Metaphors and symbols are closely connected in animated films. In his seminal book Understanding Animation, Paul Wells (1998) describes how metaphors extend from symbols, noting that “whilst the symbol invests an object with a specific, if historically flexible meaning, the metaphor offers the possibility of a number of discourses within its over-arching framework” (1998, 84).
Read MoreIn today’s visual culture, animation is at an interesting turning point, poised between fiction and fact, perhaps combining the two. We are increasingly confronted with ubiquitous animated images, videos, and gifs, for example, on smartphones, computers, in airplanes, doctors’ offices, schools, and many more, which are all used uncritically to represent or express real events, feelings, processes, and interactions.
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