[Commlist] Animation as Cultural Industry? Designing and Making Cartoons - RFSIC Special Issue

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"Animation as Cultural Industry? Designing and Making Cartoons"
RFSIC Special Issue
Special Guest Editors: Marie Pruvost-Delaspre & Sébastien François

Submission Deadline Extended: July 15, 2019
Articles in English or French are welcome!

If you are a scholar studying the working conditions in the animation 
sector, the economics of animation, or any subject related to the 
production of animated contents, please consider submitting to this 
special issue. Feel free to disseminate the CFP too!


Full details below or on the journal website: 
https://journals.openedition.org/rfsic/5493<https://journals.openedition.org/rfsic/5493>

RFSIC #18 Special Issue:
ANIMATION AS CULTURAL INDUSTRY? DESIGING AND MAKING CARTOONS
Special Guest Editors: Marie Pruvost-Delaspre & Sébastien François

Even though academic interest for the animated medium remains on the 
fringe of media studies, it seems to have gained much importance during 
in the last few decades (Crafton, 1982; Pilling, 1997; Lamarre, 2008; 
Wells, 2012). Following the impetus of the thriving “animation studies” 
in the English-speaking context and the pioneering work of the Society 
for Animation Studies (SAS) founded in 1987, scientific research on 
animation has started to spread across different linguistic areas and 
countries. Nevertheless, animation as a field of research still appears 
in a state of dispersal and fragmentation, marked by recurrent tropisms. 
Indeed, due to their dependence to related scientific projects or 
events, the works conducted on animation and its multiple formats and 
techniques have been developed within different disciplinary fields, 
such as film and media studies, communication studies, history or 
sociology, but in a certain state of unawareness of one another 
(Pilling, 1998; Denis, 2011). They also have been mainly focused on 
aesthetics and contents –and to some extent on reception–, putting aside 
the practical conditions of the making of animation.

A growing number of books, documentaries or DVD-bonuses may have already 
offered some insights into what happens “behind-the-scene”, as did so 
–more seriously– some general historical and theoretical works on 
animation (Furniss, 2016), studies devoted to major studios like Disney 
or Pixar (Wasko, 2001), or others focused on specialized television 
channels (Hendershot, 2004). Nevertheless, the design and production 
process of animated programs have rarely been systematically tackled by 
social sciences, and socio-economical approaches of the animation market 
appears almost non-existent. Those blind spots left by academia are 
related the periodic illegitimacy of animation, which is clearly linked 
to its reduction both to television programs and children products. In 
this context, ethnographical studies like Ian Condry’s work on 
/anime/ studios (Condry, 2013) or Dana Lemish’s on gender in animated 
cartoons (Lemish, 2010), can be considered as pioneering. More recently, 
the one-day symposium “La fabrique de l’animation” (“The making of 
animation”), organized in June 2017 in Paris, which sought to raise 
visibility on this type of research and to develop dialogue between 
researchers, has rather been a first step than culmination. From the 
perspective of countries, like France, where animation remains, despite 
everything, a flourishing industry, with animation schools and young 
professionals with international appeal (Mérijeau & Roffat, 2015), this 
state of the art seems nothing but paradoxical.

This special issue consequently aims at highlighting the processes 
through which animation projects are designed and put into production, 
by bringing together contributions and researchers that engage with such 
questions. Thus, an essential task is still to better document the 
working conditions of animation professionals, whose occupations and 
situations are so diverse. But how can we report the organization of 
such production systems, in which many projects stop at their early 
stages while the lucky ones take years to  be completed? How to describe 
and classify the multiple and complex “chains of cooperation” (Becker, 
1982) of each one? Benefitting from the input of previous works 
previously undertaken in diverse academic fields, the purpose of this 
issue is indeed to discuss the potential approaches (theoretical and 
empirical) that could be useful to comprehend the production of 
animation, taken in its broadest sense, i.e. from the first steps of the 
creation to the practical manufacturing and broadcasting moments. The 
collection’s goal is therefore to question the specificity of animation 
and its qualification as a cultural industry.

So as to initiate the discussions at stake, we invite contributors to 
address the following (but not exhaustive) research directions:

ANIMATION AND ITS MODES OF COOPERATION

Following decisive works on cultural industries (Hesmondhalgh, 2012; 
Johnson & al., 2014) and the recent rise of production studies (Mayer & 
al., 2009; Arsenault & Perren, 2016), the work of animation 
professionals and their daily practices should appear as a central 
issue. Indeed, how can research follow up and document the multiple 
stages of the animation production? How to analyze the diversity of 
artistic professions (authors, animators, filmmakers, story-boarders, 
voice actors…) as well as their skills and crafts, while some of them 
remain particularly understudied? Existing research on the collective 
nature of creation in the cinema industry (Caldwell, 2008; Rot & de 
Verdalle, 2013) or on the role of cultural intermediaries (Maguire & 
Matthews, 2014; Jeanpierre & Roueff, 2014) should be helpful to 
understand how those professionals cooperate (Holian, 2015). In 
particular, articles addressing the question of the existing tensions 
within the animation industry –regarding gender, generations, schools of 
thought, etc.– or technical antagonisms –craftsmanship vs. industry, 
analogic vs. digital technology (Noesser, 2016)– are expected.

THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY: ORGANIZING, FINANCING & BROADCASTING

The production of animated series and feature films deeply relies on 
specific financing and economic models (Creton, 2014) which 
comprehension requires to conduct studies among animation producers. 
Analyzing the specificity of animation production, in comparison to the 
situation in the film or in other cultural industries, might also shed 
some light on this subject. Thereby, papers dealing with the 
institutional and political contexts, as well as the financing of 
animation projects, will be highly appreciated: for instance, such works 
could explain why the French and European animation have continued to 
develop despite the powerful Japanese /anime/ and American cartoons 
(Mousseau, 1982), but any other international perspective will be 
considered. Moreover, it is essential to scientifically include 
animation broadcasting, be it the film circulation through festivals, 
the work done by cinema distributors, and of course the role played by 
television channels which are indispensable in the financing and 
production processes (Stabile & Harrison, 2003; Jost & Chambat-Houillon, 
2003), since they have their own problematics. Finally, the moral and 
regulation constraints which apply to audiovisual material may be also 
examined. The institutions (e.g. the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel 
in France), associations (e.g. the “Parents-Teachers Associations” in 
Japan) or other entities (e.g. the “Standards and Practices” departments 
in American television channels; see Cohen, 2004), which directly affect 
professionals’ working conditions and attitudes could inspire very 
interesting studies.

ANIMATION AND MEDIA CIRCULATIONS

Looking more broadly into cultural industries and their boundaries 
(Bouquillon & al., 2013), article proposals focusing on the circulation 
of animated contents are expected. Animation often plays a central part 
in contemporary media circulations and one can wonder to what extent the 
industry has (or had) to adapt its production routines due to licensing 
or cross/transmedia strategies (Johnson, 2013; Kinder, 1991; Steinberg, 
2012). How then has been animation associated to other “new” media 
(video games, Internet, apps) and what are the implications for 
animation professionals? Interrogating such aspects of animation 
circulation should contribute to the understanding of the interactions 
between cultural industries, as well as the building of contemporary 
fictional worlds (Brougère, 2008; Condry, 2013; Besson, 2015).


SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Submitted papers, of a maximum of 40,000 characters including spaces, 
should be sent before July 15^th  2019 to the coordinators: 
(sebastien.francois /at/ rocketmail.com) 
<mailto:(sebastien.francois /at/ rocketmail.com)> and 
(marie.pruvost-delaspre /at/ univ-paris8.fr) 
<mailto:(marie.pruvost-delaspre /at/ univ-paris8.fr)>

They will then be peer-reviewed in a double-blind process by the 
scientific committee. Instructions on format and citations may be found 
at: https://journals.openedition.org/rfsic/401

The issue #18 is expected to be published by the end of 2019/beginning 
of 2020.
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REFERENCES

BECKER Howard, 1982, /Art Worlds/, Berkeley, University of California 
Press, 379 p.

BESSON Anne, 2015, /Constellations : Des mondes fictionnels dans 
l’imaginaire contemporain/, Paris, CNRS, 560 p.

BOUQUILLION Philippe, MIEGE Bernard & MOEGLIN Pierre, 2013, 
/L’Industrialisation des biens symboliques : Les industries créatives en 
regard des industries culturelles/, Grenoble, PUG, 252 p.

CRAFTON Donald, /Before Mickey: The Animated Film, 1898-1928/, Boston, 
MIT Press, 1982.

CRETON Laurent, 2014, /Économie du cinéma/, Paris, Armand Colin, 295 p.

CRETON Laurent, DEHEE Yannick, LAYERLE Sébastien & MOINE Caroline, 2011, 
/Les Producteurs : Enjeux créatifs, enjeux financiers/, Paris, Nouveau 
Monde Éditions, 392 p.

COHEN Karl, 2004, /Forbidden Animation. Censored Cartoons and 
Blacklisted Animators in America/, Jefferson, McFarland, 230 p.

CONDRY Ian, 2013, /The Soul of Anime: Collaborative Creativity and 
Japan’s Media Success Story/, Durham, Duke University Press, 241 p.

DENIS Sébastien, 2017, /Le Cinéma d’animation/, Paris, A. Colin (3^ème 
éd.), 320 p.

FURNISS, Maureen, 2016, /A New History of Animation/, New York, Thames & 
Hudson, 464 p.

HENDERSHOT Heather (ed.), 2004, /Nickelodeon Nation. The History, 
Politics, and Economics of America’s Only TV Channel for Kids/, New 
York, New York University Press, 304 p.

HESMONDHALGH David, 2012, /The Cultural Industries/, Londres, SAGE 
Publications Ltd, 480 p.

HOLIAN Heather, 2013, « Art, Animation and the Collaborative Process », 
/Animation Studies Journal/, volume 8, available at 
https://journal.animationstudies.org/heather-holian-art-animation-and-the-collaborative-process/, 
consulted on January, 11^th 2019.

JEANPIERRE Laurent & ROUEFF Olivier, 2014, /La Culture et ses 
intermédiaires/, Paris, Archives contemporaines, 267 p.

JOHNSON Derek, 2013, /Media Franchising: Creative License and 
Collaboration in the Culture Industries/, New York, New York University 
Press, 300 p.

JOHNSON Derek, KOMPARE Derek & SANTO Avi, 2014, /Making Media Work: 
Cultures of Management in the Entertainment Industries/, New York, New 
York University Press, 336 p.

JOST François & CHAMBAT-HOUILLON Marie-France, 2003, « Parents-enfants : 
regards croisés sur les dessins animés », /Informations sociales/, 111. 
62-71.

LAMARRE Thomas, 2008, « Animation Studies », /The Semiotic Review of 
Books/, 17:3. 1‑5

LEMISH Dafna, 2010, /Screening Gender on Children’s Television: The 
Views of Producers around the World/, Londres/New York, Routledge, 240 p.

MAGUIRE Jennifer Smith & MATTHEWS Julian, 2014, /The Cultural 
Intermediaries Reader/, Londres/New York, SAGE Publications Ltd, 256 p.
DOI : 10.4135/9781473912281 <http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473912281>

MAYER Vicky, BANKS Miranda & CALDWELL John Thornton (ed.), 2009, 
/Production Studies: Cultural Studies of Media Industries/, New York, 
Routledge, 255 p.

MERIJEAU Lucie & ROFFAT Sébastien (2015), « L’animation à l’université 
française, un enseignement en quête d’identification », /Mise au point. 
Cahiers de l’association française des enseignants et chercheurs en 
cinéma et audiovisuel/, n^o 7, available at 
https://journals.openedition.org/map/1972, consulted on January 11^th 2019.

MOUSSEAU Jacques, 1982, « Plaidoyer pour une industrie française du 
dessin animé », /Communication et langages/, 52 :1. 82‑89.
DOI : 10.3406/colan.1982.1466 <http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/colan.1982.1466>

NOESSER Cécile, 2016, /La Résistible ascension du cinéma d’animation : 
socio-genèse d’un cinéma-bis en France (1950-2010)/, Paris, L’Harmattan, 
308 p.

PILLING Jayne (ed.), 1997, /A Reader In Animation Studies/, Londres, 
John Libbey Publishing, 283 p.

ROT Gwenaële & DE VERDALLE Laure (ed.), 2013, /Le Cinéma : travail et 
organisation/, Paris, La Dispute, 236 p.

STABILE Carol & HARRISON Mark (ed.), 2003, /Prime Time Animation: 
Television Animation and American Culture/, Londres/New York, Routledge, 
254 p.

STEINBERG Marc, 2012, /Anime’s Media Mix: Franchising Toys and 
Characters in Japan/, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 314 p.

WASKO Janet, 2001, /Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy/, 
Cambridge, Polity, 261 p.

WELLS Paul, 2012, « Animation and the Animated Film », /Oxford 
Bibliographies/, available at 
http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199791286/obo-9780199791286-0076.xml, 
consulted on January 11^th 2019.











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