Episode 27 - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, 2018) (with Simran Hans)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, 2018).
The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!
Episode 27 has Chris and Alex swinging their way into a superhero-filled multiverse to discuss the narrative strategies and visual dynamism of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, 2018), the highly-successful computer-animated feature film from Sony Pictures Animation. Caught in the fantasy/animation web for this latest instalment is Simran Hans, film critic and culture writer whose work has appeared in The Observer, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, Dazed, The Fader and Sight & Sound. Topics for discussion include Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s unique formal design and flattened style that reinvigorates computer-animated film aesthetics; superheroes, space and moments of stasis; forking path narratives and the fantasy of twice-told tales; and the role of family relationships as the film’s main structuring principle.
Suggested Readings
Clute, John, and John Grant. 1999. The Encyclopaedia Of Fantasy. London: Orbit.
Maloney, Devon. 2018. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse directors on the film’s gorgeous style.” The Verge (December 17, 2018), available at: https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/17/17609436/into-the-spider-verse-directors-interview-style-animation-filmmaking-behind-the-scenes.
Penley, Constance. 1991. Close Encounters: Film, Feminism, and Science Fiction. University of Minnesota Press; Minnesota Archive Editions.
Ronen, Ruth. 2009. Possible Worlds in Literary Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.