Fantasy/Animation examines the relationship between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Established back in May 2018, the website provides a space for discussion and debate among like-minded academics, practitioners, special interest groups and fans of fantasy and/or animation. We are dedicated to the study of the rich legacy and complexity of animated fantasy media, in whatever form it might take.

The website was co-founded by Dr Christopher Holliday and Dr Alexander Sergeant, and emerged out of the co-edited anthology Fantasy/Animation: Connections Between Media, Mediums and Genres (Routledge, 2018) for Routledge’s AFI Film Readers series that examines the historical, cultural and theoretical points of intersection between fantasy and animation. Bringing together contributions from world-renowned film and media scholars, the Fantasy/Animation collection provided a range of chapters on subjects including Disney, Pixar, and Studio Ghibli, filmmakers such as Ralph Bakshi and James Cameron, and on film and television franchises such as Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon (2010–) and HBO’s Game of Thrones (2011–). In February 2019, the anthology was nominated for “Best Edited Collection” by the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS).

Fantasy/Animation on Film Stories (again!)

The Fantasy/Animation podcast was once again listed by Film Stories as one of it’s “Top 66” Film podcasts. The complete list of British movie podcasts featured in Film Stories online as "podcast of the week" can be found here.

Fantasy/Animation @ University of Portsmouth

Check out Alex’s recent online talk held in June 2021 to colleagues at the University of Portsmouth, where he reflects on his experiences producing and co-hosting the Fantasy/Animation podcast, giving his thoughts on the reasons why he is motivated to continue producing the show and the value it adds to his academic career. Alex also considers the wider impact academic podcasting can make regardless of subject discipline, sharing examples of best practice within the contemporary field outside his own work and offering some insight into the advantages of working in this medium in terms of knowledge dissemination, impact and public engagement. The video also includes a short Q&A, focused on the ideas and skills needed to become a successful research-led podcaster across multiple subject disciplines.

Fantasy/Animation in Science Fiction Foundation

Another review of the Fantasy/Animation collection appear here in the Science Fiction Foundation, written by Michigan State University’s Mihaela Mihailova, which describes how the anthology is “accessible enough to function equally well as a scholarly text and a productive catalyst for classroom discussion. Its key contribution lies in elucidating the need to reconsider the relationship between the two and providing a provocative, engaging model for doing so.”

Fantasy/Animation in animation: an interdisciplinary journal

A somewhat chaotic 2020 ended on a really positive note thanks to a very generous review of the anthology Fantasy/Animation: Connections Between Media, Mediums and Genres (Routledge, 2018), which appeared in the latest issue of animation: an interdisciplinary journal. Reviewer Raz Greenberg describes that “Bringing together contributions from both animation and general cinema scholars, Fantasy/Animation opens the door for future research on two fronts: the connection between the fantasy genre and animation, as well as the contribution of animation to the development of the fantasy genre on cinema and television. With its presentation of new theoretical foundations and analysis of key works in the genre, I suspect the book will become required reading for many future animation scholars..” You can read the full book review here.

Fantasy/Animation on Cities in Cinema

In December 2020, Chris appeared as a guest on the new Cities in Cinema podcast, hosted by friend of Fantasy/Animation Dr. Jingan Young. Jingan is the curator and editor of Foreign Goods: A Selection of Writing from British East Asian Artists, published by Oberon Books, and is a regular contributor to The Guardian on film. Her play Life and Death of a Journalist ran at the VAULT Festival 2020, and she was recently chosen to be part of Channel 4’s 4Screenwriting Course for 2021. Jingan was also our very own special guest on the Beetlejuice episode of the Fantasy/Animation podcast. For the inaugural episode of Cities in Cinema, Chris spoke about his recent article “Contemporary Hollywood Terrorism and ‘London has Fallen’ Cinema” that examines “the complex contribution and ambivalent sensitivity of Hollywood in framing terrorism in London as a blockbuster spectacle.” To listen to the complete episode, see right (jump to 44:50), or visit Cities in Cinema on Apple podcasts here. You can also read Chris’ blog post “Hollywood’s London in Contemporary Cinema” for the Cities in Cinema website here.

Fantasy/Animation on France TV Londres

In November 2020, Fantasy/Animation’s very own Alex featured as expert guest contributor on a segment on the France TV Londres channel discussing the Harry Potter film franchise (jump to 2:00 for the full interview - see right).

Fantasy/Animation on Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) - Showcase

In May 2020, Chris returned to Showcase - the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT)'s flagship arts and culture programme - for an interview discussing the legacy of American animator and illustrator Gene Deitch (jump to 20:32 for the full interview - see right).

Fantasy/Animation @ University of Wolverhampton

In early June 2019, Chris and Alex were invited to the Centre for Film, Media, Discourse and Culture at the University of Wolverhampton to give a research seminar presenting their work into fantasy and animation, and the journey from conference to book to website. To read the abstract summary of their talk, click here.

Fantasy/Animation @ University of Reading

At the Action Cinema Now conference held in April 2019, which took place in the Minghella Studios at the University of Reading, Chris and Alex gave their joint research paper titled ‘The Illusions of Division: Afrofuturist Ontologies, “Super(hero)cinema,” and Black Panther (2018)’. To view a copy of the full conference programme and to read their abstract summary of their talk, click here.

Fantasy/Animation on the BBC

Chris’ event review for the The Legacy of Watership Down: Animals, Adaptation, Animation conference was featured on the BBC website in December 2018, in a previewing the CGI remake of Watership Down due to be broadcast in two parts on the 22nd and 23rd December.