Category: Uncategorized

Animation – Contextual

STEAMBOAT WILLIE

Steamboat Willie is a 1928 animated short, the debut of Mickey Mouse, and the beginning of the success of Walt Disney’s Animation Studio. The reason for the success of this animation was due to the fact that it was the first animated film released with synchronised sound which then made the typical silent animation outdated and unwanted by the public. This feature completely separated Disney from its competitors and boosted them in the industry. The animation was designed specifically to have sound as seen in Mickey’s famous whistle, the smoke puffs from the chimney, and playing the cow’s teeth as a xylophone. It’s interesting to see the thought put into every aspect so that they could use sound as strategically and effectively as possible.

 

 

 

Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Steamboat Willie, 1928

 

 

 

References

Moma learning (no date) MoMA. Available at: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/walt-disney-ub-iwerks-steamboat-willie-1928/  (Accessed: 08 May 2023).

Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney. Steamboat Willie. 1928: Moma (no date) The Museum of Modern Art. Available at: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/302797#:~:text=Disney’s%20Steamboat%20Willie%20is%20a,obsolescence%20and%20launched%20an%20empire. (Accessed: 08 May 2023).

(2009) YouTube. Walt Disney Animation. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgghnQF6E4  (Accessed: 08 May 2023).

Contextual Studies – Gender

AAD011 Contextual Research and Understanding
Niamh Daly

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits representing feminism, freedom, and gender fluidity.

Kahlo embraced both her feminine and masculine sides in her life and work, which helped remove barriers surrounding gender stereotypes. In this piece ‘Self-portrait with cropped hair’ she represents herself with tightly cut hair, as soon after her divorce from Diego Rivera she cut her hair off to separate her old self from him and her now fully independent self. Rivera had always admired her long hair that she has painted strewn all over the room symbolising her complete separation and removal of him from her life. She also shows herself in an ill-fitting suit similar to what Rivera would have worn, another declaration of her independence and strength.

Self portrait with cropped hair - by Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo, ‘Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair’, 1940, MOMA