Cuphead: Animation, the Public Domain, and Home Video Remediation

The videogame Cuphead (2017) has generated a great deal of attention, in large part due to its art style, which approximates the aesthetics of a 1930s American short cartoon. This article will suggest, however, that this is only one of several past eras that the game gestures towards in its relationship to the present. Most notably, Cuphead speaks to the trajectory of several animation units whose works have fallen out of copyright, and which have been remediated on home video in ways that have been very pervasive, and yet also critically marginalized. These compilations often mixed together texts from several different artists, creating juxtapositions and connections that would never have been made had the original rights holders maintained an active control over their respective properties. Cuphead is not a tribute to a specific studio, but combines an eclectic range of reference points in a celebration of an animation style that has been overshadowed by producers such as Disney. The commercial success of the game suggests that academia needs to pay more attention to the circulation and consumption of public domain materials, viewing these films not as “lesser” entries, but as works uniquely positioned to influence the cultural landscape.