Friday, March 18, 2016

Documentary Investigation: Nostalgia Investigation

So my choice for an emerging trend in Media Arts was Nostalgia. I had chosen this as a theme for my portfolio projects at the beginning of the year, along with the theme of fantasy. I've already done theme investigations on Nostalgia, and I'm really interested in continuing my research and how modern shows and movies.


A few main points of my project are going to relate to modern cartoons, shows, and movies.

Examples: Many modern cartoons, like Steven Universe, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Adventure Time, and the recently finished Gravity Falls take inspiration from 90s animes, and specifically, Steven Universe is about the creator Rebecca Sugar's younger brother and the experiences of growing up. Gravity Falls, too, is based on the childhood summers of its creator Alex Hirsch and his sister Ariel. Star vs. the Forces of Evil and Steven Universe take inspiration from the classic "magical girl" trope commonly found in many animes.

Further, recently, Netflix has released a semi-original series called "Fuller House," a present-day sequel series of sorts to the 90s classic sitcom "Full House," released at a time when most people that watched the show as a kid or teenager are grown up, and possibly wishing for a return to that childhood. The ABC show "Once Upon a Time" also capitalizes on that audience as a show about classic Disney and fairy tale characters, beloved in childhood, have been thrust into the modern world.

Toy Story 3 is the prime example of the emerging trend of nostalgia. The movie itself is about nostalgia, with both Andy and the toys reflecting back on their time together. Plus it was released when the majority of fans of the first two were grown up and wishing for that return to childhood. It was a movie about nostalgia released at a time when everyone was nostalgic for the series.

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