Shanaz Shapurjee

South African Animation: a Historical Enquiry into the South African Broadcasting Corporation's Animation Unit: 1976-88 Shanaz Shapurjee

There is an urgent need to document the history of animation in South Africa as it is in danger of slipping away from potential scholars. Recordings of productions have not been systematically archived and, more seriously, many veterans have already died without their histories being properly documented. This book exhibits the chronology, growth and development of the South African Broadcasting Corporation's Animation Unit, through an understanding of the Unit's production context as well as through a contextual analysis of the socio- political, economic and technological landscapes of the decades preceding the launch of television in South Africa. This book traces the history of animation through the pre-cinematic, cinematic and televisual eras in an attempt to expose the many influences, overlapping animation traditions and parallel technological histories evident between Europe, America and South Africa. This empirical study should be especially useful to animation scholars, professionals in the Animation, Film and Television industries, or anyone who may be interested in the history of South African Animation.