Iluminace 2024, 36(3):101-125 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1789

Bring Your Toys to Works.
Desk Displays at the Animation Studio

Colin Wheeler ORCID...
Kennesaw State University, USA

Animators distinguish themselves through decorating their workspaces, which is why we should explore how this social ritual reflects the values inherent in animation production culture. Previous analyses have interpreted these practices as resistance to the alienating power of the studio, focusing on large companies such as Nickelodeon. However, many diverse office environments remain unexplored. Drawing from long-form interviews with animators across Atlanta, Georgia, this research uses discourse analysis and ethnographic methods to study how decorations differ in their purpose and function. Participants revealed myriad motivations for their choices: some decorations, such as calendars and anatomical models, were purely utilitarian, while others served an expressive purpose, grounding the animator aesthetically and fostering communication with coworkers. Yet, as studios actively brand themselves as cool, fun workplaces displaying toys as part of their décor, individual items may no longer resist corporate power. Recalcitrant animators find other means, displaying a parody of a family photo or snarky slogans such as “I’m Dead Inside.” Some refuse to decorate their desk at all, either as a means to avoid infantilization or to maintain a clear division between labor and leisure.

Keywords: animation, creative labor, cultural capital, material culture, media industries, production culture

Received: May 6, 2024; Revised: September 5, 2024; Accepted: November 13, 2024; Published: January 28, 2025  Show citation

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Wheeler, C. (2024). Bring Your Toys to Works.
Desk Displays at the Animation Studio. Iluminace, 36(3), 101-125. doi: 10.58193/ilu.1789
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