Identity in Animation

Jane Batkin is a Senior Lecturer and joint Programme Leader of the BA (Hons) Animation course at the University of Lincoln, UK. She is a member of the Society of Animation Studies and Society of Film and Media Studies and has presented at the SAS Conference in Toronto, in Canterbury and at the Toy Story at 20 Symposium. Her article ‘Rethinking the Rabbit’, exploring the history and culture of Looney Tunes, was published by the Society of Animation Studies Journal and she is currently contributing to a forthcoming anthology celebrating Toy Story.

• Introduction 1 The boop-oop-a-doop girl: culture, body and Betty Boop 2 Disney: self, patriarchy and punishment3 Conflict and connection, body and performance: how Looney Tunes broke out of the asylum4 The case for Wallace and Gromit: Britishness, horror, slapstick and the real 5 Who am I? Gender at play: guys in corsets, girls in love 6 The misfits: bodies, difference and wandering in the Clayography films of Adam Elliot 7 Hayao Miyazaki: place, nostalgia and adolescence8 The ‘thingness’ of CG and the life of the objectConclusion

‘With Identity in Animation, Jane Batkin offers us an illuminating look into the ways that a character can be seen to incorporate ideas of self, the nation, and culture, while reminding us that our understanding of a character is influenced by the physicality of animation combined with our notions of personality.’Amy Davis, Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, University of Hull, UK‘Combining textual analysis and interview, Batkin provides a welcome reason to revisit the likes of Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Princess Mononoke, and many others, considering afresh their significance as identifying markers of personal, cultural, and industrial change. Essential reading for anyone interested in animation, identity politics, and social history.’Chris Pallant, Senior Lecturer in Film and Digital Media, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK