A Fantasy/Animation Star? - Robin Williams
Robin Williams singing Fire by Bruce Springsteen (as Elmer Fudd).
In the introduction to Fantasy/Animation: Connections Between Media, Mediums and Genres, Christopher Holliday and Alex Sergeant argue that “the fantasy and animation relationship should be conceptualized not as an “and” or an “or”, but as a dialect of “fantasy/animation”” (2018: 13). The slash that appears in the book’s (and this blog’s) title is not a ‘fixed divide’, but a “fluid channel through which fantasy and animation are permitted to intersect, collide and intermingle” (ibid.). These ideas are applicable to genre studies, as is evidenced throughout the book and on this blog, but some of these concepts are just as useful when considering stardom and individual star images. There is always a dialectic that occurs through the intersections between star images - the public image promoted and maintained within the media - and characters that such stars portray on-screen. Compacting these channels of recognition and audience satisfaction are generic associations for certain stars, frequently appearing in particular genres, such as musicals, comedies or, even, animation. What then occurs if the slash pertains to star image/character and genre, such as fantasy/animation? What are the implications for a star connected to these genres that delve into fictional worlds, mythologies and illusion? This blog post focuses on Robin Williams as a case study, a star who has appeared in multiple animated films (lending his voice and vocal dexterity to numerous characters) and within popular fantasy cinema. His performances across both areas of film are, as this post argues, foundational to his star image, and his stardom is fundamentally linked to both traditions in Hollywood fantasy cinema and animation.
Daniel Hillard’s (Robin Williams) voice impersonations in Mrs. Doubtfire (Chris Columbus, 1993).
The identification Williams as a star who has moved effortlessly between fantasy and animation can be attributed to his particular performance style, notably his background as an improv comedian who specialised in impersonations (see above). Impersonating others requires identification on the audience’s part through the actor’s ability to imitate a famous individual. It is not a giant leap to suggest that fantasy is in play through the doubling of impersonation- the original or primary actor, and the secondary person the actor is impersonating. Williams was known for not only impersonating famous people (for example, when he impersonates Marlon Brando and John Wayne in Dead Poet’s Society [Peter Weir, 1989]), but, also, to ‘do voices’ of various individuals, thereby bringing characters to life through his vocal and bodily performance. This talent for ‘voices’ formed a memorable scene in Mrs. Doubtfire (Chris Columbus, 1993), when Daniel Hillard (Williams) informs his social worker that one of his special skills is doing voices (see above). The fantasy lies in the fact that Williams is able to quickly transition from one character to another, altering only his voice and face to embody each character- ranging from an alien who has landed on Earth to Groucho Marks and Sean Connery- and still appear as Williams. This skill is essential for Daniel as a voice actor, something the audience is made aware of at the very beginning of the film in a scene showing Daniel recording voiceover work for an animated short.
Fig. 1 - Robin Williams in Popeye.
While Williams had already become a television star on the American sitcom Mork and Mindy (Garry Marshall, Dale McRaven & Joe Glauberg, 1978-1982), it is unsurprising that Williams’ first major film role was in Popeye (Robert Altman, 1980) - the live-action, Robert Altman-directed film based on the popular comics and cartoons about an American sailor with tremendous strength (if he eats his spinach, of course!). In Popeye, Williams essentially embodied an animated character, one who exhibited extreme body contortions through Popeye’s bulging arms, large legs, and permanently closed right eye (Fig. 1). Paul Wells writes in Understanding Animation that while animated characters may be “limited in their motives, their range of physical expression is extraordinary…The character may be understood through its costume or construction, its ability to gesture and move, and the associative aspects of its design” (1988: 104-105). The performance of Popeye is physically over-the-top, adhering to Wells insinuation that animated characters have an extraordinary range of physical expression. Williams develops the twitchy cartoon aesthetic from the animated series through his corporeal performance, challenging the laws of physics by twisting his body, frantically moving his feet, and diving into somersaults throughout the film. Fundamentally, portraying Popeye in a live-action film required a performance that was virtually impersonation, vocally and physically. While Popeye is unique in that Williams never appeared in another major film based on a long running comic strip and animated series, the energetic way - through his body and voice - he was able to convey a fantasy character[1] became an indispensable part of his performance persona.
In his analysis of stardom, Barry King (1985) differentiates between ‘personification’ and ‘impersonation’ as types of performance that either conceals the ‘real’ personality of the performer (impersonation) or reveals the developed persona (personification). Comedic impersonations complicate these ideas, especially with a performer like Williams whose impersonations form a significant part of his persona. While Williams’ star persona is exposed through his impersonations, there is still a concealment that takes place through the layered performance of Williams as famous individuals. This is evident in one of his most famous performances as the Genie in Aladdin (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1992), the Disney animated feature released during the studio’s much-publicised animation renaissance in the late-1980s. I would argue that Williams’ early roles as Mork and Popeye, in addition to his stand-up, helped assist his transition to animation. Animation allows for the bodily transformation of each impersonation that is unable to occur in live action cinema. The medium adds fluidity to Williams’ style of rapid-fire impersonations through the sudden metamorphosis of the Genie’s body. Only after Williams recorded his vocal work for Aladdin, incorporating improvisations beyond what was written in the script, was the animation ‘shaped’ to fit Williams vocal performance to the visual representation of the Genie (Pallant 2013: 106).
Fig. 2 - Robin Williams in A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.
It is, then, understandable why Williams would appear in so many animated films during the course of his career, from Aladdin and its sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves (Tad Stones, 1996), to FernGully: The Last Rainforest (Bill Kroyer, 1992), computer-animated films Robots (Chris Wedge, 2005) and Everyone’s Hero (Colin Brady, Christopher Reeve & Daniel St. Pierre, 2006), and Happy Feet (George Miller, 2006) and its sequel, Happy Feet Two (George Miller, 2011) (he also voiced Dr. Know in Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction film A.I. [2001] [Fig. 2], and Dennis the Dog in the live-action comedy Absolutely Anything [Terry Jones, 2015]). Vocally, his ability to execute voices in various accents, timbres, and pitches, combined with his physical capacity to transform suits both the animated and fantasy genres. Although Williams is celebrated for his vocal gymnastics, his physical performances should not be undervalued. The two were often exploited in, crucially, fantastical films, such as Bicentennial Man (Chris Columbus, 1999) where Williams portrays a robot (NDR android servant) that transforms into a human man or Hook (Steven Spielberg, 1991), Spielberg’s sequel to J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy novel. In Hook, Williams portrays Peter Banning, a workaholic lawyer who has forgotten that he is the Peter Pan from the famous stories (Fig. 3). Banning is eventually taken to Neverland to rescue his children who have been kidnapped by Captain Hook. Over the course of a few days, Peter’s memories are restored, and he transforms from a middle-aged workaholic father into the famous boy who never grew up. Visually, Pan’s costume and hair indicate his transition, however, Williams utilises his physical and vocal assets through the softening of his voice, projection of childlike wonder on his face, and the duplication of famous Pan gestures and body positions (many that emerge from the Disney animated film, Peter Pan [Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske, 1953]). In comparison to metamorphosis that takes place in Aladdin, Banning to Pan is much more subtle, but the fundamentals of Williams performance are present, authenticating the fantasy environment through Williams convincing performance.
Fig. 3 - Robin Williams in Hook.
What can be deduced from these connections is Williams ability to portray individuals that are believable within fantastic environments/situations and this can be linked to his improvisations, which themselves come to life through the medium of animation. There is something fantastical about seeing Williams transform into a famous individual purely through his voice (and sometimes his body). This allows Williams to appear in family-friendly films within fantasy and animation; two genres that are often utilised for family entertainment. There is an everyman quality to Williams (this is especially true through his non-movie star looks), but there is also the outward projection of performance. While his improvisations can be layered, his tone and pitch is, often, overly animated. I use this term deliberately to evoke the impression of bringing characters to life in a similar way to the definition of animation as bringing drawings to life. This is especially apparent on talk show appearances, where Williams would appear unable to sit still or keep in character without interjecting with impressions, breaking into song, or telling jokes. The rhythm and pacing are quick but can also be exaggerated. While animated performances do not always constitute quickness and exaggeration, these are two adjectives that can be attributed to animation. Physical expression is fundamental to animated characters and I would argue fundamental to Williams’ performance style, deployed on and off-screen. Not all comedians or comedic actors are associated with physicality- for example, Bill Cosby’s 1983 filmed stand-up show, Bill Cosby: Himself, featured the comedian sitting for most of the show while he delivered his conversational-type of comedy. Williams was recognised for his animated personality and boundless energy and this fed into many of his highly animated performances and numerous fantasy film roles.
**Article published: November 1, 2019**
Notes
[1] Popeye became a popular character in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, as a symbol of the working-class male labourer whose greatest asset was his physical strength.
References
King, Barry. “Articulating Stardom,” Screen 26:5 (September-October 1985): 27-51.
Holliday, Christopher and Alexander Sergeant, “Introduction: Approaching Fantasy/Animation,” in Fantasy/Animation: Connections Between Media, Mediums and Genres, eds. Christopher Holliday and Alexander Sergeant (New York and London: Routledge), 1-19.
Chris Pallant, Chris. Demystifying Disney: A History of Disney Feature Animation (New York and London: Bloomsbury, 2013).
Wells, Paul. Understanding Animation (New York and London: Routledge, 1998)
Biography
Julie Lobalzo Wright is a Teaching Fellow in Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick. She has published widely on film stardom, including her monograph, Crossover Stardom: Popular Male Music Stars in American Cinema (Bloomsbury, 2019 [paperback]) and recently published, 'Animation and the Star Body' (2019) in Film/Philosophy, Vol. 23, issue 2, pp. 194-211. She is currently working on a chapter about Ru Paul’s Drag Race for the edited collection, Musicals at the Margins (co-edited with Martha Shearer).