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SGA - Animation and the Media Archive

GSA will work on developing media archives and research into animation and the studio film industry, including Warner Brothers, Disney, and Pixar. Research includes special collections, studio archives, and digital archive databases as well as interviews with animation workers in the industry today.

  • Location:

    Boston

  • Semester:

    Summer 2025

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  • Project Title

    Animation and the Media Archive

  • Faculty / Project Lead

    Denise Khor

  • Project Description

    This project explores the major changes and reorganization in the animation industry’s mode of production, particularly as it shifts from an artisanal mode, which was prevalent from 1910s to the 1920s, to a more hierarchical division of labor that promoted efficiency and specialization. This industrialized assembly line system propelled the Hollywood studio system and was especially acute for animated film production. Major studios like Walt Disney and Warner Brothers not only built larger studio spaces to do this work but they also hired substantial labor forces to keep apace and to accelerate production. This project explores (1) the role of creative labor within these industrial transformations (and especially the work of Asian American animators) and (2) the labor union strikes in the animation industry in 1940-41.

  • Qualifications Necessary

    Applicants should be familiar with, or willing to learn, data management software (ie. Excel, etc) and varying digital and audio-visual tools. Applicants should be familiar with humanities research, film and media studies, and/or good communication and organization skills.

  • Hours per Week

    10 Hour Position