The Animation Linguist
@animationlinguist.bsky.social
Animation is a language.
I study how line, motion, and space create meaning.
I study how line, motion, and space create meaning.
Pinned
Animation is Animation, is Animation
Hi everyone, I wrote an essay on substack.
It’s completely free, it’s about how the animation of South Park is closer to My Neighbor Totoro than Totoro is to Frozen - I know that’s crazy work & I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Please enjoy.
substack.com/@animationli...
It’s completely free, it’s about how the animation of South Park is closer to My Neighbor Totoro than Totoro is to Frozen - I know that’s crazy work & I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Please enjoy.
substack.com/@animationli...
The Animation Linguist (@animationlinguist)
Hi everyone, I’ve uploaded my first essay on a series for animation. Please enjoy.
substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:57 AM
Hi everyone, I wrote an essay on substack.
It’s completely free, it’s about how the animation of South Park is closer to My Neighbor Totoro than Totoro is to Frozen - I know that’s crazy work & I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Please enjoy.
substack.com/@animationli...
It’s completely free, it’s about how the animation of South Park is closer to My Neighbor Totoro than Totoro is to Frozen - I know that’s crazy work & I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Please enjoy.
substack.com/@animationli...
youtube.com/watch?v=KZwR...
Memoir of a Snail is powerful not because of what it animates, but because of what it restrains.
An episode on disability, stillness, and Space as ethical grammar in animation.
Listening, not compensating.
Memoir of a Snail is powerful not because of what it animates, but because of what it restrains.
An episode on disability, stillness, and Space as ethical grammar in animation.
Listening, not compensating.
What the Animation is Saying : Memoir of a Snail
YouTube video by The Animation Linguist
youtube.com
January 18, 2026 at 10:54 PM
youtube.com/watch?v=KZwR...
Memoir of a Snail is powerful not because of what it animates, but because of what it restrains.
An episode on disability, stillness, and Space as ethical grammar in animation.
Listening, not compensating.
Memoir of a Snail is powerful not because of what it animates, but because of what it restrains.
An episode on disability, stillness, and Space as ethical grammar in animation.
Listening, not compensating.
Watching The LEGO Movie again, but listening to what the animation itself is doing.
Not theme.
Not message.
How motion snaps.
How space stays stable.
How individuality shows up before it’s explained.
Can plastic feel malleable?
Not theme.
Not message.
How motion snaps.
How space stays stable.
How individuality shows up before it’s explained.
Can plastic feel malleable?
January 17, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Watching The LEGO Movie again, but listening to what the animation itself is doing.
Not theme.
Not message.
How motion snaps.
How space stays stable.
How individuality shows up before it’s explained.
Can plastic feel malleable?
Not theme.
Not message.
How motion snaps.
How space stays stable.
How individuality shows up before it’s explained.
Can plastic feel malleable?
Mad God
Stop-motion treating pain not as a theme,
but as a condition of creation.
Line scars. Motion exhausts. Space never pushes back.
Stop-motion treating pain not as a theme,
but as a condition of creation.
Line scars. Motion exhausts. Space never pushes back.
a poster for phil tippett 's mad god shudder showing a person welding
ALT: a poster for phil tippett 's mad god shudder showing a person welding
media.tenor.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Mad God
Stop-motion treating pain not as a theme,
but as a condition of creation.
Line scars. Motion exhausts. Space never pushes back.
Stop-motion treating pain not as a theme,
but as a condition of creation.
Line scars. Motion exhausts. Space never pushes back.
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, animation fully owns play as idea.
But when the film confronts stillness, animation often shares authorship with cinematic tools.
Lumalee is to hilarious stillness when animation leads, whereas Mario shows what it looks like when animation and cinema co-author it.
But when the film confronts stillness, animation often shares authorship with cinematic tools.
Lumalee is to hilarious stillness when animation leads, whereas Mario shows what it looks like when animation and cinema co-author it.
January 6, 2026 at 5:43 AM
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, animation fully owns play as idea.
But when the film confronts stillness, animation often shares authorship with cinematic tools.
Lumalee is to hilarious stillness when animation leads, whereas Mario shows what it looks like when animation and cinema co-author it.
But when the film confronts stillness, animation often shares authorship with cinematic tools.
Lumalee is to hilarious stillness when animation leads, whereas Mario shows what it looks like when animation and cinema co-author it.
Animation is Animation, is Animation
January 4, 2026 at 1:14 AM
Animation is Animation, is Animation