Browsing by Author "Smirnova, Ekaterina"
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- How streaming platforms can bring 2D animation backPublication . Kunz, Sahra; Smirnova, Ekaterina; Henriques, Leonor FariaIn this paper, we analyse how streaming platforms, especially Netflix, have been changing the cinema industry and what role they can play in the revival of 2D animation. Firstly, we describe a brief history of 2D animation and link it to the proliferation of the streaming platforms that have been actively changing the media landscape. After this, we explain how these platforms work and how they might benefit the streaming industry, the spectator and the creator. We use the example of the live action film Roma to show how these platforms are helping independent films and creators to thrive. We also explain how these platforms can give 2D animation a boost, since this industry is growing a lot in the independent world of animated cinema. Moreover, we also show how these companies are ready to receive different kinds of content by using the example of the 2D animation film Klaus (2019) and statements by Sergio Pablos, the director of the film, that demonstrate that these companies give the freedom to animators to produce their films and experiment in creating different narratives or even styles. Another important aspect mentioned in this paper is how these platforms are helping to introduce to the general audience different genres and styles of animation and why 2D animation can still prevail. In this paper we also point out how different companies act towards the animation industry. We compare Disney Plus, a company that reutilizes old content for their platform, and Netflix that strives towards creating new animations. We also show how this might be helpful for companies to invest on animation films that are more experimental. We finish by bringing up the importance of animators in doing their work with these platforms and of these platforms, investing in animation.
- Mulan: the beginning of Disney’s journey in the reconstruction of gender rolesPublication . Kunz, Sahra; Smirnova, Ekaterina; Rocha, Margarida Maria LaranjeiraWe will focus on the animated Disney movie Mulan (1998) and what it is that makes its female protagonist stand out from the Disney Princess group. We will begin by contextualizing how and why, in the 1990’s, Disney female characters shifted from damsels-in-distress to braver and more independent heroes. We will also mention why the character Mulan, who has no relation with royalty, is merchandized and seen as a princess. Furthermore, we will compare Disney’s Mulan with the original story, in order to clarify Disney’s direction in the portrayal of love and gender roles. We analyse the moral function of the animated version and how people received the film on the date of its release and today. We will try to understand the different impacts, considering women’s rights, transgenderism, the female role in military service and finally cultural appropriation. Also, we will refer to how Mulan prioritize other types of love, like the love for family, and how its female protagonist influences princesses from the recent era, making way for more empowering stories for women.
- The (un)necessary suspicious spectatorPublication . Smirnova, Ekaterina
- The discreet charm of surrealism in Eastern European animation : when repression fosters creativityPublication . Smirnova, Ekaterina; Gil, Isabel Maria de Oliveira CapeloaThe focus of this dissertation is Surrealism in animation films created during the Soviet period of 1956 – 1989 in Russia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. These thirty-three years of the Soviet regime were characterized by the domination of censorship, a persecution of "formalism" and control over artistic expression. However, in these dark conditions the animation industry flourished and striking political films appeared. These films told personal stories and intimate secrets in a way that was not immediately recognizable, sometimes thought of as madness or simply overlooked by the censorship for the simple reason, that animation was thought of as an art for children that could not pose any danger. This dissertation aims at recognizing political revolt and subversion in the animation industry through an analysis of the ambivalent conditions of the Soviet repression system that simultaneously curbed and led to a rise in creativity. This gives rise to the main question: “Did censorship, under these specific conditions, foster artistic creativity in animation films?”