A New History of Animation guides readers through the history and context of animation from around the world. The book assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and explains all the key technical concepts, filling a gap in the market for a complete and well-researched animation history textbook that can be used by teachers in trade schools and universities worldwide, as well as by readers interested in the story of this evolving medium.
Topics covered include: early cinema and the foundations of the animation industry; animation as modern art and the emergence of the major studios; animation during wartime; stop-motion; new audiences for animation, in advertising, television, and games; animation from Eastern Europe; short films; computer-generated animation; international animation from Japan and elsewhere; and animation as an art form.
Table of Contents
I. Origins of animation
1. Setting the scene for animation. Early innovations in simulating movement ; The printing press and comic strips ; The impact of photography on studies of locomotion ; The transition to animated cinema
2. The magic of early cinema. Entrepreneurs of early cinema ; First approaches to animation ; Wonderful tricks: special effects in early film
3. Foundations of the animation industry. The beginnings of drawn animation ; Bray, Barré, and the emergence of the animation studio system ; The development of the Hollywood studio system and the modern cinema experience ; Stop-motion developments of the 1910s
4. The late silent era and the coming of sound. Iconic figures of the late silent era ; Distribution options ; The introduction of sound technology ; The consolidation of the American animation industry ; Stop-motion developments in the late silent era
II. Early animation
5. Animation as modern art. Modern movements in painting ; The development of modern art ; Lotte Reneger and the art and craft of silhouette animation ; Abstraction, transcendence, and visual music: theories of modernest animation ; The Russian film theory revolution ; Collaboration in unsettled times: modernist animation of the 1930s ; Support for modernist animation
6. Disney’s new aesthetic. Creating an identity ; The reorganization of the studio ; A new aesthetic for a new era ; The ideas behind “Disney style” movement ; Disney’s first feature films
7. Style and the Fleischer Studio. The development of style in the 1930s ; The Fleischer studio: style and structure ; Classifying content ; Censorship ; The New Deal and the rise of unions in the US animation industry
8. Comedy and the dominance of American animation. Key elements of comedy ; Animation at Warner Bros. ;
Animation at MGM
III. Wartime and midcentury
9. Animation in World War II. Animation and the war effort ; The events of World War II ; Identifying the enemy ; Animation with an agenda ; Wartime animation outside the United States
10. International developments in postwar animation. Occupation and animation ; Postwar animation in communist countries ; Postwar animation in Great Britain and Canada
11. Stop-motion approaches. Experiments in stop-motion ; Stop-motion in advertising ; Stop-motion in Eastern Europe ; Pioneering efforts in Japan and China ; Japanese theatrical traditions ; American stop-motion in the postwar period ; Stop-motion stars
12. Midcentury shifts in American design. Finding the artist in animation: developments at the major studios ; United we stand: the influences of the UPA Studio ; The rise of animated advertising
13. Early television animation. The beginnings of made-for-television animation in America ; The rise of children’s animated television series ; Media regulation ; American animated television production in the 1980s ; International developments in made-for-television animation
IV. Experimental modes
14. Postwar experimentation. Animation and the avant-garde ; Experiments with perception ; The beginnings of animated computer art
15. New audiences for animated features. New voices in popular media ; Disney animation from the postwar era ; Creative work from Disney’s rivals ; The rise of international projection ; Attracting the youth audience
V. New contexts and voices
16. The emergence of electronic games. The impact of technology on games ; Types of game ; The online came community ; Creating and modifying games ; Heroes and damsels in distress ; The future of animated games
17. Voices from the Eastern Bloc. The introduction of a modern style in Soviet animation ; Animation after the fall of the Soviet Union ; Czechoslovakia’s changing political identity ; Varied directions for Czech animation ; Animation from the Visegrad group
18. Authorship in animated shorts. Support for short films ; Women and authorship ; Formal and technical experimentation ; Developing stop-motion worlds
19. The Disney renaissance. Before the renaissance: challenges to Disney’s reputation ; Key administrators at the new Disney ; Films of the Disney renaissance ; Disney theater ; After the renaissance
20. Television as a creative space. Commercial broadcast animation ; Cable animation
21. Computer-generated animation in features. Innovators in the effects world ; Creating an authentic reality ; John Lasseter and the rise of Pixar ; Digital advances at DreamWorks Animation ; The illusion of depth ; Disney building its digital empire ; Other players embrace CGI
VI. Animation worldwide
22. The culture of Japanese animation. Manga and anime ; Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Studio Ghibli ; A survey of Japanese animation studios ; Innovative short film production ; Preserving a cultural legacy
23. The panorama of world animation. A global challenge: creating a national style ; International feature films ; Distributing world animation: GKIDS
24. Animation in the art world. Finding the art in animation ; Installations ; Projections and site-specific works ;
Animation and performance ; The art of video games
Glossary
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