"Adult Cartoons"
We're learning that animation has endless opportunities and that animation is NOT just for kids. Aside from "adult cartoons" like The Simpsons, Big Mouth, Bojack Horseman (all amazing shows), this week in class we were opened to a whole new world of "adult cartoons".
One of my group's categories today was "animation by necessity, being that a film was made in animation because it had to be. Necessity is a strong word to use, because Persepolis and Waltz of Bashir would be doable in live action, just much more difficult. They were both true stories that were about war and the settings were in a dangerous political climate. But what both films do is use animation to supplement the story. Persepolis has the scene after Marjane and Markus break up where he's no longer an attractive, thoughtful man but actually he's disgusting, ugly, and inconsiderate. Waltz of Bashir has the fantasy dream sequences that couldn't be done in live action.
The features we've watched and the "adult cartoon" TV shows use animation to their complete advantage. The animation allows what's on screen to be more graphic, more complex, more exaggerated, more clever, more ridiculous, and more creative.
One of my group's categories today was "animation by necessity, being that a film was made in animation because it had to be. Necessity is a strong word to use, because Persepolis and Waltz of Bashir would be doable in live action, just much more difficult. They were both true stories that were about war and the settings were in a dangerous political climate. But what both films do is use animation to supplement the story. Persepolis has the scene after Marjane and Markus break up where he's no longer an attractive, thoughtful man but actually he's disgusting, ugly, and inconsiderate. Waltz of Bashir has the fantasy dream sequences that couldn't be done in live action.
The features we've watched and the "adult cartoon" TV shows use animation to their complete advantage. The animation allows what's on screen to be more graphic, more complex, more exaggerated, more clever, more ridiculous, and more creative.
"Animation by necessity" is an interesting idea. I do feel as though it is important to challenge films like Persepolis with this idea especially since the film's subject matter is rooted in realism, commenting on political climates in Iran throughout the late 20th century. With Persepolis as an example of "unnecessary Animation" I would have to disagree though. The source material is a two part graphic novel and the film adopts its visual style in the form of animation. This may bring up a whole question about adaptation but I feel like since this story is so associated with the visuals in the acclaimed novel it feels appropriate for this film to be animated.
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