In a garage somewhere in Folkestone in Kent, a grey squirrel named Dot begins to move, blinking and stumbling forward as she comes to life. Dot looks around an impenetrable, foreboding forest, rife with do-it-yourself artistry. A human hand reaches over to adjust her fabric-covered arms just so. The hand belongs to Astrid Goldsmith, an […]
Eisenstein Goes Plane Crazy
For this essay, my professor asked us to find discuss an animated Disney short film through the lens of Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. Quotes in this piece are taken from the translated compilation of Eisenstein’s notes in Jay Leda’s 1988 book, Eisenstein on Disney. Sergei Eisenstein, a Marxist filmmaker and theorist, had a unique relationship with […]
Termite Terrace Trounces the Mouse House
Walt Disney Animation and the Warner Bros. Animation are longtime rivals who sported very different philosophies when it came animation. The stalwart, good heartedness of Disney’s shorts stood in contrast to the wild, nihilistic nature of Warner’s universe. Their respective facilities, business outlooks, and differing collections of talent and staff infrastructure all lent to two […]
