Puppetry, Puppet Animation and the Digital Age

139 Pages·2018·8.004 MB·English

by  Rolf Giesen

Puppetry, Puppet
Animation and
the Digital Age
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Puppetry, Puppet
Animation and
the Digital Age
Rolf Giesen
Edited by
Giannalberto Bendazzi
CRC Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Giesen, Rolf, author.
Title: Puppetry, puppet animation and the digital age / Rolf Giesen.
Description: First edition. | Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press/Taylor & Francis
Group, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018031269 | ISBN 9780815382041 (hardback :
acid-free paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Stop-motion animation films--History. | Puppet
films--History. | Animation (Cinematography)--History.
Classification: LCC TR897.6 .G54 2019 | DDC 777/.7--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018031269
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
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Contents
Series Editor, ix
Author, xi
Introduction: It’s Not Just Nostalgia, xiii
Chapter 1 ◾ T he Origin of Puppets and Homunculi 1
AN ACT OF MAGIC 2
Chapter 2 ◾ T he Art of Silhouette Plays and Films 5
REFERENCES 9
Chapter 3 ◾ 2 D versus 3D in Nazi Germany 11
WALKING MATCHSTICKS 11
LADISLAS STAREVICH 13
DIMENSIONAL ANIMATION IN SPACE 15
GEORGE PAL 18
THE DIEHL BROTHERS 28
REFERENCES 34
Chapter 4 ◾ P uppetoons versus Jiří Trnka 35
SQUASH AND STRETCH IN WOOD 35
TÝRLOVÁ AND ZEMAN 39
THE TRICK BROTHERS 43
v
vi ◾ Contents
DISNEY PLUS BUŇUEL AND CHARLES BOWERS 45
LOU IN WONDERLAND 47
HANSEL AND GRETEL 48
MEMORY HOTEL 49
REFERENCES 52
Chapter 5 ◾ T he Dynamators 53
THE LOST WORLD 53
THE “ZEUS COMPLEX” 54
AT THE CRADLE OF THE DIGITAL AGE—AND NOT
KNOWING IT 59
REFERENCES 62
Chapter 6 ◾ P ixilation and Mocap: People Become
Puppets 63
NEIGHBOURS AT WAR 63
AVATAR 64
Chapter 7 ◾ T he Road to Computer-Generated
Imagery 67
THE FORM AND THE SUBSTANCE 67
“CREATION” 71
BATMAN FOREVER 73
DIGITAL EVOLUTION AND DISNEYFICATION 75
REFERENCES 75
Chapter 8 ◾ T he Decomposition of Images 77
SPEAKING LIONS AND CENTAURS 77
CYBERPUNK 78
REFERENCES 80
Contents   ◾   vii
Chapter 9 ◾ A ardman, or A Renaissance of Stop
Motion 81
SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN STOP MOTION AND
COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY 82
AN INHERENT CHARM FOR HALF THE PRICE 85
REFERENCES 86
Chapter 10 ◾ T he Isle of Old-Fashioned Animators 87
PANDORA’S BOX 87
IT CAME FROM MEGASAKI 88
FANG MING, A.K.A. MOCHINAGA-SAN 92
PARANORMAN AND THE BOXTROLLS 93
REFERENCES 96
THE STOP-MOTION CHRONICLES, 99
BIBLIOGRAPHY, 111
INDEX, 113

Series Editor
Giannalberto Bendazzi, currently an independent scholar, is a
former visiting professor of history of animation at the Nanyang
Technological University in Singapore and a former professor at
the Università degli Studi di Milano. We welcome any submissions
to help grow the wonderful content we are striving to provide to
the animation community: [email protected].
ix