I Latin American Online Animation: General Overview of its Contextual Conditions and Analysis of its Formal Traits. Oslavia Danaé Linares Martínez A Thesis in The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Film Studies) at Concordia University Montréal, Quebec, Canada August 2019 © Oslavia Danaé Linares Martínez, 2019 II CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Oslavia Danaé Linares Martinez Entitled: Latin American Online Animation: General Overview of its Contextual Conditions and Analysis of its Formal Traits. and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Film Studies) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final Examining Committee: _______________________ Chair _______________________ Examiner Dr. Peter Rist _______________________ Examiner Dr. Fenwick McKelvey _______________________ Supervisor Dr. Marc Steinberg Approved by: ___________________________________________ Dr. Luca Caminati, Graduate Program Director _____________ 2019 ____________________________________ Rebecca Duclos, dean of Fine Arts III Abstract: Latin American Online Animation: General Overview of its Contextual Conditions and Analysis of its Formal Traits. Oslavia Danaé Linares Martínez The Latin American children of the late 1990s and 2000s grew up watching cartoons, just like those decades before; however, for the first time, many of these cartoons were being made by them. That was only the beginning… Benefiting from new digital animation technology and Internet availability as much as from a renewed sense of what cartoons were and for whom, online animation became one of the earliest and most popular forms of online media in Latin America and the world. And yet, their popularity is relatively confined to the Internet and their academic study remains scarce. This thesis aims to remediate this absence and to provide a base from which to give a better account of Latin American online animation. In doing so, it can improve our understanding of other online media’s connection with socio-economic, technological, ideological, and aesthetic imperatives. I highlight the role of economic class and cultural imperialism in online animation’s aesthetic and contents, consider the role of cable networks in both shaping these tastes and offering a precedent for online platforms like YouTube, and review the technological limitations leading to an online animation vernacular (regional and global). I focus on this vernacular’s formal traits as a necessary first step to approach online animation and potentially other media. Ultimately, I provide a socio-economic and techno-historical context for Latin American online animation’s visual culture and its media and geo-cultural specificity. This research is all the more necessary in the face of the impermanence of online media. IV Acknowledgements: I wish to thank those who have helped me and, ergo, the completion of this work, which more than a master’s thesis is a research project into an unstudied but increasingly important mode of online media. Corresponding to my ambitions of research has been the support, encouragement, and patience of my thesis supervisor, professor Marc Steinberg. I’m grateful to my family: my uncle Santos and aunt Rosa for their financial support, and my father, Pablo Linares Linares, for his unconditional support through my studies and my gender transition. Besides him, several of my peers and friends have granted me their help in different capacities through the time I’ve been working on this project. As such, I wish to thank Jordan Adler, for his early disposition to review my thesis on and off campus, Jan Vykidal for his help with (last minute) proofreading, the organizers of the three thesis workshops I attended: William Fech, Jordan Gowanlock, and Meredith Slifkin, and the fellas who came to them and read my work in progress, you know who you are. Outside the program, I owe additional thanks for the financial support Asifa – Hollywood provided me through their Animation Educators Scholarship; thanks to Luis Vázquez for his direct inspiration with undertaking large scale research on Mexico’s animation; to professor William Andrade for his knowledge of Brazilian animation; and to the willing participants in my research, particularly Raul “Rulo” Barrera, for his account of Mexican online animation. As vital as academic support, has been the moral assistance and help from the friends I have made while involved in the program and prior. I wish to thank: Stephanie Durán Castillo, for convincing me (somewhat) to pursue my academic development; Maya Amal, for offering emotional and housing refuge in times of struggle (including the present one); Dasha Vzorova, for the constancy of working together through academic and life’s troubles; Julian Bata, for cheering me up with his art and humor; to Charlie Ellbé for lending me advice and movies at MIRC; to Daria Gamliel, for being my friend in the first cold Montreal winter; René Isadora, for the much needed Mexican comrade in town; Charlotte, for her kindness and empathy; Ellen Freeman for fostering our peer spirit with her parties; to Alana Repstock, for showing me what a friendship can and cannot be; and to Tracey Steer, for nurturing me with love in the last difficult weeks. Spare me the guilt of leaving anyone unacknowledged. I hope to repay in kind for this support. You’ve all made this “one-person” job possible and more rewarding. V Table of Contents: Introduction 1 0.1 On the Medium Specificity of Online Animations …………………………………………………………………3 0.2 Notes on Platforms and YouTube …………………………………………………………………………………………6 0.3 Historical Overview of Animation Production in Latin America …………………………………………….9 0.4 On the study of online animation ……………………………………………………………………………………….14 0.5 On this thesis’ aims and methods. ………………………………………………………………………………………15 Chapter 1: On contextual factors co-determining Latin American online animation 21 1.1 Internet accessibility and consumption in Latin America. ……………………………………………………22 1.1.1 Internet Growth in the Region …………………………………………………………………………….23 Regional Internet Access ……………….…………………………………….………………………….24 National rural and urban disparities in access ..…….…………………………………………25 1.1.2 Socio-economic disparities in access to the Internet in Latin America …………………27 Internet access and computer access. …………………………………………………………….28 Educational level of Latin American online users …………………………………………….31 Gender disparity among Latin American Internet users ………………………………….33 Age range among Latin American Internet users …………………………………………….33 1.1.3 Internet consumption in Latin America and adoption of global consumption behaviours ……………………….…………………………………………….………………………………………..35 VI 1.1.4 On YouTube’s Prevalence among Latin American Viewers ………………………………….37 1.1.5 On Globalized Consumption Behaviours …………………………………………….………………39 1.2 On the cultural role of Japanese anime, MTV, and other cable networks in Latin America …42 1.2.1 On Anime ………………………………….………………………………….…………………………………….43 1.2.2 On MTV and other cable networks in Latin America and their adoption of online animation. …………………………………….………………………………….…………………………………………45 On the influence of MTV’s programming in early and current notions of animation ………………………………….………………………………….………………………………..48 On MTV’s and Much Music’s patronage of Latin American online animation ….49 Chapter 2: On early online animation and a survey of its formal traits 55 2.1. On early online animation from Latin America …….……………….………………………………….……….56 2.1.1. Early Latin American online animation and their study ………………………………………56 2.1.2 Flash ………………………………….………………………………….…………………………………………… 61 2.1.3 On Early Circulation ………………………………….………………………………….……………………. 62 2.1.4 On Newgrounds.com ………………………………….………………………………….…………………..64 2.1.5 On Monetization and the case of Huevocartoon …………………………………………………66 2.2 Formal Traits of Online Animation ………………………………….………………………………….………………71 2.2.1 More on Online Animation’s Medium Specificity ………………………………………………..71 2.2.2 Online Animation’s Durational Traits ………………………………….………………………………73 Individual duration ………………………………….………………………………….………………….73 Serial duration ………………………………….………………………………….…………………………74 VII 2.2.3 on Graphic Composition ………………………………….………………………………….………………74 2.2.4 Representational Style ………………………………….………………………………….…………………77 Rudimentary cartoonish ………………………………….………………………………….………….78 Consistent cartoonish ………………………………….………………………………….………………78 Anime depictions ………………………………….………………………………….…………………….79 Realistic depictions ………………………………….………………………………….………………….79 Live-action based depictions ………………………………….………………………………….……79 Photo cut-out depictions …….……………….………………………………….……………………..80 2.2.5 on Animation Techniques ………………………………….………………………………….……………80 2D vector animation ………………………………….………………………………….……………….81 Limited animation ………………………………….………………………………….……………………81 Prefabricated 2D ……………………………….………………………………….……………………… 82 Frame-by-Frame animation ………………………………….………………………………….……..82 3D computer animation original and pre-fabricated ………………………………….……83 Original 3D computer animation ………………………………….…………………………………83 Prefabricated 3D animation ………………………………….………………………………….…….84 On Rotoscoping ………………………………….………………………………….……………………….86 2.2.6 on Sound ………………………………….………………………………….…………………….……………….87 On Sound: technical aspects and design ………………………………….………………………87