Dietmar Meinel. Pixar s America. The Re-Animation of American Myths and Symbols

Transcription

1 Pixar s America

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3 Dietmar Meinel Pixar s America The Re-Animation of American Myths and Symbols

4 Dietmar Meinel Department of Anglophone Studies University of Duisburg-Essen Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Control Number: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland

5 For my Friends

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7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In many ways, the following words of gratitude cannot do justice to the immense support, encouragement, and inspiration I have received from so many people in the writing of this book. While writing is a rather solitary endeavor, the intellectual work behind it never is. The assistance, care, and sustenance of an amazing community brought the following pages, indeed the writer of these lines, into being. I am grateful and indebted to all of you. First and foremost, I thank Winfried Fluck. His thinking shaped the very idea of the book and his intellectual rigor enabled me to develop a voice of my own. In particular his insistent encouragement to explore the aesthetic and narrative complexity of the cinematic material became an essential tenet of this book and my work in general. Similarly, with her keen observations and her sharp theoretical thinking, Laura Bieger profoundly influenced the content of this book, from its structure to its close readings. As a scholar and an instructor Laura fostered my intellectual vocation from my very first seminar as an undergraduate to the completion of this book. I am also grateful to Donald Pease whose sense of profession taught me an unprecedented passion for intellectual exchange. His generosity in wholeheartedly engaging with my work from the beginning of the project onward provided me with confidence during moments of doubt; his dedication to my journey also offered me opportunities and experiences which I hold dear. Ahu Tanrisever and Sonja Longolius read and commented on individual chapters at our wonderful reading group meetings; my cohort at the Graduate School of North American Studies Ben Robbins, Dorian vii

8 viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Kantor, Florian Plum, Kate Schweißhelm, Lina Tegtmeyer, Natalia Klimina, Nathan Vanderpool, Rebecca Brückmann, and Ruth Steinhoff lifted me up when spirit, health, or faith were low. The Graduate School of North American Studies and the John F. Kennedy Institute gave me the opportunity to write my thesis in an intellectually stimulating environment in Berlin, Germany, and abroad. With her heart-warming presence and her patience, Gabi Bodmeier often saved me from my bureaucratic incompetence. At the Department of Anglophone Studies of the University of Duisburg-Essen, I am indebted to Barbara Buchenau for her faith in and support of my work. Of my friends and colleagues at the University of Duisburg-Essen, to all of whom I am grateful for creating a stimulating and supportive environment, I particularly acknowledge Elena Furlanetto, Zohra Hassan, and Courtney Moffett-Bateau. Their astuteness, knowledge, and openness have taught me to thrive as an intellectual and as a person. At Palgrave Macmillan I have been lucky to find highly professional support for the book, and thank in particular Lina Aboujieb and Hariharan Venugopal. I am especially grateful for the thoughtful and perceptive comments provided by the anonymous reviewers. Earlier versions of Chaps. 6, 7, and 8 were previously published in Animation Studies, Volume 8 (2013), NECSUS European Journal for Media Studies (Spring 2014), and European Journal of American Culture, Volume 33, Issue 3 (2014), respectively. A section of the introduction appeared in the volume Rereading the Machine in the Garden (2014) edited by Eric Erbacher, Nicole Maruo-Schröder, and Florian Sedlmeier. I am grateful for the permission to reproduce material here. The friendship of many wonderful people has inspired and uplifted me during the research and writing. I deeply appreciate their belief in me. My parents and my sister supported me even when my path appeared hazardous and disheartening. I thank Hajo and Kay, for without you, none of this would exist.

9 CONTENTS 1 Exceptional Animation: An Introduction 1 From Failure to Fame: The Pixar Studio and Digital Animation 3 Animating Revolt or Monstrous Beings? 9 All Ages Admitted 19 Every Line Drawn, Object Moved, and Shape Changed 20 Animating the Myths and Symbols of American Culture 22 Remediating the Myths and Symbols of American Culture 28 2 You Better Play Nice : Digital Enchantment and the Performance of Toyness in Toy Story (1995) 45 Fearful Sheriff Dolls and Oblivious Space-Ranger Action Figures 47 Stupid, Little, Insignificant Toys 50 The Space-Traveling American Adam 52 The Enchanting Performance of Toyness 55 3 An Animated Toast to the Ephemeral: The Multicultural Logic of Late Capitalism in Toy Story 2 (1999) 61 The Multicultural Myth of Woody, Buzz, and Bill 63 A Postmodern Toy Story 66 The Digital Logic of Late Capitalism 70 A Toast to the Ephemeral 71 ix

10 x CONTENTS 4 A Story of Social Justice? The Liberal Consensus in Monsters, Inc. (2001) 75 Monsters of Plenty 77 The Liberal Consensus of Monstropolis 79 A Good Society of Monsters: Individualism, Meritocracy, and Affirmative Government 83 Animating the Good Society? 85 The Green, One-Eyed Schlemiel 88 5 From Rags to Moderate Riches : The American Dream in Ratatouille (2007) 97 Pixar s Animated American Dream 100 Class, Space, and the Animated Dream 105 Hyper-White Food Critics and Non-White Chefs: The Villains in Ratatouille 107 Learning to Perform: Middle Class, the Ratatouille Restaurant, and (the Aesthetics of) Ordinary Whiteness 109 An Exceptionalist Rat? Space. The Final Fun-tier : Returning Home to the Frontier in WALL-E (2008) 119 The Significance of the Post-Apocalyptic Frontier 120 Mediating the Frontier: Consumerism, Nostalgia, and Digital Cinematography 122 Gendered Robots: Male Garbage Compressors and Female Drones 124 The Brave, New World Aboard the Axiom 127 Earth. The Final Frontier Empire Is Out There!? The Spirit of Imperialism in Up (2009) 139 The Imperial Fantasies of James, Carl, and Charles 142 Adventure Is in Here: Rewriting the Imperial Fantasy 147 The Spirit of the Informal Empire 150

11 CONTENTS xi 8 And when everyone is super no one will be : The End of the American Myth in The Incredibles (2004) 163 Celebrating Mediocrity 165 The Incredibles: A Voluntary Association 166 Victimizing the White, Male Superhero Body 171 From Heroine to Homemaker to Heroine, Again 173 Leaving Suburbia Driving in Circles: The American Puritan Jeremiad in Cars (2006) 187 Narratives of Individual and National Decline 190 Imagined Pasts: The Jeremiad and the Golden Age of the 1950s 195 Imagined Spaces: The American South 198 The Sound of American Myths and Symbols Animating a Yet Unimagined America? The Mediation of American Exceptionalism in Toy Story 3 (2010) 207 Errand into the Daycare Wilderness 210 Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Garbage Incinerator 214 A Yet Unimagined America? 215 Bibliography 219 Index 231