Animated Landscapes

"This collection provides a rich and lively discussion on one of the most overlooked areas of animation--animated landscape, which, just as Pallant wants it to be, is to rebalance the long-term bias existing between character and landscape, which is related to the centrality of studies on character design and interpretation over reflections about landscapes. It ably explores the multivalent nature of animated landscape with an interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approach, which also deepens the reader's understanding of what animation is." - Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media

"For so long animation studies literature has focused mainly on animated characters-at last a book that examines the other part of the frame: backgrounds and environments. Through historical analysis and theoretical considerations, Animated Landscapes brings attention to a significant but largely overlooked realm of animation aesthetics. The broad scope of essays by leading scholars in the field reflect the diversity of animation today." --Maureen Furniss, Program Director of the Program in Experimental Animation, California Institute of the Arts, USA, and Founding Editor of Animation Journal

"Animated landscapes: they're not just 'backgrounds' anymore. This collection by established and emerging scholars directs our attention to an aspect of animation that has long been treated as secondary, if it was considered at all. Far from being painting in motion, or even a depiction of nature, landscaping can be mindscaping, and an active, if not dominant element of the film, new media, or gaming experience. The book is a welcome addition to the growing body of work in animation studies." --Donald Crafton, The Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Film, Television, and Theatre, University of Notre Dame, USA, and author of Shadow of a Mouse: Performance, Belief, and World-making in Animation

"Animated Landscapes offers animation and media scholars multiple considerations on the history, function, and potential of an often-neglected subject in animation studies: animated space itself. Going beyond the topics of background and setting, editor Chris Pallant seeks 'to advance our understanding of the animated landscape through discussions of history, form and function.'" - Synoptique