Elena Altheman – Adventure Time’s World-Building: Analyzing Its Opening Title Sequence and the Mobile Map

What Time Is It? Adventure Time!   “Adventure Time, C’mon grab your friends, We’re going to very distant lands With Jake the Dog And Finn the Human The fun will never end, It’s Adventure Time!” (Adventure Time’s theme song)   “A group of diverse characters roaming peculiar lands in search of never-ending adventure and fun” […]

Rea Amit – The Legend of Prince Rama and the Emergence of an Indian Animé: A Japanese Mediation of the Sanskrit Epic

Introduction In February 2019, a few months before the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized a two-day event, the Indian Gaming Show, which took place at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The event showcased the latest developments in the Indian video gaming industry and hosted international representatives of gaming and animation industries […]

Giuseppe Gatti – Notes on Transnational Animation and the Pokémon Culture in South Park’s “Chinpokomon”

Introduction Born in Japan as a Game Boy game, since 1997 the Pokémon franchise has mushroomed worldwide across animated series and movies, trading cards, character toys, and videogames, including a plenitude of tie-in “media-commodities.” In the US market, where it rode an outstanding commercial wave, Pokémon became the “must-have toy” of 1999 as reviewed by […]

Sandeep Ashwath – Mythical Past, Animated Present

Introduction A quick glance at the animation content produced within the mainstream Indian animation industry[i] in the past two decades shows significant use of Hindu mythological characters and themes[ii]. That is if we consider as a starting point the first major commercial animated feature Pandavas: The Five Warriors (2000), which was completely conceived and produced […]

Emmett Redding – From Zeman to Gilliam: The Evolution of Mystimation

Introduction Christopher Holliday and Alexander Sargeant state that, over time, animators have consistently “drawn from pre-existing works of fantasy fiction to expand the unique technical capabilities of the animated medium” (1). In this way, these animators created a new genre, the animated fantasy, combining elements of both animation, where the “images are primarily created by […]