Mihailova, M. (2011) Animating Space: From Mickey To WALL-E, by J.P. Telotte

• Main Author: Mihaela Mihailova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University College Cork 2012-02-01
• Series: Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media
• Subjects: animating space
• Online Access: http://www.alphavillejournal.com/Issue 2/HTML/ReviewMihailova.html

Towards the end of his book, J.P. Telotte writes, “one of the underlying assumptions driving this study…is that we have generally neglected to recognise the extent to which animation is a spatial art” (253). Indeed, Telotte’s perceptive, well-argued analysis of space in the context of animation fills a lacuna in the existing literature that is as glaring as it is inexplicable. How can something as obvious as animation’s status as a spatial art remain neglected? After all, as the author himself points out, an animator creates and brings to life not only characters, but also the realms that they inhabit. In that sense, animation is an inherently spatial project—one that involves constructing and making sense of space, infusing it with meaning, and incorporating it within the film’s representational and ideological project.