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Chapman University

Bending Family Friendly into Fear: Nostalgia, Minstrelsy and Horror in Bendy and the Ink Machine

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>When one thinks of Disney’s Mickey Mouse, fear and horror are not terms normally associated with this iconic American cartoon character; however, the video game Bendy and the Ink Machine turns animated bodies (cartoons) into bodies the player fears. In this game family friendly cartoon characters are transformed into figures of fear. Furthermore, Bendy and the Ink Machine does this by making the bending of Black bodies visible through what I call the gameic gaze. The transformation from family friendly into fear happens through the resistive gaze, the gameic gaze, which lingers on the bending of the diegetic cartoons. Bendy and the Ink Machine actualizes the historical contorting of the Black body starting in slavery and continued by the entertainment industry through bending. Bending and the Ink Machine makes the minstrel origins of cartoons visible through the gameic gaze.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts (MA)
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Film Studies
Year
2019

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Williams, Isabelle
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Kelli Fuery

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:digitalcommons.chapman.edu:film_studies_theses-1004

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Chapman University
Base URL
digitalcommons.chapman.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Williams, Isabelle. Bending Family Friendly into Fear: Nostalgia, Minstrelsy and Horror in Bendy and the Ink Machine. Thesis thesis, 2019. https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/5