CHARACTER — current posts — Fantasy/Animation

Ma Meilleure Ennemie - Analysis (Part 2)

In the previous blog, I analyzed Stromae’s verse from the song Ma Meilleure Ennemie as a reflection of Ekko’s emotional struggle in the animated series Arcane. This part is about Pomme’s verse and how it can be interpreted as a representation of Jinx’s inner guilt. Pomme has a softer voice that contrasts with the chaotic atmosphere that Jinx is often associated with. I will explore how both the lyrics and the visuals of the music video reflect Jinx’s fractured sense of self, emotional paralysis and duality between desiring connection and fearing it at the same time.

EDITORIALSona d’ÉbèneJuly 11, 2025VIDEO GAME, GENDER, ROMANCE, CHARACTERComment

Ma Meilleure Ennemie - Analysis (Part 1)

This is the first of two blogs that focus on music as narrative in the animated series Arcane (Christian Linke & Alex Yee, 2021-) supported by an analysis of its animation and character development. The series is set within the League of Legends (2009-) universe, an online multiplayer videogame created by Riot Games. It takes place in various fictional lands populated by hundreds of different champions, some of whom are explored in Arcane.

EDITORIALSona d’ÉbèneJuly 4, 2025VIDEO GAME, GENDER, ROMANCE, CHARACTERComment

How Cartoons Demonise Dissociative Disorders Through the Propagation of the Stereotype of the Dual Personality

You’ve seen this all before. A character, often male, is a nice guy, maybe a bit too nice or too repressed. They’re nerdy or meek, not overly popular, and often bullied or abused in some way. However, in certain situations, everything changes. Either through a shift in mannerisms or through an actual physical transformation, they change into a violent brute, a self-confident schemer, or a passionate womaniser. Characters like The Incredible Hulk, Yami Yugi and Yami Bakura from Japanese manga series Yu-Gi-Oh! (Kazuki Takahashi, 1996-), and all versions of The Nutty Professor story. Popularised by the fantasy of Dr Jekyll and Mister Hyde, and later by pulp entertainment drawing from limited understandings of the then-named Multiple Personality Disorder in the early 20th century, the dramatised conception of people with aggressive alternate personalities appear across a diverse range of animation in both heroic and villainous roles, but few name what it is or give the topic proper weight.

EDITORIALHazel JamiesonJune 27, 2025IDENTITY, GENDER, CHARACTER

Exploring Constant Character Arc in short narrative 3D Animation

One of the concepts in a story involving characters is the character arc. In addition to being used to build the story structure, the arc also creates the conditions by which the audience might feel sympathy for the main character. When the main character begins at a certain emotional point, but by the end of the story experiences a change to a different point, that is the character arc (Myers 2022, 19). In his book Beyond the Hero's Journey, Anthony Mullins defines characters into two types: change and constant, and three types of arcs: optimistic, pessimistic, and ambivalent.

CREATIVE REFLECTIONReonaldi Praditya HusniMay 16, 2025CHARACTER, PERFORMANCE, STYLE, MOVEMENTComment

A Critical Look at the Representation of Prominent Black Women in Warner Bros. Animation

Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs was one of the earliest animated American films to place a Black woman as the main character. Directed by Bob Clampett at Warner Brothers in 1942, the character of So White set a precedent for three further Black female lead characters in future Warner Brothers animated projects. However, introduced as a “happy washerwoman made for a jazzier version of the mammy stereotype” (Lehman 2007, 78), So White contributes to a larger structure of racism within American animation, hindering the progression of positive representation for future Black women as animated characters. The question that this blog investigates is whether the representation of Black women in Warner Brothers animation has truly improved since the introduction of So White, or do So White’s successors continue to perpetrate harmful stereotypes about African American women?

EDITORIALAlissa Clarke-GaarApril 18, 2025RACE, CHARACTER, GENDER, HOLLYWOOD, REPRESENTATION Comments

To bean, or not to bean? On rabbit toes and lessons from Watership Down

With Watership Down (Martin Rosen, 1978) newly restored in 4K by the British Film Institute, it’s an appropriate time to reflect on rabbits in animation. From Bugs Bunny to the recent Peter Rabbit films (Will Gluck, 2018-2021), rabbits can be found everywhere within the history of animation. But animation also has a problem with representing these bob-tailed creatures. I was crudely reminded of this about two-thirds into DreamWorks’ latest animated release, The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders, 2024), when something caught my eye that briefly took me out of the film. The film is set on a remote island inhabited only by the titular robot and an assortment of wildlife, including a rabbit or two. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment approaching the film’s final act, one of the rabbits raises their front paws, revealing soft pink pads on the undersides of their feet.

How A Town Called Panic (2009) takes your toys to the next level

Keep it simple, stupid. A phrase taught to students in commercial animation so that they will not overwork themselves. Simple is not to be confused with simplistic, however. One Belgian-French film from 2009 sought to prove how much can be achieved with very little. This blog will explore how A Town Called Panic, directed by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, combines the formal techniques of limited and stop-motion animation with witty dialogue and uniquely ridiculous scenarios in order to maximize the comedic possibilities within the confines of animating plastic figure toys.

EDITORIALBryce SheehanOctober 11, 2024CHARACTER, PERFORMANCE, REPRESENTATIONComment

4 Iconic Animation Characters Who Wear Glasses

In animation and film, disability representation is crucial in shaping the portrayal and perception of characters. A previous article took a closer look at Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, and found that disability can either be a barrier or a defining characteristic that enhances a character’s depth and relatability to audiences. Such representations are often taken for granted, yet they carry significant symbolic and practical weight. This can be particularly evident in how vision disability is depicted through characters who wear glasses. Glasses worn by fictional characters serve as integral elements of character design, reflecting personality traits, intellectual abilities, and personal journeys.

EDITORIALHollie HobbsJuly 26, 2024CHARACTER, REPRESENTATION, GENDER, COSTUMEComment

Maintaining Identity over Time in Animated Bodies during Metamorphosis Transitions

A character’s body in animation is believed to be a fluid form (Wells 1996) due to its ability to take on any intended form. Characters can manipulate their bodies to assume new identities, hiding, or losing their sense of self in the process (Clarke 2022), whether intentionally or not. However, when discussing identity in animation through the technique of metamorphosis, the body tends to be overlooked despite being mostly affected in these acts of transformation, as audiences are more focused on anticipating the outcome of metamorphosis (Torre 2010) rather than the transition between the two bodies and the reasons behind the way the body transitions.

EDITORIALRui Han TeoJuly 12, 2024METAMORPHOSIS, BODY, CHARACTER, REPRESENTATION, ABSTRACTComment

The Dark Reflections of Villainy: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Puss in Boots the Last Wish (2022), directed by Joel Crawford, boasts a sizable cast of characters all racing for the Wishing Star’s one wish to grant. The eponymous protagonist, Puss in Boots, is met with resistance from three antagonistic forces: Goldilocks & The Three Bears, Jack Horner, and Death, each of which in turn plays the role of a villain, albeit in ways entirely unique to one another.

EDITORIALAntonio CarreroNovember 3, 2023DREAMWORKS ANIMATION, COMPUTER-ANIMATED FILM, CHARACTER, PERFORMANCE, VILLAINYComment

Review: Don Corrigan, Nuts about Squirrels (2019).

Don Corrigan’s light-hearted Nuts About Squirrels: The Rodents that Conquered Popular Culture (McFarland, 2019) makes the case for a squirrel as the dominant rodent of American popular culture.

BOOK REVIEWAndrew CorsiniFebruary 4, 2022ANIMATION, HOLLYWOOD, BLUE SKY, TELEVISION, NARRATIVE, CHARACTERComment

Beyond Heroes and Villains? Establishing Character Duality Through Formal Sequence Arrangements

This blog post follows on from an earlier sequence analysis of Disney’s Moana (Ron Clements & John Musker 2016) in which I explored the redemption of Te Kā by the opening of an anthropomorphised ocean. In this second post, I will analyse the moments immediately following the opening of the ocean, which sees Moana and Te Kā to come face to face.

SEQUENCE ANALYSISCharlotte DurhamNovember 19, 2021DISNEY, GENDER, CHARACTER, MUSICAL, FEMINISMComment

Review: Ray Harryhausen - Titan of Cinema

When it comes to the subject of the relationship between fantasy and animation, few bodies of work are as pertinent to the conversation as the special effects of Ray Harryhausen. The Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema exhibit was set to open in Edinburgh in the summer of 2020 at the National Galleries of Scotland.

EVENT REVIEWToby JungiusJune 11, 2021CHARACTER, STOP-MOTION, ANIMATION, FANTASY, LABOUR, CREATIVE PRACTICE, MONSTERS, PUPPETRYComment

Review: Character as Character - Understanding and Appreciating People in Films

This one day Character as Character - Understanding and Appreciating People in Films symposium organised by Dominic Lash (University of Bristol) and Hoi Lun Law (Independent Scholar) took place on Saturday 13th October at the University of Bristol; drawing inspiration for its title from V.F. Perkins’ seminal Film as Film: Understanding and Judging Movies (1972 [1993]). Although the influence of Perkins was only fleetingly acknowledged, the symposium as a whole proved a great showcase for the close and attentive analysis of an otherwise neglected aspect of Film Studies.

EVENT REVIEWMatt DennyOctober 19, 2018FANTASY, CHARACTER, FAIRYTALEComment