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.
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.
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!
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 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.
A few days late, but here are some photos that I took from the 36th Annual Society for Animation Studies Conference. First up, UAL's own Kim Noce in PANEL 3C: MICRO TALKS. #SAS36 @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social
July 14, 2025 at 10:12 AM
A few days late, but here are some photos that I took from the 36th Annual Society for Animation Studies Conference. First up, UAL's own Kim Noce in PANEL 3C: MICRO TALKS. #SAS36 @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social
Last week, my wife proposed that we cancel Netflix as we don't use it as much as we used to. I managed to talk her down, and then today Netflix emailed me this supposedly 'personalized' recommendation. I went to bat for you, Netflix, and *this* is what you think of me...?!
June 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Last week, my wife proposed that we cancel Netflix as we don't use it as much as we used to. I managed to talk her down, and then today Netflix emailed me this supposedly 'personalized' recommendation. I went to bat for you, Netflix, and *this* is what you think of me...?!
I'm a bit late to the party but finally saw the latest Mission: Impossible film this weekend, and was disappointed that it went even further than its predecessor in being quite grim and self-important for the majority of its extended running time.
June 12, 2025 at 11:37 AM
I'm a bit late to the party but finally saw the latest Mission: Impossible film this weekend, and was disappointed that it went even further than its predecessor in being quite grim and self-important for the majority of its extended running time.
FINAL REMINDER: Tickets for this year's Society for Animation Studies conference must be purchased by the end of today (Friday, June 6)! Book now or miss out on a fanstastic line-up of speakers! sas2025.cargo.site/registration
June 6, 2025 at 8:50 AM
FINAL REMINDER: Tickets for this year's Society for Animation Studies conference must be purchased by the end of today (Friday, June 6)! Book now or miss out on a fanstastic line-up of speakers! sas2025.cargo.site/registration
My Switch 2 arrived! Am still cursing Nintendo for releasing this while I am so swamped with conference admin, but hopefully I'll find a bit of time to give it a try!
June 5, 2025 at 1:11 PM
My Switch 2 arrived! Am still cursing Nintendo for releasing this while I am so swamped with conference admin, but hopefully I'll find a bit of time to give it a try!
Once again, for reasons completely unknown to me, the Kindle version of my book Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters and Stardom in American Theatrical Shorts, has had a temporary price cut, down to £1.99 at Amazon UK. Nice to see it at an affordable price! www.amazon.co.uk/Animated-Per...
April 27, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Once again, for reasons completely unknown to me, the Kindle version of my book Animated Personalities: Cartoon Characters and Stardom in American Theatrical Shorts, has had a temporary price cut, down to £1.99 at Amazon UK. Nice to see it at an affordable price! www.amazon.co.uk/Animated-Per...
We're also excited to announce that David Sproxton, co-founder of the Aardman studio has also agreed to deliver a keynote presentation. Details of all keynotes announced so far are available here: sas2025.cargo.site/keynote-spea...
April 19, 2025 at 7:28 PM
We're also excited to announce that David Sproxton, co-founder of the Aardman studio has also agreed to deliver a keynote presentation. Details of all keynotes announced so far are available here: sas2025.cargo.site/keynote-spea...
Registration is now open for the 36th Annual Society for Animation Studies conference, ‘Sustaining Animation’, to be held in London between 7-10 July 2025. Please see sas2025.cargo.site/registration for further details.
March 28, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Registration is now open for the 36th Annual Society for Animation Studies conference, ‘Sustaining Animation’, to be held in London between 7-10 July 2025. Please see sas2025.cargo.site/registration for further details.
More news! We're excited to announce that Dr. Malcolm Cook will also be delivering a keynote. Malcolm has published widely in animation studies, including his monograph Early British Animation: From Page and Stage to Cinema Screens (2018) & co-edited collection Animation and Advertising (2019).
January 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
More news! We're excited to announce that Dr. Malcolm Cook will also be delivering a keynote. Malcolm has published widely in animation studies, including his monograph Early British Animation: From Page and Stage to Cinema Screens (2018) & co-edited collection Animation and Advertising (2019).
We are delighted to announce that renowned British animator Joanna Quinn has agreed to deliver a keynote at the 36th Annual Society for Animation Studies Conference. Joanna's work includes Girls Night Out (1987), Famous Fred (1996), and the recent Academy Award nominated Affairs of the Art (2021).
January 9, 2025 at 8:44 PM
We are delighted to announce that renowned British animator Joanna Quinn has agreed to deliver a keynote at the 36th Annual Society for Animation Studies Conference. Joanna's work includes Girls Night Out (1987), Famous Fred (1996), and the recent Academy Award nominated Affairs of the Art (2021).
This is a bit of an anticlimax from my Letterboxd 2024 Year in Review. I went through a decent number of Pixar movies with my son last year, but still...
January 9, 2025 at 9:54 AM
This is a bit of an anticlimax from my Letterboxd 2024 Year in Review. I went through a decent number of Pixar movies with my son last year, but still...