Answer:In the opening paragraph of this book Paul Wells states that animation is "arguably the most
important creative form of the twenty-first century … It is the omnipresent pictorial form of
the modern era" (1). Despite animation's prominent status in everyday life, from television
commercials to the recent spate of popular feature length animation films to various uses on
the Web, the form itself has suffered a long history of systematic neglect -- both critically and
academically. Frequently dismissed as nothing more than an entertainment form aimed at
children, animation has rarely been considered worthy of sustained critical or academic
attention. Over recent years this situation has gradually improved. An increase in the number
of film festivals focusing on animation, and the establishing of the Society for Animation
Studies in 1987 have helped to raise the profile and popularity of the animated form. Its
critical and commercial status in Hollywood was recently recognised when it was granted its
own Academy Awards category. However, despite this new critical interest serious academic
explorations of animation are still relatively uncommon. Paul Wells is in fact individually
responsible for many of the recent contributions to the topic. His publications in this field
include Art and Animation (1997) (as guest editor), Understanding Animation (1998),
Animation and America (2001), and a forthcoming title British Animation (2002), as well as
several shorter pieces. Continuing this almost single-handed quest to open up the arena of
animation, Wells locates Animation: Genre and Authorship as an introduction to the topic
while simultaneously engaging with the specific issues of genre and auteur theory and their
relationships to the animated form. Using mini-case studies to illustrate his arguments, Wells
enthusiastically draws on a wide variety of animation styles and forms from many different
countries and cultures. This broad scope of reference provides an excellent means of giving
readers access to animated forms they may not readily have encountered, while at the same
time delivering the message that there is more to animation than Walt Disney.
Explanation:
