“People think of animation only doing things where people are dancing around and doing a lot of histrionics, but animation is not a genre. And people keep saying, “The animation genre.” It’s not a genre! A Western is a genre! Animation is an art form, and it can do any genre. You know, it can do a detective film, a cowboy film, a horror film, an R-rated film or a kids’ fairy tale. But it doesn’t do one thing. And, next time I hear, “What’s it like working in the animation genre?” I’m going to punch that person!”
* * *
The American Film Institute’s 100 Years series, now in its eleventh year, has indulged in some silly categories (100 Best Movie Songs? And only a sub-list the next year for 25 Movie Scores? Not movies’, nor America’s, strongest suit.) The AFI’s nomination lists and final rankings usually offend in small ways, as they should; the rankings provoke discussion and promote great American movies for the general public’s edification and enjoyment. The latest category, however, offends in its very nature.
The AFI has nominated fifty movies in ten categories, asking its members to vote for the ten best movies in ten ‘genres.’ (Hence, “10 Top 10,” or ten different Top 10 lists.) The genres are all quite American, notably Sports, Westerns, and the Courtroom Drama. Their final rankings should include some interesting selections, in spite of the lists’ shortness. However, one of the genres chosen by the AFI displays an offensive irresponsibility on their part because animation is not a genre.
An animated movie can be a Western, a Romantic Comedy, an Action flick, a Mystery, or a Biopic–the possibilities are endless. Animation is a medium, not a genre. Calling animation a genre is just as helpful as calling silent movies a genre. Both mediums can tell stories in any genre. This distinction is important because the paradigm of ‘genre’ is more artistically limiting than ‘medium.’ So long as artists and the public think of animation as a genre instead of a medium, animated movies will be creatively limited.
I will not go so far as to claim that this misunderstanding has ruined the medium of animation; several artists have created lovely exceptions to the predominant aesthetic rule of the medium (and some standout successes within that aesthetic). The history of mainstream animation has, however, been limited primarily to comedy and fantasy because of their appeal to children and families, and various producers’ adept exploitation of that market. The longterm consequences have included the mainstream audience’s misguided presupposition that animated movies are for children, and mainstream artists’ shyness towards creating animated movies in other genres.
Since the AFI has an important role in the stewardship of American culture and the public’s understanding of movies as entertainment and art, this high-profile error is especially offensive. The AFI would do well to publicly correct their language concerning animated movies.
