In this course we will try to understand what animation essentially is, how its practice differs
from live-action filmmaking, and why its history should be understood as an integral part of
the official history of film. “Born from animation,” as Lev Manovich famously claimed,
“cinema pushed animation to its boundary, only to become one particular case of animation
in the end.” Although animation studies had been traditionally placed at the margins of
moving-image scholarship with little critical acknowledgement, a recent renaissance in
academic discourse focused on new research methods has become dominant in the past few
years. This course will express such new wave of thinking, and will address world-wide
animation within its political, historical, and aesthetic contexts. It will move along several
methodologies, combining an overview of historical milestones in the development of
animation (from the early experiments of Eadweard Muybridge to the 3D revolution of
Pixar), a formal analysis of specific strategies and traditions, and an auteurist understanding
of major animators and studios.