Linking here collections and resources I’ve recently found that interested me in regards to building a decolonized animation practice, as well as critiques of the animation industry for its capitalistic, imperialistic, and white supremacist behaviors, as well as the routine and incessant appropriation of indigenous and otherwise marginalized narratives.
Decolonizing Animation Symposium by Ecstatic Truths (video symposium)
Great presentations on how individuals and communities are approaching decolonization through the process of making work, the study of work, and the work itself.
I particularly enjoyed “Animating Memory: Creative explorations of migrant memories and postcolonial identities in the British Bangladesh Diaspora” by Dr. Biwas Bisht (at 28:09) and “Shifting towards Decoloniality: A transfronteriza nepantlera’s rasquache tactics in new media art and animation” by Liliana Conlisk Gallegos.
“Ecstatic Truth is an annual symposium on animated documentary that takes place in a different country every year. We are interested in what animators and artists have to say about the work they make…. How does that apply to animation? Our speakers will look at issues such as how to work collaboratively to tell stories of conflict or underrepresented peoples, how to counter bias in technology and whether animation can be used to express the voice and culture of indigenous peoples. There will be a range of approaches to making animation shown – from traditional drawn animation to the use of VR, AR, game engines, data and motion capture.”
Mulan and Moana: Embedded Coloniality and the Search for Authenticity in Disney Animated Film (essay)
Informative essay about Michelle Anya Anjirbag. A critical look at the concept of selling out and the fine line between adaptation and appropriation through the comparison of Mulan and Moana. In-depth critique of design as well as the processes by which the filmmakers involved marginalized cultural consultants.
“As the consciousness of coloniality, diversity, and the necessity of not only token depictions of otherness but accurate representations of diversity in literature and film has grown, there has been a shift in the processes of adaptation and appropriation used by major film production companies and how they approach representing the other… In one case, a cultural historical tale was decontextualized and reframed, while in the other, cultural actors had a degree of input in the film representation. By examining culturally specific criticisms and scenes from each film, I will explore how the legacy of coloniality can still be seen embedded in the framing of each film, despite the studio’s stated intentions towards diversity and multiculturalism.”
Whose Paradise? Encounter, Exchange and Exploitation (essay)
Another critique of Moana, as well as a in-depth look at the appropriation of Pacific Islander cultures and the Western concept of “paradise” by Kalissa Alexeyeff and Siobhan McDonnell.
“Through these countervailing forces and complex crosscurrents, Pacific paradise emerges as a potent if long-contested trope that materially generates a whole range of Western and Pacific realities, desires, and aspirations… Throughout the articles in this collection, important questions about global power and structural inequality remain: Whose interests does paradise serve? How is the discourse of paradise mobilized, commodified, and purchased? And whose “paradise” is reflected in these ideas and images?”