In this Book

University of California Press
summary
This collection of essays explores the link between comedy and animation in studio-era cartoons, from filmdom’s earliest days through the twentieth century. Written by a who’s who of animation authorities, Funny Pictures offers a stimulating range of views on why animation became associated with comedy so early and so indelibly, and illustrates how animation and humor came together at a pivotal stage in the development of the motion picture industry. To examine some of the central assumptions about comedy and cartoons and to explore the key factors that promoted their fusion, the book analyzes many of the key filmic texts from the studio years that exemplify animated comedy. Funny Pictures also looks ahead to show how this vital American entertainment tradition still thrives today in works ranging from The Simpsons to the output of Pixar.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. 2-5
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
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  1. Figures
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Introduction: What Makes These Pictures So Funny?
  2. pp. 1-12
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  1. Part One: The (Filmic) Roots of Early Animation
  1. 1: The Chaplin Effect: Ghosts in the Machine and Animated Gags
  2. pp. 15-28
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  1. 2: Polyphony and Heterogeneity in Early Fleischer Films: Comic Strips, Vaudeville, and the New York Style
  2. pp. 29-50
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  1. 3: The Heir Apparent
  2. pp. 51-66
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  1. Part Two: Systems and Effects: Making Cartoons Funny
  1. 4: Infectious Laughter: Cartoons’ Cure for the Depression
  2. pp. 69-92
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  1. 5: “We’re Happy When We’re Sad: ”Comedy, Gags, and 1930s Cartoon Narration
  2. pp. 93-108
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  1. 6: Laughter by Numbers: The Science of Comedy at the Walt Disney Studio
  2. pp. 109-126
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  1. Part Three: Retheorizing Animated Comedy
  1. 7: “Who Dat Say Who Dat?": Racial Masquerade, Humor, and the Rise of American Animation
  2. pp. 129-152
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  1. 8: “I Like to Sock Myself in the Face”: Reconsidering “Vulgar Modernism”
  2. pp. 153-174
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  1. 9: Auralis Sexualis: How Cartoons Conduct Paraphilia
  2. pp. 175-188
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  1. Part Four: Comic Inspiration: Animation Auteurs
  1. 10: The Art of Diddling: Slapstick, Science, and Antimodernism in the Films of Charley Bowers
  2. pp. 191-210
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  1. 11: Tex Avery’s Prison House of Animation, or Humor and Boredom in Studio Cartoons
  2. pp. 211-227
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  1. 12: Tish-Tash in Cartoonland
  2. pp. 228-254
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  1. Part Five: Beyond the Studio Era: Building on Tradition
  1. 13: Sounds Funny / Funny Sounds: Theorizing Cartoon Music
  2. pp. 257-271
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  1. 14: The Revival of the Studio-Era Cartoon in the 1990s
  2. pp. 272-292
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  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 293-310
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  1. Contributors
  2. pp. 311-314
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 315-331
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  1. Production Notes
  2. p. 341
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