Animated Film and Stars

1
Animated Film and Stars

• FS344 PGates

2
Introduction

• Next Class
• Tutorialboth classes meet together 1030-1220
• Essays
• Wont be accepted after this Friday
• 2 marks a day for lateness
• MUST be submitted to turnitin.com or it wont be
  marked
• Exam
• Hollywood in the corporate era
• Stars
• Animated film

3
Take-Home Final Exam

• Week 13 review and exam distributed (Mon Dec
  6th)
• Exam due Friday December 10th by 4pm location
  TBA
• Late papers will not be accepted
• The exam should only take 2-4 hours to write
  however, you have four full days to complete it.
• Therefore, ALL students are expected to complete
  the exam in the allotted time period.
• No collaboration with other students is allowed
• Your exam will not be marked until submitted to
  turnitin.com
• Your exam must be submitted by midnight Friday
  Dec 10th
• Q1. Identify and explain the significance of
  characters/people
• Q2. Definitions from the lectures
• Q3. Three mini-essays (500 words max)
• You are given a specific film and topic

4
The Star System

• Richard Dyer asks if stars are a
• phenomenon of production or of consumption?  
• Star system 2 markets
• 1. labour market
• whereby stars produce themselves as commodities
• 2. market of cultural goods
• whereby audiences consume these star images
• The two markets are so closely entwined
• the producer is directly also the product
• Star is also part of product differentiation
• Come see the new Cruise and Cruz film!
• But are stars Artists (ie. actors) or
  Celebrities?

5
Yvonne Tasker

• 3 types of on-screen presence
• Performer
• simply plays his role not a serious actor, no
  extra-filmic exposure
• Actor
• is seen as possessing talent and artistry and is
  taken seriously by audiences
• Star
• may or may not be seen as a serious actor but
  possesses an extra-filmic dimension
• Interviews, scandals, pics in mags, posters, etc
• Ques can you think of examples of each?

6
Her egs (1994) Mine

• Performer
• Jean-Claude Van Damme
• Actor
• Harrison Ford
• Star
• Bruce Willis

• Performer
• Dana Carvey
• Diane Kruger
• Actor
• Chris Cooper
• Glenn Close
• Star
• Ben Affleck
• Jennifer Lopez

7
Extra-Filmic

• Stars image is not just generated by his/her
  films
• but by the promotion of those films self
  through
• Public
• Pin-ups, public appearances, interviews, studio
  handouts, biogs
• Personal
• coverage of the stars private life in the press,
  scandals, loves
• A stars image is always
• extensive, multimedia-based, and intertextual
• He/she play characters
• constructed representations of persons
• But his/her image as a star is
• also a constructed personage not necessarily
  the real person

8
Characters as Social Types

• Characters tend to be presented as specific
  social types
• Klapp said in Classical Hwood 3 prevalent types
• the Good Joe (played by Jimmy Stewart)
• the Tough Guy (played by John Wayne)
• the Pin-Up (played by any female star)
• These three represent the dominant social values
• Also alternative or subversive types
• villains and comedic fools
• Typology excludes other male types and female
  types
• Ques Are these three still valid today?
• Can you think of others?
• Are there set social types that protagonists fall
  into?

9
Stars and fits

• In 1979, Dyer adds two more to Klapps
• the Rebel and the Independent Woman
• Characters may fall into specific types
• BUT star personas also fall into specific types
• Selective Fit
• film exploits certain characteristics of the
  stars image
• but ignores others
• Perfect Fit
• the characters traits match those of the stars
• Problematic Fit
• the inescapable presence of the stars image
  conflicts
• with the construction of the characters

10
Role vs Persona

• The construction of a character is dependent on
• external forces
• such as star persona
• internal forces
• pre-established generic codes
• Rare for a star to be cast in a role that
  contradicts
• the characteristics associated with his/her
  persona
• ie. problematic fits are rare
• Often cast in a film because persona is a good
  fit for role
• A related topic film as star vehicle

11
Star Vehicles

• Geoff King argues
• Stars can engage in 2 kinds of acting
• Impersonation
• real acting and personality suppressed
• Personification
• cultivation of the star persona (ie. star
  vehicles)
• Star Vehicle
• a film that is put together w/ a specific star in
  mind 
• Showcases the star above other considerations
• Star vehicle constitutes a genre
• star precedes the genre OR genre precedes the
  star ?
• Richard Dyer VS Andrew Britton
• Ques
• Qualities of the character can dictate to the
  star ?

12
Animated Hollywood

• Until 1997, 1 film/yr from Disney
• 1997 saw Hercules (Disney) and Anastasia (Fox)
  no others
• 1998 Watershed Year the revolution
• Studios like DreamWorks SKG
• Disney Mulan (36th)
• Bug-bout between
• Antz (DreamWorks SKG) and A Bugs Life
  (Disney/Pixar)
• The Rugrats Movie (Klasky-Csupo)
• The Prince of Egypt (DreamWorks SKG)
• Some are traditional animation
• Others are computer animated
• 1999 saw an increase in animated features - 12

13
Disney  The Little Mermaid (1989)  The Rescuers
Down Under (1990)  Beauty and the Beast (1991)
 Aladdin (1992)  The Lion King (1994)
 Pocahontas (1995)  Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1996)  Hercules (1997)  Mulan (1998)  Tarzan
(1999)  Fantasia 2000 (1999)  The Emperor's New
Groove (2000)  Atlantis The Lost Empire (2001)
 Lilo Stitch (2002)  Treasure Planet (2002)
 Brother Bear (2003)  Home On the Range (2004)
Disney 3D  Dinosaur (2000)
 
Pixar  Toy Story (1995)  A Bug's Life (1998)
 Toy Story 2 (1999) Monsters, Inc. (2001)
 Finding Nemo (2003)  The Incredibles (2004)
DreamWorks 3D  Antz (1998)  Shrek (2001)
 Shrek 2 (2004) DreamWorks Traditional  The
Prince of Egypt (1998)  The Road To El Dorado
(2000)  Spirit (2002)  Sinbad (2003)
Other 3D Final Fantasy (2001)  Ice Age (2002)
 The Polar Express (2004) Other Traditional
 An American Tail (1991)  Anastasia (1997)
 The Iron Giant (1999)  Titan A.E. (2000)
 Waking Life (2001)  The Triplets of Belleville
(2003) Claymation The Nightmare Before Christmas
(1993)  James and the Giant Peach (1996)  The
Miracle Maker (2000)  Chicken Run (2000)
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Animated Stars?

• Shrek (2001)
• Dreamworks
• Mike Myers
• Shrek/Mouse/Narr
• Eddie Murphy
• Donkey
• Cameron Diaz
• Princess Fiona
• John Lithgow
• Lord Farquaad

• Pocahontas (1995)
• Disney
• Irene Bedard
• Pocahontas (voice)
• Mel Gibson
• John Smith (voice)
• David Ogden Stiers
• Ratcliffe/Wiggins
• Christian Bale
• Thomas (voice)
• Billy Connolly
• Ben (voice)

15
Antz (1998) Dreamworks

• Woody Allen
• Z (voice)
• Dan Aykroyd
• Chip (voice)
• Anne Bancroft
• Queen (voice)
• Jane Curtin
• Muffy (voice)
• Danny Glover
• Barbatus (voice)
• Gene Hackman
• General Mandible

• Jennifer Lopez
• Azteca (voice)
• John Mahoney
• Grebs/Drunk Scout
• Paul Mazursky
• psychologist (voice)
• Sylvester Stallone
• Weaver (voice)
• Sharon Stone
• Princess Bala (voice)
• Christopher Walken
• Colonel Cutter (voice)

16
A Bugs Life Toy Story 2

• Disney/Pixar 1998
• Dave Foley
• Flik the Ant (voice)
• Kevin Spacey
• Hopper (voice)
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus
• Princess Atta (voice)
• David Hyde Pierce
• Slim (voice)
•  Denis Leary
• Francis (voice)

• Disney/Pixar 1999
• Tom Hanks
• Sheriff Woody (voice)
• Tim Allen
• Buzz Lightyear
• Joan Cusack
• Jessie the Cowgirl
• Kelsey Grammer
• Stinky Pete
• Wallace Shawn
• Rex the Green Dinosaur
• Wayne Knight
• Al McWhiggin

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The Lion King (1994) Disney

• Rowan Atkinson
• Zazu the Hornbill (voice)
• Matthew Broderick
• Adult Simba the Lion
• Niketa Calame
• Young Nala the Lioness
• Jim Cummings
• Ed the Hyena, Gopher,
• Whoopi Goldberg
• Shenzi the Hyena (voice)
• Robert Guillaume
• Rafiki the Mandrill (voice)

• Jeremy Irons
• Scar the Mountain Lion
• James Earl Jones
• King Mufasa the Lion
• Moira Kelly (I)
• Adult Nala the Lioness
• Nathan Lane
• Timon the Meerkat
• Cheech Marin
• Banzai the Hyena (voice)
• Jonathan T. Thomas
• Young Simba

18
The Lion King

• Released 1994
• 13th highest-earning film of all time
• Worldwide and domestic
• 25th after adjustment
• Budget 40 million
• Box-Office 313 million in the U.S.
• Box-Office 767 million worldwide

• Unrecognized source
• Japanese animated series, first aired in 1966
  Jungle King
• Recognized source
• Shakespeares Hamlet

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Morals?

• Moral messages for young Disney viewers
• Simba learns there is more to being king than
  getting your way
• The circle of life
• Irresponsibility is bad
• Names in Swahili
• Simba Lion
• Pumbaa Simpleton
• Rafiki Friend
• Sarafina Bright Star
• Shenzi Uncouth
• Banzai Skulk, Lurk

• Disney films have been criticised for their
  representation of women
• LK women
• Nala is stronger
• Lionesses hunt while the male lions rest
• But out-dated patriarchal values
• And what about race
• Look at this weeks reading