Amusement parks like Disneyland rely on nostalgic characters and narratives to attract audiences. But at what point does this nostalgia allow visitors to overlook dated depictions that are no longer appropriate today? And how does Disney’s animation factor into these concrete depictions of the fantastical? This presentation is an investigative look at how animation factors into representation at California’s Disneyland Resort.

The Shanghai Animation Studio was born on the heels of China’s Communist Revolution in 1949. As China’s official state studio, its films and history reflect both the idealist promise of a new socialist China and the country’s darkest descent into totalitarian oppression. Through this history, we raise questions of the artist’s position in both communist and capitalist societies. Where is true artistic freedom to be found?

A woman finding strength through her sexuality is a trope as old as the act itself. The recently restored 1973 Belladonna of Sadness dangerously treads this empowerment/exploitation divide. Despite a popular surface reading of vested sexual vengeance, the film is a dangerous mix of beauty and debasement. The film’s production follows a noted pattern of female sexual exploitation by it’s creators and an attempt to alter it’s reading.

By the 1940’s, global society had already survived one gruesome World War, and was soon to experience the physical mutilation of a second. How did cartooning inform an experience of singular and collective bodies in the 20th century, and what can an animator in 2017 glean from this history? This presentation is a sampler plate of Disney’s labor practices in the transitional moments between an elastic Mickey Mouse and a naturalistic Snow White.

Stephanie Z. Delazeri is an undergraduate studying Experimental Animation at the California Institute of the Arts. Her animations have screened at film festivals both nationally and internationally. In addition to animating, she enjoys researching and eating tangerines.

Sam Gurry is an artist and filmmaker currently living LA. She is interested in found objects, quick conversations, and that thing you threw away last week. Her films have screened internationally including SXSW, MIAF, OIAF, amongst others.

Miranda Javid is a writer, animator and art-educator. She is a Kenan Fellow, a member of the Drawing Center’s Viewing Program and a recipient of the Nancy Harrigan Prize, given through the Baker Artist Fund. Currently, she lives in Los Angeles, where she’s spends her time studying the history of violence and takes long walks when she’s trying to think of narrative ideas. Also, she keeps bees.