Gan Sheuo Hui

The Transformation of the Teenage Image in Oshii Mamoru’s Sky Crawlers

Abstract: In this paper I examine Oshii Mamoru’s unusual portrayal of teenage characters in his recent work Sky Crawlers (2008). Oshii contrasts the adult life styles and responsibilities of these military aviators with their youth in ways that question the meaning of both childhood and adulthood. Oshii’s approach in this work will be compared to other teenager protagonists in Japanese animation, including those employed by Miyazaki Hayao. My presentation will explore how Oshii’s Sky Crawlers treats images of teenagers and their bodies in a manner that moves away from the usual treatment in anime that often employs exaggerated liveliness and romance conventions.

Biographical Statement: I am a postdoctoral fellow with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) affiliated with Kyoto University. This paper is part of the larger book project that analyzes many of the leading figures in the anime/animation world of Japan. The goal of this book is to produce a combination of essays on these animators together with original interviews, to provide a critical and analytical investigation of the complexity and diversity of Japanese animation. Discussions of famous figures like Miyazaki Hayao and Oshii Mamoru are included along side analyses of other prominent animators, who have often been neglected by the mass media despite their significant careers and contributions.

Alison Loader

“We’re Asian, More Expected of Us!” Representation, The Model Minority and Whiteness on King of the Hill

Abstract: For years the only Asian American family on prime time, was a cartoon. The Souphanousinphones were regular characters in King of the Hill, which was, until its cancellation last year, the second longest running prime time animated sitcom after The Simpsons. As neighbours and rivals to the titular Hill family, the Souphanousinphones contributed to overarching themes of whiteness and class anxiety in the American South. Various episodes explored the Asian American experience of difference and assimilation, and the myth of the Model Minority. King of the Hill defied and perpetuated traditional stereotypes and offered the rare spectacle of Asian racial grief. These representations may have been two-dimensional but only because they were drawn that way.

Biographical statement: Alison Reiko Loader is an animation filmmaker, instructor and graduate student at Concordia University, Canada. Beginning with her first film, Showa Shinzan, produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 2002, her work has explored identity, race and cultural heritage. Her current research interests in animated installation, stereoscopy and anamorphosis constitute more formal approaches to representation and perception. Nevertheless she can still enjoy a good cartoon.

Shannon Brownlee

“Masculinity Between Animation and Live Action, or, SpongeBob v. Hasselhoff”

Abstract: The juxtaposition of animated and live action male characters allows contemporary filmmakers to address the nature and “naturalness” of masculinity. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Stephen Hillenburg, 2004) figures the continuity between polymorphously perverse childhood and heroic male adulthood as a continuity between animation and live action. By contrasting the animated SpongeBob with the grotesque, hypermasculinized and cartoonish live action body of David Hasselhoff, the film denaturalizes “real” masculinity and naturalizes the film's gleefully perverse animation. Ultimately, SpongeBob inspires broader questions about how the encounter between live action and animation allows us to re-imagine grotesque and naturalized forms of gender.

Biographical Statement: I am currently working on a book manuscript entitled A Passion for Adaptation: Experimental Film, Psychoanalysis, Gender. This explores film adaptation from a psychoanalytic perspective to argue that such concepts as the “original” and the “copy” are important objects of fantasy for spectators. “Masculinity Between Animation and Live Action, or, SpongeBob v. Hasselhoff” represents the beginning of a new research project on animated film and spectatorial fantasy. I teach Film Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.

Shira Avni

Animating Disability: Screening and Discussion

Abstract: Portrayals of people with disabilities remain rare in animated media. The animated documentary uses symbolic imagery to bring personal histories to life, portraying the essence of emotion and memory. Animation is unique in its capacity to address difficult topics in ways that break down people's habitual barriers, subverting prejudices and providing a vehicle for artistic expression and self-advocacy by people with disabilities. Filmmaker Shira Avni will present and discuss excerpts of three films created in collaboration with people who have Down syndrome. She will discuss the animated documentary as well as issues of self-representation of people with disabilities in animation.

Biographical statement: Shira Avni has been an animation filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada since 1997, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Animation at Concordia University. Her current research looks at animation, documentary, and the Disability Arts movement. Avni’s recent film, John and Michael, a tender love story between two men with Down syndrome, garnered 18 international awards and grants. John and Michael screened in over 60 festivals worldwide, as well as on PBS, CBC, and TV5 television networks. Tying Your Own Shoes, a collaborative animated documentary completed in the summer of 2009, provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of four artists with Down syndrome.