Maureen Furniss: Issues of representation in animation/ aesthetic.
Sean Griffin: the illusion of identity:Gender and racial representation in aladdin’ in Maureen Furinss’s animation- art and industry
Theres strong female presence within managerial roles, have been intended to be in a difficult climate for a lot of women. Different representation
Animation Industry:
Mary Ellen Bute: Rare example of females presence - 1930s- early 1940s
Lotte Reigiger- Germany 1920’s
Both incredibly influential? innovators. Little eruptions
A number of others women have 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
in 1941 some Disney Workers strike as male workers are worried that the females workers being trained will steel there jobs
One at Managerial Level: Cartoon Network, TNT International, Daytime Children's programs CBS, President of Disney/ ABC cable animation networks, Fox’s kids network, Warner Bros televisions 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 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.
