Posts tagged REPRESENTATION
Tracking Reality and Fantasy: how animated music videos play with the persona and non-persona of artists / bands - Part 1
Tracking Reality and Fantasy: how animated music videos play with the persona and non-persona of artists / bands - Part 1

This piece combines the analytical and contextual writing of Shaun Magher and James Clarke with a series of first-person accounts and recollections offered by Magher relating to a series of specific case studies that illustrate the article’s area of exploration.

Across the spectrum of popular music, there’s a fascinating seam that intersects with music, visual culture, and animation. That intersecting seam is the form of the animated music video. These short animations have a rich tradition, and the animated aesthetic can offer a version of a rock/pop star as a fantasy incarnation of themselves.

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EDITORIALJames Clarke and Shaun MagherMUSIC VIDEO, STYLE, REPRESENTATIONComment
Review: Society for Animation Studies (SAS) - 36th Annual Conference
Review: Society for Animation Studies (SAS) - 36th Annual Conference

The Society for Animation Studies (SAS), one of the world’s most well-known and popular international organizations dedicated to the study of animation history, theory and practice, holds an annual conference at locations throughout the world each year, where members present their recent research. The 36th Annual Society for Animation Studies conference took place between 7th-10th July 2025, hosted in Elephant & Castle, London, by the Screen School, London College of Communication (LCC), University of the Arts London (UAL). This year’s conference title was ‘Sustaining Animation’, and was inspired by UAL’s key values of climate, social and racial justice, and equality, diversity, and inclusion.

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EVENT REVIEWAnahita FazaeliENVIRONMENT, ANIMATION, REPRESENTATION, POLITICAL Comment
Visualizing Reproductive Fear: Linking Body Metaphors To Traumatic Emotions In The Experimental 2D Animation Born (2024)
Visualizing Reproductive Fear: Linking Body Metaphors To Traumatic Emotions In The Experimental 2D Animation Born (2024)

Experimental animation often employs metamorphosis and incorporates visual metaphors as strategies to explore concepts such as the cycle of historical trauma, thereby contributing to the transmission of collective memories related to colonialism, apartheid, and war. (Stewart 2024, 7). These transformations not only signify external historical ruptures but also mirror internal emotional upheavals. In this context, the body emerges as a crucial site of expression, metaphorically becoming a space through which the intensity of emotion can be measured (Kövecses 2000, 24). This provides a solid theoretical basis for using the body to express abstract traumatic emotions in experimental animation.

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CREATIVE REFLECTIONYixin SunTRAUMA, EXPERIMENTAL ANIMATION, BODY, REPRESENTATION, GENDERComment
Living Weapons in Animation: Fantasy and Anxiety
Living Weapons in Animation: Fantasy and Anxiety

A recurring motif in Japanese animation and contemporary climate fiction animation is the misuse of technology by fictional scientific and militaristic authorities, which in the fictional narratives leads to severe disaster, often with ecological and environmental consequences. In this context, “living weapons” – powerful beings created by science whose impact and abilities are reminiscent of weapons of mass destruction – are particularly potent. Living weapons are “fantasy characters who exist in alternative worlds and become embroiled in implausible plot lines” (Swale 2020, 1999). As archetypes, they prompt reflection on the depiction of cultural notions of catastrophe, particularly environmental catastrophe, and are often explored as symptomatic of deep-rooted and durable cultural anxieties about disastrous scientific incidents.

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EDITORIALLisa Klonis and Anna-Sophie JürgensGODZILLA, MONSTERS, REPRESENTATION, POLITICAL, ANIMEComment
Why Is Animation So Afraid of Queerness?
Why Is Animation So Afraid of Queerness?

Animation is inherently queer. The very process of destabilising the rigid boundaries of the human body and abstracting it into shapes and colours that we can project ourselves onto is essentially a process of queering. In their article “Why Are Cartoons So Queer?” for Sunstroke Magazine, Kellie Toyama remarks that “the flexible nature of animation gives stories the added potential to introduce fluid concepts of gender and sexuality with ease,” making animation the perfect medium to visualise the queer experience. As Paul Wells states, “the animated film has the capacity to redefine orthodoxies of live-action narrative and images,” an analysis that Kodi Maier elaborates on by linking his discussion directly to queer theory: “animation’s elasticity opens a realm where ideas of normalcy are disrupted and hidden potentials are revealed much in the same way that queer theory disrupts common understandings of gender and sexuality to explore other options in regards to embodiment and expression.” Why is it, then, that mainstream animation has for so long been afraid of queerness?

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EDITORIALOliver VigniQUEER IDENTITY, REPRESENTATION, IDENTITY, GENDER, SEXUALITY Comment
A Critical Look at the Representation of Prominent Black Women in Warner Bros. Animation
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?

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EDITORIALAlissa Clarke-GaarRACE, CHARACTER, GENDER, HOLLYWOOD, REPRESENTATION Comments
What does a Refugee look like? (UNHCR Teaching About Refugees, 2017)
What does a Refugee look like? (UNHCR Teaching About Refugees, 2017)

As a media form, animation has the unique ability to render immaterial realities and unfamiliar experiences visually in a manner inaccessible to live-action cinema. In this way, animation can represent the unrepresentable, creating a rare opportunity for either the disruption of hegemonic discourses, such as through the visualisation of silenced perspectives, or a repackaged reiteration of them. Animation can provide a vehicle for graphic political criticism, augmenting the way things are represented through artistic means: such as by exaggerating certain characteristic features of a political class or actor through cartoon aesthetics. A prime example of this can be found within the Who is a Refugee? animation featured on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) YouTube channel, which represents the journey of an unnamed family from an unspecified nation as they transition into refugee status.

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SEQUENCE ANALYSISBerry Pillot de CheneceyREPRESENTATION, STYLE, POLITICAL, PROPAGANDAComment
How The Substance (2024) Uses Fantasy-Horror to Remind Us How Unrealistic Society’s Perception of Aging Women Is
How The Substance (2024) Uses Fantasy-Horror to Remind Us How Unrealistic Society’s Perception of Aging Women Is

When arthouse streaming service, MUBI, acquired one of the year’s surprisingly successful films, 6x Oscar-nominated The Substance (Coralie Fargeat, 2024), it was originally being distributed by Universal for barely $18M. However, French writer/director Coralie Fargeat’s refusal to cut certain scenes eventually allowed her to shop the film elsewhere. With Fargeat now satisfied and Universal likely banging their heads against the wall, The Substance has become an absolute hit, going on to make $70M+ at the global box office (D’Alessandro, 2024).

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EDITORIALKearin GreenGENDER, REPRESENTATION, FEMINISM, AGING, BODY, HORRORComment
Visions of Vulnerability: The Artistic Depiction of Psychological Decline in Arcane
Visions of Vulnerability: The Artistic Depiction of Psychological Decline in Arcane

In recent years, the entertainment industry has begun to delve more deeply into the once taboo topic of mental health and its complexities, expanding the representation of characters with mental illness beyond the two-dimensional caricatures that such screen representations began with. Riot Games’ animated Netflix series Arcane (Christian Linke & Alex Yee, 2021-) stands out as a compelling addition to this discussion, particularly through its creative representation of one character’s increasing mental instability. In this blog, I will analyze how Arcane draws from real-life manifestations of psychosis in order to create a visceral illustrated experience through the psychological deterioration of the innocent Powder into her unstable new identity, Jinx.

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EDITORIALSydney SmithNETFLIX, GENDER, SUBJECTIVITY, REPRESENTATION Comments
The Story of Plaything
The Story of Plaything

The story of my animated film Plaything (still in production) and its themes of minstrelsy and racism is a long arduous journey that continues to surprise me even as I author this article. Once the film is completed, it will dive firmly and deeply into the darkest depths of American history and explore the disturbing roots of Blackface minstrelsy, slavery, and Jim Crow, which have nourished and supported multiple media form for nearly two centuries, from the macabre roots of the Southern Gothic sub-genre to cartoons and animated filmmaking.

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CREATIVE REFLECTIONShakeem R. WinnRACE, RALPH BAKSHI, REPRESENTATION, HOLLYWOOD, CRAFTComment
Review: International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film 2024
Review: International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film 2024

While the legal, economic and ethical impact of generative AI continues to ripple through the media industry at large, one might be forgiven to find at least a modicum of solace in the belief that independent animation continues to be, in some ways, a world apart. This is not to say, of course, that animators, even art-house animators, are somehow shielded from the disruptive potential of exploitative technological innovations, or immune from the material and ideological concerns that affect the rest of the image-making community.

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EVENT REVIEWPM CicchettiDOCUMENTARY, FESTIVAL, REPRESENTATIONComment
To bean, or not to bean? On rabbit toes and lessons from Watership Down
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.

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EDITORIALCatherine LesterANTHROPOMORPHISM, REPRESENTATION, CHARACTER, BRITISH ANIMATION Comments
Fan Service in Chinese and Japanese Animation
Fan Service in Chinese and Japanese Animation

Originating in Japanese anime, fan service refers to elements in fiction, often of a sexual nature, added to please the audience and cater to fans’ desires by incorporating nudity or highly suggestive and erotic scenes. Keith Russell (2008) argues that fan service scenes in anime create an aesthetic of the “glimpse,” where panty shots, leg spreads, and brief flashes of breasts transform mundane moments of daily life into possibilities charged with desire. These anticipated gestures are briefly frozen in time, sustaining moments of sensory gratification where the body and imagination coexist, establishing a connection between gaze and desire (Russell 2008, 107).

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EDITORIALMengxue WeiANIME, JAPAN, CHINA, SEXUALITY, REPRESENTATIONComment
How A Town Called Panic (2009) takes your toys to the next level
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.

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EDITORIALBryce SheehanCHARACTER, PERFORMANCE, REPRESENTATIONComment
4 Iconic Animation Characters Who Wear Glasses
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.

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EDITORIALHollie HobbsCHARACTER, REPRESENTATION, GENDER, COSTUMEComment
Maintaining Identity over Time in Animated Bodies during Metamorphosis Transitions
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.

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EDITORIALRui Han TeoMETAMORPHOSIS, BODY, CHARACTER, REPRESENTATION, ABSTRACTComment
Wizards: Flaws of Human Nature through Fantastical Animation
Wizards: Flaws of Human Nature through Fantastical Animation

Western culture has long had a preconceived notion that animation is primarily for children. Two prominent reasons for this positioning were the arrival of the Hays Code, a motion picture guideline that made censorship stricter starting in 1934 up until 1968 (and which included the censoring of animated stars such as Betty Boop), and the dominant influence that the Walt Disney Studios had upon shaping the identity of the medium as family-friendly (see Lewis 2021). These two forces converged to create cartoons marketed primarily towards younger audiences, leaving future generations of animators and studios to adopt and perpetuate this convention.

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EDITORIALJames GorczycaADULT, RALPH BAKSHI, REPRESENTATION, FANTASYComment
They Were More than Roommates: An Analysis of Ramona’s Growth in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023-)
They Were More than Roommates: An Analysis of Ramona’s Growth in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023-)

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023-) is an anime adaptation of the original graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley and directed by Abel Góngora, released in November 2023. One of the many adaptations of the original story, Góngora’s retelling shifts its focus to its female lead, Ramona Flowers while featuring a new narrative of forgiveness and reconciliation with past relationships.

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EDITORIALJada CarterADAPTATION, TELEVISION, GENDER, REPRESENTATIONComment
Speaking to Impurity: The Preservation or Expulsion of Parasites in Iwaaki Hitoshi’s Parasyte
Speaking to Impurity: The Preservation or Expulsion of Parasites in Iwaaki Hitoshi’s Parasyte

Parasyte is a Japanese sci-fi/fantasy/horror manga created by Hitoshi Iwaaki, serialized from 1989 to 1994, and continuously adapted over the last decade into multiple films, animations, and television series. Its enduring popularity is evidenced by the recent Korean film adaptation, which emerged a decade after the last, Parasyte: The Grey. Most versions of Parasyte maintain the same core narrative, focusing on a high school student named Shinichi and an alien parasite named Migi that burrows into his right arm. They gradually form a trusting alliance to combat other parasytes that have taken over human brains. Through his interactions with Migi, Shinichi begins to ponder the justice of survival among non-human creatures.

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EDITORIALShao-Jie JhouANIME, MANGA, ANTHROPOMORPHISM, REPRESENTATION, PHILOSOPHY, BODYComment
The ‘Unmasking Scene’ in the Student Films of Shofela Coker
The ‘Unmasking Scene’ in the Student Films of Shofela Coker

Nigerian-born artist and illustrator Shofela Coker’s student films Oni Ise Owo (2007) and Iwa (2009) narrate tales of redemption at the intersection of divine will and the exercise of human agency. Iwa is a remake of the earlier animation completed as a Motion Graphics final project when Coker was an art student at the Memphis College of Art. This post reads a critical scene in both films to explore artistic creative agency at the intersection of traditional African art production and the digital provenance of animation.

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EDITORIALMichael OshindoroSUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, REPRESENTATION, BODY, TECHNOLOGYComment