Ladies and Gentlemen of the Webpage, we have a Troll in our midst. His name is Hans, and we wish him well in his future endeavours!
On September 25, 1999, after nearly two years online, Animation - American and Japanese received an interesting post on its Guestbook. Before I share that post with you - a post that will be reprinted in its entirety, mind you - I'd like to remind some of you what a Troll is.
A Troll is the Internet equivalent of the clowns who get their kicks yelling "Fire!" in a crowded movie house. They lurk online, rarely revealing their true identities. They enjoy provoking flame wars on newsgroups, then vanishing. The flames they fan are often only tangentially connected to the topic at hand; Trolls are notoriously weak when it comes to particpating in a true argument. They accomplish their goals through the hurling of personal insult, by making unsubstantiated allegations, and by assuming a combative posture. In other words, they act like loons. Their mission, should they succeed at it, is a form of Internet terrorism. People who read their words get upset, abandon newsgroups, become afraid of posting their own ideas online and becoming active members of their online communities. I'm not sure why Trolls do what they do, but at least part of their tactics suggest they struggle with impotence - if not sexual then social - in their own lives.
Now that I've defined "Troll," let's take a look at the posting, shall we? It appears
EXACTLY as it appeared on the guestbook, with mispellings and an insistance on using only
capital letters. The only difference is that Hans incuded his post three times in succession.
Hans - 09/25/99 07:12:32
Comments:
YOU'LL PROBEBLY TAKE THIS OFF BUT. HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT
DISNEY'S WORK TACTICS? FIRST OFF WHY IS ONLY THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
FIRST TO BE CREDITED AND NOT THE ACTUAL ARTIST? DID YOU KNOW? THAT THE
ANIMATORS ARE THE REAL GENIUSES DID YOU KNOW THAT STUDIO HUNCHOS LIE
TO THER ANIMATORS AND TELL THEM A LARGE AMOUNT OF CASH, BUT THEN PAY
THEM 25% BELOW THE ACTUAL SALERIES? DID YOU KNOW THAT ONCE A STUPID
CREATIVE EXECUTIVE SPENT MONEY ON WHAT WAS SUPOSE TO BE ART SUPPLIES,
AND INSTEAD ON HIS OWN OFFICE FURNITURE? DID YOU KNOW THAT EXEC
INTIMIDATE THERE ANIMATORS AND THREATEN LAYOFFS, WHICH MOST OF THE
TIME THEY DO? DID YOU KNOW THAT ALL EXEC HAVE NO TRAINING IN DRAWING ,
PAINTING AND WELL JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING? THINK ABOUT IT FOOL!
Okay now, can we count all the ways that Hans qualifies as a Troll? Really, it's quite simple
to do. The dares, the insults, the heated illogical rhetoric, the lack of a true e-mail address to
allow true dialogue - these are all classic Troll qualities. The truest giveaway that our boy Hans
is a Troll par exellance lies in the content of his message. There is simply no way a sane,
rational human being could misinterpret this web site as being somehow enamoured of Walt
Disney Studios. Several Disney films are reviewed here. It is simply impossible to
examine animation without dealing with Disney as no other American studio has
released as many animated features throughout the Twentieth Century and no other
American studio can boast the amount of talent Disney employed even in its weakest periods.
This doesn't make this page a Disney love fest, however. Go read the reviews of Aladdin and Robin Hood. I do not hold Disney to an unreasonably high standard. This is not a Disney page. This is a page about animation in general, and if you somehow misinterpret this to mean that all animation somehow equals Disney - well, that's your hangup, not mine.
At the time of Clever Hans' posting, 58 films and videos were reviewed at Animation - American and Japanese. Only a few of those films were highly recommended, as denoted by having an asterisk placed after their title. Since mathematics is the ultimate objective science, here is a graph breaking down the content of the videos reviewed as of September 25, 1999. I hate to disllusion you Clever Hans, but the majority of words on this page aren't dedicated to Disney. Unless, of course, you believe that Disney not only created Yellow Submarine and Betty Boop but also Batman Beyond, Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Space Jam, and all of Ray
Harryhausen's movies. He probably whipped up Pokemon and Invasion America on his off hours too, the workaholic!
Hans, my boy, your main gripe - that Disney's animators are the true artists and are robbed
of their credit - applies to animation in general. Animators are technicians. Their goal is
to draw characters according to criterions defined by model sheets and a movie script. They do
not write the films, nor do they direct them, score the soundtrack, or perform the voice acting.
They are part of a team, and the person on any given team who must act as spokesman and
receive the lion's share of the credit is the director. Simple as that. That doesn't mean that the
animators - like any other movie technician - don't work very hard. In fact, the lead animators
often become mini-celebrities within fandom. Ever hear of Disney's Nine Old Men, Hans?
Know who they were? They were animators! And, guess what? All animators who work
on a modern Disney film get their names in the credits at the end of the film. They aren't
deprived credit and, despite what you believe, the animators who work for Disney have better
job security than those who work in any other animation studio in America. If you doubt me, try going to art school like I did, and try talking to professionals who work within the industry.
The rest of Hans' post is just plain weird. The executives at Disney don't have training in
animation? Well, how many executives at Sony Music can play electric guitars? How many
executives at Kentucky Fried Chicken can actually cook? Business is business, and animation is a business. You need people with good business training to run your company, or you will find yourself in bankruptcy.
If you wish to bash Disney, go ahead. Be my guest. But offer real arguments, and engage in a real debate. Hans' diatribe is not too different in theory from one that many anime fans (myself included) have been subjected to. The "Disney is an Evil Empire" routine is as old - and as one-dimensional- as the "All Anime Fans are Rave-going Pedophiles Who Secretly Desire to be Japanese" routine. Both are blatant attempts to anger the other side, and both are classic Troll techniques.
Long time readers of this humble page may wonder why the usually good-natured even-tempered person that is myself devoted so much bandwidth to a Troll. Especially since the updates to this page are few and far between lately. Truth be told, since Sept 1999, I've been consumed with Real Life. This webpage, as enjoyable a hobby as it may be, doesn't pay the bills. Late 1999 seems to be a weak season for new animation anyway, so I've been spending what precious free leisure time I have on alternate activities, which include my career. I suppose another turning point was in June, when The Animation Nerd's Paradise closed its doors for good, and the Yahoo-Geocities merger with its ridiculous short-term threats to snap up copyrights of all material contained on Geocities Web Pages also contributed to my self-imposed absence.
However, the Trolling activity genuinely annoyed me. Hans attempted an act of Internet terrorism. His post looks like a ransom note, and was probably intended to shame and scare people who visit my site. He also intended to make me look like a buffoon. Whether this is truly a personal attack by Hans, or whether Hans is simply a Troll who wants to stir up trouble and then leave is not for me to determine. But Hans' actions, if not terrorism, are the Internet's form of grafitti. Denying it exists only makes the problem worse.
Well, Clever Hans, your message was NOT deleted. As a matter of fact, it's been promoted to a place of prominence on the page. It may not achieved what you wanted it to. I doubt you'll ever find out. If you're a typical Troll, you won't return to find out that you're the star of this essay. Honestly, I couldn't have done it without you.
Number of Videos Reviewed
Number of Videos Highly Recommended
Number of Disney Videos Reviewed (including Pixar films)
Number of Disney Videos Highly Recommended
58
19
11
3
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