Animated Film and the Construction of a Caribbean Cultural Identity: ¡Vampiros en la Habana! by Juan Padrón and Chico y Rita by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal.

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the representation of cultural identity in two animated films: ¡Vampiros en la Habana! (1985) produced by Cuba’s ICAIC studios, as compared to a recent production from Spain, Chico y Rita (2010), directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal. I argue that while Padrón’s film uses humor as a device to deal with the complex political and social context of the eighties, it also emphasizes the Cubanness of its characters, conjugated as both cubanía and cubaneo. Trueba and Mariscal, in turn, use animation language to mold their movie along the lines of cubanismo or “Buena Vista effect”, i.e. the commodification of a local (Cuban) identity. Animation here serves as a way to stress movement, sensuality and music of the region and the “Caribbeanness” of the characters. While Chico y Rita has no particular political message and goes beyond local and national concerns, the film is not exempt of the well-known stereotypes applied to the Caribbean.