David McGowan
@animatedstardom.bsky.social
Author of Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters and Stardom in American Theatrical Shorts, out now from University of Texas Press. Reseach interests include animation, classic Hollywood, stardom, & home video/streaming. Lecturer at UAL. Views my own.
Pinned
Animated Personalities
David McGowan
David McGowan is an Animation and Cinema Studies lecturer and historian, and author of the book Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters and Stardom in American Theatrical Shorts (Uni...
animatedpersonalities.com
Information about my research, including my book Animated Personalities, can be found at: animatedpersonalities.com. A list of my publications (including a number of pre-publication manuscripts that can be read for free) is available at: researchers.arts.ac.uk/2140-david-m....
Reposted by David McGowan
#filmsky #silents
Sadly, another loss. 💔
Film historian, author, & brilliant silent film location sleuth, John Bengtson. Here he is leading a tour in Hollywood for Buster Keaton fans, 2018. We’re in the alley where in COPS (1922) Keaton runs through it & grabs the speeding car (gif in comments).
Sadly, another loss. 💔
Film historian, author, & brilliant silent film location sleuth, John Bengtson. Here he is leading a tour in Hollywood for Buster Keaton fans, 2018. We’re in the alley where in COPS (1922) Keaton runs through it & grabs the speeding car (gif in comments).
January 31, 2026 at 8:52 PM
I've resisted rewatching the fourth-in-the-series Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact, so there may be some hope for me yet.
January 21, 2026 at 12:52 PM
I've resisted rewatching the fourth-in-the-series Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact, so there may be some hope for me yet.
I'm annoyingly pleased with myself about this (though it did involve having to watch Double Impact).
January 21, 2026 at 12:50 PM
I'm annoyingly pleased with myself about this (though it did involve having to watch Double Impact).
For readers in the US, the ebook version of my monograph Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters in American Theatrical Shorts is discounted to just $2.99 for, presumably, a limited time.
Kindle: t.co/zczewqrxZW
Kobo: t.co/D62Uct2CCh
Nook: t.co/kIpfBIg1Hp
Apple Books: t.co/mOQIiGiZTJ
Kindle: t.co/zczewqrxZW
Kobo: t.co/D62Uct2CCh
Nook: t.co/kIpfBIg1Hp
Apple Books: t.co/mOQIiGiZTJ
January 10, 2026 at 12:59 PM
For readers in the US, the ebook version of my monograph Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters in American Theatrical Shorts is discounted to just $2.99 for, presumably, a limited time.
Kindle: t.co/zczewqrxZW
Kobo: t.co/D62Uct2CCh
Nook: t.co/kIpfBIg1Hp
Apple Books: t.co/mOQIiGiZTJ
Kindle: t.co/zczewqrxZW
Kobo: t.co/D62Uct2CCh
Nook: t.co/kIpfBIg1Hp
Apple Books: t.co/mOQIiGiZTJ
It's a bit of a nostalgic love fest, rather than aiming to break particularly new ground, but I very much enjoyed this BBC Radio 4 documentary about the production of The Muppet Show in the UK. Well worth a listen if you're a fan of Kermit and the gang! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, How the Muppet Show Began in Britain
Louise Gold celebrates The Muppet Show’s anarchic birth in Britain in the mid-1970s.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 7, 2026 at 4:14 PM
It's a bit of a nostalgic love fest, rather than aiming to break particularly new ground, but I very much enjoyed this BBC Radio 4 documentary about the production of The Muppet Show in the UK. Well worth a listen if you're a fan of Kermit and the gang! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Good riddance 2025, a year with an absolutely punishing workload, and little more than a shrug from my (supposedly part-time!) employer. No real change as we enter January, but hopefully I might finally clear the backlog by the end of 2026...
January 1, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Good riddance 2025, a year with an absolutely punishing workload, and little more than a shrug from my (supposedly part-time!) employer. No real change as we enter January, but hopefully I might finally clear the backlog by the end of 2026...
My greatest achievement of 2025.
December 31, 2025 at 1:53 PM
My greatest achievement of 2025.
The Shrek films have just been added to the UK Disney+ catalogue. It really feels like up is down in this new streaming landscape...
December 2, 2025 at 10:08 AM
The Shrek films have just been added to the UK Disney+ catalogue. It really feels like up is down in this new streaming landscape...
#Noirvember has come to an end and I still have so many noir films that I'd planned to watch but didn't find the time. Will need to do an emergency Janoirary and possibly Noirch in the new year!
December 2, 2025 at 9:37 AM
#Noirvember has come to an end and I still have so many noir films that I'd planned to watch but didn't find the time. Will need to do an emergency Janoirary and possibly Noirch in the new year!
I've only had time for a quick skim through the book so far, but I've already noticed an amusing bit of trivia: research for the male stripper performance in Girls Night Out (1986) was undertaken at a pub in Elephant and Castle, the same part of London where #sas36 took place!
October 9, 2025 at 12:53 PM
I've only had time for a quick skim through the book so far, but I've already noticed an amusing bit of trivia: research for the male stripper performance in Girls Night Out (1986) was undertaken at a pub in Elephant and Castle, the same part of London where #sas36 took place!
My pre-ordered copy of Joanna Quinn & Les Mills' new book, Beryl, just arrived! I still can't quite believe that Joanna agreed to present a keynote for us at the Society for Animation Studies conference this year, & I'm looking forward to learning even more from the book.
October 9, 2025 at 12:41 PM
My pre-ordered copy of Joanna Quinn & Les Mills' new book, Beryl, just arrived! I still can't quite believe that Joanna agreed to present a keynote for us at the Society for Animation Studies conference this year, & I'm looking forward to learning even more from the book.
Brings back lots of memories of being an undergraduate and having to go to the library to photocopy whatever article from Screen was on that week's reading list!
September 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Brings back lots of memories of being an undergraduate and having to go to the library to photocopy whatever article from Screen was on that week's reading list!
A nice treat arrived in the post - a copy of the issue of Screen with my article on Rocky IV inside. It's been so long since I've received a physical copy of anything that I've published, with so much academic work being digital only these days.
September 17, 2025 at 12:22 PM
A nice treat arrived in the post - a copy of the issue of Screen with my article on Rocky IV inside. It's been so long since I've received a physical copy of anything that I've published, with so much academic work being digital only these days.
Was particularly excited to spot my book on the Reading Room shelves! Quite an honour!
August 25, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Was particularly excited to spot my book on the Reading Room shelves! Quite an honour!
A long held scholarly wish has finally been fulfilled. Today I'm visiting the Margaret Herrick Library to do some Hollywood-based research!
August 25, 2025 at 5:48 PM
A long held scholarly wish has finally been fulfilled. Today I'm visiting the Margaret Herrick Library to do some Hollywood-based research!
I was very fortunate this afternoon to attend an event with Paul Dooley (best known to me as Wimpy from the live-action Popeye movie) at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. He's 97 years old and still going strong!
August 25, 2025 at 5:26 AM
I was very fortunate this afternoon to attend an event with Paul Dooley (best known to me as Wimpy from the live-action Popeye movie) at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. He's 97 years old and still going strong!
I'd always wanted to visit Portmeirion since seeing The Prisoner (1967) on DVD a quarter of a century ago. I finally got to go last weekend, and it did not disappoint!
August 22, 2025 at 5:26 PM
I'd always wanted to visit Portmeirion since seeing The Prisoner (1967) on DVD a quarter of a century ago. I finally got to go last weekend, and it did not disappoint!
I was definitely very honoured to be in the company of a broadcasting legend, though neglected to mention that as a child I usually defected to CITV to watch cartoons instead when Blue Peter was on BBC!
August 11, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I was definitely very honoured to be in the company of a broadcasting legend, though neglected to mention that as a child I usually defected to CITV to watch cartoons instead when Blue Peter was on BBC!
I got to spend a couple of days with Biddy Baxter when I was working at the BBC. As the link indicates, she had a reputation for being quite short with people & my colleagues has experienced this on previous visits. Somehow I met her approval and she was very nice to me when I had to deal with her!
Biddy Baxter: Blue Peter's formidable editor dies aged 92
Blue Peter's long-serving editor turned the children's show into a television institution.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 11, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I got to spend a couple of days with Biddy Baxter when I was working at the BBC. As the link indicates, she had a reputation for being quite short with people & my colleagues has experienced this on previous visits. Somehow I met her approval and she was very nice to me when I had to deal with her!
My Blu-ray copy of Essential Polish Animation has arrived. Looks fantastic!
July 26, 2025 at 12:41 PM
My Blu-ray copy of Essential Polish Animation has arrived. Looks fantastic!
I also wish they had leant more into the visual humour and moments of direct parody. The background gags were good when they occurred, but other parts of the film felt quite pedestrian, shot more like a generic direct-to-streaming actioner rather than being truly playful with cinematic language.
July 23, 2025 at 11:16 AM
I also wish they had leant more into the visual humour and moments of direct parody. The background gags were good when they occurred, but other parts of the film felt quite pedestrian, shot more like a generic direct-to-streaming actioner rather than being truly playful with cinematic language.
I'll be interested to see the reviews when the embargo lifts. I found the film fun enough in the moment, though relatively little of it has stuck with me just a day later. A few scenes felt a bit derivative of Austin Powers, and several other gags felt more at home in the early 2000s than 2025.
July 23, 2025 at 11:10 AM
I'll be interested to see the reviews when the embargo lifts. I found the film fun enough in the moment, though relatively little of it has stuck with me just a day later. A few scenes felt a bit derivative of Austin Powers, and several other gags felt more at home in the early 2000s than 2025.
I had a good time at the preview of the new Naked Gun movie last night, thanks to @empiremagazine.bsky.social. I know the studio is leaning heavily into this in the marketing, but it really was nice to once again see a silly comedy on the big screen with a packed and appreciative audience.
July 23, 2025 at 10:39 AM
I had a good time at the preview of the new Naked Gun movie last night, thanks to @empiremagazine.bsky.social. I know the studio is leaning heavily into this in the marketing, but it really was nice to once again see a silly comedy on the big screen with a packed and appreciative audience.
