Episode 84 takes a trip for the first time to the computer-animated efforts of the DreamWorks Animation studio, often viewed as Disney and Pixar’s commercial rival but whose features frequently offer a biting satirical revision of the narrative and stylistic formulae of these renowned animation heavyweights. For this latest episode on Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury & Conrad Vernon, 2004), Chris and Alex’s special guest is Dr Sam Summers, Associate Lecturer at Middlesex University and author of the recent DreamWorks Animation: Intertextuality and Aesthetics in Shrek and Beyond (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). Sam is also the co-editor of a collection Toy Story: How Pixar Reinvented the Animated Feature (London: Bloomsbury, 2018) and - alongside journalist Ben Travis - co-host of the Disniversity podcast that offers a crash course through the history of Disney's animated classics. Listen as they discuss Shrek 2 and its industrial and aesthetic place within DreamWorks’ animated canon, and its relationship to Hollywood’s computer-animated film landscape more broadly; star voices and ‘presentational’ performances that contribute to the film’s layering of intrusive anachronism; the combination of medieval fairytale fantasy tropes with California culture; tensions between Shrek 2’s anti-Disney sentiment and the franchising of the Shrek myth; commercial positioning and the role of Shrek 2 in consolidating DreamWorks as a ‘punky’ alternative to the tone and style of the Mouse House; Disney’s timelessness vs. the ‘timeliness’ of DreamWorks when it comes to pop culture satire; and how through the Fairy Godmother, Shrek 2 negotiates (and then weaponises) the happy ending structure common to the fairytale form.
Footnote #31 - Claymation
Monster House (2006) (with Jane Batkin)
Footnote #30 - Franchises
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) (with Rhianna Dhillon)
Footnote #29 - Transmedia
Arab Animation (1937-2015) (with Omar Sayfo)
Footnote #28 - Adult Animation
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) (with David Sorfa)
Footnote #27 - Surrealism
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) (with Jyotsna Kapur)
Footnote #26 - The Cinema of Attractions
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) (with Daniel White)
Footnote #25 - Photorealism
Peppa Pig Revisited (with Sarah Ann Kennedy)
Footnote #24 - Hyper-Realism
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
Footnote #23 - Phantasy
Czech Animation (1946-2011) (with Adam Whybray)
Footnote #22 - Boiling
House of the Dragon (2021-) (with Kim Akass)
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