Episode 6 - The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017) (with Martha Shearer)

The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017).

The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017).

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!

For Episode 6, Chris and Alex are joined by Dr Martha Shearer (King’s College London), expert on the Hollywood musical and author of the recent monograph New York City and the Hollywood Musical: Dancing in the Streets (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). Together, they discuss The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017) in relation to its status as a biopic, as a fantasy of New York, and its marked use of computer graphics that bring this all-singing, all-dancing American musical to life.

Suggested Readings

  • Brown, William. 2013. Supercinema: Film-Philosophy for the Digital Age. New York: Berghahn Books.

  • Dyer, Richard. 1977. “Entertainment and Utopia.” MOVIE 24 (Spring): 2-13.

  • Gunning, Tom. 1990. “The Cinema of Attractions: Early Cinema, Its Spectator and the Avant Garde.” In Early Cinema: Space Frame Narrative, edited by Thomas Elsaesser, 56-62. London: BFI Publishing.

  • Shearer, Martha. 2016. New York City and the Hollywood Musical: Dancing in the Streets. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFANTASY, ANIMATION, SPECIAL EFFECTSComment