Animated Landscapes: History, Form and Function

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Winner of the 2017 McLaren-Lambart Award for Best Book on the Subject of Animation Studying landscape in cinema isn't quite new; itd be hard to imagine Woody Allen without New York, or the French New Wave without Paris. But the focus on live-action cinema leaves a significant gap in studying animated films. With the almost total pervasiveness of animation today, this collection provides the reader with a greater sense of how the animated landscapes of the present relate to those of the past. Including essays from international perspectives, Animated Landscapes introduces an idea that has seemed, literally, to be in the background of animation studies. The collection provides a timely counterpoint to the dominance of character (be that either animated characters such as Mickey Mouse or real world personalities such as Walt Disney) that exists within animation scholarship (and film studies more generally). Chapters address a wide range of topics including history, case studies in national contexts (including Australia, Japan, China and Latvia), the traversal of animated landscape, the animation of fantastical landscapes, and the animation of interactive landscapes. Animated Landscapes promises to be an invaluable addition to the existing literature, for the most overlooked aspect of animation.

Reviews

This collection provides a rich and lively discussion on one of the most overlooked areas of animationanimated landscape, which, just as Pallant wants it to be, is to rebalance the long-term bias existing between character and landscape, which is related to the centrality of studies on character design and interpretation over reflections about landscapes. It ably explores the multivalent nature of animated landscape with an interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approach, which also deepens the readers understanding of what animation is. * Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media *
For so long animation studies literature has focused mainly on animated charactersat last a book that examines the other part of the frame: backgrounds and environments. Through historical analysis and theoretical considerations, Animated Landscapes brings attention to a significant but largely overlooked realm of animation aesthetics. The broad scope of essays by leading scholars in the field reflect the diversity of animation today. * Maureen Furniss, Program Director of the Program in Experimental Animation, California Institute of the Arts, USA, and Founding Editor of Animation Journal *
Animated landscapes: they're not just 'backgrounds' anymore. This collection by established and emerging scholars directs our attention to an aspect of animation that has long been treated as secondary, if it was considered at all. Far from being painting in motion, or even a depiction of nature, landscaping can be mindscaping, and an active, if not dominant element of the film, new media, or gaming experience. The book is a welcome addition to the growing body of work in animation studies. * Donald Crafton, The Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Film, Television, and Theatre, University of Notre Dame, USA, and author of Shadow of a Mouse: Performance, Belief, and World-making in Animation *
If Pallants intention for his anthology was to question, interrogate and trace what it means for a landscape to become (and be considered) as animated, whilst shining the spotlight on an area that can at times appear to be virtually nothing (p. 8), then the accomplishments of the included authors more than meet these goals. * Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal *

Author Bio

Chris Pallant is a Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. His research includes animation, filmmaking production practices and technologies, and videogames. He has published on a range of topics, including Disney feature animation, the cartoonism of Quentin Tarantino, performance capture, and Rockstar Games.