in mid production of lceland's first full-length animated feature film, "Thor." Ireland has a number of animation studios that employ staff in double figures . Of these , I visited Brown Bag Films, a studio involved in producing TV animations, TV commercials and the like. Nicaragua has no studios that specialize in animation. However, several Nicaraguan companies are engaged in the production of moving images in general, and a small number of TV commercial animations have been produced by them. In Cuba, the state-run Animation Studio of ICAIC produces many TV animations, educational animations, music clips and others. So far, Cuba has produced six animated feature films, and the seventh was in mid-production at this studio when I visited. In all four countries, there was a good level of awareness of and familiarity with Japanese anime.

Development of GIS and the Roof Plannig Trees Simulation System That a VR Animation WasUsed

In this research, firstly, a roof planting trees possible buildings are picked from central area of Oita-shi using Geographic Information System (; GIS). And next, the presentation tool which is able to change and modify in the tree species and a viewpoint, etc.
interactively is developed by VR cartoon film from rooftop of the extracted buildings.

A Study on the Actions and the Symbolism of Main Colors in Robot Taekwon V

In this paper the author tried to analyze the colors in the 2007 remestered version of Robot Taekwon V. I chose this version because the original version made in 1976 was badly preserved and it is not suitable for the analysis. The color used in animation is a part of a direction by a director and the color used for characters especially inform much information and symbolic image including characteristic of them. Audience percieve their nature through the image of colors when they see them in animation. Futhermore, the selection of the color without versatility of color image affects the level of perfection of a film. This means the analysis of color image has important meanings.

On the simplicity in Don Hertzfeldt's films

Don Hertzfeldt, who makes animation films by using stick figures, finds the possibility of animation not in literal visualization of fantasy as most animators do. Although he calls himself "a filmmaker who just happens to animate", what he does in his films can be considered to be a practice of what traditional animators like Norman McLaren or Yuri Norstein theoretically have pointed out on the simplicity in animation. Hertzfeldt's simple style of animation does not limit viewers' imaginations . By doing so, viewers can perceive the existence of a world that cannot be expressed visually.

An Interpretaion of Oshii Mamoru’s Tachiguishi-Retsuden.

This paper examines director Mamoru Oshii 's animated film Tachiguishi-Retsuden. I take up technique of "The Superlivemation" and discuss it. In addition, I analyze the intention why I match comparison of a movie version with a novel version of TachiguishiRetsuden, and technique of 'The Superlivemation" was used for in act, Tachiguishi-Retsuden.

How “The Simpsons” Sees the Society: Looking at Family Values through the Fictional City of Springfield

The Simpsons is an animated television series that has been aired in America for over 20 years, and is one of the well known animated families in the world. The Simpsons is portrayed as somewhat dysfunctional family living in the fictional suburb of Springfield. This animation brings up many important issues about family values, and often raises controversy in the real world when the animated characters question reality. The significance of the family and its role in the society have always been an important issue in America from the past, since the divorce rates are high and more and more single parents are taking care of their children alone. Similarly, The Simpsons expresses their opinion about family values, in other worlds, what current family should be like in America. Through this research, I would like to analyze the work of "The
Simpsons," especially how this animated series portray the change of the American society, and how the Simpson family tries to represent the recent American society and culture from their point of view.

Impressions of animacy of various balls differing in terms of coefficient of restitution and weight, tumbling on a slanted board with many nails

When balls are tumbling down a slanted board on which many nails are attached, the type of bouncing and tumbling are different depending on the coefficient of restitution and the weight of the balls. This study examined if these properties of balls affect the impression of animacy when being viewed. Seven point-light-display animations which were made of video clips of seven tumbling balls and seven stimuli made by playing the same animations in reverse were presented to fifty-nine participants, and they were asked to rate the animacy of each stimulus animation. The results showed that the lower the coefficient of restitution, the higher the rate of animacy reported, and that the heavier the balls, the stronger the impression of animacy reported. It was also clarified that the weight of balls was closely related to the number of bounces in a single point-lightdisplay, i.e. the heavier those balls were, the lesser the number of bounces . These results were discussed from the point of view proposed by Premack & Premack (1995), of "self propelled motion" and " goal directed motion" which are important factors for understanding the perceived intention of moving objects.

Two-picture animations not giving back-and-forth impression

When alternately and repeatedly presented two pictures, we usually perceive back-and-forth motion between the two images, i.e. regressive motion. In some cases, however, we would perceive progressive motion to the alternate repetition. The present research aims to show the convincing examples and to consider the reason why they do not give the regressive impression to the sequences. We begin with distinguishing two cases; sequential motion and progressive motion. The latter is more important because it contains perceptual and/or technical problems relating to the animation research. We give some examples which belong to the latter; the progressive motion related to the representational momentum (Freyd and Finke, 1984) and the progressive motion known as the twostroke apparent motion (Mather, 2006). Based on the discussion concerning these phenomena, we concluded that the role of context and/or experience would be rather limited.

The prospects of the animation film industry as the manufacturing industry

The animation film production is not stable industry in Japan. I considered the development of the animation film production business, from the aspect of manufacturing industry. Because of the cost and copyright, the pre-production function will become more important process on the production of animation in Japan in the future. In the animation industry in Japan, the production company can use the copyright if it produces with an own debt burden. The production company that bears the production cost of the animation film has the advantage that the quality of the animation making can be controlled. The quality control by the production company is more enabled in having all processes of the production. That has the possibility of becoming the model of the Japanese manufacturing industry that supplies the product that used domestic resource to the world.

The player’s perspective as message: narrative composition in novel-game Higurashi no naku koroni.

This essay analyzes Higurashi no naku koroni, a novel-game about serial murder cases, privileging the relation between its narrative content and structure. This discussion clarifies the process that enables novel-games to function as a distinctive media form. Novel-games are based on the principle of adventure-games with
"multi-endings," in which players identify with protagonists and choose their own actions to reach the "best possible ending." The structure of such adventure-games generates a unique first person, and this feature is imitated in Higurashi no naku koroni. But, in this particular game, it is impossible to solve murder cases only from the point of view of the protagoni sts: the overlapping viewpoints of several actors are required. The unique first person in novel-games must be dissolved. But this disbanding requires that players participate in the story as a "game.'' It means that the work attempts simultaneously to renounce and create its own special property as a game. This feature of Higurashi no naku koroni demonstrates that the originality of "games" as a story-telling media are an integral part of the structure of the game itself.

Appearance of Movies with Audience-Participating and Friendship Stories: How Audience-Participating of Precure, the Animation-series for Girls

This essay analyzes the present situation of the animation by focusing the films version of Precure which are the animation for children. The characteristic of the movies Precure is audience-participating that characters in the movie directly appeal to audiences and audiences respond by the penlight handed out by staffs of the movie theater. The movies Precure are completed by the cheering of audiences. By the cheering the audiences participate in the friendship, which is theme of Precure . Audience-participating expands friendship into outside of story, so that the movie becomes the event, attraction, for joining. The movies Precure are a festival of Precure fans. This characteristic of the movies Precure shows as if importance of the story had less value. But the derivative instruments of Precure
base on the friendship-story of TV series. Friendship in the TV story is identified with unity of Precure fans. One of the reason why friendship is important on the commercial works is necessity of the positive relationship between works and consumers. Audience participating of the movies Precure is realization of the positive relationship.

The Study of Korea's Flash Content; A Case Study of Content Production

Cartoon, character, animation, games, web design, mobile such as, the media environment in accordance with through the use of Flash content, has developed a variety of cultural products in Korea. The Korea flash content actively has developed strategy that the Media Mix (the possibility of a connection with other media), and flash content was digital convergence (convergence and conversion) as the success stories in Korea. I suggest advantage of its very high value which using multimedia tools, that is to say the interactive flash content that attribute the strong propensity of games and educational content development as they are endless possibilities. In this paper, since the early 2000s until now, it has been frequently used seven kinds of flash content, media. and genre analysis based on production practices in Korea. This is based on those the flash content of Korea created with flash tools for qualitative and quantitative development and diversity, creativity. And it will be discussed about the nature and categories of that. Lastly, I should discuss the current limitations of flash content of Korea and the possibility of expansion.

Bones of Contention: Thoughts on the Study of Animation

Within the academy, animation is still a relatively under-studied subject field - though, clearly, this is beginning to change. This article is a polemical response to the nascent field of animation studies. It explores some impli cations of the marginalizati on of animation and confronts what it views as significant obstacles (and cul-de-sacs) with respect to the progress and consolidation of the subject as a legitimate field of scholarship. An overall approach is suggested which - in certain respects - is at odds with what has been undertaken in the field in the past and with what is professed as legitimate and epistemologically productive in the present.

Some Thoughts on Theory-Practice Relationships in Animation Studies

The article examines theory-practice relationships in the field of Animation Studies via three conceptual frameworks: legitimate peripheral participation, critical practice and recontextualization. The overarching argument is that Animation Studies must be understood in an‘interdisciplinary’way, and that means evaluating how different communities of practice work with similar or related terms. The article draws upon email discussion group data as a way of beginning to map the discourses used by people working within the field of Aimation Studies. The perceived role of technology is given specific attention,particularly the ways it can be seen to be straitjacketing the development of a truly critical Animation Studies community - one that attends to theory and practice in equal measure.

Essay on Forming the Basis of Scientific Animation Research

Many of the animation programs at universities in Japan seem to focus on nurturing practitioners, while very few are going on in terms of scholarly research. As a result, a proper cycle in which future generations of researchers appear or participate cannot be established. In addition, it is impossible to build up of any research community and to make interdisciplinary collaborations happen through sharing research achievements. We can find many cases of animation research achieved so far under a journalistic approach. However, academic research will be performed in quite a different approach from it, and then have the advantage of enabling researchers to directly addressing the cores of specialized discourses. There is no systematic education for students who do not necessarily want to be artists; nor might they necessarily to be scholars, while still much interested in animation. Education for such students needs curriculums developed by different kinds of specialists from those who are engaged in fostering practitioners. The establishment of this new field as a discipline requires the presence of specialized, professional "animation studies specialist" within academia.

Being Conscious of the Methodologies of Animation Studies: Some Contexts Surrounding the Study Group of Oversea References and the Mapping Project of Animation Studies.

It is very difficult to grasp the past achievements, international movements and situations of animation studies within Japan. This will be an obstacle which prevents young students from getting access to basic methodologies of animation studies. In terms of what is expected of the field as a new discipline, a more serious problem is that it allows scholars and journalists, in particular, who have been not engaged in this field, to say or write anything on animati on without any grounds. Recently I started a working group for sharing the excellent overseas scholarships on animation, and have been engaged in the project called "Manga and Animation Research Mapping Project", which aims to make visible the recent siruation of animation/comic studies. These activities are my attempts of finding solutions for the problems.

Animation and Boundlessness

The astoni shing increase in academic work on animation of the last twenty years, and its intensification in recent years, has also made it a much more heterogeneous area of research. It is by no means a problem in itself that this area has begun to develop an overarching dynamic towards using animation, and es pecially anime, as a boundless playground for ideas. However, the scholarly energy this tendency is obviously generating should be paired with a degree of reflection on what recent research on animation has achieved, and where its current productive potential lies.

3rd Mechademia Conference on Anime, Manga and Media Theory from Japan "World Renewal: Counterfactual Histories, Parallel Universes, and Possible Worlds" (Nov. 29-30, 2012 Korean Film Archive; Dec. 1-2, 2012 Dongguk University, Seoul)

Linked to the annual journal Mechademia (University of Minnesota Press, 2006-), the third Mechademia conference was held Seoul, from 29 November to 2 December, 2012. It deserves highest in appreciation as a rare place of exchange for researchers engaged in entertainment media and fan cultures "from Japan," but it was not without problems as this report indicates. First, insofar as most papers addressed only a certain kind of animation from Japan. Second, animation did attract attention mainly as grist for cultural studies and philosophical speculation. Third, the uneven relationship between representation theory, media studies and social critique, or the gap between familiarity with the material and theory orientation, was striking. The conference revealed also the need for more contributions by Asia-based researchers.

What the Educational Film Protected: Animated Films in Japan during the Occupation

This essay examines information about censorship procedures in Japan during the Allied Occupation. After being placed in the category of educational film, Japanese animated films emerged as an art form with many diverse styles. The Tale of Solid Wood (Muku no Ki no Hanashi) in 1947 was made with the animated imagery that some audiences may perceive as awkward. Later, the form of expression seen in this film did not lead to that which is referred to by the Animation Association of Three formed in 1960 by Yoji Kuri, Ryohei Yanagihara, and Hiroshi Manabe. Rather, it influenced the Tokusatsu (special effects) genre in postwar Japan, as a unique trend that stemmed from Toho Aviation Educational Materials Production Office. Japan was in the center of rapid changes during the occupation, which saw a chaotic coexistence of liberation and censorship. This resulted in the animation film industry creating experimental works for use in the educational film genre. The educational films were something more than what simply provides education; in the history of Japanese animated film, the educational film genre is of great importance in that it set a foundation for nurturing diverse artistic styles that deviated from the mainstream ones of those days.

Analysis of Tezuka Osamu’s Limited Animation Technique with a Case Study of Tales of a Street Corner

Tales of a Street Corner (1962) is the first animation of Tezuka Osamu (1928-1989). This essay aims to revalue Tezuka's work by means of film analysis. Here, animation techniques employed in the opening sequences of the film will be analyzed, rather than the story itself. This will be compared with those of Pinocchio (1940), "The Birth of Astro Boy" (Episode One of Astro Boy, 1963), "Outer Space Visitor" (one episode of the Mighty Mouse series, 1959), and Wanpaku Oji no Orochi Taiji (The Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon, 1963) to examine the characteristics of Tezuka's limited animation technique. The result of analysis shows that Tezuka did not seek simply the economic interest of the technique but he rather explored a wide range of its possibilities that were to add significant artistic values to his work.

On the Earliest (Foreign) Animation Films Shown in Japanese Cinemas

In 1933 film critic Yoshiyama Kyokkoclaimed that a 1909 film called Nippdru no henkei had been the first (Western) animation film to be screened in a Japanese cinema. In 2001 animation historian Watanabe Yasushi showed that a film called Nipparu no henkei premiered in Tokyo's Asakusa Teikokukan on 15 April 1912, but any details to identify this film were still lacking. Finally, in December 2012 it became possible to ascertain that Nipparu no henkei had been Emile Cohl's 1911 film Les Exploits de Feu Follet, released in other countries as The Nipper' s Transformations. In this note the identification process is retraced; moreover, other possible contenders for the title of 'first animation film shown in a Japanese cinema' are considered.

Japanimation (Anime)’s Expressions and the Inside (Part 1): from Joon Yang Kim’s Empire of Images: Animation on Japanese Islands

Korean publications on Japanese animation have been largely ignored in academic study of animation. The following essay is part of a translation of loon Yang Kim's Empire of Images: Animation on Japanese Islands into Japanese. This book on animation in Japan is a broad survey that talces up a variety of viewpoints. The following is Section 2.3, "As Kabuki, Emalci, Monogatari, and Shishosetsu (I-novel)", in Chapter 2, "Japanimation (Anime)'s Expressions and the Inside". Aspects of traditional culture in Japan such as kabuki, emaki (picture scroll), monogatari, and literature have influenced on Japanese animation. For instance, its bishojo/bishonen characters are a representative example of influences from kabuki, among other performing arts. The essay suggests in reference to kabuki that the androgynous or neutral traits of beautiful boy and girl characters in anime existed in the traditional culture of Japan before the commercialization of sexuality through the character industry.

On Publishing Books about Animation: Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales: An Animator’s Journey and British Animation: the Channel 4 Factor

This is the record of Clare Kitson's talk presented in Kuwasawa Design School, Tokyo, on 11 November, 2012, organized by the JSAS in cooperation with Tokyo Zokei University, and coordinated by Nobuaki Doi. After leaving Channel 4, Kitson has made a lot of research achievement, including publications on animation. Her talk covers not only what happened until the publication of her two books but also what followed that, including distribution and reception. Located not completely inside or outside academia, her position seems to be very significant to the discipline of animation studies developing in Japan. Her talk was realized by the support of Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, in particular, Professor Koji Yamamura, as the inviter of Kitson to Japan. The coordinator would like to thank them. (Abstract by Nobuaki DOI)

Animation Studies Seen from Aside: Some Points of Contact with Film Studies.

This article is based on my invited lecture for the 2013 annual conference of the Japan Society for Animation Studies in Tokyo. Here I will focus mainly on five subjects. First, the relationship between film and animation: while both media have plenty of common characteristics in principle, why has film studies in the past often neglected studying animation? I will exemplify two canonical works in film studies, which indeed suggest film studies’ tie with animation studies. Second, gravity in animation: Terada Torahiko’s statement is certainly applicable to animations, but the film critics or scholars in his era dismissed the point. Third, Terada’s essay on picture scrolls: analyzing a picture scroll (emakimono), Terada points out dual functions of the printed medium which are also applicable to animation studies. Forth, the aspects of standstill and movement, from Benjamin to Kracauer: Kracauer left out studying animations from his book, Theory of Film (1960). To him, animations simply belong to the domain of art. But Thomas Lamarre found an important meaning in Benjamin’s words to suggest the vital role of the limited animation. Lastly, Lamarre and Imamura: Lamarre, in his recent book, Anime-Machine (2009), constructs his media theory of animation in the context of the post-modern Japanese society. His argument makes me recall Imamura Taihei’s critical work on Disney’s animations, finding Americanism in them. Lamarre, to expand his theory into the universal validity, avoids anime’s association with a specific culture, namely Japanese cultural tradition or Japan’s national visual style.

Analysis of Contemporary American Society: Through the Animation of The Simpsons.

The Simpsons is a successful animation series in the United States that has been broadcast for over twenty four years. Through the ordinary life of the Simpson family, the animation raises important issues in the modern-day American society. Throughout the series, the members of the Simpsons and other people in Springfield draw into attention a variety of social issues about family value, society, government and environment. This essay examines The Simpsons in order to understand those issues which American society is currently facing. In particular, Homer’s active commitment to community has a significant meaning in attempting to analyze its importance in the individualist society, suggesting that the audiences are still unconsciously seeking for an ideal relationship with their own communities. In assuming the role of town father as an eighteenth-century American tradition, Homer also introduces the progressive attitudes of the 1960s to a contemporary fictional town of the States. My essay focuses on how the role of family and community is presented in The Simpsons, and how this series echoes contemporary US society.

Change of the Image of Child Seen in the Doraemon Film Series.

This article attempts to interpret the change of the representation of children between the original version of the Doraemon film series and their remake versions. As one of the most popular manga and animated TV series for children in Japan, Doraemon has 33 film adaptations, and of these, four films are remade ones. Since the first film adaptation was released, more than three decades has seen a considerable change in the culture and the mode of consumption. Comparing the original versions with their remakes, this article analyzes how the latter differs from the former, in terms of storytelling and characters. Through this analysis, the author suggests that the story in the remake versions is made more complicated with addition of new characters who do not appear in the original ones and that the characteristic of melodrama is emphasized by using flashbacks and two-shots effectively. And it is shown that the characters who exist on original ones were given the element of Moe in their remakes and that the representation of mother and father were expanded through socio-cultural changes. Over thirty years, the DORAEMON film series indicates that the notion of child as ignorant and innocent came to be no longer taken for granted.

Japanimation (Anime)’s Expressions and the Inside (Part 2): From Joon Yang Kim’s Empire of Images: Animation on Japanese Islands.

The following essay is a translation of part of Joon Yang Kim’s Empire of Images: Animation on Japanese Islands into Japanese. In the previous issue of the Japanese Journal of Animation Studies (2013, vol.15, no.1A) I translated Section 3 of Chapter 2 of the volume, “Japanimation (Anime)’s Expressions and Its Inside”, in which it is argued that Japanese animation has been influenced from traditional arts such as kabuki or emaki, and from the literary genres such as the shishosetsu (I-novel). In this essay, I will now turn to the following two Sections. Section 4, “Concerning the idea of the non-national”, discusses the discourses that claim anime to be essentially non-national. Post-industrial capitalism’s imperial will is seen to expand and reproduce the idea of the non-national, while Japan’s cultural hybridity is taken as being at the root of constructing a form of non-nationality. Section 5, “The Debate over the non-nationality of hair color (in anime)” looks at the question of “non-nationality” from the more concrete issue of the variety of hair colors of characters in anime. It goes on to argue that the use of different hair colors for Japanese characters does not result from the freedom of expression in animation, but rather can be interpreted as Japanese society’s subconscious pressure against the representation of Japanese people.

Hybrid animation in Europe

Animated feature films caught adult audiences' attention in Europe in the 2000s. This led to a new tendency in which the nimated film delas with serious subjects like sociopolitical issues. Futhermore, with cross-media or mixed techniques as a technical nouveaute, there is insrease in the number of animated films for adults, called 'Hybrid Animation'. I relesed a feature film, Approved for Adoption (Couleur de peau: miel) in Japan in 2012. This film holds two hybrid aspects in terms of a technical combination of animation and live-action, and the subject of cross-national adoption. As a film distributor, I will outline the Hybrid Animation of Europe, focusing on commercial animations in France and independent short animations in Sweden.
Trends and Changes in European scenes of animation production in the 2000s, which I will introduce in this essay, are likely to be better grasped in the term of hybrid animation, rather than animated documentary. Futhermore, it tells that 'hybridization' proceeds not only from the needs of animation-filmmakers but also from the requests and/or expectations of audiences and filmmakers from without-the field of animation. The concept of hybrid animation will help classification and analysis of animated films.

Looking and Listening from a Little Corner of the World

Behind the bloom of the production of animated documentaries lie the changes of the range of thse sense of reality animation can capture. Some animators, like Yuri Norstein and Caroline Leaf, have been finding that animation is appropriate for experessing a subjective view toward the world. The worldview seen in their films focuses on a narrow world around them and because of its narrowness implies the existence of the world that never belongs to their world. This sense of reality has something in common with animation documentaries when these films try to focus on realities of outsiders or minoroties.

"Moved" and "Moving" Gentō: Gentō-kai (Gentō Screening) as a Place for "Movements."

In Japanese, gentō 8magic lantern, slide, filmstrip) means that the visual medium that usually projects still images onto a large screen. It thrived over the 19th century in Japan and then revived in the Showa period, from World War II to the post-war 1960s. Dring the 1950s, gentō flourished as a grass-roots medium in several social movements; labor disputes, anti-US-base, anti-nuclear, and Settlement.
In this article, I would like to focus on "animated" aspects of gento filmstrips. Among the post-war gentō filmstrips, there are several images could "moved" during the screening process by shaking the gentō projector (gentō-ki) with hands. Gento presenters often tried to add the sensation of "movement" to gentō images on the screen by live performances like singing, clapping hands or tapping feet, choral speaking. The audience also could participate as if they had "moved" the characters within each frame by their voices and bodily movements. By synchronizing themselves with images on the gento filmstrips throught these screening live performances, the audience could also be "moved" by gentō filmstrips many of which represented or recorded actual social movements.

Towaeds a theory of voice actors: a turning point in professional voice acting seen in the "anime boom".

In recent years, critical attention has been increasingly paid to the subject of the profession of voice actor. While individual research articles are available, however, it does not seem that the emerging subject has explored in a coherent manner, not even in the studies of Japanese animation which has specific ties the voice actor. This article focuses on the “anime voice actor”, providing a historical perspective in comparison with early voice actors who performed in radio dramas or Japanese-dubbed foreign movies. It also traces back the anime voice actor to the “anime boom” which began with Space Battleship Yamato. The author will pay special attention to Yoko Asagami, the voice actress who impersonated the heroine. In her wake, the profession of voice actor came to assume its distinctive implications and emerged desirable career among “anime generation” who were close to Asagami in age.

Concerning the 3D Effects of the Multiplane Camera.

In the 1940s, Sergei M. Eisenstein criticized Disney’s animations for the unnatural feel of the backgrounds depict in them. One of the reasons may be attributed to Disney’s use of the multiplane camera. This essay focuses on examples of the use of the multiplane camera during the 1930s and 1940s. The multiplane camera was so structured as to be able to do animation with miniature sets as well as celluloid paper. Technical skills required for the equipment differed from those for conventional cel animation, and therefore, people with experience in working with miniature sets and live-action filming were needed to deal with it. It is considered that the marriage between miniature sets and live-action filming made possible by the multiplane camera bought not only 3D effects, but also an unnatural feel.

Concerning the Anime Directing Method for Limiting the Quantity of Drawings to 3500 Sheets per Each Episode of a TV Series in Toei Animation Studio Co. Ltd.: the Director Is Responsible for Limiting the Issue of Quantity Rather Than the Animator.

In 1984, Toei Animation Studio Co., Ltd. began to limit the use of drawing paper to 3500 sheets per TV program. In order to reduce costs, other studio, such Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. and Sunrise Inc. instituted similar measures. An unexpected result of these restrictions was the advancement of Japan’s unique anime style of visual presentation. Based on documents and the experiences of directors and animators of the time, this paper will discuss how a move to conserve resources resulted in artistic evolution of Japanese anime.

Japanimation (Anime)'s Expressions and the Inside (Part 2): From Joon Yang Kim's Empire of Images: Animation on Japanese Islands.

The following essay is the Japanese translation of part of Joon Yang Kim’s Empire of Images: Animation on Japanese Islands. In the previous issues, vol.15, no.1A and no.2A, of The Japanese Journal of Animation Studies appeared respectively Section 2.3, “As kabuki, emaki, monogatari, and shishosetsu (I-novel)”, and Section 2.4, “Concerning the idea of the non-national”, and Section 2.5, “The Debate over the non-nationality of the hair color” in Chapter2.
This essay covers the introductory part, Section 2.1 and 2.2 of the same chapter. A consideration of manga in regard to animation is given in Section 2.1. The relationship between comics and the animation work based on comics is discussed in terms of relationship between story and discourse and furthermore, in terms of the role of manga in animation. In Section 2.2, “Art and technology of limited animation”, the meaning and value of technologies in Japanimation are reexamined in relation to art history. In conclusion, the techniques employed in Tezuka Osamu’s 1963 animated television series, Astro Boy, are suggested as excellent as its “story”.

How the releasing strategies of Miyazaki Hayao's works have changed in the United States.

This essay aims to explore some issues of the distribution of Miyazaki Hayao’s animated films in the US, in particular, censorship, modification, and diverse impact these had on the reception of his films. Drawing on two aspects of the status of his films, a work of artistic value on the one hand, and a consumer product on the other, I analyze many different materials which include taglines, the cover design of the VHS/DVD, and edited scenes. Miyazaki has been praised as an auteur by critics and audiences in the US. Here I suggest that such factors as fans, distribution companies and reviews also played an important role in Miyazaki establishing the present status. Today Miyazaki’s films have an influence on the art of feature-length animated films and beyond in the US popular culture.

Can research on the film comprehension in psychology apply to animation?

This essay focuses on animations in which a story is told or suggested. Research has been done on animation in psychology, but a study of animation comprehension, using unified theories of film comprehension, has not yet been done. In this essay, I review and compare two film comprehension theories, Event-Indexing Model and Event Segmentation Theory. According to Event Segmentation Theory, viewers segment film into fine or coarse units. But, these units are subsumed under the concept of situation in Event-Indexing Model. In addition, Event-Indexing Model deals with the process of film comprehension in usual viewing conditions. Here I suggest that the framework of animation comprehension should adopt Event-Indexing Model. It is expected that clarifying comprehension processes of animation contribute to animation production.

Concerning the anime directing method for limiting the quantity of drawings to 3500 sheets per episode of a TV series in Toei Animation Studio Co. Ltd. (Part 2): The Directorial Strategy in Japanese TV Anime.

In 1984, Toei Animation Studio Co., Ltd. began to limit the use of drawing paper to 3500 sheets per TV program. In order to reduce costs, other studios, such as Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. and Sunrise Inc. established similar measures. An unexpected result of these restrictions was the advancement of Japan’s unique anime style of visual presentation. Based on documents and the experiences of directors and animators of the time, this essay will discuss how a move to conserve resources resulted in artistic evolution of Japanese anime.

Gender Trouble Seen in Sime Characters in Japanese Animation.

In this article, I adress some female characters which are popular on TV in Japan. It seems that they are attractive because they represent various factors of the confusion of old gender stereotypes. In this article, I will consider this positive character of the confusion in terms of (A)gender and sexualityin families in modernity, (B)tensions between cultural diversity and gender issues, (C)citizen, government, fighting and gender, (D)the positions of subject and object. And also I will try to seek theoretical and practical possibilities that animation can provide some "imaginary spaces" for psycologically represeed people to restore positive images of themselves.

The Deviating Voice from the Visual: Representations of Female Characters and Feminist Critism in the 1990s' Anime.

In the 1990s, Japanese anime sophisticated both the visual and voice detabases for character creation. These two databeses usually cooperate in a cimplementary manner in order to construct characters in the audio-visual medium. However, there is still always the possibility that they operate inconsistently. And sometimes, a brand-new character type is born from the inconsistent and varying combinations of the visual and voice detabases. An outstanding example of the phenomenon is Haruka Tenou, one of the mostpopular characters in the TV series Sailor Moon (1992-97). In contrast to the otaku consumption suggestet by Hiroki Azuma, feminist alternative readings of the work have been activated and dubbed characters have been cues for the alternative possibilities of gender and sexuality.

Little Mothers and Big Mothers: Gender Representations in Animation Films.

Early Disney heroins such as Snow White fit nearly whithin a patiarchal view of society in which women are confined to passive roles centered around the stereotypes of good wife or wise mother whose skills are mailnly centered around housework. these heroins seldom take the initiative to change their fates and instead are often portrayed as beautiful heroins meekly awaiting rescue by princes. Onthe other hand, today's Japanese animated films such as those produced by Studio Ghibli are notable for their active female roles. Yet this does not necessarily imply simply that modern Jaapanese screenwriters are affirming the independenceof woman. Upon closer examination, it is clear that especially in the films directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the female characters fit into one of two types: first, activeyoung girls, and second, earth-goddes like "Big Mother" characters. The Large gap between these two extremes is interesting in the way in which is seems to toexpress the peculiarities of the screenwriter's views on gender roles. Here, I will examine the portrayal of gender roles in Disnet films and compare them primarily with films directed by Hayao miyazaki to arrive at an analysisof the state of gender representation in today's animated films.

Satoshi Kon's Interconnected Creative Worlds: The Continuity of Self-exploration.

This essay aims to clarify Satoshi Kon's personality, the creative process of the animation works he directed, and the interrelations between the person and his directorial work, applying a life story approach and employing life history as a qualitiative research method based on historycal materials, such as Kon's animation works, storyboards, diaries, blogs, websites, esseys, audio commentaries, and articles. As a result, it is made clear that Satoshi Kon attempted to establish his identity and expressed himself through his profession as an animation film director in collaboration with his colleages. Kon continuouslycreates innovative annimation films by expanding his imagination through drawing. his ideas sprang from confrontation with reality, mostly in the form of unexpected events or incidentalencounters. He was particularly influenced by Susumu Hirasawa's musicand yasutaka Tsutsui's novels,whose worldviews he animated in his works. Furthermore, his daily-life impressions also went into his works. This essay reaches the conclusion that Satoshi Kon's pursuit of meanings in his life led him to continuously deal with them as themes of his animation works.

Present Situation of CGI animation in the JapaneseMarket: A Case Study of Rakuen Tsuiho: Expelled from Paradise.

Japanese CGI animation has only recently become popular in its domestic market. In 2014, topical movies such as Rakuen Tsuiho: Expelled from Paradice and Stand by Me Doraemon were released, and TV series such as Knights of Sidonia and Ronia the Robber's Daughter were broadcast.

Jiří Brdečka - A Director of Animated Films

The Czech director Jiří Brdečka, considered as one of the masters of world animation in the 1960s and and 1970s, has been forgotten for the last thirty years because of the unavailability of his films. This essay aims at redressing the oblivion, discussing the inspiration, the style and the times of the filmmaker, whom we could consider "the Ernst Lubitsch of animation."

Inquiries around Animation and Moving Image: Anime, Animation and Animating.

In “anime”, there is often the morphology of movement or the movement of morphology presented with which characters and backgrounds seem to merge on screen, as seen in Akira and My Neighbor Totoro. In order to make clear the dynamics in which such images could be engendered and materialized, it is necessary to take into account the way in which modern Western optical technologies such as photography were received in Japanese visual culture. In the late Edo era, there was a transmedial environment where kabuki’s body performance, ukiyoe’s image of the body, nozoki-karakuri, gesaku, and photographic apparatus were in a close interaction and engagement, thereby bringing to life performing and viewing, and reading and speaking, further triggering affects and emotions, with language and image intersecting each other. This is a kind of the animating performance of image. Among the bases of anime is a genealogy of the animating image, as vital to the examination of animation, and moving image in general.

A Thought on the Fleischer Brothers’ Rotoscope: the Problem of the Racial Repression of the Black Body.

Cab Calloway, one of the most famous jazz performers of the day, is featured in some of the Fleischer Brothers’ short animation Betty Boop series. Interestingly, Calloway himself never appears on the screen: what we see on screen is an animated character which has no resemblance of the singer. However, the audience could easily recognize the musician behind the fictional character because of the realistic reproduction of Calloway’s characteristic body movements and voice.
This essay examines the unusual representation of Calloway in the films by paying attention to the Rotoscoping process which generates such an impression. Given that the uncanny nature of his movement has often been associated with the movement reproduced by Rotoscoping, my investigation is twofold. It first attempts to locate where this uncanniness comes from. Then, I ask why the Fleischer Brothers featured Calloway in the films. Drawing on Freud’s concept of the Uncanny, this essay examines the underlying structure of repression and the subsequent appropriation of Calloway’s black body generated through the Rotoscoping process.

Character-body Theory in The Anime Machine: Its Application to Non-otaku Animes.

The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation by Thomas Lamarre was published in 2009. This article reconsiders the character-body theory proposed in his book. Most discussions in the book are based on otaku theories. In particular, the discussions strongly concentrate on theories of body which consist of a number of other interesting issues. In this sense, I suggest that it has a capability to advance beyond the analysis of otaku-oriented anime. To make this clear, I focus on the concept of “time-image” (from Gilles Deleuze’s Cinema), which Lamare connects with body by using otaku theories in the second part of The Anime Machine. In its third part, Lamarre’s discussion proceeds on the basis of otaku theories. Taking the concept of time-image as influential in his book, this article reinterprets character-body considered in Lamarre’s discussion. Through this reconsideration, I attempt to demonstrate how theories of character- body corresponding with time-image can be discerned from otaku theories and how such a body theory can be utilized in discussions of non-otaku-oriented anime.

Postscoring in the Predawn of Talkie.

The use of postscoring in the sound recording has been considered as a characteristic of Japanese animation. For the reason, various discussions have developed about postscoring. The following was mainly assumed as three premises. (1) The opposite of postscoring is prescoring, (2) postscoring is commonly used in Japanese animation, and (3) postscoring refers only to the recording of speech, while the recording of music and sound effect is not included. These premises are, however, only historically constructed and hence, do not work in general. In this essay, I investigate this issue by referring to the relevant discourses of the movie magazines of the 1930s when sound was used for animation. The term, postscoring, was born in the live- action film industry, originally as opposite to synchronous recording (1). Also, as postscoring was likely to be critically discussed in the discourse of animators such as Yasuji Murata, Takao Nakano, Kenzo Masaoka, it was not used in general (2). Finally, sound recording including postscoring at that time was made mainly for music, subsequently with dialog and sound effect added. In this sense, postscoring did not necessarily refer to the recording of speech (3).

Mochinaga Tadahito: His Puppet Animations and Musical.

Known as “The Father of Japanese Puppet Animations”, Tadahito Mochinaga sought to explore ways of incorporating physical expressions like song, dance and musical into his work after WWII. Further, Mochinaga was involved in the production of works for Videocraft International (Rankin/Bass Productions), and in my view, he was the first Japanese animator who experienced the making of a US-style musical animation. Attempting to evaluate his artistic achievement in this essay, I analyze how Mochinaga employed physical expressions in each of his works of puppet animation, and.

Anime’s Actors: Constituting “Self-hood” through Embodied and Figurative Performance in Animation.

If animation allows us to envision a world of active objects through animating their movement, then surely how the objects are made to move through the animation changes how they are constituted as actors. In other words, how bodies move in animation, human and object alike, also entails certain conceptions of “self” as it is constituted through the dynamics of its animation. This study aims to (re) consider Donald Crafton’s conceptualization of animation performance forms (embodied and figurative performance), in particular in relation to Japanese anime. In embodied acting, the expression of character is produced through particularized movement, where characters are constituted as individuals, each with their own discreet inside and outside. Figurative acting, on the other hand,
utilizes various gestures and codified expressions. Due to this reliance on codified expressions, figurative performances build from previous ones, replaying and reiterating them in different contexts. Each of these forms enacts a different conception of selfhood: embodied acting performing the modern conception of individualism bound to the singular body on the object which performs the movement; figurative acting performing a type of “particularity” rather than
“individuality,” where the self is a composite configured through the
citation of codes

Re-examining Uproar in the Studio Known as the First Chinese Animation

Although Chinese animation has experienced nearly a century of development, there still remain a lot of questions around its starting point and details of its early development. Based on primary document that were not covered by a previous scholarship, which I contest in this essay, of the subject, I aim at a comprehensive study of early Chinese animation in order to provide a clearer picture of an early development of animation in China. The essay intends to overturn previously well-accepted conclusions on Uproar in the Studio that has been considered as the first animation work of the Wan brothers, going on to revise the history of early Chinese animation.

Yo-kai Watch: A New Development of Media Mix in the Age of Media Innovation

Since the year of 2000, Pokémon, Doraemon, and Detective Conan have been regularly popular works of media contents. However, when the animated TV series Yo-kai Watch began being broadcasted in January 2014, with media mix deployment including TV and games, cinemas, manga, and toys, Yo-kai Watch became one of the most popular media franchises. (Media mix is the Japanese-made English term which means transmedia or media convergence.)
As a technological innovation advances, media forms have increased in number, and the media platform has also undergone a change. In this new media environment, I show that Yo-kai Watch updated Haruki Kadokawa's media mix in the mid-1970s. The Yo-kai Watch production team has produced media contents in a multiple and simultaneous way. In this essay, I analyze and examine the way in which the Yo-kai Watch series has revised the strategy of media mix in the age of media revolution, in terms of hardware, software, and marketing, in contrast to Pokémon and Haruki Kadokawa's media mix.

A Proposal for a Method of Analyzing Motion Smoothness in Animated and Live Action Films.

Although animated and live action films are composed of a series of still images, we perceive them as smooth/coherent motion. The present study proposes a method of analyzing motion smoothness by using a spatio-temporal frequency analysis applied to the spatio-temporal difference between two frames of sequential images. There has been no objective explanation for the mechanism of motion smoothness perceived in animated films (which are composed of a lesser number of still images than live action films). With respect to the analysis of motion smoothness, two-dimensional Fourier transformation was applied, in such a way that spatio-temporal frequency components on a given motion can be visualized and this allows us to quantitatively compare the difference of two sample frames in motion. The present study aimed to investigate the physical factors of motion smoothness and further discusses the perception of such smooth/coherent motions in the “limited animation" technique.

3D Technologies that will Bring about Changes to the Production Processes and Business Structures of Animation―Findings from "ARPEGGIO OF BLUE STEEL", "KADO: The Right Answer" and "Kemono Friends."

Computer Graphics works have been gaining their importance in the Japanese commercial animation scene. With “ARPEGGIO OF BLUE STEEL” (2013.10-) as the starting point, “Kemono Friends” (2017.1-) and “KADO: The Right Answer" (2017.4-) continue to attract fans to this day. What they have in common is the usage of 3D computer graphics (3DCG). The influence 3DCG would give the animation world is not only to its creative method, but also to the business and industrial structures. This thesis provides a deeper understanding of the situation and the insight based on the hearing of the producers as well as some preceding studies.

A Historical Survey of Animation Subjects in School Textbooks of Drawing and Manual Arts in Elementary Education in Japan.

The major aim of this study is to compile knowledge about animation education in primary education, and in this paper I surveyed how animation subjects were treated in school textbooks for drawing and manual arts in elementary education in Japan. In total I surveyed 677 textbooks published from1955 to 2015 and identified 25 animation subjects, which I divided into four periods of time for comparison. This diachronic research reveals the origin and the changes of the animation subject in the field. In addition, I found two aspects of educational meaning for animation subjects in the context of drawing and manual arts, namely “education for visual communications” and “experiential education.”

Kenzo Masaoka’s Lip Syncing and its Representations

"Spider and Tulip" (1943) and "Momotaro, Sacred Sailors" (1945) are considered masterpieces of the Asia-Pacific War period. As research on both works increases, their political overtones have been highlighted in various forms. In contrast, studies have not discussed lip syncing that is evident in these works. Therefore, this paper examines two questions by focusing on Kenzo Masaoka who was involved in the production of both works. First, is understanding how lip syncing was introduced. American animators such as the Fleischer brothers influenced Masaoka before the War. Second, is comprehending what lip syncing in "Spider and Tulip" and "Sacred Sailors" represents, for instance strong political nature such as the construction of the "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere." By considering these questions, we argue that before the war Masaoka was attempting to counter imported American animation while imitating their production method. Moreover, during the Asia-Pacific War when American works were prohibited from being screened, Masaoka was expression opposing America by producing highly artistic animation. We analyze how his way of thinking is different from Mitsuyo Seo’s way of thinking - Seo is the director of "Momotaro, Sacred Sailors."

The Origin and Evolution of Animation in Video Games

At the dawn of computer games at the beginning of 1980s, game graphics expressed in 2D started to evolve, incorporating Japanese animation techniques. Since the 21st century, game graphics have developed as well as hard and software, using 3DCG technology. We have now entered the era of VR (Virtual Reality) and MR (Mixed reality) today. In the process of evolution, the task of creators has always been how to achieve high-standard animation. Game creators have been trying to provide aesthetic animation within the limit of hardware technology. Firstly, I will consider its process and history. Secondly, I will discuss the close relationship between animation and elements of “play” which is the origin of games. Finally, I will describe animation expressions peculiar to games.

An Examination of the Effectiveness of Comparative Appreciation of Juxtaposed Animated Images : Designing Animation Education as "Exploration of Movement"

This research aims to investigate comparative appreciation in the field of animation education, which is understood as the “exploration of movement.” In this study I examined the difference between two groups in evaluation results of two animated images with four rating scales concerning movement. The control group watched the two animated images sequentially, and the experimental group also watched the two images juxtaposed. The results showed significant difference between the two groups on a scale rating the “naturalness” of movement, with the experimental group giving a higher evaluation than the control group. The rating scale of “naturalness” has been thought to correspond to the “evaluation factor,” one of the three main factors identified by Osgood & Suci (1955), and the results indicate the possibility that the evaluation result concerning the “evaluation factor” might be affected by the juxtaposition of images.

Momotaro, Sacred Sailors : A Review of an Experimental Animated Film on National Policy

This article endeavors to assess and validate Momotaro, Sacred Sailors, an experimental propaganda film created in 1945. The authors analyze the text of the film, focusing primarily on the techniques of pre-scoring and penetrating light and the clever amalgamation of the genres of shadow-picture animation, musical cinema, and the documentary style. Also examined is the writer-director's adoption of the style of storytelling employed by narrative films to deliver the national policy message of Japanese victory. Momotarō, At the same time, the authors argue the possibility that Momotarō, Sacred Sailors contains a genuine representation of death in a manner never before undertaken by Japanese animation. On the basis of their appraisal, the authors suggest that the film is ambivalent: it propagates war but simultaneously serves to question a war that justifies murder. The authors further assert that Mitsuyo Seo created the film by exploiting advertising abilities developed from his time working with The Proletarian Film League of Japan where he first experimented with animation. In its final analysis, the Momotarō, Sacred Sailors signifies a seminal moment in Japanese film history and remains significant to contemporary scholarship.

The Evolution of War Anime Depicting the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

Setting out from the central role of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima within the Japanese collective memory of World War 2, this paper explores “War Anime” that depict the Hiroshima bombing as a major piece of their narrative. Its central considerations, under application of an analytical model developed for the determination of narrative orientations of War Anime, lie on the changes in the respective films' frameworks, especially in relation to the spatial and temporal location of the story. Further considerations also briefly touch on other details and characteristics of the films. Those include the development of the respective protagonist's features between the different titles, but also the individual growth of the characters as it occurs within the movies. A focal point of critique in this process is the lack of academic attention to less famous animation titles and their role in the development of the medial images of the attack on Hiroshima. In conclusion I then elaborate some of the social backgrounds that shaped the discussed contents.

Action and Behavior in the Images of Human Gait

Point-light walker (PLW), produced by eight lights attached to the back of a walker, is perceived as a vivid image of human gait. In each of the PLWs made from eight walkers, correlation with the movements of their heel and shoulder, opposite to each other, is calculated to generate plotgraph. Their plot-graphs reveal the pattern, considered to be characteristic of the actor's performance, shaped variously each in his or her own way. In the animated cartoons, the plot-graphs are also calculated with the PLW of image-characters. They appear to be shaped very simply as in a roughly triangular form. Those findings that the live-action images generate a very intricate form of plot-graphs, whereas the animated images indicate a very simple form of them, are considered as that fine movements of the actor need for the audience to recognize his/her intended action. In the animation, however, the animated character need not be moved finely and completely, because the animator elaborates to produce the incomplete images for the audience to make the incomplete complete mentally yielding the deeper impression of living dynamics in the mind of audience.

A Historical Survey of Animation Subjects in School Textbooks of Art in Junior High School Education in Japan.

The major aim of this study is to clarify the historical reasons behind education concerning animation in primary and secondary art education in Japan. This paper surveys how animation subjects were treated in school textbooks for art in junior high school education focusing on their education purposes. This research surveyed a total of 309 textbooks published from 1951 to 2016 and identified 49 animation subjects, which were divided into four periods of time for comparison. This diachronic research reveals the origin and the changes of the animation subject in the field. The oldest example was found in a textbook published in 1955 from a publisher that focused on constructive education which came from Bauhaus. The results of text analysis show 3 educational purposes for animation subjects: Constructive Education, Media Education and Education for Creativity. From the 1960s to the 1970s the number of examples was increasing and a new educational purpose, Education for Visual Communication, emerged in the 1970s. After that in the 2010s one more educational purpose, Education for Collaborative Communication, was added and currently animation subjects have become diverse and encompass in total 5 multi-faceted purposes.

Translation and Commentary of Research Materials: Isao Takahata’s Testimony Stenographic Record of the Tokyo Metropolitan Govemment Labor Relations Commission

This article reprints the record of a 1966 hearing at the Tokyo Metropolitan Goverment Labor Relations Commission, and explains some of its meanings and uses. As a primary source, this record illustrates one side of a labor dispute at Toei Doga (now Toei Animation). Topics explored in this review include the thinking processes of a young Takahata Isao, actions made by Toishi Shun’ichi (who went on to become president of Toei Doga), and labor practices - and recognitions of that labor - at the studio. I argue that analyses centered on records such as this one will bring new and important perspectives and methodologies to the study of animation history, which has been based on analyzing artists and their films.

How Isao Takahata Structures Films as Seen in the movie, Chie the Brat (Downtown Story)

This paper analyzed the animation movie “Jarin-ko Chie (Downtown Story)” by Isao Takahata. The movie is based on the popular and widely known manga. Takahata tried to suppress his own creativity and stay close to the original. As a result, it is a work with few opportunities to be discussed. However, comics and movies are very different in terms of expression. Takahata's method for filling that gap was verified based on concrete images. The awareness of time and space is especially important to create a movie. This is an attempt to examine and consider a part of what Isao Takahata was trying to understand and make a movie.

Representation of Locations in Grave of the Fireflies

This paper examines the representation of specific locations in Isao Takahata’s animated film Grave of the Fireflies and discusses the significance of visits to important places in the movie. Grave of the Fireflies evokes strong emotions. One example in this context is the school sequence where the mother of the two main characters, a brother and a sister, dies. If the scene content is compared with the real geographic location, the railroad overpass that should have been there does not appear. This absence emphasizes the sense of isolation that envelops the siblings. Further, when we consider visits to important locations in this movie, it is more like dark tourism than anime pilgrimage; that is, these are places where real events have happened, such as old battle sites. The important locations in a fictional work do not necessarily correspond to reality, and we cannot ignore the emotions aroused by the work. These aspects require further consideration.

How the Tama Hills Became a New Town?: The Meaning of Tanuki in “Heisei Tanukigassenn Ponnpoko”?

“Heisei Tanukigassenn Ponnpoko” is an animated film produced by Studio Ghibli and released in July 1994. Isao Takahata is the author, director and scriptwriter.
In this paper, how the new town development in Japan is described in the work, and for that, the staff including Takahata described the history of Tama hills centering on Tama New Town. From the perspective of the process of the establishment of Tama New Town and how it is reflected in this work, this paper analyze Takahata’s works.

What if Isao Takahata had Visualized “The Bears of Mt. Nametoko”?: From a New Perspective on Animism

This paper examines the visual expression and characteristics of Kenji Miyazawa’s fairy tales, which Isao Takahata had hoped to make into films. I adopt the methodology of introducing the new viewpoint of animism. This is due to new developments in the theories of animism at a time when post-humanism is being anticipated in animated films. My procedure is as follows.
Firstly, I reconsider Isao Takahata’s statement about Kenji Miyazawa’s works, and his theme of coexistence with non-human beings. Secondly, I take up Kenji Miyazawa’s “The Beginning of the Deer Dance,” and confirm its emphasis on visual and auditory elements to create imagery. Finally, I find the themes of human and inhuman homogeneity and shared souls in “The Bears of Nametoko.” The fairy tale by Kenji Miyazawa which Takahata turned his attention to seems to be an indigenous tale with rich regional flavor; however, I would like to point out that if you look at it as an “animated film,” there is an eye for technology behind it.

Utopian Expression and Significance of Dystopian Representation in Isao Takahata’s Films: “Hilda” and “Kaguya,” the Confrontation of Heroine Figures in the Two Girls

Over the 45 years from Isao Takahata’s first production work “The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun” (1968) to “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (2013), how has the image of young girls changed? This paper questions the true meaning and value of life to people in today’s society, by comparing the heroine image underlying the world view of the two films. At the same time, this means reading into the lives of the two young girls (Hilda and Kaguya), to seek utopian expressions and dystopian symbolism embedded in Takahata’s works. Furthermore, comparisons will be made between Princess Kaguya and Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausica., to cast stronger light on conflicts with modern society that Takahata’s works present. Through such attempts, the efforts of animation production to overcome the contradiction between artistic labor and industrial labor begin to speak eloquently of contradictions with reality. Ultimately, this will lead to uncovering the fact that animation works embody the “principle of hope” and aim to offer a ray of light to posterity, so we may review and rebuild our place of living.

A Clinical Psychological study of “The Tale of the Princess KAGUYA”

On Takahata’s posthumous work “The Tale of the Princess KAGUYA”, Takahata described strong emotions of a girl at puberty. The girl with menarche felt that adults whom she saw insensitively came close to her. They seemed to be an obstacle to prevent her from acting freely. As a result, she lost her will to live. Both of five noble men who proposed to her and Mikado who tried to carry her off not only neglected her free will but also gave her horrors. Then, she had had her wish to come back to the moon. Before leaving the earth, she became conscious of her sin that she had not been active to enjoy her whole life on the earth.

A Towering Presence and Spirit in Japan’s Postwar Animation: Isao Takahata (1935-2018)

This essay is an expansion of my earlier blog article, “Isao Takahata (1935-2018) A Towering Presence in Japan’s Postwar Animation” on animationstudies 2.0, May 7, 2018. The blog is affiliated with the Society for Animation Studies as the editors are members of the society. The blog is an internet space whereby scholars, artists and fans can present their current thought and work in a concise and prompt manner. As such, there is limited space to engage at length the deeper insights of the subject concerned. Here, I take this opportunity in discussing further my perception of the director’s contributions to the animation medium and the world of storytelling. I revisit the animated works of Takahata, review and reflect the director’s career in the postwar history of Japan, including anecdotal recollections of my research study and understanding of the his creative spirit.

Stimulating Thought Rather Than Appetite: On TAKAHATA Isao’s Animation Aesthetics

In this paper, I argue that Takahata’s works possess aesthetic qualities that have not been addressed sufficiently, partly due to the lack of an overall recurring theme and specific visual traits that allow viewers to easily identify with the characters. The impact of Takahata’s work rests on their narrative meaning rather than centering on the personalities and visual charm of the key characters. The meaning stays within the animation itself, rather than branching out through merchandising or fan activity. Takahata contested the way viewers often engage with the animation medium in a popular context. He went beyond the light-hearted genre framework to produce narratives that do not lead to happy, emotionally satisfying endings. Neither did he glorify the enchanted transformative potential of the animatic image. To address his aesthetic qualities in context and examine his construction of character and their worlds, this paper analyzes his works, including Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974), The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013), Grave of the Fireflies (1988), and Only Yesterday (1991). Through close examination of selected sequences, Takahata’s challenge to the norms of anime structure and aesthetics are shown to be a part of his creative production process that resulted in the distinctive impact of his work.

“I’ve Seen this Place Before:” Memory, Exile and Resistance in The Tale of Princess Kaguya

This article discusses Takahata’s ground-breaking masterpiece, Kaguyahime monogatari, in terms of its portrayal of the role of memory, exile and resistance. While the article focuses mainly on Takahata’s film, it brings in examples from contemporary Japanese literature, Japanese animation, and the recent Disney movie Frozen II to show how memory and exile has been problematized across a wide array of recent cultural forms. In the main part of the article I show how Takahata goes beyond the bittersweet and resigned melancholy of the tenth century original tale―the story of a moon princess in temporary exile from her home--to create a genuinely radical work of art. While remarkably true to the original tale, Takahata’s film also contains a core of passionate resistance that encompasses clearly modern concerns such as feminism and environmental despoliation. Takahata does this by adding two completely original scenes: the first is an overtly feminist resistance when the protagonist imagines in fantastical detail her escape from the confines of her father’s palace. In the second example Takahata inserts another vision of resistance, in this case using music, children and song lyrics, to offer a vision of life and change that emotionally challenges the fatalistic resignation of the original tale’s ending.

The Proposal of the Definition of “Obake,” in the Theories of the Ecological Psychology, Mathematics and Physics

The “Obake,” for “ghost” in English, is roughly defined as the meaningless shapes that excite apparent motions or illusions of motions when artists create animations. But this definition supposed to be validated on the theories of ecological psychology, physics, and mathematics. In this article, the definition of “Obake” is analyzed and revised as follows. They are not the unmeaning tools for making illusions or apparent motions, but “perceptual information that identifies movement” itself that has sufficient meanings and properties.
Creating motions in animations is the work of converting the information that identifies the motion, that is, the information obtained as a result of differentiating the invariant term of the motion by the time term, into some frames of moving images and rearranging it according to the arrow of time. There is no room for an illusion, perhaps. Even if you can’t perceive what is drawn at first glance, it is information that necessary for composing the movement found by the creators. It may not be creating “The Illusion of Life.”

Toward a Phenomenological and Polymer-chemical Study of Animation Cels in Terms of Visual Experience and its Material Reality

This research began with Mr. Hideo Watanabe entrusting to the authors’ university his huge collection of “intermediate” materials which he obtained between the 1970s and the 1990 while working as director, key animator, and many other roles in the anime industry. Focusing on the animation cels, in the archived Watanabe collection, which are under the critical situation of being seriously damaged, we undertook a cross-disciplinary research. Respectively specializing in materials chemistry and animation studies, both of us conducted chemical analysis of two animation cels selected from the collection, while considering the meaning of conserving and managing animation cels, the history of the development of plastics, and the introduction of the chemical materials often called celluloid to animation. This essay is intended to report the achievements of our research, and further to address and discuss this question: how human vision has been formed/transformed through the animation industrialized on the basis of cel medium. Still in its early stage, this research aims at theorizing how the cel functioned as an agent in relation to the medium’s material reality, as well as providing the anime industry and other sectors with knowledges of conserving and managing animation cels possibly considered as cultural resources.

The Classification of Psychological Experiences Watching Animated Works

In this study, as a foundational research on animation therapy, we structured the psychological experiences of watching a work of animation and the impacts for the purpose of empirically analyzing and organizing the psychological experiences that the viewers had by watching animated works. As a result, the psychological experience of the animation consisted of [the enhancement of feelings], [distraction], [sympathetic reaction], [returning to/relating to reality], and [attraction felt towards constituent elements of the work]. The influences consisted of [self-transformation into positive feelings], [searching for and changing one’s own state of being], and [involvement in the works and activities beyond the works]. This study revealed that the psychological experience of animated works consisted of various positive experiences. In addition, suggestions were obtained about the experience process from the psychological experience of animation to its impacts.

“Teaching Anime and Manga in Canada: LGBTQ Challenges”

Why do Canadian students want to study Japanese manga and anime? What are the challenges for the instructor when an anime film uses Japanese words for which there are no equivalents in English, or includes cultural references for concepts that do not exist in North American culture? This essay draws on the author’s fifteen years of experience teaching Japanese popular culture at a Canadian University to explore one of the most challenging areas of cross-cultural (mis) communication: vocabulary, concepts, and discourses around LGBTQ characters in manga and anime. It argues that the mismatch between Japanese concepts of gender, sex, and sexuality and those of Canada provides an opportunity to analyze unspoken assumptions of both cultures.

Raoul Servais: The Wizard of Ostend

Commemorating the 80th birthday of revolutionary Belgian animation filmmaker Raoul Servais, this historical and autobiographical account surveys the major themes of the artist's life and works. Including a thorough interview with Servais himself, this richly illustrated trilingual book—in English, French, and Dutch—provides fresh insights into Servais’s works and gives a new impetus to the reception of this extraordinary artist. Engaging and informative, this account is sure to interest established artists and students alike.

Eisenstein on Disney

Sergei Eisenstein was a leading film director and theorist of the Soviet era. Richard Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and Russian Studies at University College, Swansea, and General Editor of "Eisenstein's Selected Works,"

Sekai Animēshon Eigashi

This book is a revised collection of serial works, such as “The History of Animation,” which ran in Tokuma Shoten’s Animage magazine from its first issue in July, 1978, right up till the issue in August, 1981, and ANIDO’s periodical FILM 1/24. Highly acclaimed as the first Japanese publication to give an abundantly illustrated overview of animation’s history in countries around the world, it now sits on public and private library shelves everywhere as a staple film history reference.

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons

In this revised and updated edition of Of Mice and Magic, Leonard Maltin not only recreates this whole glorious era from the silent days through the Hollywood golden age to Spielberg's An American Tail, he traces the evolution of the art of animation and vividly portrays the key creative talents and their sutdios. This definitive history of American animated cartoons also brings Maltin's many fans up to date on the work being done today at the Walt Disney and Warner Bros. studios, and other developments in the world of animation.

Drawing on colorful interviews with many of the American cartoon industry's principals, Maltin has come up with a gold mine of anecdotes and film history. Behind the scenes were genius animators and entrepreneurs such as Walt Disney, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Mel Blanc, and a legion of others, In all, Malitn has put together a glorious celebration of a universally loved segment of Americana.

Includes the most extensive filmography on cartoons ever compiled, and sources for video rental.

Experimental Animation: Origins of A New Art

From the early abstract animation films created at the start of this century to the latest in technologically oriented films, here is a comprehensive anthology of cinematic animation. It brings together over 50 interviews and first-person accounts that describe the work of 38 innovative artist-filmmakers. Such pioneers as Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker, Hans Richter, Vicking Eggerling, and Oskkar Fishinger are alongside the recent avant-garde of Robert Breer, Harry Smith, Stan VanDer Beek, Peter Foldes, and Ed Emschweiller. With nearly 300 illustrations, a filmography, a glossary of technical terms, and a list of distributors, this is the first important sourcebook for an emerging art.

Emile Cohl, Caricature,and Film

This is the definitive biography of Emile Cohl (1857-1938), one of the most important pioneers of the art of the animated cartoon and an innovative contributor to popular graphic humor at a critical moment when it changed from traditional caricature to the modern comic strip. This profusely illustrated book provides not only a wealth of information on Cohl's life but also an analysis of his contribution to the development of the animation film in both France and the United States and an interpretation of how the new genre fit into the historical shift from a "primitive" to a "classical" cinema.

Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat

Handsomely illustrated with over 150 photos and with full-color inserts, Felix is a stylish account of the intrigue behind the creation and marketing of the most popular, well-executed, and lucrative cartoon of the silent era. Based on a combination of "Sammy Johnsin" (a Sambo caricature) and Charlie Chaplin, Felix the Cat was the first cartoon character to exhibit an individual "personality" in moving pictures, preceding Mickey Mouse by a decade. From 1919 to 1933 Felix was internationally celebrated, as popular as Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Felix's producer, Pat Sullivan, a journeyman artist, chronic alcoholic, and convicted rapist, claimed credit for creating and developing Felix. But, as John Canemaker discovered, in truth it was Otto Messmer, Sullivan's brilliant, self-effacing production manager, who conceived, animated, and directed the more than two hundred Felix films during the period of his greatest popularity. And by focusing on Messmer's amazing achievement, Canemaker illuminates the entire world of film animation in the years before Walt Disney.

The Illusion of Life : Essays on Animation

"The book is to be applauded for its bridging of cultural theory with the animated film and for pressing film theorists and philosophers to address this overlooked popular art." - "Choice". "The Illusion of Life: Essays on Animation" is the first book to theorize animation. Twelve essays use poststructuralist and postmodernist approaches to illuminate the nature of the animated film and contribute to the theorizing of the idea of animation. In examining the relation of animation to representation and simulation, the contributors engage with the most significant and contemporary issues of the arts and media of our culture.

Before Mickey: The Animated Film, 1898-1928

This witty and fascinating study reminds us that there was animation before Disney: about thirty years of creativity and experimentation flourishing in such extraordinary work as Girdie the Dinosaur and Felix the Cat. Before Mickey, the first and only in-depth history of animation from 1898-1928, includes accounts of mechanical ingenuity, marketing and art. Crafton is equally adept at explaining techniques of sketching and camera work, evoking characteristic styles of such pioneering animators as Winsor McCay and Ladislas Starevitch, placing work in its social and economic context, and unraveling the aesthetic impact of specific cartoons.

Animating Culture: Hollywood Cartoons from the Sound Era

Long considered "children's entertainment" by audiences and popular media, Hollywood animation has received little serious attention. Eric Smoodin's Animating Culture is the first and only book to thoroughly analyze the animated short film.

Usually running about seven or eight minutes, cartoons were made by major Hollywood studios––such as MGM, Warner Bros., and Disney––and shown at movie theaters along with a newsreel and a feature-length film. Smoodin explores animated shorta and the system that mass-produced them. How were cartoons exhibited in theaters? How did they tell their stories? Who did they tell them to? What did they say about race, class, and gender? How were cartoons related to the feature films they accompanied on the evening's bill of fare? What were the social functions of cartoon stars like Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse?

Smoodin argues that cartoons appealed to a wide audience––not just children––and did indeed contribute to public debate about political matters. He examines issues often ignored in discussions of animated film––issues such as social control in the U.S. army's "Private Snafu" cartoons, and sexuality and race in the "sites" of Betty Boop's body and the cartoon harem. Smoodin's analysis of the multiple discourses embedded in a variety of cartoons reveals the complex and sometimes contradictory ways that animation dealt with class relations, labor, imperialism, and censorship. His discussion of Disney and the Disney Studio's close ties with the U.S. government forces us to rethink the place of the cartoon in political and cultural life. Smoodin reveals the complex relationship between cartoons and the Hollywood studio system, and between cartoons and their audiences.

Seven Minutes: The Life and Death of the American Animated Cartoon

Seven Minutes is a social and aesthetic history of the “controlled anarchy” of the cartoon, from the first talking Mickeys to the demise of Warners and MGM theatrical productions in 1960. Norman M. Klein follows the scrambling graphics and upside-down ballet of Fleischer's Betty Boop, Popeye, Superman of the Wolfie cartoons by Tex Avery, of the Bugs and Daffy, Tweetie and Roadrunner cartoons from Warners, of full animation at Disney, of the “whiteness of Snow White”, and of how Mickey Mouse became a logo. Reviewing the graphics, scripts and marketing of each era, he discovers the links between cartoons and live action movies, newspapers, popular illustration, and the entertainment architecture coming out of Disneyland. Klein shows that the cartoon was a perverse juggling act, invaded constantly by economic and political pressures, by marketing for sound, by licensing characters to stave off bankruptcies, by Prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II and the first wave of television.

Before Mickey: The Animated Film 1989-1928

This witty and fascinating study reminds us that there was animation before Disney: about thirty years of creativity and experimentation flourishing in such extraordinary work as Girdie the Dinosaur and Felix the Cat. Before Mickey, the first and only in-depth history of animation from 1898-1928, includes accounts of mechanical ingenuity, marketing and art. Crafton is equally adept at explaining techniques of sketching and camera work, evoking characteristic styles of such pioneering animators as Winsor McCay and Ladislas Starevitch, placing work in its social and economic context, and unraveling the aesthetic impact of specific cartoons.

Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation

". its encyclopedic style will find it a place in the library of everyone interested in the subject." Kirkus Reviews"This exciting and informative encyclopedia... is a worthy and welcome addition to our library on world-wide cartooning... this is a marvelous compendium, one that belongs on the coffee-table and on the scholar s shelf." Journal of Popular Culture..". this valuable effort... promises to be the basic reference on its subject for some time to come." Booklist"Enthusiastically recommended as both a fascinating story and an incredible reference resource for both scholars and aficionados of the art of film." Choice"Best of all, though, are the author s unexpectedly clever insights." Los Angeles Times Book Review"This encyclopedic survey of commercial and fine art animation is well illustrated and international in scope; few new books on animation contain as much material as this important volume." Wilson Library BulletinThe long-awaited English-language edition of a classic study of world animation, Cartoons provides the first comprehensive, detailed history and critique of cinema animation world-wide. Over 70 countries, 2,000 animators, and 3,000 films are covered in this lavishly illustrated, authoritative, and encyclopedic account."

When Toys Come Alive: Narrative of Animation, Metamorphosis, and Development

Since the eighteenth century, toys have had an important place in European and American stories written for children and adults, often taking on a secret, sensual, even carnivalesque life of their own. In this groundbreaking work, Lois Rostow Kuznets studies the role of toy characters in works ranging from older classics like Pinocchio, Winnie the Pooh, and The Velveteen Rabbit, through modern texts like The Mouse and His Child and the popular comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, to the latest science fiction featuring robots and cyborgs.

Using a variety of intertextual critical approaches, including feminist theory, neo-Freudian Winnicott play analysis, structuralism, and neo-Marxism, Kuznets focuses on how toy characters, like children's play, can be associated with deep human needs, desires, and fears. Anxiety about being "real"—an autonomous subject rather than an object—permeates many of the texts Kuznets analyzes. Toy fantasies also raise existential issues of power: what it means either to dominate or to be dominated by more powerful beings, and what dangers might lie in the transformation of a toy into a living being—an act of human creativity that represents a challenge to divine creation. Kuznets concludes that although many of these texts subvert conformity on an individual level, they also tend to evoke a romantic nostalgia that supports the underlying values and hierarchies of a patriarchal society.

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation

Thomas and Johnston, two of Disney's original animators, here give the inside scoop on how the studio created the works that have charmed the world. "The text is ambitious," said LJ's reviewer (LJ 12/15/81). The "authors simultaneously give a history of Disney animation and explain the processes involved in clear, nontechnical terms." Along with the splendid text are dozens of color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations. A "magnificent volume" that remains "essential for film collections and a feast for the most casual peruser."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A Reader in Animation Studies

A Reader in Animation Studies reflects a growing interest in animation as a medium that spans a far wider range of films than that of cartoons for children. Animation has emerged from its previously marginalised status both in terms of growing adult audiences for the heterogeneous range of films that come under the heading ‘animation’ and in terms of providing a corpus of work deserving serious academic analysis and study.

The serious study of popular culture has provided fertile ground for the development of sophisticated forms of critical commentary, and cartoons – both from the classic Hollywood era and from more contemporary feature films and television series – offer a rich field for detailed investigation and analysis. An even greater richness is provided by the growing Western appetite for Japanese anime. At the same time, animation has provided the stimulus for a wide range of analyses drawing from the traditions and theoretical engagements of many other disciplines, including film, television and media studies, art history and criticism, feminism and gender studies. All these fileds and modes of analysis are reflected in A Reader in Animation Studies, which also engages with the long tradition of art-animation – particularly in Eastern and Western Europe – which prompt different critical responses. A Reader in Animation Studies also engages with the fascinating issues about the very definition of animation raised with the fairly recent development of the use of computer technologies.

An indispensable tool for academics, researchers and students of film, television, media, art and cultural studies as well as offering a fascinating account for the general reader of this massively popular field of media entertainment.

Understanding animation

A new edition of Paul Wells’ introduction to animation as a genre and a form, has been updated in response to developments in academic debate and the recent flourishing of the genre in cinema, on TV and in videogames. Film examples discussed will include features such as The Incredibles, Belleville Rendez-vous and Spirited Away. Shorts will include 'Father and Daughter', 'The Wolfman', 'Mt Head' and 'The Last Words of Dutch Schultz'.

Hans Richter: Activism, Modernism, and Avant-garde

Few artists spanned the movements of early twentieth-century art as completely as did Hans Richter. Richter was a major force in the developments of expressionism, Dada, De Stijl, constructivism, and Surrealism, and the creator, with Viking Eggeling, of the abstract cinema. Along with Theo van Doesburg, László Moholy-Nagy, El Lissitzky, and a few others, he is one of the artists crucial to an understanding of the role of the arts in the reconstruction era following World War I.

Most American scholars have focused on Richter's film work and have favored a strictly formalist approach that separates art and politics. The contributors to this book rewrite Richter's history to include his pivotal role in the development of the early twentieth-century avant-garde and his political activism. When Richter's work, particularly that of his earlier, European career, is viewed in its historical and political context, he emerges as an artist committed to the power of art to change the fabric of social, political, and cultural affairs.

That’s Enough, Folks

An authoritative and valuable resource for students and scholars of film animation and African-American history, film buffs, and casual readers. It is the first and only book to detail the history of black images in animated cartoons. Using advertisements, quotes from producers, newspaper reviews, and other sources, Sampson traces stereotypical black images through their transition from the first newspaper comic strips in the late 1890s, to their inclusion in the first silent theatrical cartoons, through the peak of their popularity in 1930s musical cartoons, to their gradual decline in the 1960s. He provides detailed storylines with dialogue, revealing the extensive use of negative caricatures of African Americans. Sampson devotes chapters to cartoon series starring black characters; cartoons burlesquing life on the old slave plantation with "happy" slaves Uncle Tom and Topsy; depictions of the African safari that include the white hunter, his devoted servant, and bloodthirsty black cannibals; and cartoons featuring the music and the widely popular entertainment style of famous 1930s black stars including Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Waller. That's Enough Folks includes many rare, previously unpublished illustrations and original animation stills and an appendix listing cartoon titles with black characters along with brief descriptions of gags in these cartoons.

The Animation Book: A Complete Guide to Animated Filmmaking -- From Flip-Books to Sound Cartoons to 3- D Animation

The first edition of The Animation Book, published in 1979, became the authoritative guide to making animated movies. Now, as we enter the twenty-first century, the explosion in computer technology has created a corresponding boom in animation. Using desktop hardware and software, animators can easily produce high-quality, high-artistry animation and mix the aesthetics of traditional cel animation with dazzling 3-D effects. Kit Laybourne's digital revision to The Animation Book brings you to the cutting edge of animation technology. Richly illustrated with frame-grabs, production stills, and diagrams, this volume shares Kit's infectious enthusiasm for the limitless possibilities of today's hybrid techniques, and it provides beginning animators with all the information they need to jump in and start their own animation projects. More advanced animators will find The Animation Book to be an invaluable resource with detailed descriptions of filmmaking gear, computer hardware and software, art supplies, plus Internet and other resources. Using an innovative case-study approach, Kit deconstructs how a range of digital projects were carried out at some of today's hottest animation studios, including Wildbrain, Blue Sky, Protozoa, Fantome, Broderbund, Nicktoons, and Klasky Csupo. These step-by-step studies show how desktop animators can follow the same creative process in their own films.

Hollywood Cartoons – American Animation in its Golden Age

This is a book about Hollywood studio cartoons in its `golden age' — thus a book about cartoons, most of them only seven or eight minutes long, that were commonly part of movie theatre programmes in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. This authoritative account looks principally at the Walt Disney studio — including its full-length cartoons, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — but also focuses strongly on Warner Brothers and MGM cartoons in this period.

Kōittenron: Anime, Tokusatsu, Denki no Hiroin-Zō

(From the BOOK Database)
“One woman among many men” is an extremely familiar setup in live-action and animated TV shows. What is this image of the heroine as a “lone female member?” “A magical girl is a father’s ideal daughter.” “The [single] female warrior is the ‘decorative flower of the workplace.’” “Sexy, unmarried adult women are evil queens.” The media has plenty of pithy sayings about these ubiquitous heroines-among-men. This critique seeks to expose what lies behind them and their milieux.

Inochi o Fukikomu Mahō

In Disney animation, the characters move in a way so lifelike, it is as though life has been breathed into them. This magnum opus gives detailed commentary on the expressions and the techniques behind them, along with over 1,000 illustrations and photos. It depicts the passion of Walt Disney, the man who elevated animated movies from “cartoons” to “art,” and the way the staff under his enthusiastic leadership went about making films.
The authors participated in the making of numerous Disney movies, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Bambi, Dumbo, and Peter Pan, and were two of Walt’s famous “Nine Old Men,” the animators who built the golden age of Disney films.
The long-awaited Japanese release of a must-read for anyone in animation!
The supervising editors of the Japanese version are Isao Takahata and Yasuo Ohtsuka, who have attended lectures by the authors and revere them as pioneers, and Kuniko Okubo Thomas, the producer of Frank and Ollie.

The Language of New Media

In this book Lev Manovich offers the first systematic and rigorous theory of new media. He places new media within the histories of visual and media cultures of the last few centuries. He discusses new media's reliance on conventions of old media, such as the rectangular frame and mobile camera, and shows how new media works create the illusion of reality, address the viewer, and represent space. He also analyzes categories and forms unique to new media, such as interface and database.

Manovich uses concepts from film theory, art history, literary theory, and computer science and also develops new theoretical constructs, such as cultural interface, spatial montage, and cinegratography. The theory and history of cinema play a particularly important role in the book. Among other topics, Manovich discusses parallels between the histories of cinema and of new media, digital cinema, screen and montage in cinema and in new media, and historical ties between avant-garde film and new media.

Inside the Yellow Submarine: The Making of the Beatles Animated Classic

This is the ultimate and exclusive resource for anybody interested in the clash between the gentle citizens of 'Pepperland' and the hated 'Blue Meanies' who threatened to rob the world of its color and music. Until now, very little true research has ever been done about this memorable achievement in The Beatles' career. This book reveals countless facts about the movie from the man who has met with nearly everyone associated with the film. It includes photos depicting scenes and characters from the movie, as well as candid shots of many behind-the-scenes people. Featuring original art from the movie, an introduction by Sir George Martin (The Beatles' producer) and a foreword by Erich Segal (scriptwriter of the movie), this amazing book is for any fan of The Beatles' music, movies or animation.

Halas & Batchelor Cartoons: An Animated History

This richly illustrated work is a history, critical analysis, and celebration of the Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Studio, Britain's leading and most influential animation company from 1940 to 1995. This lavish study draws on the archives of the Halas & Batchelor Collection and looks at the studio's key works, including Animal Farm, Britain's first full-length animated film; The Tales of Hoffnung, with the legendary Peter Sellers; and the cult classics Butterfly Ball, featuring the work of Beatles illustrator Alan Aldridge, and Autobahn, with the music of Kraftwerk. The book includes an autobiographical account by Vivian Halas, daughter of the company's founders, as well as critical insights by animation professor Paul Wells. Animation worldwide is indebted to John Halas and Joy Batchelor for their outstanding work. This book explores their legacy.

Modern Enchantments: The Cultural Power of Secular Magic

Magic, Simon During suggests, has helped shape modern culture. Devoted to this deceptively simple proposition, During’s superlative work, written over the course of a decade, gets at the aesthetic questions at the very heart of the study of culture. How can the most ordinary arts—and by “magic,” During means not the supernatural, but the special effects and conjurings of magic shows—affect people? Modern Enchantments takes us deeply into the history and workings of modern secular magic, from the legerdemain of Isaac Fawkes in 1720, to the return of real magic in nineteenth-century spiritualism, to the role of magic in the emergence of the cinema. Through the course of this history, During shows how magic performances have drawn together heterogeneous audiences, contributed to the molding of cultural hierarchies, and extended cultural technologies and media at key moments, sometimes introducing spectators into rationality and helping to disseminate skepticism and publicize scientific innovation. In a more revealing argument still, Modern Enchantments shows that magic entertainments have increased the sway of fictions in our culture and helped define modern society’s image of itself.

Amerika de Nihon no Anime wa, Dō Mirarete Kita Ka?

From the 1958 film Hakujaden up to Spirited Away’s 2003 Academy Award, many Japanese anime have made their way abroad. How are they imported, and how have they been treated? Amerika de Nihon no Anime wa, Dō Mirarete Kita Ka? is a history of Japanese-made anime in America that features obscure anecdotes recorded as minutely as possible using a variety of material by an author with 20 years of research experience in the field. At the back is a fold-out “Chronology of Japanese-made Anime in America” that lets you look at its history at a glance, making this book not just a casual read, but a useful resource as well.

The Secret Life of Puppets

In one of those rare books that allows us to see the world not as we’ve never seen it before, but as we see it daily without knowing, Victoria Nelson illuminates the deep but hidden attraction the supernatural still holds for a secular mainstream culture that forced the transcendental underground and firmly displaced wonder and awe with the forces of reason, materialism, and science.

In a backward look at an era now drawing to a close, The Secret Life of Puppets describes a curious reversal in the roles of art and religion: where art and literature once took their content from religion, we came increasingly to seek religion, covertly, through art and entertainment. In a tour of Western culture that is at once exhilarating and alarming, Nelson shows us the distorted forms in which the spiritual resurfaced in high art but also, strikingly, in the mass culture of puppets, horror-fantasy literature, and cyborgs: from the works of Kleist, Poe, Musil, and Lovecraft to Philip K. Dick and virtual reality simulations. At the end of the millennium, discarding a convention of the demonized grotesque that endured three hundred years, a Demiurgic consciousness shaped in Late Antiquity is emerging anew to re-divinize the human as artists like Lars von Trier and Will Self reinvent Expressionism in forms familiar to our pre-Reformation ancestors. Here as never before, we see how pervasively but unwittingly, consuming art forms of the fantastic, we allow ourselves to believe.

Ohimesama to Jendā: Anime de Manabu Otoko to Onna no Jendāgaku Nyūmon

It was 1982 when Colette Dowling attracted the world’s attention with the publication of The Cinderella Complex. In over 20 years since, princess stories such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty have been produced and consumed in increasing numbers. Because these stories are produced in such great numbers, they have a correspondingly vast influence. This book uses Disney animation to analyze folklore’s hidden meanings. Its goal: for both men and women to be released from the curses of “masculinity” and “femininity” that have been cast on our minds while we were unaware and to create a truly gender-equal society.

Optical Poetry: The Life and Work of Oskar Fischinger

Optical Poetry is the first critical biography of the painter and experimental filmmaker Oskar Fischinger. Active in avant-garde art circles in Germany between the two world wars, Fischinger and his family would emigrate to Los Angeles just ahead of the Nazis' denunciation of degenerate art. Fischinger's pioneering experiments in Visual Music and the melding of graphic arts, abstract design, and sound were instrumental in shaping animation into an art and cinematic form and inspiring animators to pursue its aesthetic potential. An accomplished representational animator who eventually worked uneasily under contract for Paramount, MGM, and Disney, Fischinger produced numerous abstract animated films over his lifetime, invented machines such as the "Wax Machine" and the "Lumigraph" for creating images, and became an accomplished and influential abstract painter. A labor of love for author William Moritz and the product of decades of research, Optical Poetry also includes an extensive filmography and testimonials from those who knew or were influenced by Fischinger.

Hollywood Flatlands: Animation, Critical Theory and the Avant-Garde

Brings to light the links between animation, avant-garde art and modernist criticism.
With ruminations on drawing, colour and caricature, on the political meaning of fairy-tales, talking animals and human beings as machines, Hollywood Flatlands brings to light the links between animation, avant-garde art and modernist criticism.

Focusing on the work of aesthetic and political revolutionaries of the inter-war period, Esther Leslie reveals how the animation of commodities can be studied as a journey into modernity in cinema. She looks afresh at the links between the Soviet Constructivists and the Bauhaus, for instance, and those between Walter Benjamin and cinematic abstraction. She also provides new interpretations of the writings of Siegfried Kracauer on animation, shows how Theodor Adorno’s and Max Horkheimer’s film viewing affected their intellectual development, and reconsiders Sergei Eisenstein’s famous handshake with Mickey Mouse at Disney’s Hyperion Studios in 1930.

David Ehrlich: Citizen of the World

David Ehrlich is an independent animator teaching in the Film and Television Studies Department at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Whether teaching animation workshops to children in Havana and Karachi or by headlining the First Animated Hologram Symposium in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, he is peerless in his field. In the last twenty years, he has made primarily independent abstract, animated films, garnering praise and recognition from all corners of the international film world.This bilingual text is divided into four parts: a short, amusing biography of Ehrlich; a deep analysis of his filmography and style; a dialogue between Ehrlich and the author; and anecdotes and commentary from other directors and animators throughout the world. Accompanying the text are sixteen full-color pages and numerous black and white illustrations. These images are culled from Ehrlich's award-winning animation and from his personal collection of family photographs.

Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews

Anime’s influence can be found in every corner of American media, from film and television to games and graphic arts. And Fred Patten is largely responsible. He was reading manga and watching anime before most of the current generation of fans was born. In fact, it was his active participation in fan clubs and his prolific magazine writing that helped create a market and build American anime fandom into the vibrant community it is today. Watching Anime, Reading Manga gathers together a quarter-century of Patten’s lucid observations on the business of anime, fandom, artists, Japanese society and the most influential titles. Illustrated with original fanzine covers and archival photos. Foreword by Carl Macek (Robotech).

Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons And Blacklisted Animators in America

Tweety Bird was colored yellow because censors felt the original pink made the bird look nude. Betty Boop's dress was lengthened so that her garter didn't show. And in recent years, a segment of Mighty Mouse was dropped after protest groups claimed the mouse was actually sniffing cocaine, not flower petals. These changes and many others like them have been demanded by official censors or organized groups before the cartoons could be shown in theaters or on television. How the slightly risque gags in some silent cartoons were replaced by rigid standards in the sound film era is the first misadventure covered in this history of censorship in the animation industry. The perpetuation of racial stereotypes in many early cartoons is examined, as are the studios' efforts to stop producing such animation. This is followed by a look at many of the uncensored cartoons, such as Lenny Bruce's Thank You Mask Man and Ralph Bakshi's Fritz the Cat. The censorship of television cartoons is next covered, from the changes made in theatrical releases shown on television to the different standards that apply to small screen animation. The final chapter discusses the many animators who were blacklisted from the industry in the 1950s for alleged sympathies to the Communist Party.

Art and Visual Perception, A Psychology of the Creative Eye

Since its publication fifty years ago, this work has established itself as a classic. It casts the visual process in psychological terms and describes the creative way one's eye organizes visual material according to specific psychological premises. In 1974 this book was revised and expanded, and since then it has continued to burnish Rudolf Arnheim's reputation as a groundbreaking theoretician in the fields of art and psychology.

Animēshon-gaku Nyūmon

What is the appeal of anime? Animēshon-gaku Nyūmon is a thorough introduction to anime’s technique and theory, history and present state, and major works and creators both in Japan and abroad. This book will show you what anime, Japan’s most recognizable pop culture contribution, is all about. In this day and age, anime is the pop culture that symbolizes Japan, and it attracts close attention worldwide. How much do you know about it?
What does the word “animation” refer to? What types are there? Who created what, and where, and when? What are animation’s relationships to film, art, and literature, and what is the “anime business?”
This influential animation studies text will give you a complete and systematic understanding of animation.

Manga Eigaron

(From the BOOK Database)
The reprint of a classic. In 1941, an era when full feature-length animated films were not made, film critic Taihei Imamura actively evaluated animated works as films and predicted that they would one day be the industry’s mainstream. Manga Eigaron is full of his trailblazing work.

Winsor McCay: His Life and Art

John Canemaker reviews and fully analyzes McCay's achievements in print and film, examining his work in relation to his life, his family, and to American culture and values of the period. Original art from all the McCay's endeavors and rare personal photographs provide a visual counterpart to Canemaker's fascinating text. Begining with McCay's childhood in pioneer-era Michigan, circa 1870, this biography moves on through his earliest attempts to find an artistic voice in Chicago and turn-of-the-century Cincinnati, his work with circus posters, as a quick-sketch newspaper reporter, as a headliner chalk-talk artist in vaudeville, as crown jewel in William Randolph Hearst's grand line-up of newspaper cartoonists, and as the greatest of the early animators. McCay's masterpiece is the epic Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905), a beautiful and surreal fantasy rendered in stunning art nouveau line and subtle yet daring colour, and designed with layouts that anticipate cinematic storytelling techniques. McCay's ten animated films, among them How a Mosquito Operates (1912) and Gertie the Dinosaur (1914), remain landmarks in the history of this art and were unmatched in the fluid movement and personality of the characters until the mature films of Walt Disney came along two decades later.
「Nielsen BookData」より

"Senjika" no Otaku

The Japanese otaku industry that is invading the rest of the globe is steadily being incorporated as a tool of the establishment. This book is a collection of essays and dialogues attacking the falsehoods of the government-authorized subculture.

Anime from Akira to Howl's moving castle : experiencing contemporary Japanese animation

This new edition of the groundbreaking popular book is a must-have for both seasoned and new fans of anime. Japanese animation is more popular than ever following the 2002 Academy Award given to Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. It confirmed that anime is more than just children's cartoons, often portraying important social and cultural themes. With new chapters on Spirited Away and other recent releases, including Howl's Moving Castle--Miyazaki's latest hit film, already breaking records in Japan--this edition will be the authoritative source on anime for an exploding market of viewers who want to know more.

Animated “Worlds”

Animated ‘Worlds’ is an edited compilation of the papers presented at the Animated ‘Worlds’ conference held in 2003 at Farnham Castle, UK. What do we mean by the term ‘animation’ when we are discussing film? Is it a technique? – A style? – A way of seeing or experiencing ‘a world’ that has little relation to our own lived experience of ‘the world’? The Animated ‘Worlds’ anthology presents a selection of topics from the 2003 Animated ‘Worlds’ conference held in England. Essays range from close film analyses to phenomenological and cognitive approaches, spectatorship, performance, literary theory and digital aesthetics that reveal the astonishing variety of ‘worlds’ animation confronts us with.

Inside the Yellow Submarine: The Making of the Beatles' Animated Classic

(From the BOOK Database)
Thirty years have passed since the Beatles broke up. Anything that even slightly involved its four members has been exhaustively documented, analyzed, interpreted, praised, and censured a thousand times over. However, there is one Beatles work we did not have the full picture of before its restoration and rerelease in the fall of 1999. That work: the full-length animated film Yellow Submarine, which opened in British theaters on July 17, 1968 (and in American theaters on November 13 of the same year). The film influenced the styles of the animators, artists, and publicity creators of its time, and is regarded as a model even now. This book brings all the details to light at last.

Animators of Film and Television

In the words of Walt Disney, "Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive." Part biography, part history, part artistic commentary, this volume looks at several major figures in the field of animation and discusses how their contributions to the art of animation have affected the course of the industry--and in many cases, had a direct effect on popular culture as a whole.

Unsung Heroes of Animation

Far beyond the Shrek, Toy Story and The Emperor’s New Groove billboards is a hidden little world that contains a variety of voices struggling to be seen and heard through the shouts from Hollywood. They are independent animators or personal filmmakers. These are animated films made with a wide array of techniques, themes and concepts that bear very little resemblance to the cookie cutter world of Hollywood animation. Unsung Heroes of Animation profiles about 25 animators introducing readers to the artist, their life and work. Each chapter contains stills from the filmmakers’ work along with a detailed filmography and information about finding the works. The title of the book been unabashedly appropriated from Nick Tosches’ Unsung Heroes of Rock and Roll. In his seminal book, he introduces readers to a variety of rock and roll pioneers whose work was either forgotten or overlooked. Chris Robinson does not intend to dig too far into animation’s past as most of the unsung animators are contemporary and have been so thoroughly marginalized that they haven’t even reached a level of being forgotten. You must be first known to be ignored!

Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy: Estonian Animation

"Ever wonder why Estonian animation features so many carrots or why cows often perform pyramids? Well, neither question is answered in Chris Robinson's new book, A Story of Estonian Animation. Robinson's frank, humorous, and thoroughly researched book traces the history of Estonia's acclaimed animation scene from early experiments in the 1930s, to the creation of puppet (Nukufilm) and cel (Joonisfilm) animation studios during the Soviet era, and right up to Estonia's surprising international success during the post-Soviet era. In addition, Robinson's book includes the discovery of films by four 1960s animation pioneers who, until the release of this book, had been unknown to both Estonian and International animation historians."

The Animation Pimp

For five years, Chris Robinson wrote a monthly column for Animation World Network (AWN) called The Animation Pimp. Although it began as a way for Robinson to let off steam in his role as director of one of the world's largest animation festivals, the column quickly gained a cult following and just as quickly became a platform for the author's frank, provocative, and frequently very funny musings on the world of animation and his own life. The Animation Pimp collects the best of these pieces, which range from the nuts and bolts of running a festival to sex, death, superheroes, aesthetics, and the living dead. Robinson's unhinged prose is accompanied by some eighty drawings by the award-winning German artist and animator Andreas Hykade. In the spirit of Hunter Thompson, Nick Tosches, and Richard Meltzer, The Animation Pimp is an outrageous, funny, and ultimately truthful account of the chaos and glimmers of illumination in an art form and a life. The Animation Pimp is the first in a series of official guides published in collaboration with AWN Press. Each book covers major facets of the animation industry and offers a one-of-a-kind look into the careers of industry icons.

Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy

"Ever wonder why Estonian animation features so many carrots or why cows often perform pyramids? Well, neither question is answered in Chris Robinson's new book, A Story of Estonian Animation. Robinson's frank, humorous, and thoroughly researched book traces the history of Estonia's acclaimed animation scene from early experiments in the 1930s, to the creation of puppet (Nukufilm) and cel (Joonisfilm) animation studios during the Soviet era, and right up to Estonia's surprising international success during the post-Soviet era. In addition, Robinson's book includes the discovery of films by four 1960s animation pioneers who, until the release of this book, had been unknown to both Estonian and International animation historians."

Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.

Contemporary Japanese pop culture such as anime and manga (Japanese animation and comic books) is Asia's equivalent of the Harry Potter phenomenon--an overseas export that has taken America by storm. While Hollywood struggles to fill seats, Japanese anime releases are increasingly outpacing American movies in number and, more importantly, in the devotion they inspire in their fans. But just as Harry Potter is both "universal" and very English, anime is also deeply Japanese, making its popularity in the United States totally unexpected.

Japanamerica is the first book that directly addresses the American experience with the Japanese pop phenomenon, covering everything from Hayao Miyazaki's epics, the burgeoning world of hentai, or violent pornographic anime, and Puffy Amiyumi, whose exploits are broadcast daily on the Cartoon Network, to literary novelist Haruki Murakami, and more. With insights from the artists, critics, readers and fans from both nations, this book is as literate as it is hip, highlighting the shared conflicts as American and Japanese pop cultures dramatically collide in the here and now.

Nihon Hatsu no Animēshon Sakka Kitayama Seitarō

In 1917, Seitaro Kitayama was one of the first people in Japan to create animation.
Initially a part of the art world, he supported the activities of young painters such as Ryusei Kishida, by publishing art magazines, but the animation that was just then beginning to be imported into Japan from overseas captured his heart. He embarked on his first anime production without so much as a textbook to turn to for guidance.
This book looks at his trial-and-error process and the successful record he left behind through the lens of his own memoirs and the words of his surviving family and those who knew him.
You will learn all about the life and diverse work of Kitayama, the pioneer of Japanese anime who has rarely been studied before.

The Illusion of Life 2 : More Essays on Animation

The Illusion of Life II 2 continues and extends the pioneering work in the theory of animation begun in The Illusion of Life: Essays on Animation. It provides an abundance of understandings, approaches, correctives, and challenges to scholars not only in animation studies and film studies, but in disciplines across the spectrum. It proceeds on the assumption that animation, in increasingly taking center stage thanks to computer animation and anime, calls ever more insistently for focused, rigorous theoretical attention.

The sixteen essays composing the collection engage with post-World War II film animation in Japan and the United States, as well as with the expanded field of animation, including: the relation of live action and animation; video and computer games, the electronic, digitally animated mediascape, the city, flight simulation, the military and war; and animation in the entertainment industry. In addition, it contains essays of a more general theoretical nature on animation, as well as a substantial introduction addressing developments in animation and its theorizing.

The Cinema of Jan Svankmajer: Dark Alchemy

The Cinema of Jan Svankmajer explores the legacy of this legendary Czech surrealist filmmaker, a key influence on directors such as Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton, and one of the greatest animators in cinema history. This updated second edition – still the only full-length study of his work features contributions from scholars and colleagues within the Czech Surrealist movement, as well as a new chapter on Svankmajer's feature films and an extended interview with Svankmajer himself. This volume is required reading for all budding animators and disciples of surrealism.

Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics

Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics is the first comprehensive examination of the aesthetics of animation in its many forms. It overviews the relationship between animation studies and media studies on a larger scale, then focuses on specific aesthetic issues concerning flat and dimensional animation, full and limited animation, and new technologies. The book contains a series of studies on abstract animation, audiences, representation and institutional regulators.

The first half of Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics overviews the relationship between animation studies and media studies on a larger scale, then focuses on specific aesthetic issues concerning two-dimensional and three-dimensional, limited and full animation and digital technologies. The second half contains a series of studies on particular topics, including abstract animation, audiences, representation and institutional regulators. This revised edition contains recent examples of animation, including updated information on digital media.

Art in Motion is an essential textbook for all students of Animation, Media Studies, Film/TV Studies and Art Education. Updated by the author, this valuable work becomes still more relevant for animation studies students.

British Animation : the Channel 4 Factor, Parliament Hill Publishing

Clare Kitson celebrates one of the most creative sources of broadcast animation—Britain's pioneering Channel 4, winner of three Academy Awards for animation. In the 1980s and 1990s, Channel 4 flourished as a world champion of televised animation. The channel regularly showcased both British and international works, set up the Animate initiative with the Arts Council of England, and backed the animator-in-residence program hosted by the British Film Institute's Museum of the Moving Image. It commissioned innovative, challenging, left-of-center short films by artists such as the Brothers Quay and Ruth Lingford. Kitson, who served as Channel 4's commissioning editor from 1989 until 1999, helped foster the channel's growing reputation as a broadcasting powerhouse. In British Animation she takes a fond look back at this exceptional era.

Re-imagining Animation: The Changing Face of the Moving Image

This book will explore the creative, educational, technical and critical issues at stake in 're-imagining animation'. The moving image pieces will be presented as a range of case studies looking at the production process from the initial choice and selection of the creative stimulus, through the discussion and decision informing the aesthetic and technical facilitation of the work, to the final outcome. These will then be analysed in meaning, purpose, and affect, and as part of a wider engagement with moving image culture. These case studies will represent a detailed evaluation of experimental work as it moves from 'script to screen', simultaneously addressing the interfaces between animation, film, graphic design and art-making in general, and it is this which essentially constitutes the 'advanced' level of the book in not merely foregrounding progressive contemporary work, but stressing innovative approaches to pedagogy and production. This book is suitable for students of animation, established professional animators, and anyone with an interest in animation.
「Nielsen BookData」より

Shuvankumaieru to Cheko Āto (Jan Švankmajer a české moderní umění)

The central figure of Czech Surrealism: the video wizard, Jan Švankmajer.
Influenced by Expressionism, Cubism, and Dada, the Surrealists, Karel Teige, Toyen (Marie Čermínová), Vítězslav Nezval, and Jindřich Štyrský, promoted their own unique avant-garde “Poetism;” the movement then dissolved and reorganized before eventually fusing with Surrealism, 10 years after André Breton’s first Surrealist Manifesto. Under a socialist system, the Surrealists were forced underground, but through all the many generational changes, Czech Surrealism continues to exist even today.
The animation alchemist, Švankmajer; Czechoslovakia’s New Wave; the Czech animation of Zeman and Trnka; the path from Rudolf II to avant-garde....
A long-awaited collection of critical essays by enthusiastic advocates that is bound to contribute greatly to Japan’s introduction to Švankmajer.

Secrets of Oscar-Winning Animation: Behind the Scenes of 13 Classic Short Animations

(From the BOOK Database)
This book pays heed to 13 Academy Award-winning gems of short animation: Neighbours, Frank Film, Le Chateau de sable, The Fly, Anna & Bella, L'homme qui plantait des arbres, Balance, Manipulation, Mona Lisa descending a staircase, Quest, The Old Man and the Sea, Father and Daughter, and Harvie Krumpet. Through interviews with the directors and staff members of each film, the author reveals behind-the-scenes information, presenting the high-level production techniques they used from a unique perspective. If you want to learn about the world of art animation, this is the book you have been waiting for.

The Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin

"Ballad of a Thin Man" explores the life, work and times of Ryan Larkin, a brilliant Academy Award-nominated animator, whose short film "Walking," made in 1969, is considered one of the most influential animated films of all time. Yet, soon after this early triumph, Larkin dropped from view and, when the author finds him thirty years later, he's living on welfare and panhandling for change on a Montreal street corner. In this highly personal and deeply felt narrative, Chris Robinson examines Larkin's troubled career and, in a kind of dual biography, looks at his own troubled family history, his alcoholism and search for redemption, which in many ways mirrors the story of the troubled animator. At once sad, hopeful, and at times excruciatingly funny, "Ballad of a Thin Man" is an incisive profile of an influential artist and a deeply felt meditation on what it means to take responsibility for one's life and actions. The book includes a bonus DVD featuring "Walking" and Larkin's 1972 "Street Musique," as well as Chris Landreth's Oscar-winning film about the animator, "Ryan" (2004).

Otakugaku Nyūmon (Introduction to Otakuology)

Born in the 1980s, otaku culture has by now spread to youth all over the world. This book, in which leading experts elucidate the nature of otaku, is a landmark achievement for Otakuology as a field of study. Ecological research using things like Urusei Yatsura and Star Wars for materials paints a picture of otaku as intellectual adventurers who are willing to make an effort and are not afraid to cross genre boundaries. Includes the interview “What Does Gundam Teach Us?” with Gundam’s general director Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Tōdai Otakugaku Kōza

The otaku were passionate back then. This book is an anthology of the author’s legendary lectures from 1996 to 1997 on otaku culture at the University of Tokyo.
More than 10 years after he delivered these talks to his students, their content is still worth reading. In particular, the dialogues with his unique guests are a must-read, for they are both valuable and rare.

The Animated Bestiary: Animals, Cartoons, and Culture

Cartoonists and animators have given animals human characteristics for so long that audiences are now accustomed to seeing Bugs Bunny singing opera and Mickey Mouse walking his dog Pluto.
The Animated Bestiary critically evaluates the depiction of animals in cartoons and animation more generally. Paul Wells argues that artists use animals to engage with issues that would be more difficult to address directly because of political, religious, or social taboos. Consequently, and principally through anthropomorphism, animation uses animals to play out a performance of gender, sex and sexuality, racial and national traits, and shifting identity, often challenging how we think about ourselves.

Wells draws on a wide range of examples, from the original King Kongto Nick Park's Chicken Run to Disney cartoonsùsuch as Tarzan, The Jungle Book, and Brother Bearùto reflect on people by looking at the ways in which they respond to animals in cartoons and films.

Walerian Borowczyk

Complexe et multiforme, plastique, graphique, picturale, cinématographique, littéraire, l’œuvre de Walerian Borowczyk (1923-2006) fait ici pour la première fois l’objet d’une étude approfondie. Basée à la fois sur l’importante collection Borowczyk du Musée-Château d’Annecy (unique au monde) et sur la volonté de décloisonner et de faire dialoguer ses périodes polonaises (1845-1958) et française (1959-2006), la proposition s’organise autour d’un texte de Pascal Vimenet qui démontre la fécondité active de l’oeuvre de "Boro" auquel André Breton avait accolé le magnifique blason d’"imagination fulgurante" et que Robert Benayoun avait comparé à celles de Ionesca et de Beckett.

Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen

In 2007, writer Chris Robinson traveled across Canada to meet with some of the country’s leading independent animation filmmakers. Along the way, Robinson muses about the animation art form in Canada and his own relationship to the scene and personalities, many of whom are friends and colleagues. As he travels from place to place he carries along his own private (and sometimes not-so private) struggles with insomnia, depression, identity, cab drivers, hobos and nobos and the shocking murder of animator Helen Hill, whose life and work embody many of the themes that colour these conversations. With the intimate detail of a diary, Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen weaves together history, memoir and dream into a mesmerizing and candid portrait of Canadian animation, art, doing, drifting and dying. Lavishly illustrated, the book’s cast includes award-winning animators Marv Newland (Bambi Meets Godzilla), Chris Landreth (Ryan), Chris Hinton (Nibbles), David Fine (Bob and Margaret, Ricky Sprocket), Wendy Tilby (When the Day Breaks), Anne-Marie Fleming, Torill Kove (The Danish Poet), Claude Cloutier (Sleeping Betty), Janet Perlman (Why Me?) and many more.

Konpyūta Gurafikkusu no Rekishi: 3DCG to iu Imajinēshon

How did a “technology that never existed before” develop into a giant industry?
This is the story of the toil of the pioneers of computer graphics who shaped it from what was just imagination. It is the definitive introduction to CG history with essential illustrations, definitions of jargon, and commentary on the key people in the field. A must-read for all students, fans, and professionals interested in CG, video technology, VFX, IT, graphic design, motion graphics, animation, and 3D video.

The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation

Presents a foundational theory of animation and what it reveals about our relationship to technology  Despite the longevity of animation and its significance within the history of cinema, film theorists have focused on live-action motion pictures and largely ignored hand-drawn and computer-generated movies. Thomas Lamarre contends that animation demands sustained engagement, and in The Anime Machine he lays the foundation for a new critical theory for reading Japanese animation, showing how anime fundamentally differs from other visual media.

"They Thought It Was A Marvel" Arthur Melbourne-Cooper (1874-1961), Pioneer of Puppet Animation

In a world obsessed with 'firsts', this fascinating book with its accompanying DVD analyses the stop-motion films made by the British pioneer filmmaker Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, arguably the maker of the first ever animation, MATCHES APPEAL, dating from 1899, in which an animated matchstick writes out on a blackboard an appeal to the British audience urging them to donate money to subsidise shipments of matches to the troops fighting in the Boer War in South Africa. If this dating of the film is correct, it would make it the first-ever animated film shown in cinemas, years ahead of the known early animations, and long before Walt Disney was born. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, frame-by-frame analysis, as well as interviews with Melbourne-Cooper and his family and associates, this book argues convincingly in favour of this early dating of MATCHES APPEAL, and sketches an unforgettable portrait of animation's early days, while being a vital contribution to the history of early cinema. The DVD of the six surviving animation films made by Melbourne-Cooper is a wonderful revelation of what early cinema-going audiences saw and marvelled at.
「Nielsen BookData」より

Hyper animation : Digital Images and Virtual Worlds

Hyperanimation offers a critical overview of a new and expanded form of animation that uses advanced digital technologies to create fresh and innovative works of art. Unlike academic texts or popular surveys, Hyperanimation is composed of interviews with the artists themselves—those creative individuals who are actually shaping this new direction and who, in their own words, provide detailed information about their works as well as insights into our contemporary technological culture. A readable collection of individual perspectives accompanied by historical backgrounds, biographical profiles, and lavish illustrations, this volume explores a broad spectrum of groundbreaking animation projects ranging from interactive installations and virtual environments to digital theater and telematic imaging. Included are interviews with pioneers in the field: Paul Kaiser, Karl Sims, Char Davies, Dan Sandin, Jeffrey Shaw, Rebecca Allen, Miroslaw Rogala, Roy Ascott, Paul Glabicki, and others whose seminal works have significantly transformed the art of animation.

Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin

At 25, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his film Walking. At 28, he completed Street Musique, a masterpiece that will go down in animation history. Ryan Larkin won glory at a young age, then collapsed under the pressures of success and creativity and threw everything away to choose a life of homelessness. This is a work of soulful nonfiction by Chris Robinson, a noted figure in the animated film world, tracing the singular life of the legendary filmmaker who made four animated shorts between 1965 and 1972 and then passed away in obscurity in 2007.

Atomu no Meidai: Tezuka Osamu to Sengo Manga no Shudai

(From the BOOK Database)
On April 7, 2003, Atom the “Astro Boy” was born. And on that day, the world was at war.... When Osamu Tezuka made a symbolic statement by depicting this un-woundable manga character as someone who bled real blood, postwar manga began. Why did Tezuka give a manga character a real body and heart, and why did Atom resist becoming an adult? A revolutionary critique that resolves the “Atom proposition” that has run through manga from the end of the war up to the present day.

Moe no Kigen: Jidai Shōsetsuka ga Yomitoku Manga Anime no Honshitsu

This book uses Osamu Tezuka’s “transforming heroines”—for example, Sapphire in Princess Knight, the wolf girl Ruriko in The Vampires, and the all-powerful android Olga in Phoenix 2772—to discuss moe, the driving force behind manga and anime’s world conquest, and probe the core of the Japanese culture which created it. What do Lupin the Third and Kogarashi Monjiro have in common? Who would win, Schwarzenegger or Kazuo Hasegawa? Why did Atom (“Astro Boy”) fly into the sun? What is the biggest reason for works made by Japanese people for Japanese people capturing the hearts of people worldwide? A revolutionary theory of subculture by a historical novelist.

Otaku no Kigen

Otaku: the term that went from expressing a person’s hobbies and tastes to the word of the era that stipulates an entire culture. As for the process by which fans of science fiction and manga have cultivated it and brought it to its current fruition.... To demonstrate the source of modern visual culture, we look back at its roots in the 1970s.

Ru Otaku: Furansu Otaku Monogatari (Le Otaku)

(From the BOOK Database)
Ten or so years ago, the world was seeking otaku. This book reports on the twentieth century Japonisme that swept Paris and the rest of Europe and on the people involved in it. It sharply analyzes not only France but also the state of and problems with the anime industry in Japan. With new reporting done especially for the bunko printing, this definitive edition of Le Otaku will give you a total understanding of today’s otaku culture.

Nikkan Animēshon no Shinri Bunseki: Deai, Majiwari, Tojikomori

A comparative analysis of Japanese and Korean anime through three elements of human relationships depicted in them: meeting, relating, and withdrawal into oneself. Why is Japanese animation popular around the globe, when at least on the surface, it shows autistic tendencies when compared to Korean animation? This book incorporates knowledge gained from art therapy for schizophrenic patients with these comparative findings to expose the characteristics of the Japanese psyche. A provocative study of animation by a clinical psychologist.

Animēshon no Eigagaku

How many times per second does Mickey Mouse change expressions? What is the significance of the fluid movements found in animation?
Touching on anime works both new and old, from Disney animation to Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) and Evangelion, this ambitious book tries to get at the secret of animation’s appeal by analyzing the unique modes of expression and story structures.

Mausu Ando Majikku: Amerika Animēshon Zenshi Part 1

Japanese translation Part 1 - The long-awaited Japanese translation of American animation’s complete history. Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Tom & Jerry.... Who created these stars of animation history and how? Through vast research and interviews, this complete history of American animation vividly brings alive for the reader the sites at which great films were created. Now in its first-ever Japanese translation. Japanese translation

Mausu Ando Majikku: Amerika Animēshon Zenshi Part 2

Part 2 - A landmark book that fills in film history’s missing pages, Of Mice and Magic is a lively depiction of American animation from the era of silent films to the present that leaves nothing out and mixes in plenty of little-known anecdotes along the way. A must-read book for film and animation fans based on primary research. Features 270 illustrations. Includes a general index and commentary/materials exclusive to the Japanese translation.

Kuroatia no Animēshon: Hitobito no Rekishi to Kokoro no Utsushie

Croatia’s Zagreb school of animation, which opened up a new world of art animation, presents a new social history project that explores the historical perspective and mentality of people living in the small Western Balkans country of Croatia, a place which was long at the mercy of larger nations.
The film 40 Years of Zagreb Film History in 40 Minutes in the included DVD gives you a compact snapshot of Zagreb film history and characteristics and also lets you view highlights from its major films. The DVD also features four works, complete and uncut, from four of Zagreb Film’s leading creators. These works of art animation are a must-see; far from being dated, they actually feel new.

Art That Moves: The Work of Len Lye

‘Kinetic art is the first new category of art since prehistory’, ex-pat New Zealand artist Len Lye boldly claimed in an essay in 1964. In Art that Moves: The Work of Len Lye, Roger Horrocks – author of a best-selling biography of Lye – explores what Lye meant by this, and how his own work in sculpture and film bore it out.

The Quay Brothers: Into a Metaphysical Playroom

This work is the first thorough analysis of the creative oeuvre of the Quay Brothers. Known for their animation shorts that rely on puppetry, miniatures, and stop-motion techniques, their fiercely idiosyncratic films are fertile fields for the author’s engaging descriptions and provocative insights into the Quays’ art, and into the art of independent puppet animation. This book’s aesthetic investigation stems from extensive access to the Quay Brothers’ artistic practices and work, which spans animation and live-action film, stage design, and illustration. It also draws on a long acquaintance with them and on interviews with collaborators essential to their productions, as well as archival sources. Discussions of their films’ literary origins, space, puppets, montage, and the often-overlooked world of sound and music in animation shed new light on the expressive world that the Quay Brothers generate from their materials to create the poetic alchemy of their films.

Channeru wa Itsumo Anime: Zero Nendai Anime Jihyō (We've Been Watching Anime All the Time, When We Sit in Front of TV!)

Three hundred new anime are broadcast each year. This is a collection of the author’s notes from exhaustively watching and discussing them in the decade between 2000 and 2010. He invites readers to enjoy anime at an even higher level by discovering the creators’ tricks and their own emotional responses from a viewer’s perspective.

Drawn to Sound: Animation Film Music and Sonicity

Animation films are produced around the world and attract sizeable audiences and much critical acclaim. No longer marginalized in genres such as children’s or propaganda films, they are increasingly the subject of academic study. At the same time, attention has turned to the music and sound, which contribute to both the emotional impact and the narrative drive, as well as the marketing appeal, of such films. This ground-breaking volume bridges these two fields and also positions animation-film sound and music in the context of the screen and music industries. Animation experts like Paul Wells and Daniel Goldmark and film-music authorities including Philip Hayward, Ian Inglis and Janet Halfyard provide international perspectives on the history and aesthetics of music and sound in animation film.

Drawn to Sound focuses on feature-length, widely distributed films released in the period since World War II, from producers in the USA, UK, Japan and France – from Animal Farm (1954) to Happy Feet (2006), Yellow Submarine (1968) to Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Spirited Away (2001) and Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003). It spotlights important studios, including Disney, DreamWorks, Aardman Animation and Studio Ghibli, and composers, both those who collaborate personally with director and those whose music is used to provide period or mood atmospheres.

Animating Space: From Mickey to Wall-E

Animators work within a strictly defined, limited space that requires difficult artistic decisions. The blank frame presents a dilemma for all animators, and the decision of what to include and leave out raises important questions about artistry, authorship, and cultural influence. In Animating Space: From Mickey to WALL-E, renowned scholar J. P. Telotte explores how animation has confronted the blank template, and how responses to that confrontation have changed. Focusing on American animation, Telotte tracks the development of animation in line with changing cultural attitudes toward space and examines innovations that elevated the medium from a novelty to a fully realized art form. From Winsor McCay and the Fleischer brothers to the Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., and Pixar Studios, Animating Space explores the contributions of those who invented animation, those who refined it, and those who, in the current digital age, are using it to redefine the very possibilities of cinema.

A Complete Guide to the Soul

Who am I? What's my life's purpose? Where am I going when I die? These questions lie at the heart of all our lives, yet clear answers seem hard to come by. A Complete Guide to the Soul explains that answers can in fact be found in a secret history that runs like quicksilver through Western culture, from philosophy and alchemy, to poetry and modern psychology. This hidden tradition places our soul at the centre of the universe and shows us how to recover a sense of meaning that so many of us have lost today. In this important book, Patrick Harpur explores the nature of our soul, as well as its destiny. He unpacks the myths that surround it and shows how it may actually be the very fabric of reality. And he explains that, not until we have a clear understanding of this invisible part of ourselves, can we discover the answers to many of our questions about existence and human nature. Ultimately, this knowledge could help us find our true place within the world in which we live.

Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind

While visiting Japan, animation writer Chris Robinson gets lost. As he drifts through Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyoto he happens upon a number of mysterious figures including Bob Dylan, Haruki Murakami, Sumo wrestlers, Big Bird and, by good chance, many famous Japanese animators – living and dead. Each of these characters takes Robinson into a deep, dark, mysterious world of Japanese animation that doesn't include Godzilla, Akira, Anime, Manga or Hasao Miyazaki.

Animētāzu Sabaibaru Kitto, Zōho

The definitive and practical manual on animation production, personally explained by Richard Williams, the animation director of the triple Academy Award-winning film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The content is based on his “Animation Masterclass,” in which animators from The Walt Disney Company, Pixar, DreamWorks, Blue Sky, and Warner Bros. have participated both in the United States and Europe. Williams provides the ground rules of animation required by all animators, from novices to experts and from classical hand-drawing animators to the masters of CG anime. While urging readers to create things that are both original and believable, he illustrates key points with countless drawings and distils the secrets of animation’s masters into a practical production system.

The World History of Animation

Lavishly illustrated and encyclopedic in scope, The World History of Animation tells the genre’s 100-year-old story around the globe, featuring key players in Europe, North America, and Asia. From its earliest days, animation has developed multiple iterations and created myriad dynamic styles, innovative techniques, iconic characters, and memorable stories. Stephen Cavalier’s comprehensive account is organized chronologically and covers pioneers, feature films, television programs, digital films, games, independent films, and the web. An exhaustive time line of films and innovations acts as the narrative backbone, and must-see films are listed along with synopses and in-depth biographies of individuals and studios. The book explains the evolution of animation techniques, from rotoscoping to refinements of cel techniques, direct film, claymation, and more. A true global survey, The World History of Animation is an exciting and inspirational journey through the large and still-expanding animation universe—a place as limitless as the human imagination.

French Animation History

French Animation History is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of animation, illuminating the exceptional place France holds within that history. Selected by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2011 The first book dedicated exclusively to this history Explores how French animators have forged their own visual styles, narrative modes, and technological innovations to construct a distinct national style, while avoiding the cliches and conventions of Hollywood's commercial cartoons Includes more than 80 color and black and white images from the most influential films, from early silent animation to the recent internationally renowned Persepolis Essential reading for anyone interested in the study of French film
「Nielsen BookData」より

William Kentridge

William Kentridge's (b.1955) black-and-white, animated films offer an emblematic and unprecedented insight into the South Africa of today, from the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to traces of apartheid's violence in the landscape around Johannesburg. This is the first book to document the work of this extraordinary artist, who exploded on the international art scene in 1997 after working for some 20 years little known outside of his native South Africa. The images in Kentridge's films depict political realities, expressed in terms of individual human suffering. They are patiently made up of dozens of drawings, often made from the erasure as well as the addition of lines and forms. A week's drawing can give rise to just 40 seconds of animation. Socio-political traumas such as apartheid and the Holocaust are enigmatically narrated through his melancholy, tormented images. Like some of the Expressionists who also relied on strong draughtsmanship, such as Max Backman and Kathe Kollwitz, Kentridge presents politically engaged art via depictions of the personal. This invaluable book is the first extensive monograph available on his work. American curator and critic Dan Cameron surveys Kentridge's work withing the context of politicized art practice while analysing the formal innovations of his animation techniques. European art critic and curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev discusses with the artist the political and philosophical dimensions of his relationship to drawing. Booker Prize-winning South African novelist J. M. Coetzee focusses on the artist's animated film History of the Main Complaint (1996) as a pivotal point in the development of Kentridge's best-known characters Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitlebaum. The Artist's Choice selection is an extract from Confessions of Zeno (1923) by Italo Svevo, which reflects the autobiographical content of the artist's work. Kentridge's writings span meditations on the process of drawing, the political situation in South Africa and traditions of representation upon which he has drawn, ranging from Goya and Hogarth to Beckmann and Eisenstein.
「Nielsen BookData」より

Funny Pictures: Animation and Comedy in Studio-Era Hollywood

This collection of essays explores the link between comedy and animation in studio-era cartoons, from filmdom’s earliest days through the twentieth century. Written by a who’s who of animation authorities, Funny Pictures offers a stimulating range of views on why animation became associated with comedy so early and so indelibly, and illustrates how animation and humor came together at a pivotal stage in the development of the motion picture industry. To examine some of the central assumptions about comedy and cartoons and to explore the key factors that promoted their fusion, the book analyzes many of the key filmic texts from the studio years that exemplify animated comedy. Funny Pictures also looks ahead to show how this vital American entertainment tradition still thrives today in works ranging from The Simpsons to the output of Pixar.

That's All Folks?: Ecocritical Readings of American Animated Features

Although some credit the environmental movement of the 1970s, with its profound impact on children’s television programs and movies, for paving the way for later eco-films, the history of environmental expression in animated film reaches much further back in American history, as That’s All Folks? makes clear.

Countering the view that the contemporary environmental movement—and the cartoons it influenced—came to life in the 1960s, Robin L. Murray and Joseph K. Heumann reveal how environmentalism was already a growing concern in animated films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. From Felix the Cat cartoons to Disney’s beloved Bambi to Pixar’s Wall-E and James Cameron’s Avatar, this volume shows how animated features with environmental themes are moneymakers on multiple levels—particularly as broad-based family entertainment and conveyors of consumer products. Only Ralph Bakshi’s X-rated Fritz the Cat and R-rated Heavy Traffic and Coonskin, with their violent, dystopic representation of urban environments, avoid this total immersion in an anti-environmental consumer market.

Showing us enviro-toons in their cultural and historical contexts, this book offers fresh insights into the changing perceptions of the relationship between humans and the environment and a new understanding of environmental and animated cinema.

Anime to Puropaganda: Dainiji Taisenki no Eiga to Seiji

The animated film, the composite art form that blossomed during World War II, became a means of wartime mobilization for many countries, Axis and Allied alike. This rare study unearths the buried history of the copious propaganda films produced in the 1930s and 1940s, centering on the Tripartite Pact nations and the chief Allied Powers, and paints a vivid picture of the multiple leaders of the early animation world. It also analyzes the ideology and poetics involved. The expanded Japanese edition adds many illustrations to the highly acclaimed original.

Animating the Unconscious: Desire, Sexuality, and Animation

As critical interest has grown in the unique ways in which art animation explores and depicts subjective experience – particularly in relation to desire, sexuality, social constructions of gender, confessional modes, fantasy, and the animated documentary – this volume offers detailed analysis of both the process and practice of key contemporary filmmakers, while also raising more general issues around the specificities of animation. Combining critical essays with interview material, visual mapping of the creative process, consideration of the neglected issue of how the use of sound differs from that of conventional live-action, and filmmakers' critiques of each others' work, this unique collection aims to both provoke and illuminate via an insightful multi-faceted approach.

The Animator's Survival Kit--Revised Edition: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators

Animation is one of the hottest and most creative areas of film-making today. During his more than 40 years in the business, Richard Williams has been one of the true innovators, and serves as the link between the golden age of animation by hand and the new computer animation successes. In this book, based on his sold-out Animation Masterclass in the United States and across Europe, Williams provides the underlying principles of animation that very animator - from beginner to expert, classic animator to computer animation whiz - needs. Using hundreds of drawings, Williams distills the secrets of the masters into a working system in order to create a book that has become the standard work on all forms of animation for professionals, students and fans. This new expanded edition includes more on animal action, invention and realism with sophisticated animation examples.

The Poetics of Slumberland: Animated Spirits and the Animating Spirit

In The Poetics of Slumberland, Scott Bukatman celebrates play, plasmatic possibility, and the life of images in cartoons, comics, and cinema. Bukatman begins with Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland to explore how and why the emerging media of comics and cartoons brilliantly captured a playful, rebellious energy characterized by hyperbolic emotion, physicality, and imagination. The book broadens to consider similar “animated” behaviors in seemingly disparate media—films about Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh; the musical My Fair Lady and the story of Frankenstein; the slapstick comedies of Jerry Lewis; and contemporary comic superheroes—drawing them all together as the purveyors of embodied utopias of disorder.

The World History of Animation

This full-scale history of animation, which includes exhaustive coverage of Disney’s major works, is the ideal reference book and is indispensable for fans of the genre.
A serious encyclopedia that gives a bird’s-eye view of animation’s approximately 100-year history in one volume.
The world of animation, with the Disney canon as its prime example, has entertained and inspired children and adults around the globe. How are those animated works produced, and how have they evolved over time? This first-ever animation encyclopedia compiles the world’s major animated works in chronological order, tracing their history and providing a wealth of information about their content/stories, animators/creators, techniques, and technologies.

Animation.ch : Vision and Versatility in Contemporary Swiss Animated Film

A reference work on contemporary multimedia possibilities

Swiss animated film is currently in one of its most productive, ambitious and successful historical periods. Never before have so many films been made and never before have quite a few films enjoyed such international success such as “Baka!!” from which the cover motif is taken. This volume explores the development of Swiss animated film over the last 20 years, examines current trends and looks at what’s to come in the future.

At the center of “animation.ch” are conversations with 20 film-makers who are representative of the variety and uniqueness of Swiss animated film – from short author films to children’s productions, from television series to feature film projects, not to mention art and commercial productions. The film-makers and their art take center stage instead of only their work. The confrontation of testimonies, opinions, attitudes, philosophies and questions raised afford revealing and instructive insights into the fascinating world of animated film-making. Two essays put the interviews and portraits into a comprehensive context.

Animated Realism: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Animated Documentary Genre

With the development and accessibility of animation tools and techniques, filmmakers are blurring the boundaries between documentary filmmaking and animation. The intimacy, imperfection and charm of the animated form is providing live-action and animation directors with unique ways to tell stories, humanize events and convey information not easily adapted for live-action media. Animated Realism presents animation techniques as they apply to the documentary genre with an inspirational behind-the-scenes look at award-winning animated documentaries. Animators and documentary filmmakers alike will learn how to develop a visual style with animation, translate a graphic novel into a documentary and use 3D animation as a storytelling tool, all in the context of creating animated documentaries.

With insight and inspiration, Animated Realism includes interviews from industry luminaries like John Canemaker, Oscar Winning Director of The Moon and the Son, Yoni Goodman, Animation Director of Oscar Nominated Waltz with Bashir and Chris Landreth, Oscan Winning creator of Ryan. Packed with beautiful, instructive illustrations and previously unpublished material (including storyboards, photos and hand-drawn sketches) and interspersed with interviews - this is an exceptional source of inspiration and knowledge for animators, students and fans alike. With a companion website featuring animated shorts from leading animated documentaries, animators, students and documentary filmmakers will be able to analyze and apply Oscar-winning animation techniques to their own films.

Digital Encounters

Digital Encounters is a cross media study of digital moving images in animation, cinema, games, and installation art. In a world increasingly marked by proliferating technologies, the way we encounter and understand these story-worlds, game spaces and art works reveals aspects of the ways in which we organize and decode the vast amount of visual material we are bombarded with each day. Working with examples from The Incredibles, The Matrix, Tomb Raider: Legend and Bill Viola's Five Angels for the Millennium, Aylish Wood considers how viewers engage with the diverse interfaces of digital effects cinema, digital games and time-based installations, and argues that technologies alter human engagement, distributing our attention across a network of images and objects.
「Nielsen BookData」より

Shadow of A Mouse: Performance, Belief, and World-Making in Animation

Animation variously entertains, enchants, and offends, yet there have been no convincing explanations of how these films do so. Shadow of a Mouse proposes performance as the common touchstone for understanding the principles underlying the construction, execution, and reception of cartoons. Donald Crafton’s interdisciplinary methods draw on film and theater studies, art history, aesthetics, cultural studies, and performance studies to outline a personal view of animated cinema that illuminates its systems of belief and world making. He wryly asks: Are animated characters actors and stars, just like humans? Why do their performances seem live and present, despite our knowing that they are drawings? Why is animation obsessed with distressing the body? Why were California regional artists and Stanislavsky so influential on Disney? Why are the histories of animation and popular theater performance inseparable? How was pictorial space constructed to accommodate embodied acting? Do cartoon performances stimulate positive or negative behaviors in audiences? Why is there so much extreme eating? And why are seemingly insignificant shadows vitally important? Ranging from classics like The Three Little Pigs to contemporary works by Švankmajer and Plympton, these essays will engage the reader’s imagination as much as the subject of animation performance itself.

Jan Švankmajer: Dimensions of Dialogue: Between Film and Fine Art

Dimensions of Dialogue celebrates the world-renowned Czech filmmaker Jan fivankmajer (born 1934), responsible for some of the most memorable and unique animated films ever realized, and who has strongly influenced filmmakers like Tim Burton and The Brothers Quay. This publication presents fivankmajer not only as a filmmaker but also as an outstanding fine artist, experimenter, poet and a militant surrealist. Through explorative and informative essays, scholars Bertrand Schmitt and Frantiflek Dryje illuminate the various aspects of his output, including puppet theatre, Mannerism, Surrealism and his many collaborations with his wife, Eva fivankmajerová (1940–2005), a surrealist painter, filmmaker and ceramicist. The monograph, named after his 1982 film (noted for its brilliant display of “claymation”) includes a number of reproductions of fivankmajer's art work, film stills, photographs from plays and a selection of documentary images from the life of this internationally respected and multitalented artist.

Raoul Servais, Voyage en Servaisgraphie

Dans Nachtvlinders (Papillons de nuit), seul film entièrement réalisé en Servaisgraphie, le vol chaotique d\’un papillon de nuit vient tirer une scène nocturne de l’éternité d’attente où l’avait plongée la peinture de Paul Delvaux. Mais un entomologiste rompt la magie du mouvement en épinglant le papillon. À l’image de ce scientifique étrange qui sévit au pays des rêves, Raoul Servais, cinéaste d\’animation belge, en mettant au point la Servaisgraphie, technique idéale permettant enfin de marier réel et imaginaire, aurait-il épuisé et condamné une esthétique naissante ? Ce troisième ouvrage de la collection «Les Animés » est l’occasion de rendre compte de l’invention de Raoul Servais, procédé artistique et technique exceptionnel mis en oeuvre à l\’occasion de la réalisation de Nachtvlinders et du mythique long métrage Taxandria.

The Quay Brothers' Universum

Identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay, better known as the Quay Brothers, are influential stop-motion animators. The Quay Brothers are internationally known for their incredibly inventive, other-worldly films that blend objects, puppets and people from real life with gloomy fantasies and haunted visions. This book presents their intriguing works as well as their sources of inspiration and fascinations. Over their careers, they developed an unmistakable aesthetic that somehow manages to inspire, confound, and often disturb their viewers. The Eye Filmmuseum is presenting a large exhibition of their work, including their animation films, set designs (which they call Dormitoriums) and works on paper, but also works from other animation filmmakers, Wunderkammer artefacts, anatomical models, Eastern European posters, drawings from the Prinzhorn Collection, scores by Karlheinz Stockhausen and other sources of their inspiration.

Pervasive Animation (AFI Film Readers)

This new addition to the AFI Film Readers series brings together original scholarship on animation in contemporary moving image culture, from classic experimental and independent shorts to digital animation and installation. The collection - that is also a philosophy of animation - foregrounds new critical perspectives on animation, connects them to historical and contemporary philosophical and theoretical contexts and production practice, and expands the existing canon. Throughout, contributors offer an interdisciplinary roadmap of new directions in film and animation studies, discussing animation in relationship to aesthetics, ideology, philosophy, historiography, visualization, genealogies, spectatorship, representation, technologies, and material culture.

The Soul of Anime: Collaborative Creativity and Japan's Media Success Story

In The Soul of Anime, Ian Condry explores the emergence of anime, Japanese animated film and television, as a global cultural phenomenon. Drawing on ethnographic research, including interviews with artists at some of Tokyo's leading animation studios—such as Madhouse, Gonzo, Aniplex, and Studio Ghibli—Condry discusses how anime's fictional characters and worlds become platforms for collaborative creativity. He argues that the global success of Japanese animation has grown out of a collective social energy that operates across industries—including those that produce film, television, manga (comic books), and toys and other licensed merchandise—and connects fans to the creators of anime. For Condry, this collective social energy is the soul of anime.

Anime: A History

Japanese animation is at the nexus of an international multimedia industry worth over $6.5 billion a year, linked to everything from manga to computer games, Pokémon and plushies. In this comprehensive guide, Jonathan Clements chronicles the production and reception history of the entire medium, from a handful of hobbyists in the 1910s to the Oscar-winning Spirited Away and beyond. Exploring the cultural and technological developments of the past century, Clements addresses issues of historiography within Japanese academic discourse and covers previously neglected topics such as wartime instructional animation and work-for-hire for American clients. Founded on the testimonies of industry professionals, and drawing on a myriad of Japanese-language documents, memoirs and books, Anime: A History illuminates the anime business from the inside – investigating its innovators, its unsung heroes and its controversies.

Hand-Made Television: Stop-Frame Animation for Children in Britain, 1961-1974

Hand-Made Television explores the ongoing enchantment of many of the much-loved stop-frame children's television programmes of 1960s and 1970s Britain. The first academic work to analyse programmes such as Pogles' Wood (1966), Clangers (1969), Bagpuss (1974) (Smallfilms) and Gordon Murray's Camberwick Green (1966), Trumpton (1967) and Chigley (1969), the book connects these series to their social and historical contexts while providing in-depth analyses of their themes and hand-made aesthetics. Hand-Made Television shows that the appeal of these programmes is rooted not only in their participatory address and evocation of a pastoral English past, but also in the connection of their stop-frame aesthetics to the actions of childhood play. This book makes a significant contribution to both Animation Studies and Television Studies; combining scholarly rigour with an accessible style, it is suitable for scholars as well as fans of these iconic British children's programmes.

Anime: A Critical Introduction

Anime: A Critical Introduction maps the genres that have thrived within Japanese animation culture, and shows how a wide range of commentators have made sense of anime through discussions of its generic landscape. From the battling robots that define the mecha genre through to Studio Ghibli's dominant genre-brand of plucky shojo (young girl) characters, this book charts the rise of anime as a globally significant category of animation. It further thinks through the differences between anime's local and global genres: from the less-considered niches like nichijo-kei (everyday style anime) through to the global popularity of science fiction anime, this book tackles the tensions between the markets and audiences for anime texts.   Anime is consequently understood in this book as a complex cultural phenomenon: not simply a “genre,” but as an always shifting and changing set of texts. Its inherent changeability makes anime an ideal contender for global dissemination, as it can be easily re-edited, translated and then newly understood as it moves through the world's animation markets. As such, Anime: A Critical Introduction explores anime through a range of debates that have emerged around its key film texts, through discussions of animation and violence, through debates about the cyborg and through the differences between local and global understandings of anime products. Anime: A Critical Introduction uses these debates to frame a different kind of understanding of anime, one rooted in contexts, rather than just texts. In this way, Anime: A Critical Introduction works to create a space in which we can rethink the meanings of anime as it travels around the world.

Animation: A World History

A continuation of 1994’s groundbreaking Cartoons, Giannalberto Bendazzi’s three-volume Animation: A World History is the largest, deepest, most comprehensive text of its kind, based on the idea that animation is an art form that deserves its own place in scholarship. Bendazzi delves beyond just Disney, offering readers glimpses into the animation of Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other often-neglected areas and introducing over fifty previously undiscovered artists. Full of first-hand, never before investigated, and elsewhere unavailable information, Animation: A World History encompasses the history of animation production on every continent over the span of three centuries.

Manga and Anime Go to Hollywood

The media industries in the United States and Japan are similar in much the same way different animal species are: while a horse and a kangaroo share maybe 95% of their DNA, they're nonetheless very different animals-and so it is with manga and anime in Japanese and Hollywood animation, movies, and television. Though they share some key common elements, they developed mostly separately while still influencing each other significantly along the way. That confluence is now accelerating into new forms of hybridization that will drive much of future storytelling entertainment. Packed with original interviews with top creators in these fields and illuminating case studies, Manga and Anime Go to Hollywood helps to parse out these these shared and diverging genetic codes, revealing the cross-influences and independent traits of Japanese and American animation. In addition, Manga and Anime Go to Hollywood shows how to use this knowledge creatively to shape the future of global narrative storytelling, including through the educational system. Northrop Davis paints a fascinating picture of the interrelated history of Japanese manga/anime and Hollywood since the Meiji period through to World War II and up to the present day - and even to into the future.

Film-Induced Tourism 2nd edition

This research-based monograph presents an introduction to the concept of film-induced tourism, building on the work of the seminal first edition. Many new case studies exploring the relationship between film and TV and tourism have been added and existing cases have been updated. The book incorporates studies on film studio theme parks, the impact of film-induced tourism on communities and the effect of film on tourists’ behaviour. It introduces new content including film-induced tourism in non-Western cultures, movie tours and contents tourism. The book is an essential resource for postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of tourism, film and media studies.

“The Changing Role of Manga and Anime Magazines in the Japanese Animation Industry,” Manga Vision:Cultural and Communicative Perspectives

Manga Vision examines cultural and communicative aspects of Japanese comics, drawing together scholars from Japan, Australia and Europe working in areas as diverse as cultural studies, linguistics, education, music, art, anthropology, and translation, to explore the influence of manga in Japan and worldwide via translation, OEL manga and fan engagement. The volume includes a mix of theoretical, methodological, empirical and professional practice-based chapters, examining manga from both academic and artistic perspectives. Manga Vision also provides the reader with a multimedia experience, featuring original artwork by Australian manga artist Queenie Chan, cosplay photographs, and an online supplement offering musical compositions inspired by manga, and downloadable manga-related teaching resources.

The Osamu Tezuka Story: A Life in Manga and Anime

This graphic-format biography of Osamu Tezuka—Japan's "God of Manga"—looks at one of the twentieth century's great creative artists (Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Black Jack). It is also an anecdotal study of the evolution of Japan's early manga and anime business and its heroes. A never-before-seen popular culture history of postwar Japan, it is sure to fascinate fans and anyone interested in manga, anime, and the potential of the graphic storytelling medium.