• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.45
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• pp.367-396
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• 2016

As an animation educator at Mahidol University International College, Bangkok, for eight years I have been in a privileged position to be educating a small section of a new generation of Thai animators. Thailand has had little animation experimentation of their own and pre-internet had limited access to such diversity so I have attempted to bring some of the wealth of animation history, in particular British and European, as this is my background, into the classroom. In particular my teaching aim has been to introduce various possibilities to the choices of medium, styles and textual narratives that early (and current) experimental and independent animators have explored. Since the release of the first commercial feature film, Khun Kluay 2006, the Thai animation industry has gone through various highs and lows in the commercial sector, building a skilled workforce, many of whom trained and worked abroad then returned. Now there is strong evidence of an independent animation starting to emerge. In a continuation to my research on Thai Animation this paper will analyze selected independent works in more detail, exploring the themes, style and technology used. Whilst also acknowledging the possible mis- interpretation as that this is coming from the perspective of an outsider whose cultural language and interpretation may transcend the creators' given experiences and add alternative interpretation. The aim will be to contextualize the content, ideas and cultural perspective and bring more Thai works into the gaze of animation studies academics