The (Meta-)Metareferential Turn in Animation

Erwin Feyersinger

Animation has shown a high affinity to metaization since its very beginning. However, metareference has increased in popular forms of animation over the last 20 years. This increase in metareference coincides with a quantitative increase and dramatically heightened status of animation during the same period. In this essay, several reasons for the boom of animation and its use of metareference will be outlined. Furthermore, the analysis of a symptomatic example will accentuate essential aspects of a new quality and a new level of metareference in animation. Like several other films, the computer-animated short film Tim Tom (2002) employs metareferential elements that both historicize and fictionalize the techno- logical and psychophysiological basis of animation. It also shows the dramatic influence of the Digital Revolution on the use of metareference in the contem- porary mediascape. Finally, Tim Tom exemplifies a trend of current animation: metareferential reflections on an already metareferential art form, i. e. meta- metareferences.

1. Introduction: metareferentiality and the current boom of animation

When discussing a recent metareferential turn in animation, one should be aware of the fact that animation has always employed a high degree of explicit metareference throughout its history. Already in the early years of animation – from 1900 to the 1920s – experiments with the new art form as well as the (fictional) disclosure of techniques led to various forms of metaization (see Crafton 1982/1993 and Leslie 2002). Besides framing live-action segments that show the work of the animator, the most prominent and widespread instance of metarefer- ence in these early films is the hand of the creator that metaleptically enters and alters the diegesis. These and other forms of metareference recur in various animation genres and contexts throughout the 20th century as several studies have documented: Polan (see 1978) on the politics of self-reflexivity in an animated cartoon, Lindvall/Melton (see 1997) on self-reflexivity in animation, Siebert (see 2005 and 2007) on comedy in animation, Butler/Sepp (see 2007) on The Simp- 446 Erwin Feyersinger

sons, and Feyersinger (see 2007 and forthcoming) on metalepsis in animation. Due to its long metareferential history, a metareferential turn in animation manifests itself with a dramatic increase in the quality and quantity of metaization in animation rather than with the introduction of neglected or foreign devices. This can be exemplified with refer- ence to three major contributions to the current boom of animation – the feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Zemeckis/Williams, dirs. 1988), the television network MTV, and the television series The Simpsons (1989–) – as this boom in Western countries1 since the 1980s coincides with an advancement of metareference to a new level. Furthermore, an analysis of the more recent short film Tim Tom (2002), the main example of this essay, demonstrates in detail how animation (meta)references its metareferential history.

2. Three metareferential catalysts of the boom of animation: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, MTV, and The Simpsons

My first example, the live-action-animation-hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit (live-action directed by Robert Zemeckis, animation directed by Richard Williams), is especially influential in this respect as it caused a widespread revival of the classical cartoon animation of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. The film is not only one of the most conspicuous films of the boom of animation, but it also contains many metareferential elements and is thus a fitting example of examining the connection of this boom with a metareferential turn. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a parodistic and nostalgic2 film about filmmaking, film genres, and film stars of a prolific era. The film is set in a 1947-version of Los Angeles that is shared by both humans and cartoon characters (‘toons’). The toons live in their own district (Toon-

1 Exceptions to this trend are Japan (and countries influenced by Japanese anima- tion such as Italy and Spain), where the quantity, quality and diversity of animation was already high in the 1970s, Canada to a lesser degree due to the high status of artistic animation at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and Eastern Europe with its own rich animation traditions. For an overview of the global history of animation see Bendazzi 1994. 2 On the topic of nostalgia and metareference, see Böhn 2007 and Sommer in this vol.