Deadline: February 28, 2025

Five O’ Clock Shadows In Dali-Disney Land, 1996. Todd Schorr, acrylics on canvas, 30 x 40 inches. Available on artist’s website.

If the connection between the animated film form and the surrealist movement was not already established from e.g. David A. Bossert’s book Dali & Disney: Destino (2015) on Salvador Dali’s collaborative project with Walt Disney in the mid 1940’s, then it is solidified in art historian Abigail Susik’s forthcoming book Surrealism and Animation (Bloomsbury). In the description of the book it reads that by “[s]haring a deep commitment to a reanimation of everyday life, surrealist artists and animators sought a marvellous, living form of art” with examples from animated works ranging “From Betty Boop to Donald Duck, Tex Avery to Walt Disney, collage animation to Japanese anime, and Claymation to 3D animation.” Such animators as Suzan Pitt, Jan Švankmajer, the Brothers Quay, Faith Hubley, René Laloux, Priit Pärn, and Sally Cruikshank explore surrealist themes and elements in practice.

For this call, we are interested in exploring aesthetic, historical, technical, creative, socio-political and theoretical dimensions of the connection between animation and surrealism, with topics that may include, but are not limited to:

  • Audio-visual similarities and differences with surrealism in animation;
  • Less discussed and forgotten examples of surrealism in animation;
  • Any artistic exploration that interact animation with surrealism;
  • Historical and theoretical debate about surrealism in art and animation practices.

We welcome posts that are:

  1. Between 600 and 900 words discussing any aspect of the above topics. 
  2. Forwarded as a MICROSOFT WORD document. 
  3. Include at least one image to visually support their argument/post.
    1. The images must be less than 2 MB in size per image and sent as individual files. 
    2. Please indicate where the images should be placed in the text, including image caption(s) and credits. All permissions are the responsibility of the contributor.
  4. Include a short bio of 100 words max.
  5. Include 3 keywords. 

Please contact co-editors Carmen Hannibal and Anastasiia Gushchina via blog@animationstudies.org with submissions and/or questions.