Artbreak, MTV Networks, Inc.
1987, 30 sec, color, sound Produced for an Artbreak segment on MTV Network, this dynamic "thirty-second spot" presents an abbreviated history of animation according to the representation of women, from the cell imagery of Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell series to the contemporary digital effects of television. In Birnbaum's vision, Fleischer's spilled inkwell releases cartoon bubbles containing images of women from MTV music videos. With wit and panache, Birnbaum reverses the traditional sexual roles of the producer and product of commercial imagery: The final image is that of a female artist on whose video "palette" we see a glimpse of Fleischer.
Directed by Dara Birnbaum
Make it a double feature
1h 10m together
Artbreak, MTV Networks, Inc.
Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights
A close match in mood and era.
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