The Animation Kiosk at the Innis College Library
Visit the Animation Kiosk at the Innis College Library to learn about the history of animation and to watch animated shorts and movies.
Swing You Sinners! (1930)
The Animation Kiosk is a new addition to the Innis College Library.
Nicholas Sammond, an Associate Professor of Cinema Studies and English at the University of Toronto, teaches courses on animation (INI 383H1, The Origins of the Animation Industry, 1900-1950: A Technosocial History, and INI 398H1, Special Topics in Cinema Studies: American Animation After 1950 ). He recently created a website that features biographies of dozens of animators from the first half of the 20th century, including the Fleischers, who worked extensively on Superman. What's unique about the project (at www.rarebit.org) is that web users will be able to track animators' careers as they hopped from studio to studio. Sammond intends to reach beyond the university's walls to encourage collectors and fans to share their knowledge.
The animation kiosk is a perfect example of this, as it is a collaboration with the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood). Students and researchers may search for animator biographies and works, and even watch the animated shorts and movies at the kiosk. It is a valuable and entertaining research tool that will benefit students of Film History, Art History, Pop Culture, and Graphic Novels.
The Mechanical Monsters, Fleischer Studios (1941)
For example, you can learn about Dave and Max Fleischer on the database. Born into comic books at the height of the Great Depression, Superman owes some of his early fame to Dave and Max Fleischer, the American studio owners who animated him for the silver screen in 1941. A defender of "truth, justice and the American way," the Man of Steel became a patriotic symbol for a country at war. As a cartoon — all sharp angles and muted colours — he stood out from Betty Boop and Popeye, his curvier contemporaries.
This animated Superman short to the left, The Mechanical Monsters, was released by Fleischer Studios in 1941. Although this particular piece does not appear on the kiosk, students can explore many other examples of the Fleischers' work on the database. Sammond plans to add videos and photographs of animators' work to the Early Animation Wiki, too.
Students, faculty, and visitors are welcome to try out the kiosk and enjoy classic works of animation during normal hours of operation at the Innis College Library (2 Sussex Avenue, 2nd floor).
original article by Scott Anderson
for UofT Magazine (Spring 2009)
updated by Tony Pi, Graduate Program Assistant
June 2010