Posts tagged ANIMATION
Episode 129 - Disney: A Tale of Technology and Innovation (Live at the British Film Institute) (with Chris McKenna)
Episode 129 - Disney: A Tale of Technology and Innovation (Live at the British Film Institute) (with Chris McKenna)

Episode 129 sees Chris flying solo as part of a conversation recorded live at the recent Once Upon A Time: A Disney Day held at the British Film Institute in London back in July, which was part of the Making Magic: 100 Years of Disney two-month season that ran throughout 2023. Discussing the Disney studio’s longstanding relationship to technological innovation is returning special guest Chris McKenna, current Head of Creative Operations at the VFX studio Moving Picture Company, who featured on the earlier Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019) episode of the podcast.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantWALT DISNEY, TECHNOLOGY, ANIMATION, HOLLYWOOD, STYLE, VISUAL EFFECTS
Episode 105 - In Conversation with Nancy Beiman
Episode 105 - In Conversation with Nancy Beiman

Chris and Alex return after their belated summer hiatus with Episode 105 of the podcast, and a very special instalment that features them in conversation with renowned animation director, character designer, animator, and teacher Nancy Beiman, who has worked at a number of studios (from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin studio to the Walt Disney Company and Warner Brothers) as well as on feature films including A Goofy Movie (Kevin Lima, 1995), Hercules (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1997) and Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2002).

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantHOLLYWOOD, CREATIVITY, LABOUR, TECHNOLOGY, ANIMATIONComment
Episode 87 - Chinese Animation and the Shanghai Animation Film Studio (1956-1988) (with Yuanyuan Chen)
Episode 87 - Chinese Animation and the Shanghai Animation Film Studio (1956-1988) (with Yuanyuan Chen)

For Episode 87, Chris and Alex are joined by special guest Dr. Yuanyuan Chen, who teaches animation history and theory at Ulster University, for this brief introduction to Chinese animation and the work of the pioneering Shanghai Animation Film Studio. From propagandist impulses and opera traditions to Chinese state politics and painterly aesthetic styles, the complex history of Chinese animation and its more recent iterations are reflected in this cross-section of contemporary examples, which all serve to highlight the creativity of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio and its influential filmmakers.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantALLEGORY, CHINA, NATIONAL, ANIMATION, CEL-ANIMATION, RELIGIONComment
Episode 65 - Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) (with Todd McGowan)
Episode 65 - Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) (with Todd McGowan)

Are we dreaming, or are we awake? How do we choose which realities to believe in? What levels of fictionality count? Find out in Episode 65, which works its way through the dream logic and desires of Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010), a film that probes deep into our unconscious to revel in how dreams allow us to participate in a shared fantasy. Joining Chris and Alex as they kick back through the layers of Inception’s rhizomatic, mazelike structure is Todd McGowan, Professor of Film Studies in the Film and Television Studies Department at the University of Vermont, and author of a number of books on psychoanalytic film theory, film comedy and popular media, including The Real Gaze: Film Theory after Lacan (2007) and The Fictional Christopher Nolan (2012).

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantDESIRE, ANIMATION, SPECIAL EFFECTS, VISUAL EFFECTS, PSYCHOANALYSIS, DREAMS, HOLLYWOOD, FANTASYComment
Episode 24 - Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008) (with Bella Honess Roe)
Episode 24 - Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008) (with Bella Honess Roe)

Episode 24 takes a walk through the terrain of animated documentary, with Chris and Alex joined by Dr Bella Honess Roe (Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for Film Studies, University of Surrey) to discuss the relationship between truth, authenticity and animation in Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008). Documenting his own personalised account of the Lebanon war, Folman’s feature film provides a useful test case to think about how fantasy and animation might be applied within a non-fiction context.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, ANIMATION, ALLEGORY, FILM HISTORYComment
Episode 20 - Peppa Pig (Neville Astley & Mark Baker, 2004-) (with Richard Dyer)
Episode 20 - Peppa Pig (Neville Astley & Mark Baker, 2004-) (with Richard Dyer)

Episode 20 welcomes Professor Richard Dyer (Emeritus Professor of Film Studies, King's College London and Professorial Fellow in Film Studies, University of St Andrews) to the podcast, joining Chris and Alex to discuss the popular British animated television series Peppa Pig (Neville Astley and Mark Baker, 2014-).

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantANIMATION, TELEVISION, CHILDREN, FANTASY, BRITISH Comments
Episode 17 & 18 - Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2019
Episode 17 & 18 - Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2019

Episodes 17 and 18 come to you live from the 2019 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, held in Seattle, Washington, USA! Hear Chris and Alex report on the ins and outs of attending the largest academic media conference in the world, providing you with insights into the various panels, delegates and procedures of the event through a series of interviews with the best and brightest from the worlds of fantasy and animation.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, ANIMATION, IDENTITY, TECHNOLOGYComment
Episode 14 (Bonus) - Live from London Anime & Gaming Con 2019
Episode 14 (Bonus) - Live from London Anime & Gaming Con 2019

Recorded live at the London Anime & Gaming Con during a special “Fantasy in Anime” panel on Saturday 16th February 2019, this bonus episode of the Fantasy/Animation podcast has Chris and Alex joined by an audience of passionate Japanese anime fans brought together through the Animeleague community. Tune in to hear an energetic discussion of anime authorship, the role of fantasy and imagination in cartoon narratives, and the creative compatibility between characterisation and design.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, ANIMATION, ANIME Comments
Episode 13 - Animal Farm (John Halas and Joy Batchelor, 1954) (with Jez Stewart)
Episode 13 - Animal Farm (John Halas and Joy Batchelor, 1954) (with Jez Stewart)

Far from being unlucky, episode 13 offers listeners a bumper line-up as Chris and Alex are joined by special guest Jez Stewart - curator at the BFI National Archive and expert on British animation history - to talk about Animal Farm (John Halas and Joy Batchelor, 1954). Taking on this celebrated animated adaptation of George Orwell’s popular novel, they discuss the production history of Britain’s first animated feature film and the vital role of archival material, alongside broader questions of cartoonal allegory via the narrative’s heavy politicised visions of anthropomorphic left-wing uprising.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantADAPTATION, BRITISH, ALLEGORY, FABLE, ANIMATION, FANTASYComment
Episode 12 - Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight, 2016)
Episode 12 - Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight, 2016)

Episode 12 takes Chris and Alex to feudal Japan as they get to grips with Laika studio’s stop-motion feature film, Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight, 2016). The thorny question of animation’s inherently self-reflexive identity and status as anti-illusionist art; the magic of fantasy storytelling and spectatorship; and the medium specificity of object animation provide just some of the topics involved in their own critical battle with this popular fantasy/animated samurai epic.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantSTOP-MOTION, FANTASY, REFLEXIVITY, ANIMATIONComment
Episode 9 - Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson, 1964)
Episode 9 - Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson, 1964)

The ninth episode takes Chris and Alex up to the rooftops of London as they tackle Walt Disney’s fantasy musical Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson, 1964). This song-and-dance celebration follows the adventures of Mary, Bert and the Banks children, including their famous journey into the wonderful world of animation. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, ANIMATION, CEL-ANIMATION, HYBRIDITY, MUSICAL, WALT DISNEYComment
Episode 8 - Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018)
Episode 8 - Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018)

Episode eight sees Chris and Alex discuss the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018). As the first Marvel film to feature a predominantly black cast, Black Panther offers the opportunity to situate fantasy and animation both within the codes of the popular superhero genre, and alongside broader critical questions of black subjectivity in contemporary cinema.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, SUPERHERO, ANIMATION, SPECIAL EFFECTSComment
Episode 7 - The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003)
Episode 7 - The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003)

In episode seven, Chris and Alex encounter ferocious bicycle wheels, music hall stars fishing for frogs using dynamite, and the French mafia in their discussion of the frankly bizarre animated fantasy The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003). With minimal dialogue and an expressionist, borderline surreal visual style, Chomet’s film - released in the UK as Belleville Rendezvous - is erratic, eccentric and downright charming.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFRANCE, CEL-ANIMATION, SURREALISM, FANTASY, ANIMATION Comments
Episode 6 - The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017) (with Martha Shearer)
Episode 6 - The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017) (with Martha Shearer)

For episode six, Chris and Alex are joined by Dr Martha Shearer (King’s College London), expert on the Hollywood musical and author of the recent monograph New York City and the Hollywood Musical: Dancing in the Streets (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). Together, they discuss The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017) in relation to its status as a biopic, as a fantasy of New York, and its marked use of computer graphics that bring this all-singing, all-dancing American musical to life.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, ANIMATION, SPECIAL EFFECTSComment
Episode 5 - Yellow Submarine (George Dunning, 1968)
Episode 5 - Yellow Submarine (George Dunning, 1968)

Episode five takes Chris and Alex on a magical mystery tour through psychedelic British animation of the 1960s thanks to Yellow Submarine (George Dunning, 1968). This animated fantasy musical mixes playful caricatures of John, Paul, George, and Ringo with a colourful, abstract and, at times, surreal visual style from art director Heinz Edelmann. Drawing from both classical, folk and pop music, sixties rebellious youth culture, and The Beatles’ own rock and roll repertoire, Yellow Submarine presented the possibilities for animation as a significant and serious art form.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, ANIMATION, BRITISH, PSYCHEDELIAComment
Episode 4 - My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)
Episode 4 - My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)

In episode four, Chris and Alex discuss the work of Studio Ghibli and their feature-film My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988). Released as part of a double-bill with Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata, 1988), My Neighbor Totoro is a colourful animated fantasy that takes place in rural Japan inhabited by mysterious dustbunnies and the eponymous Totoro creature (who has since become Ghibli’s own official mascot).

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, ANIMATION, ANIME, JAPANComment
Episode 3 - Jason and the Argonauts (Don Chaffey, 1963)
Episode 3 - Jason and the Argonauts (Don Chaffey, 1963)

The third episode sees Chris and Alex reflecting on Jason and the Argonauts (Don Chaffey, 1963), which showcases the pioneering work of stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. Based on classical Greek mythology, the film's famed 'skeleton warrior' battle sequence designed by Harryhausen fully encapsulates the possibilities of animated special effects for fantasy cinema.

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PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, MYTHOLOGY, ANIMATION, STOP-MOTIONComment