While discussing the movie poster for Disney’s latest (live-action) rendition of Beauty and the Beast (2017, by Bill Condon) as an introduction to semiotics in a first-year university screen studies course, I was struck by the number of young adults…
In 1961 Disney released their classic animation One Hundred and One Dalmatians, a film so successful that it was re-released in cinemas four times over the coming decades. Due to the film’s overwhelming popularity, it has inspired many adaptations. These…
In late 2007, the autumn before Iron Man hit theaters—before audiences’ first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)—DC Comics released Superman: Doomsday, a direct-to-DVD, 78-minute animated feature inspired by the popular Death of Superman storyline. The film, starring Adam…
Few films have made as deep an impact on international popular cultures as Akira (1988) by Katsuhiro Ötomo. This animated feature is a sci-fi apocalyptic opus, deeply political and incisive in how it captures the Japan of the bubble-economy era.…
The original series of Hideaki Anno’s hugely popular anime Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996) was set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event called ‘the second impact’. The show was structured around teenage protagonists piloting gargantuan mecha-organic bipeds (EVAs) in order…
With its mischievous smile, big expressive eyes, and red collar, the creature featuring on the promotional poster for Lilo & Stitch (2002, by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders) might recall the numerous pets of the Disney canon. Yet, his blue…
On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, along with the many stars immortalizing real-life celebrities, there are also some honoring famous animated figures, such as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. Indeed, although they are made of lines and colors and not…
But I am even more than the two of them. Everything they care about is what I am. I am their fury. I am their patience. I am a conversation. “Stronger Than You”, Garnet (Estelle) I have a Garnet…
Political upheaval is not something new in Colombia. For more than five decades, Colombians have experienced high levels of corruption in the government, the infiltration of drug trafficking into political life, continuous violations of human rights, and an armed conflict…
Turkey is a peculiar country where Anatolian, Occidental and Middle-Eastern influences have been concurrently effective in politics, economy, and, especially, in culture. Due to this, the state, however democratic it claimed to be, has always been an authoritative figure in…
