February theme: Animation and the Archive

Deadline: February 7th, 2020

While in the last decades, the scholarship engaging with the archive in connection with film, in general, has grown, the relationship between the archive and animation, in particular, remains underexplored. In order to encourage the development of musings and discourses around this topic, for our February theme, we invite posts looking at (the) animation (in) archives, museums, and private collections from any perspective. Where and how is animation preserved? What are the issues faced in archiving animated films? How has archiving animation changed with the passing of the decades, and how should it evolve? Which are the politics around archiving animation, and what impact have they had on the development of animation studies? These are some of the questions we would like to find an answer to. 

However, we also invite posts exploring the use of archival materials of any kind in animated films and the reuse of animated segments in other films – be they other animated works or live-action movies. 

Topics may include but are not limited to:

  • The traditional animation archive/animation in the traditional archive;
  • The digital archive and animation; 
  • Animation museums/animation in the museum;
  • Animation in the home movie and the personal archive;
  • Archiving animation: the practice and its evolution throughout the decades;
  • Issues and politics of archiving animation (e.g., accessibility, preservation, and so on);
  • Archiving and preserving the ephemera of animation;
  • Animation studies and the archive;
  • Reusing animated segments (e.g., Walt Disney Studios and the repurposing of the same animated sequence, animation in found footage films, essay films, and so on);
  • Archival materials in the animated film (e.g., use of archival sound, found footage, and so on).

Posts of between 600 and 900 words, which discuss any aspect of the above topic are welcome. Contributors are encouraged to include clips and at least one image to support their posts. Please also include a short bio and 3 keywords. All permissions are the responsibility of the contributor. Please contact the managing editor Cristina Formenti (cristina.formenti@unimi.it) with submissions or questions.