All Aboard the Axiom, Destination Wall-E - Media Facades, Situated Animation and the Cruise Ship Experience

Dan Torre (2019) defines 'situated animation' as "made for a particular location, unquestionably anchored to it, and fully integrated into that specific real-world architectural landscape". Its effect, as exclaimed in the editorial of the Animated Space edition of the International Journal of Film and Media Arts (2021), is that “contemporary animation is now seamlessly embedded in our lives, redesigning the facades of our cities, expanding both our intimate spaces and our theatrical experiences…” in the same issue Tritthart also comments that it is ”shaped by a new aesthetic, influenced by the omnipresent advertising industry”.

In this paper, I discuss this commentary and 'situated animation' through the 'rise of the machine' in the abundance of LED displays present in our surroundings. In this particular case, I look through the lens of cruise ships' media facades, and the animation made for them. I compare the reliance on this media technology to themes and events in Pixar’s Wall-E, using it as a case study alongside another of a recent cruise experience on the MSC Euribia (at the time of writing, MSC’s newest ship in their fleet). I find that the animated content served on the media facades is multi-purposed and permeates the cruise experience in ways ranging from illumination, ornamentation, entertainment and communication. I analyse this in the context of animation studies, technology developments and tourism theory, where my literature search also revealed the use of ‘animation’ as a tourism term that is also interesting to consider (Pompl, 1983) .