Representation in Animation
Female representation in animation / animation theory and the content:
Maureen Furniss: "Issues of representation in "animation / aesthetics"
and
Sean Griffin: The illusion of identity: Gender, and racial representation in Aladdin' in Maureen Furniss's animation - art and industry
Strong female presence within managerial roles, intended to be in a difficult climate for a lot of women. Different representations.
Animation Industry:
Mary Ellen Bute: Rare example of female presence (1930's - early 40's)
Lotte Reigiger - Germany 1920's
Both incredibly influential / innovators. Little eruptions
A number of others operated under pseudonyms/initials:
M.J. Winkler Productions = Margret Winkler
Dale Merrik = Dalia Merrik
La Verne Harding ("Verne")
Publishing anonymously
Begins to pick up in the 90's
1941 - Disney Workers strike - Male animators worried that female workers are being trained to take their job (females generally just inked cells)
Managerial Level:
Cartoon Network
TNT International
Daytime Children's programming CBS
President of Disney / ABC Cable networks
Fox's Kids Network
Warner Bros Television Animation
Disney Channel
(Studio manager is often female, male and female designers in operation)
Jayne Pilling, Esther Leslie, and Suzanne Buchanne hold prominent positions - Editors and conference arrangers (well, networked hub of industry)
The content is coming from two places, essay by Maureen Furniss, and an essay from Sean Griffin* noted above. In one sense Aladdin has interesting backstories and how they cast the characters. Having the characters voiced by A-List movie stars, and so does the filming.
The idea of the reproduction of very specific gender roles, it's what most of the animation theorists think of and partly what the managers are managing.
Animated Content:
Shapeshifting for animated / comic effect
Transforming at the whim of the animator
1930's turn towards 'realistic' human form --> These two tendencies mirror philosophical/sociological approaches to identity.
Disney 'believable', 'natural', movement
The illusion of life.
Social constructionists perspectives (performing paradigm)
Gender created through social institutions/situation
*Not biologically inventible --> also applies to masculinity, heterosexuality, racial/ethnic identity
Began in feminist writing
Case Study from Aladdin*
Rotoscoping:
Snow White --> Cinderella, Alice, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine
Rotoscoping was always 'improvement' upon to give characters more appeal. Overly gendered drawing emphasises the process of fetishisation at work (esp. in relation to the female from and Disney). Laura Mulvey (Visual Pleasure and narrative cinema - cinema create a male viewing subject - with fetishised female characters - the female audience must take on male subjectivity.
Larger head, smaller torso: Grim Natwick (the artist who originally drew Snow White) - 'she was not actually that real.'
Male Characters:
Prince Charming - 'wooden' lacking in appeal
Animators worked endlessly on the creation of Snow White's appeal. A Disney prince typically only has a few minutes of screen time.
Pinocchio and Peter Pan are the exceptions to the role.
But their masculinity is problematised - wooden toy - "I'm a real boy"
Peter Pan - Sexual ambiguity (of persona) - Neverland - traditionally played by a woman in stage productions.
Maureen Furniss: "Issues of representation in "animation / aesthetics"
and
Sean Griffin: The illusion of identity: Gender, and racial representation in Aladdin' in Maureen Furniss's animation - art and industry
Strong female presence within managerial roles, intended to be in a difficult climate for a lot of women. Different representations.
Animation Industry:
Mary Ellen Bute: Rare example of female presence (1930's - early 40's)
Lotte Reigiger - Germany 1920's
Both incredibly influential / innovators. Little eruptions
A number of others operated under pseudonyms/initials:
M.J. Winkler Productions = Margret Winkler
Dale Merrik = Dalia Merrik
La Verne Harding ("Verne")
Publishing anonymously
Begins to pick up in the 90's
1941 - Disney Workers strike - Male animators worried that female workers are being trained to take their job (females generally just inked cells)
Managerial Level:
Cartoon Network
TNT International
Daytime Children's programming CBS
President of Disney / ABC Cable networks
Fox's Kids Network
Warner Bros Television Animation
Disney Channel
(Studio manager is often female, male and female designers in operation)
Jayne Pilling, Esther Leslie, and Suzanne Buchanne hold prominent positions - Editors and conference arrangers (well, networked hub of industry)
The content is coming from two places, essay by Maureen Furniss, and an essay from Sean Griffin* noted above. In one sense Aladdin has interesting backstories and how they cast the characters. Having the characters voiced by A-List movie stars, and so does the filming.
The idea of the reproduction of very specific gender roles, it's what most of the animation theorists think of and partly what the managers are managing.
Animated Content:
Shapeshifting for animated / comic effect
Transforming at the whim of the animator
1930's turn towards 'realistic' human form --> These two tendencies mirror philosophical/sociological approaches to identity.
Disney 'believable', 'natural', movement
The illusion of life.
Social constructionists perspectives (performing paradigm)
Gender created through social institutions/situation
*Not biologically inventible --> also applies to masculinity, heterosexuality, racial/ethnic identity
Began in feminist writing
Case Study from Aladdin*
Rotoscoping:
Snow White --> Cinderella, Alice, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine
Rotoscoping was always 'improvement' upon to give characters more appeal. Overly gendered drawing emphasises the process of fetishisation at work (esp. in relation to the female from and Disney). Laura Mulvey (Visual Pleasure and narrative cinema - cinema create a male viewing subject - with fetishised female characters - the female audience must take on male subjectivity.
Larger head, smaller torso: Grim Natwick (the artist who originally drew Snow White) - 'she was not actually that real.'
Male Characters:
Prince Charming - 'wooden' lacking in appeal
Animators worked endlessly on the creation of Snow White's appeal. A Disney prince typically only has a few minutes of screen time.
Pinocchio and Peter Pan are the exceptions to the role.
But their masculinity is problematised - wooden toy - "I'm a real boy"
Peter Pan - Sexual ambiguity (of persona) - Neverland - traditionally played by a woman in stage productions.