Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Birth of An Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation

Nicholas Sammond, Author

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Performance, Page 43

The performing animator opened up other planes of metaphysical existence through the act of drawing, and although he did not appear on stage, Emile Cohl was famous for inserting his hands into his own creations and toying with them, especially in films such as Fantasmagorie (1908) and The Hasher's Delirium (1910). (The fame of his early efforts led to Cohl moving to the United States to adapt George McManus' The Newlyweds into an animated series in 1913.

In Fantasmagorie, one of the earliest examples of fully drawn film animation, Cohl eschewed the broad performativity of his peers, but his hand does creep into the frame, manipulating and controlling his Pierrot—contributing to the emerging tradition of the hand of the animator sparring with its creations. This film, in which characters morph into various shapes, is more of stream-of-consciousness than a linear narrative.

In the 1910 short The Hasher's Delirium, a man goes to a cafe and is overwhelmed by hallucinations, perhaps brought on by drinking. The cartoon features Cohl's cutout technique, and a wide range of metamorphoses that reveal what Eisenstein called animation's "plasmaticness." The boundaries between language and image, and between one object/person and the next are all up for grabs, as animation calls the "real" into question.

The Newlyweds images courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth University Digital Collection 


Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Performance, Page 43"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Performance, page 5 of 25 Next page on path

Related:  Introduction, Page 12Labor, Page 97Conclusion, Page 284Race, Page 261Performance, Page 62Labor, Page 112Space, Page 192Introduction, Page 1Introduction, Page 29Space, Page 165Performance, Page 46Conclusion, Page 303Introduction, Page 14Space, Page 181Labor, Page 96Race, Page 220Conclusion, Page 290Labor, Page 110Performance, Page 34Space, Page 146Labor, Page 109Performance, Page 50Conclusion, Page 289introduction-page-22Race, Page 239Space, Page 175Labor, Page 131Race, Page 258Space, Page 156Performance, Page 74Performance, Page 78Race, Page 225Conclusion, Page 274Space, Page 138Performance, Page 80Conclusion, Page 286Space, Page 190Space, Page 194Labor, Page 128Introduction, Page 23Conclusion, Page 275Space, Page 141Labor, Page 115Performance, Page 35Performance, Page 56Space, Page 191Performance, Page 54Space, Page 143Performance, Page 41Conclusion, Page 296Introduction, Page 4Race, Page 235Labor, Page 123Space, Page 187Space, Page 182Introduction, Page 9Race, Page 224Race, Page 248Space, Page 169Space, Page 155Conclusion, Page 278Race, Page 251Space, Page 171Space, Page 178Introduction, Page 2Labor, Page 113Race, Page 254Performance, Page 47Introduction, Page 18Race, Page 232Race, Page 252Performance, Page 40Introduction, Page 30Space, Page 188Race, Page 213Performance, Page 52Performance, Page 42Performance, Page 72Race, Page 247Performance, Page 44Labor, Page 98Performance, Page 45Labor, Page 132Race, Page 229Introduction, Page 20Conclusion, Page 272Labor, Page 88Race, Page 253Space, Page 137Space, Page 177Introduction, Page 26Space, Page 172Race, Page 221Performance, Page 82Conclusion, Page 291Performance, Page 77Conclusion, Page 300Performance, Page 67Space, Page 183Labor, Page 133Conclusion, Page 273Race, Page 219Space, Page 189Introduction, Page 21Race, Page 257Labor, Page 126Space, Page 162Conclusion, Page 302Race, Page 231Performance, Page 84Space, Page 197Labor, Page 122Space, Page 150Space, Page 159Conclusion, Page 298Conclusion, Page 268Labor, Page 93Race, Page 245Conclusion, Page 304Space, Page 193Race, Page 204Space, Page 163Labor, Page 102Introduction, Page 6Space, Page 170Conclusion, Page 292Race, Page 230Race, Page 206Space, Page 148Performance, Page 60