Realism and the specificity of stop-motion puppet animation aesthetics in Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox

<p dir="ltr">This thesis offers a new perspective on the question of realism in animation by scrutinizing the behaviour of physical materials in Wes Anderson’s animations, particularly Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). It challenges orthodox definitions of realism in animation, mainly associated with verisimilitude, and contributes to the current body of animation studies, filling a gap in the theory of puppet animation. The thesis seeks realism in the specificities of traditional puppet animation, the implications of its use of physical textures and a handmade production process. It argues that the mode of puppet animation that Anderson employs establishes a relationship to the real world through its use of materials that constantly refer viewers to the physical world and their daily life experiences.</p><p dir="ltr">Fantastic Mr. Fox relates to the aesthetics of stop-motion puppet animation that have been used historically in films including King Kong (Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933) and The Tale of the Fox (Ladislaw Starewicz, 1937) as well as recent independent animations such as Peter and the Wolf (Suzie Templeton, 2006) and A Love Story (Anushka Naanayakkara, 2016). Fantastic Mr. Fox is unique among contemporary feature-length films because it counters the tendency to create self-sufficient worlds that conceal any reference to their means of production. Laika’s animations, such as Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight, 2016) and Missing Link (Chris Butler, 2019), are representative of that trend.</p><p dir="ltr">In addition to providing a close analysis of key scene and sequences from key films, this research employs a range of concepts and theories from animation and cinema studies to support its arguments, including Paul Wells’s concept of hyper-realism and Siegfried Kracauer’s film theory which suggest that animation is not capable of representing the real world. However, this thesis shows how their theories, and others, actually support the affinity between animation and realism by looking at the question of realism from a different angle. In order to establish the new perspective on the discussion of realism in stop-motion puppet animation, this research also develops a new terminology such as “arbitrary motion”.</p>