Studying landscape in cinema isn't quite new; it'd be hard to imagine Woody Allen withoutNew York, or the French New Wave without Paris. But the focus on live-action cinema leavesa significant gap in studying animated films. With the almost total pervasiveness of animationtoday, this collection provides the reader with a greater sense of how the animated landscapesof the present relate to those of the past. Including essays from international perspectives,Animated Landscapes introduces an idea that has seemed, literally, to be in the background ofanimation studies.The collection provides a timely counterpoint to the dominance of character (be that eitheranimated characters such as Mickey Mouse or real world personalities such as Walt Disney)that exists within animation scholarship (and film studies more generally). Chapters address awide range of topics including history, case studies in national contexts (including Australia,Japan, China and Latvia), the traversal of animated landscape, the animation of fantasticallandscapes, and the animation of interactive landscapes.Animated Landscapes promises to be an invaluable addition to the existing literature, for themost overlooked aspect of animation.For so long animation studies literature has focused mainly on animated characters-at last abook that examines the other part of the frame: backgrounds and environments. Throughhistorical analysis and theoretical considerations, Animated Landscapes brings attention to asignificant but largely overlooked realm of animation aesthetics. The broad scope of essays byleading scholars in the field reflect the diversity of animation today. Maureen Furniss,Program Director of the Program in Experimental Animation, California Institute of theArts, USA, and Founding Editor of Animation JournalAnimated landscapes: they're not just 'backgrounds' anymore. This collection by establishedand emerging scholars directs our attention to an aspect of animation that has long beentreated as secondary, if it was considered at all. Far from being painting in motion, or even adepiction of nature, landscaping can be mindscaping, and an active, if not dominant elementof the film, new media, or gaming experience. The book is a welcome addition to the growingbody of work in animation studies. Donald Crafton, The Joseph and Elizabeth RobbieProfessor of Film, Television, and Theatre, University of Notre Dame, USA, and authorof Shadow of a Mouse: Performance, Belief, and World-making in Animation