CHAPTER TWO: Compatibilist Relationships in Animation History

The idea of designing an independent mind for a cartoon entity has been present since the moving drawings first originated. Animators such as Winsor McCay, the Fleischer Brothers, Jack King, Otto Messner, and Chuck Jones pioneered the development of creator/cartoon interaction which relied upon exclusive wills between those involved. These animators addressed the animation process itself - the development and movement of a character - and how that may produce a relationship between the artist and the drawings. Inspiration for conveying the "conflict" between the animator and his animation stemmed from the earliest surviving American animated film, Humorous Funny Faces[1] by J. Stuart Blackton, and by French avant-garde animations such as Fantasmagorie[2] by Emile Cohl. The Hand of the Artist, written and animated by Walter Booth in 1906, is a three minute animation wherein lifelike portraits are drawn by the "Hand" and then the characters come to life, embrace and dance a cakewalk. Other surprising effects follow in rapid succession as the Hand produces new wonders. After each subject plays its part, the Hand crumples up the paper and dispenses it in the form of confetti.[3] The Fleischers' Koko the Clown would interact, annoy, and sometimes torture the animator, and when the animator was not present, Koko would wreak havoc upon his studio.[4] Jack King's short animation The Cartoonist's Nightmare parallels Vessel of Wrath in that King creates a world where the animator himself is a cartoon character. Working late in the studio one night, the animator falls asleep at his drawing table when suddenly the villains he was animating grab him, pull him into their world and begin torturing him. It isn't until after Beans, the long-forgotten co-star of Porky Pig, comes and rescues him that he wakes up to discover it was a dream (but that doesn't stop the animator from rewarding the cartoon cat by drawing him an ice cream feast to enjoy).

Winsor McCay is famous not only for the quality and detail of his cartoons, but also his inventiveness in terms of the concept and technology of animation. His earliest animations showed him drawing characters and as he was doing so they would come to life, usually doing things such as walking cycles and other basic movements. One of his most influential cartoons, Gertie the Dinosaur,[5] is a story about McCay and his pet brontosaurus. In the film, Winsor McCay interacts with the cartoon dinosaur by giving commands to it as he would a dog. The viewer sees this exchange of action and is led to believe that the two characters, McCay and Gertie, exist in a single moment when it is obvious that McCay animated the creature and then filmed himself interacting with a projection of it. This compositing of live-action with animation has spurred numerous films dealing with similar concepts, most famous of which is Who Framed Roger Rabbit,[6] and while compatibilist freedom can be explored within these examples, they cannot begin to compare with Trials of a Movie Cartoonist[7] by Otto Messner and most especially Duck Amuck[8] by Chuck Jones.

In Trials of a Movie Cartoonist, Otto Messner sits at his studio table and begins to draw some characters. The surprise comes when, as he is drawing them, the characters begin to rebel and refuse to do what he wants them to do. They contradict him, insisting that he has no right to make slaves of them, even if he is their creator. This is another example of the animator allowing himself to appear out of control, unable to define the actions of his creations because they appear to have a will that is entirely free. Such is not the case for Daffy Duck in Duck Amuck.

Chuck Jones' Duck Amuck, created in 1953, is one of the most thorough examples of theological compatibilist freedom within an animated being. This seven minute animation stars Daffy Duck as a character whose existence is dictated by Bugs Bunny, who plays the role of the animator. The reactions that Daffy has towards Bug's doings are reflective of his fundamental disposition in that he is continually complaining and trying to get by with the circumstances handed to him.[9] The entire short is based on the interaction between the animator and the seeming freewill of Daffy. But, if Daffy is being drawn as an animation, given body and costume, as well as situations to act in, what is left but his personality, or heart? When he is erased from the screen, he is still able to voice his opinion because his mind and his body are treated as separate by Jones, only the latter of which is controlled by the artist. When Daffy wishes to speak in outrage, but instead is left with bird calls, his facial expression shows that he knew in his heart what he would have said, and he even tried to say it, but only that which the artist allowed to come forth was made audible. This brings up the fact that Daffy has a mind that is even separate from the voice. If the screen was completely blank and there was no sound, Daffy would not cease to exist because his mind or spirit is still present.[10] Bugs Bunny has sovereign control over his animation, holding his purposes and desires in priority over those of the characters that are manipulated within.[11]