[Commlist] New book: Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters and Stardom in American Theatrical Shorts

*Animated Personalities***

  Cartoon Characters and Stardom in American Theatrical Shorts

*David McGowan***

https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/animated-personalities-0

Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, Felix the Cat, and 
other beloved cartoon characters have entertained media audiences for 
almost a century, outliving the human stars who were once their 
contemporaries in studio-era Hollywood. In /Animated Personalities/, 
David McGowan asserts that iconic American theatrical short cartoon 
characters should be legitimately regarded as stars, equal to their 
live-action counterparts, not only because they have enjoyed long 
careers, but also because their star personas have been created and 
marketed in ways also used for cinematic celebrities.

Drawing on detailed archival research, McGowan analyzes how Hollywood 
studios constructed and manipulated the star personas of the animated 
characters they owned. He shows how cartoon actors frequently kept pace 
with their human counterparts, granting “interviews,” allowing “candid” 
photographs, endorsing products, and generally behaving as actual actors 
did—for example, Donald Duck served his country during World War II, and 
Mickey Mouse was even embroiled in scandal. Challenging the notion that 
studios needed actors with physical bodies and real off-screen lives to 
create stars, McGowan demonstrates that media texts have successfully 
articulated an off-screen existence for animated characters. Following 
cartoon stars from silent movies to contemporary film and television, 
this groundbreaking book broadens the scope of star studies to include 
animation, concluding with provocative questions about the nature of 
stardom in an age of digitally enhanced filmmaking technologies.

*David McGowan*is a lecturer in animation history at the Savannah 
College of Art and Design (SCAD). He holds a PhD from Loughborough 
University in the United Kingdom.

With all best wishes,

Combined Academic Publishers

*University of Texas Press**| 2019 | 326pp | 9781477317440 | PB | £27.99**

*Price subject to change.

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