The development of American and Soviet animation in the socio-political context of the 20th century

U radu je na temelju dostupne literature predstavljen povijesni razvoj animacije u SAD-u i Sovjetskom Savezu, te razlike između dvije velike industrije animacije koje su u ovim državama nastale i to što ih je uvjetovalo. Rad prati evoluciju animacije od njenih najranijih dana, prije nego li je film kao medij uopće postojao pa sve do pojave prvih velikih imena u animaciji koji su svojim inovativnim pristupom i kreativnom uporabom animacijskih tehnika popularizirali ovaj mediji i probili led za cijelu umjetničku formu. Poseban fokus pridan je Walt Disneyu, čovjeku koji je svojom radnom filozofijom i umjetničkom vizijom oblikovao svijet moderne američke animacije, ali i standard za ono što se od animacije očekuje na svjetskoj razini, te je stvorio likove koji su toliko prepoznatljivi da svaka živuća generacija može reći da je uz njih odrasla. Što objektivnije sam se pokušala kritički osvrnuti na različite konvencije i socio-političke prilike SAD-a i Sovjetskog Saveza te ono što je sovjetsku animaciju činilo svojevrsnom antitezom američkoj, obje toliko različite po političkoj svrsi i estetskom senzibilitetu, no također se spominju i njihove ponekad iznenađujuće dodirne točke. Obrađene su teme razvoja televizije i naglih društvenih promjena u 20. stoljeću, te kako je to oblikovalo stilove brojnih animatora i tematike kojima su se u svojim animiranim filmovima bavili. Naravno, ovako bogatu povijest nije moguće odviše detaljno obraditi u formatu završnog rada, pa sam fokus zadržala na najbitnijim ličnostima svijeta animacije i njihovim stilskim doprinosima jednoj ovako opsežnoj i kompleksnoj grani umjetnosti. In this thesis, with the help of available literature, the historical development of animation in the US and the SSSR is presented, along with the differences between animation industries that came to be in these two countries and everything that laid ground for them. The work traces the evolution of animation from its earliest days, before film as a medium even existed until the appearance of the first big names in animation who, with their innovative approach and creative use of animation techniques, popularized this medium and broke the ice for the entire art form. A special focus is given to Walt Disney, the man who, with his work philosophy and artistic vision, shaped the world of modern American animation, as well as the standard for what is expected of animation at the level of the whole globe, and created characters that are so recognizable that every living generation can say that they grew up with them. As objectively as possible, I tried to look critically at the various conventions and socio-political circumstances of the USA and the Soviet Union, and what made Soviet animation a kind of antithesis to American animation, both so different in terms of political purpose and aesthetic sensibility, but also mention their sometimes surprising common points. The topics of the development of television and sudden social changes in the 20th century were covered, and how this shaped the styles of numerous animators and the topics they dealt with in their animated films. Of course, it is not possible to cover such a rich history in too much detail in the format of the final paper, so I kept the focus on the most important creators in the world of animation and their stylistic contributions to such an extensive and complex branch of art.