Title Birth of an industry : blackface minstrelsy and the rise of American animation / Nicholas Sammond

Published Durham : Duke University Press, 2015 ©2015

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Description 1 online resource (xv, 382 pages) : illustrations Contents Introduction: biting the invisible hand -- Performance -- Labor -- Space -- Race -- Conclusion: the "new" blackface Summary Nicholas Sammond describes how popular early American cartoon characters were derived from blackface minstrelsy. He charts the industrialization of animation in the early twentieth century, its representation in the cartoons themselves, and how important blackface minstrels were to that performance, standing in for the frustrations of animation workers. Cherished cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat, were conceived and developed using blackface minstrelsy's visual and performative conventions: these characters are not like minstrels; they are minstrels. They play out the social, cultural, political, and racial anxieties and desires that link race to the laboring body, just as live minstrel show performers did. Carefully examining how early animation helped naturalize virulent racial formations, Sammond explores how cartoons used laughter and sentimentality to make those stereotypes seem not only less cruel but actually pleasurable. Although the visible links between cartoon characters and the minstrel stage faded long ago, Sammond shows how important those links are to thinking about animation then and now, and about how cartoons continue to help illuminate the central place of race in American cultural and social life Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 351-364) and index Notes English Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL Online resource; title from PDF title page (JSTOR, viewed September 2, 2020) digitized 2022. HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Subject Animated films -- United States -- History and criticism Animation (Cinematography) -- United States -- History -- 20th century Blackface entertainers -- United States -- History -- 20th century Minstrel shows -- United States -- History -- 20th century PERFORMING ARTS -- Reference. PERFORMING ARTS -- Film & Video -- History & Criticism. Animated films. Animation (Cinematography) Blackface entertainers. Minstrel shows. Zeichentrickfilm Animationsfilm Minstrel show Rassismus Svarta i filmen. Animerad film, USA. United States. USA Genre/Form Minstrel shows. Criticism, interpretation, etc. History. Minstrel shows. Form Electronic book ISBN 9780822375784 0822375788

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