Module Brief and Synopsis:
The objective of this our second World of Animation assignment was to collaborate in a small group to create a research poster which, from a specific perspective, demonstrated our understanding of the history or development of a nation’s animation.
My choice of American animation saw me teamed up with Josh, John, and Ray, and following discussions and advice to select an aspect that could be explored in a linear fashion, and was specific enough for individual elements to be presented within the available timeframe, we decided to focus on the concept of how the ‘Nuclear Family’ had evolved over time in American animation.
Enabling us to cover the topic comprehensively, but at the same time focus our research and provide context, both the poster and presentation were divided into four different eras. The first section, produced by Josh, set the scene by relaying the historical context of the pre-Golden Age, before the nuclear family became an established trope, and animation trends including Disney’s rise in popularity.
My section then detailed the socio-political and economic environment that led to the emergence of the white, All-American traditional nuclear family structure prevalent in the 1950’s, and the advent of television as the primary source of family entertainment. However, with longer development timelines, that animation only followed suit in the 1960’s, and how successful animated series of this decade, such as ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘The Jetsons,’ also mirrored the ideals, culture and rigid gender roles of this time.
Taking us up to the millennium, John’s contribution then described how family representations broadened, with popular animations of this period such as ‘The Simpsons’ diversifying to include characters of other ethnicities, or indeed interracial and blended families as in ‘The Rugrats.’
Bringing us up-to-date, Ray then concluded by discussing the state of the nuclear family in modern day representations; highlighting that while the traditional trope was still often seen, for example in ‘The Incredibles’ or ‘Bob’s Burgers,’ TV shows such as ‘Rick and Morty’ and ‘Moral Orel’ presented a more cynical deconstruction of the trope.
Research:
Following the austerity of the Great Depression, the instability of World War II, and their impact on the economy and society in general, the 1950’s, often called the ‘boomer years’ on account of post-war prosperity and the boom seen in marriage, birth and housing rates, witnessed a transition away from the extended family configuration of the early twentieth century, to the traditional all-American nuclear family structure still often seen today (Concordia University, 2020; Cooper, 2024). A term first coined by the sociologist Talcott Parson in 1955 (Nickerson, 2024), the picture perfect ‘nuclear’ or often called ‘cereal packet family’ because of its stereotypical nature (Browne, 2011) consisted of a married couple, one or more dependent children, and a dog sharing the same home (TV Tropes, 2007; Zurcher, Webb and Robinson, 2018).
This ‘ideal’ social unit placed a strong emphasis on domesticity, conservative values and traditional gender roles; epitomised by a breadwinning father, his stay-at-home supportive wife who managed the household and cared for their children, and the children themselves, who given Cold War fears, and the ever-present threat of nuclear war at that time, provided a sense of security, stability and hope for the future in uncertain times where fallout shelters and weekly ‘Duck-and-Cover’ drills were the norm (Litt, 2019; Concordia University, 2020; Cooper, 2024). In this climate of uncertainty, focus was also placed on consumerist ideals, epitomised by the suburban home equipped with modern, labour-saving appliances, with the 1959 Nixon-Khrushchev ‘Kitchen Debate’ making this part of the American household a central site of Cold War rhetoric, and domestic technological advancements a symbol of American progress and superiority in the ideological battle against communism (Litt, 2019; Morello, 2020; Moser, 2024).
By 1959, television had also become the primary source of family entertainment, with representations of the ‘desired’ nuclear family unit and exemplars how family members were ‘supposed’ to behave prevalent in many live-action TV shows. Highly popular TV series included ‘Father Knows Best’ and ‘Leave it to Beaver’ that both perfectly perpetuated the archetypical self-assured, masculine and successful middle-class father, adored by his wife and family, with this concept then reinforced by repeat audience consumption on a weekly basis (Moore, 1992; Zurcher, Webb and Robinson, 2018).
However, with longer development times, animation only followed suit in the 1960’s with the production of hugely popular animated shows such as Hanna-Barbera’s ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘The Jetsons.’
‘The Flintstones;’ the first ever animation to be broadcast in a prime-time TV slot and to be produced with more grown-up sensibilities, adhered closely to established sitcom family archetypes, and reflected the rigid gender roles of the nuclear family and ideals of the time – albeit in a Stone Age setting with modern-day parallels, such as using dinosaurs as household appliances (Arbuthnot, 2012; Weiss, 2015).
Fred, the traditional breadwinner and patriarchal head of the household works as a blue-collar construction worker (Bika, 2019), while his wife Wilma adheres to her expected role of a wife, and later a mother to their daughter Pebbles, with deviations away from this paradigm, such as when Wilma seeks employment in the episode, ‘The Happy Household,’ seen as negative and a happy ending only ensues when she returns to the domesticity of her housewife’s role. Indeed, their pet dinosaur Dino, even exhibits all the characteristics of a typical dog. Their friends and next-door neighbours Barney and Betty Rubble also follow the same dynamic, further perpetuating the ideals of the conventional nuclear family and its gender roles as the paragon of the American life and way.
However, in a comedy sitcom format that dominated 1950’s and 1960’s programming, and personified the working-class stereotypes of the time and their frustrations as they struggled to climb the economic ladder; mirroring Ralph Kramden’s oafish and argumentative persona in the 1950’s hit TV show ‘The Honeymooners,’ Fred Flintstone epitomises the lovable, but inept, working-class head of household that relies on his more competent, sensible and mature wife to bail him out of the failed schemes, and awkward situations he find himself in (Glennon and Butsch, 1983; Moore, 1992; Zurcher, Webb and Robinson, 2018).
On the other hand, capitalising on the countries’ fascination with space exploration, and the sense of technological progress in the Atomic and Space Ages, ‘The Jetsons,’ which centres on the misadventures of a futuristic, white-collared, patriarchal nuclear family of four living in the year 2062, created visions of a recognisable, desirable and optimistic future, brimming with possibilities, in a safe, prosperous world enabled by fantastical technology such as jetpacks and automated gadgets that, on the push of a button, could perform household chores (Morello, 2020).
However, despite this utopian depiction of the future in a 2062 hyper-technological, Googie-inspired sky city designed to resonate with the audience, the animation still embodies the gendered nuclear family identity so prevalent in the 1960’s, with the series even promoted by the tagline, ‘Man in Space!’
Personifying the middle-class ideals and societal expectations of the time, and reinforced in the opening sequence of each episode where the household members are introduced to the viewer by their gendered roles, hailing from space, suave family man George is seen piloting his flying car, with their loyal dog Astro in tow, to drop off his two adoring children: Judy, a fashionable teen, and Elroy, a budding scientist at school, before leaving his devoted wife, Jane, at the shopping centre to spend the earnings from her husband’s white-collar job at Spacely Space Sprockets (Mundy, 2013; Morello, 2020).
Again, any deviation from this ideal is portrayed as unorthodox and perilous, exemplified by, when straying from the norm, Jane decides to take a driving lesson, but it goes awry when her instructor is revealed to be a fugitive on the run.
Nonetheless, while representations of their time, shows such as ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘The Jetsons’ served as the precursor to more modern animated greats such as ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Family Guy.’
Poster Creation:
Prior to being allocated to our final team, groupwork during our week 8 tutorial session had helped us prepare for the poster creation stage of the project by having us create and present a short pitch deck about the impact or influence of abstract animation on a contemporary animated show, movie or short. Here in the presentation slides below, my group, comprising of myself, Ray and Aoife compared how Len Lye’s use of bright colours, watercolours, and art techniques such as stippling and crosshatching in his 1935 creation, ‘A Colour Box, had influenced Robbi Rodriguez’s depiction of Spider-Gwen in the 2023 movie, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
However, when in our final groups, and discussing the poster layout, we found ourselves drawn to the simplicity of the marketing materials used to promote the animations from our research, and on noting that each featured an eye-catching title in bold, cartoonish font, along with a colourful pictorial representation of the pertinent nuclear family, we decided to incorporate these elements, in some form, into our final poster design.
Other considerations were the necessity to easily differentiate between the individual sections of the poster, but at the same time ensure each remained stylistically similar to the era being discussed, with some possible layouts from our brainstorming session, and Canva suggestions shown below.
However, with no option an ideal fit, a team decision was made to create a bespoke version of the four step timeline below encompassing a linear format that would naturally guide the reader’s eye through each distinct era which, to keep the overall design of the poster consistent and coherent, would be clearly identified by images relevant to the nuclear family trope during that respective time period.
With colour choice also an important aspect, the decision was made to use a homely, warm aqua green tone for the background, complemented by eye-catching yellow text boxes, which would also ensure the information remained readable within each, with our final outcome, highlighting the section that I myself created and presented, seen below:
Reflection:
I can confidently say that I’ve learned a lot from this, the second part of this module, in relation to the historical and contemporary facets of global animation. Additionally, I now also have a much better understanding of how to collect, manage and collate information from a range of sources for a group research task, and how to present my findings in an engaging and concise manner – all skills which will be hugely advantageous during the remainder of the course.
Working in a group, while at times challenging due to absence, miscommunication and differing opinions, enabled me to improve my problem-solving, and social/communication skills, and through the creation of the blog at the end of this task, to reflect on my progress and better relay my thoughts in a written format.
From a starting point where I knew very little about the nuclear family trope, or its history, I’ve ended the task with a sound and comprehensive knowledge of this topic, and am happy with the content and the appearance of our poster, and the way in which our team worked together to deliver what I believe was an informative, well-researched, and well-delivered presentation.
References:
Arbuthnot, M. (2012). Animation in the 1960’s – A brief essay. [online].
Available at: https://michaelarbuthnot.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/animation-in-the-1960s-a-brief-essay/
Bika, N. (2019). Blue collar vs. white collar worker. [online]. Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.
Available at: https://resources.workable.com/hr-terms/blue-collar-vs-white-collar-worker
Browne, K. (2011). An Introduction to Sociology. 4th ed. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Butsch, R. (2003). A Half Century of Class and Gender in American TV Domestic Sitcoms. [online]. Semantic Scholar.
Available at: http://www.cercles.com/n8/butsch.pdf
Concordia University (2020). The Evolution of American Family Structure. [online]. CSP Online.
Available at: https://online.csp.edu/resources/article/the-evolution-of-american-family-structure/
Cooper, M. (2024). The 1950s Family: Structure, Values and Everyday Life. [online] LoveToKnow.
Available at: https://www.lovetoknow.com/life/relationships/1950s-family-structure-values-everyday-life
David, S. (2019). Nuclear Family Album, the Jetsons. [online]. YouTube.com.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUSeaH0YdnU
Glennon, L. M., and Butsch, R. (1983). “The Family as Portrayed on Television 1946-1978,” in Wright, J. C. and Huston, A. C. (Eds.) Children and Television (3rd ed.). Lexington, MA: Ginn Customer Publisher.
Litt, C.T. (2019). Nuclear Families for the Nuclear Age: Disney’s Part in Creating Gender Roles in the 1950s. [online]. scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=honorscollege_history
Moore, M.L. (1992). The family as portrayed on prime-time television, 1947-1990: Structure and characteristics. 26(1-2), pp.41–61. [online]. Springer Link.
Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00290124
Morello, S. (2020). No Longer, Not Yet: Retrofuture Hauntings on The Jetsons. Publications and Research. [online] CUNY Academic Works
Available at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1462&context=qc_pubs
Moser, J. (2024.). The Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate. [online]. Bill of Rights Institute.
Available at: https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/the-nixonkhrushchev-kitchen-debate
Mundy, L. (2013). The Jetson Fallacy. [online]. slate.com.
Available at: https://slate.com/technology/2013/10/jetson-fallacy-if-we-live-to-150-the-nuclear-family-will-explode.html
Nickerson, C. (2024). Nuclear Family Functions In Sociology. [online]. Simple Psychology.
Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/nuclear-family.html
Ruggles, S. (1994). The Transformation of American Family Structure. The American Historical Review, 99(1), p.103. JSTOR.
Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2166164
TV Tropes. (2007). Nuclear Family. [online].
Available at: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NuclearFamily
Weiss, S. (2015). Flintstones Wacky Inventions. [online]. Youtube.com.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=devcvZ9Pzjk
YouTube (2019). Daily Life and Popular Culture in the 1950s: Reading Through History. [online].
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFfaxktY-48&t
YouTube (2023). This Made Growing Up In The 1950s GREAT! : Recollection Road. [online].
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz8SWT4Xyek
Zurcher, J., Webb, S. and Robinson, T. (2018). The Portrayal of Families across Generations in Disney Animated Films. Social Sciences, 7(3), p.47. MDPI. [online].
Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/7/3/47