In addition to many other elements, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018-2020) differentiates itself from its source material with a more racially diverse cast of characters. To discuss how and by what means these identities were constructed, we should…
In his introduction to Eco-Trauma Cinema, Anil Narine states that “nature, whether it threatens us, we threaten it or we see ourselves as part of it, remains sublime” and resistant to any meaning we try to make out of it…
“Critical utopias are not blueprints for ideal societies, but expressions of aspiration for human fulfillment towards which our political practices should always be directed.” — Ashlie Lancaster, Instantiating Critical Utopia Introduction. This post considers the cultural work taken up in…
In 2015 and again in 2017 we brought a small class of undergraduate animation students from the University of Technology Sydney on camping expeditions into the Sydney hinterland to seek out evidence and inspiration for animation in abandoned settlements of…
Recently I produced and directed a documentary about women working in the animation industry which highlighted the lack of women in key creative roles. The documentary, entitled British Animation Women Breaking the Mold, was broadcast on Sky Showcase Channel 192…
Paul Sharits (1943-1993) was an American film artist, a proponent of what Peter Gidal, P. Adams Sitney, and Anette Michelson referred to as “structural film” (Sitney 2002, 348). This 1960s avant-garde film movement foregrounded a film structure ahead of its…
“We shall count as real what we can use to intervene in the world to affect something else, or what the world can use to affect us.” – Ian Hacking, Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural…
According to a user poll on IMDB, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo, and Donald Duck are five of the most recognizable animated characters of all time. As well as being recognizable, these animated characters all have one…
When BoJack Horseman (2014-2020) was first announced, it made news as the first adult animated original programming for Netflix. I recall at the time that there was a certain amount of hoopla around this—not just for being adult-oriented animation (which…
The first animated feature that Netflix has produced exclusively for its online streaming platform is notably a return to 2D animation in an industry where 3D animation dominates: Klaus (2019). However, this film likewise aspires to dimensionality and depth even…
