��|�A�Post-Jungian�Critique�|�Cartoon�Saloon’s�Animated�Feature�Films

�Lynda�Phelan�–�Department�of�Design�–�Limerick�Institute�of�Technology

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Thanks to Ireland’s leading animation studio, the Irish age-old tradition of story-telling as admixture of fact and fiction has been successfully projected onto the world screen of visual narrative acclaim and substantiated as such by three Oscar nominations to date. Cartoon Saloon’s house-style combines traditional 2D animation techniques with that of digital means, mirroring their story-telling as an amalgamation of old and new, myth, folklore and history. The feature films in question also point toward a mission statement, or manifesto, if you will; each film seems to be charged with reanimating the symbolic, in turn drawing upon our Irish historical and mythological roots, as once was charged the seanchaí of old. By way of a post-Jungian critique, I hope to demonstrate how Jungian psychology is more appropriate for 21st century film analysis, particularly for films with a mythopoetic sensibility such as Tomm Moore’s triptych. By applying classical Jungian concepts and considering key post-Jungian developments, I hope to show the conscious construction of the creatives involved as against the films’ unconscious dimensions. I will focus primarily on the unconscious elements that intimate a rise in the feminine, which, in turn, will allow for a critical mirror of sorts to be held up to a contemporary Irish culture in crisis and identify symbolic expressions denoting a new mythos for our time.

Literature Review

“...it is so important to know folklore and fairy tales, because it is like knowing the compensating dream-life of a civilisation. In the study of any civilisation, you can study either their sacred books or their sacred teachings, which give you their conscious tradition. But you must always ask ‘what is their folklore?’ Then you get the unconscious compensation for the collective tradition.”

Von Franz, The Cat: A Tale of Feminine Redemption, p. 42

“In myths and fairytales, as in dreams, the psyche tells its own story, and the interplay of the archetypes is revealed in its natural setting...” Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, p. 217

“The psyche is only partly identical with our empirical conscious being; for the rest it is projected and in this state it imagines or realises those greater things which the body cannot...” Jung, Collected Works 12: para 399

“Cinema offers both a means and a space to witness the psyche – almost literally in projection.” Hauke & Alister, Jung and Film, p.2

The Secret of Kells (2009) Song of the Sea (2014) The Breadwinner (2017) Wolfwalkers (2020)

Directed by Tomm MooreDirected by Nora Twomey

“...it is interesting to me how folklore has a certain sense about it, a certain air of ‘authentic-ness’, and on the other hand that root of the stories carries through even to the popular culture.” Tomm Moore: La Foresta: Interview

“[These] hand-drawn stories are some of the finest works of animation we know: uncommonly beautiful, enriched by a poetic vision of life, fuelled by folklore, fairy-tales and myths. Far beyond just entertainment these films are connecting us viewers to our culture, ancestors, and universal truths.” La Foresta, Interview: Tomm Moore

METHODOLOGY

Selected Feature FilmsTomm Moore’s Triptych

Research Questions

2/ To what extent can a Jungian conceptual framework reveal the cultural value of animated feature films such as Tomm Moore’s triptych?

3/ Can the selected films, looked at through the lens of this conceptual framework, be defined as either psychological or visionary when we consider their mode of creation against their mode of reception?

1/ What is the value of a post-Jungian critique of films such as Cartoon Saloon’s animated feature films compared with the more established theoretical models?

Qualitative MethodMA by Research: JAN 2018 - JAN 2020

The Secret of Kells (2009) centres around the Book of Kells, its creation and following that its protection during an invasion by the Norse seafarers...

Song of the Sea (2014) is an intimation of psychological rebirth by way of a new feminine energy which expresses freedom as replacement for that which is linked to the past namely sorrow...

Wolfwalkers (2020) draws upon Oliver Cromwell and his vision for a wolf-free Ireland...

INSIGHT

Jung: A New Model of the PsycheConsciousness | Personal Unconscious [Complexes] | Collective Unconscious [Archetypes]

At The Cultural Level of the PsycheCollective Consciousness | Cultural Unconscious [C] | Collective Unconscious [A]

Collective Consciousness [Patriarchal Society]Cultural Unconscious [Unconscious Feminine Element – Mother Complex]Collective Unconscious [Unconscious Feminine Element – Anima Archetype]

Tomm Moore’s Triptych – Cultural Productions – what are the Unconscious Dimensions?

Anima as Vision Anima is Instinct

Anima Set Free

Aisling Mebh

Saoirse

Son

Father

Holy GhostMebh Aisling

Saoirse

SquareQuaternity

WholenessThe Self

Trinity

Trinity

PatriarchalCollective Tradition

_________

UnconsciousCompensation

SIGNIFICANCE

Future Directions PhD Transfer

Contact: lynda.phelan@lit.ie | 085 8384377