Intimate Animation

Ben Mitchell author Laura-Beth Cowley author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:26th Mar '25

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Intimate Animation cover

In recent years, there has been a surge in animated projects that have pushed boundaries, broken taboos, prompted discussions and wowed festival and online audiences alike through compelling storytelling and unmatched artistry.

Join Ben Mitchell and Laura-Beth Cowley of Skwigly Online Animation Magazine and the Intimate Animation podcast as they take you on a tour of the landscape of contemporary animated films that deal with themes of love, intimacy, relationships, anatomy and sexuality – and the incredible artists behind them. Through research and firsthand interviews with trailblazers such as Signe Baumane, Andreas Hykade, Ruth Lingford, Michaela Pavlatova, Bill Plympton and Joanna Quinn, as well as newer voices including Sawako Kabuki, Renata Gąsiorowska, Will Anderson, Sara Gunnarsdottir, Michaela Mihalyi, David Stumpf, Levi Stoops, Lori Malepart-Traversy, Anna Ginsburg, Veljko Popović, Renee Zhan and more, Intimate Animation looks deeply at the role animation has played in presenting elaborate and complex concepts relating to love and sexuality.

Exploring the role animation has played in sex education, self-discovery, the body, lust and love, as well as how the medium can be used to visually represent emotions, feelings and concepts not easily described in words nor depicted through live-action filmmaking, Intimate Animation is the ideal book for professional animators, filmmakers, enthusiasts, researchers, academic and students of animation and film studies interested in the themes of love and sexuality.

"Two writers from online animation magazine Skwigly, Ben Mitchell and Laura-Beth Cowley, explore a vast landscape of movies dealing with love, lust and talking genitals in Intimate Animation. Its intro zips through a "(very) potted history of erotica in animation", paying attention to grown-up toons like Bob Godfrey's Wicked Willie (1990). A Chapter on 'Sex Education' led me to Disney's bizarre STI health warning short VD Attack Plan (1973). And there are great first-hand interviews with animators such as Ruth Lingford, whose Little Deaths (2010) uses experimental animation to depict orgasms."

Katie McCabe, writing for Sight and Sound magazine, October 2025 Issue.

"Intimate Animation is a must-read for anyone who wants to delve into the complex subject of sex, love, and relations. The book is well-written, insightful, and a great, fun read."

Nancy Denney-Phelps, writing for Animation World Network.

ISBN: 9781032541501

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 500g

220 pages