The poetics of Slumberland : animated spirits and the animating spirit

286 Pages·2012·10.83 MB·English

by  Bukatman

THE POETICS
OF SLUMBERLAND
Animated Spirits and the Animating Spirit
Scott Bukatman
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley LosAngeles London
THE POETICS OF SLUMBERLAND
epublishergratefullyacknowledgesthegenerous
supportoftheEricPapenfuseandCatherineLawrence
EndowmentFundinFilmandMediaStudiesofthe
UniversityofCaliforniaPressFoundation.
epublisheralsogratefullyacknowledgesthegenerous
contributiontothisbookprovidedbyStanfordUniversity.
THE POETICS
OF SLUMBERLAND
Animated Spirits and the Animating Spirit
Scott Bukatman
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley LosAngeles London
AslightlydifferentversionofthefirsthalfofChapter1appearedin
Animation:AnInterdisciplinaryJournal,editedbySuzanneBuchan;
portionsofChapter4appearedinsomewhatdifferentforminEnfant
Terrible!JerryLewisinAmericanFilm,editedbyMurrayPomerance(NYU
Press,2002),andBeyondtheFinite:eSublimeinArtandScience,edited
byRoaldHoffmannandIainBoydWhyte(OxfordUniversityPress,2011);
Chapter5isasubstantialrevisionofanessaythatoriginallyappearedin
VincenteMinnelli:eArtofEntertainment,editedbyJoeMcElhaney
(WayneStateUniversityPress,2009);andportionsofChapter6appeared
inanessayoriginallypublishedineContemporaryComicBook
Superhero,editedbyAngelaNdalianis(Routledge,2009).
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visitwww.ucpress.edu.
UniversityofCaliforniaPress
BerkeleyandLosAngeles,California
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Ltd.
London,England
©2012byScottBukatman
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Bukatman,Scott,1957–.
epoeticsofSlumberland:animatedspiritsandtheanimatingspirit/
ScottBukatman.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-520-26571-4(cloth:alk.paper)
isbn978-0-520-26572-1(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Fantastic,e,inart. 2. Fantasyinmotionpictures. 3. Comic
books,strips,etc.—Historyandcriticism. 4. Animatedfilms—History
andcriticism. I. Title.
NX650.F36B85 2011
700'.415—dc23 2011033308
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
epaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirements
ofansi/nisoZ39.48-1992(R1997)(PermanenceofPaper).
ForBeth
Someonetocrowdyouwithlove,
Someonetoforceyoutocare,
Someonetomakeyoucomethrough,
Who’llalwaysbethere,
Asfrightenedasyou
Ofbeingalive
StephenSondheim

THEREwasatimewhenmeadow,grove,andstream,
eearth,andeverycommonsight,
Tomedidseem
Apparell’dincelestiallight,
egloryandthefreshnessofadream.
—William Wordsworth
estruggleforsubjectivitypresentsitself,therefore,as
therighttodifference,variationandmetamorphosis.
—Gilles Deleuze

CONTENTS
ListofIllustrations xi
Appreciations xv
Introduction:eLively,thePlayful,andtheAnimated 1
1. DrawnandDisorderly 27
2. eMotionlessVoyageofLittleNemo 77
3. LaborandAnima 106
4. DisobedientMachines 135
5. LaborandAnimatedness 164
6. PlayingSuperheroes 182
Notes 213
Bibliography 239
Index 251
Platesfollowpage142