Wild minds The artists and rivalries that inspired the golden age of animation
Book - 2020
"In 1911, the famed cartoonist Winsor McCay debuted an animated version of his popular newspaper strip, Little Nemo in Slumberland. Loosely inspired by Sigmund Freud's research on dreams, the film was one of the very first of its kind. McCay is largely forgotten today, but his work helped unleash the creative energy of animators like Otto Messmer, Max Fleischer, Walt Disney, and Chuck Jones. Their origin stories, rivalries, and sheer genius, as Reid Mitenbuler skillfully relates, were as colorful and subversive as their creations--from Felix the Cat to Bugs Bunny to feature films such as Fantasia--which became an integral part of American culture over the next five decades. Before television, animated cartoons were often "lit...tle hand grenades of social and political satire" aimed squarely at adults. Early Betty Boop cartoons included nudity. Popeye stories slyly criticized the injustices of unchecked capitalism. Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner were used to explore hidden depths of the American psyche. "During its first half-century," Mitenbuler writes, "animation was an important part of the culture wars about free speech, censorship, the appropriate boundaries of humor, and the influence of art and media on society." During WWII it also played a significant role in propaganda. The golden age of animation ended with the advent of television when cartoons were sanitized to appeal to a growing demographic of children and help advertisers sell sugary breakfast cereals. Alongside these stories, Mitenbuler incorporates the surprising contributions of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), voice artist Mel Blanc, composer Leopold Stokowski, and many others whose talents influenced the world of animation. Illustrated throughout in both black-and-white and color, with rare drawings and photographs, Wild Minds is an ode to our lively past and to the creative energy that would inspire The Simpsons, South Park, and BoJack Horseman today"--
- Subjects
- Genres
- Animated films
- Published
-
New York :
Atlantic Monthly Press
2020.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Edition
- First edition. First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition
- Physical Description
- xviii, 411 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9780802129383
- Prologue: "Make Us Another"
- Chapter 1. "Slumberland"
- Chapter 2. "Fantasmagorie"
- Chapter 3. "The Artist's Dream"
- Chapter 4. "The Camera Fiend"
- Chapter 5. "Cherubs That Actually Fly"
- Chapter 6. "This Place Is Full of Sharks"
- Chapter 7. "How to Fire a Lewis Machine Gun"
- Chapter 8. "Being Famous Is Hard Work"
- Chapter 9. "I Love Beans"
- Chapter 10. "Bad Luck!"
- Chapter 11. "Giddyap!"
- Chapter 12. "That's Money over the Barrelhead"
- Chapter 13. "It Became the Rage"
- Chapter 14. "I Have Become a Ghost"
- Chapter 15. "The Formula"
- Chapter 16. "Looks Like You're Having Fun"
- Chapter 17. "Are You a Sailor?"
- Chapter 18. 'You Can't Top Pigs with Pigs"
- Chapter 19. "Max Fleischer Killed Dan Glass"
- Chapter 20. "I'll Make Money"
- Chapter 21. "That Goddam Holy Grail"
- Chapter 22. "We Can Do Better Than That with Our Second String"
- Chapter 23. "Highbrowski by Stokowski"
- Chapter 24. "Law of the Jungle"'
- Chapter 25. "Okay, Go Ahead"
- Chapter 26. "That Horse's Ass!"
- Chapter 27. "A Tough Little Stinker"
- Chapter 28. "Greetings, America!"
- Chapter 29. "How Is It Spelled?"
- Chapter 30. "They Can Kill You, but They're Not Allowed to Eat You"
- Chapter 31. "And It's Going to Be Clean!"
- Chapter 32. "Silly Rabbit..."
- Chapter 33. "Flesher"
- Chapter 34. "Well, Kid, This Is the End I Guess"
- A Note on Sources and Acknowledgments
- Selected Bibliography
- Image Credits
- Notes
- Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review