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.
Fantasy/Animation supports the #UCUstrike
Fantasy/Animation supports the #UCUstrike
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Footnote #2 - Animation
Rio (2011) (with Michael Tanzillo)
Footnote #1 - Introduction
See You Yesterday (2019) (with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas)
Mickey‘s Christmas Carol (1983) (with Amy M. Davis)
Gremlins (1984) (with Catherine Lester)
Chinese Animation and the Shanghai Animation Film Studio (1956-1988) (with Yuanyuan Chen)
The Secret of NIMH (1982)
Lovecraft Country (2020) (with Bambi Haggins)
By the Time It Gets Dark (2016) (with Felicity Gee)
The Land Before Time (1988) (with Mark Witton)
Sub-Saharan African Animation (1966-2013) (with Paula Callus)
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
Bagpuss (1974) (with Chris Pallant)
Treasure Planet (2002) (with Ron Clements and John Musker)
The Hunger Games (2012) (with Tarja Laine)
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