Controversy in Animation

Sexy Satire, Stereotyping, and Scholarly ResearchBy RD Hobbs, Ed.D.

Email: dr.rdhobbs@gmail.com

Range of Scholarly Perspectives

• Technology oriented• Process oriented• Content oriented

– Sexy Satire– Stereotyping– Other Scholarly Interests

Betty Boop, age 82(WWW.downloadableimage.BettyBoop)

$ Billion $ Betty Boop Industry

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doy5q6EUwT0&feature=player_embedded

Jessica RabbitThe epitome of exaggerated persona (Maio, 2001)

Jessica RabbitI’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0ATdc7cFk4&feature=player_embedded

BUGS BUNNY in DRAG

Highly Sexualized Characters

Abel, 2005• Praises Tex Avery for highly sexualized characters

• Asserts that Bugs Bunny is GAY

• HOBBS asserts that the animator may be gay, but to children, Bugs is merely clever, resourceful, and silly

Sontag, 1982• Asserts that Bugs Bunny is androgenous

• Does not mention gay

• Asserts the best thing about masculine men is a feminine trait

• The best thing about feminine women is a masculine trait

Bugs Bunny Crossdressing Coney

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFSYtWf4gqg&feature=player_embedded

Stereotyping Straight

Daffy DuckGoofyPopeyeWoody WoodpeckerDonald Duck

Stereotyping Straight(Abel, 2005)

Donald Duck

Stereotyping Straight(Abel, 2005)

Woody Woodpecker

Stereotypically Str8(Abel, 2005)

GOOFY

Camp• Mae West (Weingarden, 2005)

• Bugs Bunny (Sontag, 1982)

• Jessica Rabbit (Abel, 1995)

• Susan Sontag

Other Scholarly Research

• Green (2010) found that

Strategically • Placed• Insect• Animation• IMPROVED • Spillage by • 20%.

• Urinal with a fly improves aim!

Johnson, Gill, Reichman, & Tassinary (2007) studied gender perceptions

Swagger

Shoulders Swaying side to side =MasculinityMALES = HETEROFEMALES = LESBIAN

SWAY

HIPSSwaying side to side =FeminityFEMALES = HETEROMALES = GAY

University of Bristol study (Hooper, 2007)

• MEN PREFER:

WOMEN WHO FLIRT!

Late 20th Century CampBette Midler Madeline Kahn

FIVE Stages of Key Frame Animation

(Elson, 1999)• 1. Keyframe animation

• 2. Layered animation

• 3. Scripted memory• 4. Character Autonomy

• 5. Personality

Innovations• Programmable expressions (stage 1)

• Re-architecture afforded efficiency among artists, animators, developers (stage 2)

• Motion picture capture (stage 3) - hated B4

• Improvisational Behavior (stage 4)

• Cognitive & Emotional features that humanize

Conclusions(Hobbs, 2011, 2012)• Children dramatically differ from adults:

• Hormonally• Cognitively• Intellectually• Experientially

THUS• Interpretation at each stage of development differs in translating visual and verbal information.

• Bugs Bunny is seen as clever and resourceful in outwitting his antagonists

• Kids didn’t know “gay”

References• Abel, S. (1995) The rabbit in drag: Camp and gender construction in the American animated cartoon. Journal of Popular Culture, 29(3), 183-202.

• Elson, M. (1999). The evolution of digital characters. Computer Graphics World, 22(1), 23.

• Green, B.D. (2010). Applying human characteristics of trust to animated anthropomorphic software agents. (University of Buffalo, SUNY) ProQuest Dissertations & Theses UMI No. 3423463

• Hobbs, R. (2011a). Diverse multilingual researchers contribute language acquisition components to an integrated model of education. International Journal of Multilingualism. DOI:10.1080/14790718.2011.630736 [Hardcopy 2012, volume 9, issue 3, 204-234]

• Hobbs, R. (2011b). Multilingual education model construction based on superior cognitive skills of multilingual students. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses UMI No. 3484309

More References• Hobbs, R. (2011c). Evidence of multilingual superiority: Implications for KG-12 curriculum. In CA Lentz (Ed), The Refractive Thinker; Post-secondary Education (pp. 71-106). Las Vegas, NV: The Refractive Thinker Press.

• Hooper, R. (2007). A little flirting goes a long way. New Scientist, 195, (2623), 10. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(07)62439-7

• Johnson, K.L., Gill, S., Reichman, V., & Tassinary, L.G. (2007). Swagger, sway, and sexuality: Judging sexual orientation from body motion and morphology. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 93(3), 321-334.

• Maio, K. (2001). Waiting (and waiting) for another Roger Rabbit. Fantasy & Science Fiction, 101(2), 80.

• Sontag, S. (1982). Against interpretation and other essays. New York, NY: Octagon Books.