Martin Goodman.

During the five and a half years that Animation World Magazine has been kind enough to bring my monthly column to you, dedicated readers may have taken note that I seem to write a great deal about American animation, most of it concerning the mainstream movies, network television and the cable shows best known to all. Although I have at times made forays into foreign and independent animation, Animation Pimp columnist Chris Robinson was quite correct in labeling me as a “tent peg” when he referred to me in his recent column as one who largely frolics within the “tent” of popular American animation. I harbor no resentments at this characterization. In fact, I congratulate the honorable Pimp for being so astute about my main orientation.

Since Mr. Robinson’s column, I have begun to reflect on reader’s inquiries as to why I do not cover more anime, festival work or interview more of animation’s independent voices. After all this time, it’s a fair enough question. Very well, this is what I attempt to bring to AWN and why you read what you read.

The easiest and most salient point to explain is the fact that I am American. I grew up watching this country’s animation and falling in love with (most of) it. Due to the rueful fact that I am hitting my fifties, we are talking about countless theatrical shorts, nearly all of the cartoons produced for television, thousands of commercials and more than 100 feature films. Although animation’s origins are not exclusively American, many of the most important technological and artistic advances undoubtedly are. During the late 1980s, I began to take note of the many fine foreign efforts in the field. I do admire Asian, European, and of late, Latin American and African animation. Since 2001, I have even contributed some articles to ASIFA International’s magazine, but I admit to being mostly provincial in nature.

Becoming familiar with animation’s history has been a formidable undertaking. It has, as mentioned, included watching untold hours of cartoons both new and old. Still, this could have easily resulted in nothing but mindless absorption of animated product. I wanted to understand cartoons and develop a critical eye toward what I was seeing, so this meant reading all available material as well. Fortunately, I have had some studies in film theory and criticism, and, because of that, I can better analyze what is going on in a particular piece of animation, what the director and animators intended and how it was (or wasn’t) executed. It has taken some 12 years to build my animation library, which now takes up an entire wall if one adds the magazine subscriptions. Old, recent, and out-of print books lie strewn among periodicals, film journals, and Internet articles in my study. I am continually trolling the Web, bookstores and eBay for more.

However, none of the above makes me different from anyone else who is deeply interested in animation or who reads and takes courses in film theory. It also does not explain why I tend to give you pieces that largely concern American animation. Some of my focus on this country’s animation is related to the amount of time I have available after my day job. For example, many anime series run for countless episodes over years and the amount of anime available, in general, is staggering. The best I can do is purchase and rent DVDs, study the classics of the genre and read up as much as I can until I can see more. Besides, other people (such as this site’s resident expert Fred Patten) know far more and write much better on the subject than I ever could. Another reason has to do with the fact that the mainstream is very accessible, an important factor given deadlines and time constraints. Then there is the task of keeping up with the industry and trade papers. Still, these sound just as much like defenses or excuses than explanations, so here is the real skinny.

My true passion concerns American history and the development of American popular culture since the turn of the century, a period equivalent to the birth and history of animation. I estimate that another wall of my personal library consists of these subjects (which, incidentally, I mortally hated while in school). My forté seems to be animation, but it is actually cultural studies. I believe that animation developed alongside American popular culture and is an important expression of the national consciousness. As I stated in some earlier column, even the sorriest Casper the Ghost cartoon ever produced reflects aspects of the tenor, economics and characteristics of the culture that produced it (not to mention the prevailing politics).

In my view, for example, periodicals such as the Journal of Popular Culture and the book Cold War Culture: Media and the Arts 1945-1990 by Richard Schwartz were equally important references when I wrote last month’s animation column for you concerning SpongeBob and Buster. So was Tom Engelhardt’s The End of Victory Culture in America: Cold War America and the Disillusioning of a Generation, not to mention pieces from all over the left and right of the web.

I am utterly fascinated with the development of media, arts, and history in America and that is the explanation for why I play largely inside Robinson’s metaphoric tent. I am simply trying to write what I enjoy most and know best. It may not be the biggest tent in the world, but I have enjoyed my stay here, and, within its confines, there are still myriad surprises and subjects to delight any animation scribe.