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David McGowan

@animatedstardom.bsky.social

360 followers 370 following 67 posts

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. .. more

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David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Nov 11

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....

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

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David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · 3d

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!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · 3d

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.

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David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · 25d

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!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · 25d

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.

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David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Aug 25

Was particularly excited to spot my book on the Reading Room shelves! Quite an honour!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Aug 25

A long held scholarly wish has finally been fulfilled. Today I'm visiting the Margaret Herrick Library to do some Hollywood-based research!

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David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Aug 25

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!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Aug 22

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!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Aug 11

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!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Aug 11

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

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 26

My Blu-ray copy of Essential Polish Animation has arrived. Looks fantastic!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 23

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.

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 23

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.

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 23

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.

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 14

Sam Summers, Michael Meindl, and Aaron Borok presenting in PANEL 10B: TELEVISION AND ONLINE ANIMATION. #SAS36

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 14

LCC's own Chris de Selincourt presenting in PANEL 8B: THE BOUNDARIES OF REALISM. #SAS36

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 14

A display of research by LCC staff members, kindly put together for the conference by our library team. #SAS36

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 14

A couple of photos of the full panel Q&A from PANEL 3C: MICRO TALKS. #SAS36

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 14

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

Reposted by David McGowan

Society for Animation Studies (SAS) @sasanistudies.bsky.social · Jul 10

And so #SAS36 comes to a close. Thanks to chairs David McGowan and Susi Wilkinson, and their entire team at the London College of Communication at the University of the Arts, for a great conference! Hope to see you at #SAS37 in Pittsburgh in 2026!

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Reposted by David McGowan

Society for Animation Studies (SAS) @sasanistudies.bsky.social · Jul 10

David Sproxton, co-founder of Aardman, closes #SAS36 with his keynote talking about his career.

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Reposted by David McGowan

Society for Animation Studies (SAS) @sasanistudies.bsky.social · Jul 8

Life drawing with legendary British animator Joanna Quinn

Only at #SAS36

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Reposted by David McGowan

Misha Mihailova @mihailova.bsky.social · Jul 7

Starting this year's Society for Animation Studies conference strong with a fascinating keynote by Malcolm Cook! #SAS36 @sasanistudies.bsky.social @malcolmcook76.bsky.social

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Reposted by David McGowan

Society for Animation Studies (SAS) @sasanistudies.bsky.social · Jul 7

Malcom Cook giving the first keynote of #SAS36! His presentation explores useful animation and the petroleum industry.

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Reposted by David McGowan

Society for Animation Studies (SAS) @sasanistudies.bsky.social · Jul 7

Opening of #SAS36! Thanks to David McGowan and the team at London College of Communication at @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social!

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Reposted by David McGowan

Society for Animation Studies (SAS) @sasanistudies.bsky.social · Jul 6

The 36th Annual SAS Conference begins TOMORROW, July 7 (hosted by London College of Communication
@unioftheartslondon.bsky.social). Use #SAS36 to tag any conference-related posts and/or follow to see what is happening. Info about the conference is at bit.ly/46qkcDZ. Have a great conference!

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David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jul 4

It's beginning to look a lot like #SAS36!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jun 27

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...?!

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jun 23

Am excited to see that my newest article, '"If I can change": multigenerational cinematic franchises, retconning, and the spectre of Rocky IV', has recently been published in
Screen! Available at: academic.oup.com/screen/artic...

‘If I can change’: multigenerational cinematic franchises, retconning, and the spectre of Rocky IV

The Rocky saga, created by and starring Sylvester Stallone, has been through various stages of activity and dormancy, success and failure. Rocky IV (Sylves

academic.oup.com

David McGowan @animatedstardom.bsky.social · Jun 12

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.