Overview
- Critically situates the Pixar films released between 1995 and 2010 in their cultural and historic context
- Demonstrates the various ways in which Pixar critically engages with 21st century discourses such as class, gender, race, sexuality and able-bodiedness
- Provides close readings of many Pixar films such as Ratatouille, Up and WALL-E
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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About this book
This book examines the popular and critically acclaimed films of Pixar Animation Studios in their cultural and historical context. Whether interventionist sheriff dolls liberating oppressed toys (Toy Story) or exceptionally talented rodents hoping to fulfill their dreams (Ratatouille), these cinematic texts draw on popular myths and symbols of American culture. As Pixar films refashion traditional American figures, motifs and narratives for contemporary audiences, this book looks at their politics - from the frontier myth in light of traditional gender roles (WALL-E) to the notion of voluntary associations and neoliberalism (The Incredibles). Through close readings, this volume considers the aesthetics of digital animation, including voice-acting and the simulation of camera work, as further mediations of the traditional themes and motifs of American culture in novel form. Dietmar Meinel explores the ways in which Pixar films come to reanimate and remediate prominent myths and symbols of American culture in all their cinematic, ideological and narrative complexity.
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Pixar's America
Book Subtitle: The Re-Animation of American Myths and Symbols
Authors: Dietmar Meinel
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31634-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-31633-8Published: 05 September 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-81083-6Published: 22 April 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-31634-5Published: 26 August 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 240
Topics: Animation, American Culture, American Cinema and TV, Film Theory