Surrealism In Western Animation

Some western animations are known for their surreal elements to emphasise a characters' nature or how they are feeling. One good example of this is The Ren & Stimpy Show, which regularly used over the top aesthetics to express the goofy and bizarre nature of the show's characters. For example, in the clip below, the character Ren is being shown as deranged and descending into madness. To show this within the show, the animators use widened eyes, widened pupils and lines under the eyes. Close up cut away shots of gruesome paintings of the character are used to give the viewer a window into his mind to show the psychotic nature.

Another animation that uses similar painted cutaway shots to convey certain moods is Spongebob Squarepants. Like in Ren & Stimpy, the cutaway shot is used as a window into the mind of the character(s) involved. The scene below shows Spongebob's feeling of desperation for hydration, but also shows his attempt at resisting temptation by cutting away from the bottle of water, to a detailed painted close up image of his dry looking face to exaggerate Spongebob's thirst resistance against temptation to not dry the water.