Animation: Genre or Medium?

[Blankments]

One of cinema's biggest questions is if animation is a genre or a medium. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a genre is "a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content," while a medium is a "material or technical means of artistic expression." Which does animation fall in?

 

Personally, I believe animation is a medium, simply because animated films can be so different from each other to even consider being the same genre. Comparing Rango to Waltz with Bashir is pretty much impossible, and that in and of itself shows that animation is a medium. Where do you stand on this?

[whoot]

It's a medium. This isn't even a debate.2 + 2 = 4Animation is a medium.

[lab276]

Medium.

[CoolioD1]

It's a medium obviously. Otherwise you could say shit like movies in 3D is it's own genre.

[Empire]

Yeah, it is a medium for sure. I don't know why somebody would even think it is a genre.

[Blankments]

Yeah, it is a medium for sure. I don't know why somebody would even think it is a genre.

 

There was a big argument over in the DM2 Biggest of the Summer thread where someone kept on going on about how it's a genre.... I don't even know.

[Empire]

There was a big argument over in the DM2 Biggest of the Summer thread where someone kept on going on about how it's a genre.... I don't even know.

Whoever said that must have been really confused.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Medium

[whoot]

It's official, medium wins.

[Jared Miller]

Definitely a medium, but I can see how some might see it as a genre because of the similarity in theme of a lot of animated films. But yea, it is a medium.

[vc2002]

It's quite an interesting question. It should be a medium because it only presents the way of making movies. But because it presents such a different way than normal film-making, it actually created a league of its own, which is why we got the Best Animated Feature Film at the Oscars.

 

I'm saying that it is both a genre and a medium, and it really depends on how you look at it.

[dashrendar44]

Medium. No contest. Animation can cover any genre: comedy, Scifi, action, adventure, crime drama even porn.

[AniNate]

I suppose the animation = genre argument can't be completely dismissed, since the work being animated can be relevant to the story (such as cartoons, which typically include exaggerated physical gags that wouldn't be possible in live action comedies). Even if it covers a wide range of genres, it still adds unique elements that make it worth noting alongside.

[Sims]

It's a medium, by definition. And no, that does not mean animated films are not films.

[CaptainJackSparrow]

Medium.

[Boxx93]

Medium. 

[Spidey Freak]

Medium. No contest. Animation can cover any genre: comedy, Scifi, action, adventure, crime drama even porn.

 

This. But since there are comparatively few big budget animated films released every year, many sites like IMDB and Mojo classify it as a "Genre" so as to avoid creating a "Medium" menu just for Live Action and Animation. Or to avoid putting live action and animation movies together in their respective genres. People still have this slight stigma towards animation and will always define an animated film as animated first and then its respective genre. They don't like their "grown-up" live action mixing with 'em "kiddie cartoons".

[The Toymaker]

Yeah, it's medium. But I can totally understand and even forgive anyone that creates a poll for the "animation genre" with titles like Toy Story, Madagascar and Despicable Me since these types of movies all share the same qualities and are all for children.

 

When people talk about animation on a box office site like this, they also generally refer to films like the ones I mentioned above, so it's understandable when it gets mixed up as a genre.

[CloneWars]

In the US, most animated films follow similar styles as if it were a genre. However, when you start to go worldwide and especially Japan, animation is clearly used as a medium. I just think that the problem lies with American studios not taking bigger risks with animation.

 

In the US, I will call animation both genre and medium.

 

Worldwide, medium.

 

Strictly speaking, medium.

 

I would really like to see films like The Wind Rises being tackled in the US. Or, maybe something like Argo as an animated film or even Life of Pi. Well, at least at some point, I think we will get a Pixar Marvel film, but we already have The Incredibles which still fits the whole family suitable film that US animation tends to go for.

[AniNate]

It's pretty much everywhere outside Japan, really. You look at Europe and all their "big" animated films are in the same mold as the American loud talking animals. The artsy ones don't do much better over there than they do over here. The Illusionist actually made less in France than it did in America.

Edited November 24, 2013 by tribefan695