{"product_id":"drawn-to-nature-colin-williamson-9781517914875","title":"Drawn to Nature: American Animation in the Age of Science","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow twentieth-century developments in science influenced the aesthetics of the burgeoning American cartoon\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e What do technical renderings of plant cells in trees have to do with Disney's animated opus \u003ci\u003eFantasia\u003c\/i\u003e? Quite a bit, as it turns out: such emergent scientific models and ideas about nature were an important inspiration for Disney's groundbreaking animated realism. In \u003ci\u003eDrawn to Nature, \u003c\/i\u003eColin Williamson presents a vivid portrait of how developments in biology, physics, and geology between 1900 and the long 1960s influenced not just Disney but the American cartoon industry as a whole. \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Drawing on original research on the scientific appetites of animators and studios such as Winsor McCay, the Fleischer Brothers, Walt Disney, and United Productions of America, Williamson opens new avenues for understanding the history and aesthetics of cartoons. Interrogating the differences between art and science and reconsidering the realms of dream, magic, and fantasy as they pertain to pop culture, he yields novel proposals for bridging longstanding divides between animation, live-action cinema, and the history of science. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDrawn to Nature\u003c\/i\u003e not only illuminates the extent to which animators have drawn on scientific insights, it also considers seriously how commercial animations themselves participate in scientific discourse. It revises and revitalizes our existing narratives about the history of American animation to uncover the many ways science informs our collective cultural imagination. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Colin Williamson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1517914876\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781517914875\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Minnesota Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/23\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 232\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs","brand":"Colin Williamson","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48460147097855,"sku":"9781517914875","price":112.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_9af191fd-f43d-48d0-8f76-c2734b70e9e0.jpg?v=1777413277","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/drawn-to-nature-colin-williamson-9781517914875","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}