We are dedicated to the study of the rich legacy and complexity of animated fantasy media, in whatever form it might take.
Fantasy/Animation is an online educational resource examining the relationship between fantasy storytelling and the medium of animation. The website provides a space for discussion and debate among academics, practitioners, special interest groups, and fans of fantasy and/or animation.
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Stories typically follow a structure of beginning, middle, and end, where characters move from their known world into a challenge, and then either overcome or fail it, leading to change. Joseph Campbell’s monomyth (2008) highlights this structure's universality, but exploring alternatives to traditional narrative patterns can lead to unique storytelling approaches. The narrative of mystery, according to Knobloch-Westerwick et al shows that the balance between suspense and resolution enhances audience satisfaction. The Interpretive Character Unravelling Framework (ICUF) builds on these ideas by applying the mystery genre’s principles and concepts of surrealism to character development, engaging the audience in unravelling characters themselves through interpretation rather than direct exposition.