This article discusses the thoughts around animation in this day and age. Unresolved issues, such as medium superiority and animations role in society is discussed.
Darley who uses animation to teach, does not consider himself a specialist of the study of animation. He explains that he is interested in film, new media, and visual culture and holds animation in high regard for its continuing development.
Darley discussed the 'inferiority complex'. That animation is undervalued by those who study it, especially in comparison to live action film. This has however, begun to change as animators explore beyond the limitations.
Media is limited in that it allows for some things and constrains others. The many modes of animation allows for more diversity and richness. And yet whilst legitimizing animation, scholars claim too much for animation and have ignored the important problems such as the history, style, aesthetic and culture of animation.
The most frequent discussion surrounds the obscurity of the medium with the 20th century and considers moving image culture. Animation is overshadowed by live action film, and has not been accorded the same attention as live action.
Animation studies exists, but is not as well established as film studies. Despite the mediums differences there are many common aspects that group the two mediums together.
Scholars will always discuss medium superiority. Sometimes superiority is linked to purism and fundementalism based on medium specificity; that mediums posses traits which distinguish it from other mediums, therefore it is worthy. (Media Essentialism)
William Moritz and David Curtis take a Geenburgian high modernist approach to media essentialism. The basis for a mediums expression direction is dubious, says Darley. It always involves discounting some expressive qualities of the medium. This is not to deny that some mediums have limitations where other do not, bu these cannot be used as reasons for a mediums superiority. Darley points out that we must explore the differences comparatively rather than generalizing.
The limitation of the imagination do not apply to the medium, but to the stylistic analysis and the aesthetic of the viewer. Freeing the imagination does nothing to how original the media will be. Digital 'film' ought to enable the production of moving images. Technical and stylistic contraints are crucial to any art making. Art can never be free of genres, styles and conventions. At the end of it all, the boundary between live action and animation will collapse, creatin g an entirely new medium all together. Live action is reality, and animation is fantasy although this is not really warranted.
Darleys concludes that this essay discusses his 'bones of contention' or critical prejudices in relation to animation and its studies. These include; the inflated claims of medium superiority;
essentialist and reductionist definitions of the form; exaggerated claims
that animation is inherently a more expressive or imaginative medium than others – in particular, live action; and, finally,attempting to subjugate understanding animation to
theory, that is, to making animation mere grist to the mill of illustrating or confirming general post-stucturalist claims about the way the world is.
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