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The Cinema

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New York's Animation Culture

Part of the book series: Palgrave Animation ((PAANI))

Abstract

Shortly after the premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first Disney feature, three animated feature films—Gulliver’s Travels, Pinocchio and Fantasia—were released between 1939 and 1940. After decades of being almost exclusively a supporting act, animated films were suddenly becoming the main attraction in film programs. Coinciding with their expanding place in cinemas, these films were marketed and exhibited in ways that expanded their place in culture. While animation’s wide-ranging commercial, artistic and intermedial potentials had been developing over the course of decades, this period in New York was a particularly vivid example of how animated film was being drawn into a range of places, contexts and cultural institutions seemingly quite distinct from the cinema. As well as exploring this expanded sense of animation, this chapter details how similar attempts to develop new paths for animation were also appearing at the World’s Fair, with animated films that promoted products and industry using innovative technologies, forms and exhibition practices.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Film and Television, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Kristian Moen

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  1. Kristian Moen
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Correspondence to Kristian Moen .

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Moen, K. (2019). The Cinema. In: New York's Animation Culture. Palgrave Animation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27931-8_5

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