Wells and Animation

The Wells article was a great read, specifically because it's focusing the divide between mainstream and avant-garde within a specific film genre branch (ie animation). The individual artist versus the mass collective, the seamless continuity versus purposive shifts in logic and action for emotional response, it all becomes really distilled in an animation. I think this is because animation has a tendency to get at the nascent root of artistic communication. The way the article spoke of recognizable characters becoming their own intrinsic identities beyond situation, Mickey Mouse still being a marketable recreation in the Sorcerer's Apprentice for instance, really speaks to how primal I think animations are. If we are watching a film with an actor, some aspect of their star persona seeps into the film, but for the most part we feel like we are watching new characters. With animation that doesn't happen, the character is trapped in amber, forever chasing rabbits or roadrunners, brought to a single narrative compulsion that carries the timespan of an entire cartoon series. On the other hand, experimental animation often pares down to simple shapes and colors, becoming the most basic and natural means of eliciting emotional response.

I did have two basic reactions to the article. One was that I would have loved for the author's opinion on the new trending Japanese Anime that has begun to challenge narrative norms. For instance, with the film Paprika the overall "unity of style" is constantly being challenged by experimental shifts in the environment, but it still operates under a narrative justification (the subconscious dream infringing on reality. It's a cool film). I suppose this is a bit like a distortion in a chase sequence but in my mind far more extreme. I also think that claiming the majority of orthodox animation is dialogue based is a little bit of a stretch, especially with the animation he has been referencing (eg Looney Tunes, Disney). I feel like many of those old cartoons harnessed both the fast talking of Groucho (love a good Marx Brothers reference, I'll give the paper props for that) but also harness old silent film tendencies  (like Harpo!).

A few instances would be Roadrunner cartoons, Fantasia, Tom and Jerry, and I've seen a couple different Marvin the Martians that were almost completely without dialogue.

I'll include a few examples of what I'm talking about below.