The Persistence of Animation

Nostalgic parody or parodic nostalgia? Sub-genre on adultswim

Abstract: Since the inception of Cartoon Network’s [adult swim] in 2001, many of the shows have shared thematic content which references TV animation from the 1970s and 1980s. Using parody and satire shows such as, Harvey Birdman, Moral Orel and Robot Chicken, create a nostalgia, which is shared with the audience. The nostalgia codes must be understood and accepted by the audience for the comedy to succeed. This paper examines the characteristics of these shows and argues that by using specific familiar animation techniques and nostalgic references, a new sub-genre within comedy is being created.

Biographical Statement: Dr Nichola Dobson is an independent scholar based in Edinburgh. She previously lectured at Queen Margaret University and Glasgow Caledonian University. She recently completed her first single authored book, Historical Dictionary of Animation and Cartoons,for Scarecrow Press and is now continuing research in animation and television studies, particularly in the area of genre. She is the editor of the Society for Animation Studies peer reviewed online journal Animation Studies. She has published articles on animation and television and recently contributed to an edited collection, The CSI Effect: Television, Crime and Critical Theory (forthcoming, Lexington Books).

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 12:45 am and is filed under American animation, Genre studies, Television animation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.