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