SYMBOLISM — current posts — Fantasy/Animation

Political oppression and resistance in Jiří Trnka’s Ruka/The Hand (1965)

In 1965, the Czech draughtsman, book illustrator, puppet and toy designer, painter, animated film-maker and sculptor Jiří Trnka released his last short animation film Ruka/The Hand (1965). The silent 18 minute animation delivers a powerful and chilling dynamic; allegorically and metaphorically representing the influence of the communist political regime on the freedom of people through the framing of Trnka as the main character (a harlequin) and the accompanying image of the hand, which overpowers harlequin’s agency.

SEQUENCE ANALYSISRenée-Marie PizzardiJuly 29, 2022CZECH, POLITICAL, ALLEGORY, STOP-MOTION, SYMBOLISM, METAPHORComment

Come, Again: Exploring the Sticky Business of Animated Sperm

As someone who was schooled in the UK between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, I don’t have extensive memories of the formal teaching of sex education, for such classes were embarrassingly few.

EDITORIALEddie FalveyMay 20, 2022REPRESENTATION, GENDER, SEXUALITY, FANTASY, METAPHOR, SYMBOLISMComment

Metaphor and Symbol in HBO’s Westworld

Metaphors and symbols are closely connected in animated films. In his seminal book Understanding Animation, Paul Wells (1998) describes how metaphors extend from symbols, noting that “whilst the symbol invests an object with a specific, if historically flexible meaning, the metaphor offers the possibility of a number of discourses within its over-arching framework” (1998, 84).