“This is classic Chosen One biz. You just have to rescue everybody and defeat the final boss”: New Interpretations of the Hero's Journey in Contemporary Young-Adult Fantasy Animation

Fantasy as a genre has always been associated with particular character archetypes and narrative models, such as heroes and their journey, typically used for telling coming-of-age stories. But as much as these characters and models persist, they also change and evolve whenever they materialize into new stories adapted to their contemporary contexts. So being, as contemporary versions of traditional and original fantasy stories aimed at younger audiences are currently greatly developed within the animation sphere, the present paper seeks to observe what current trends and themes define the heroic journey in such works. In order to do so, the paper will look at recent animated projects directed at young adult audiences and see how these are positioned in relation to the long tradition of fantasy animation and related genres, as well as the influence of medium and format. Moreover, by looking at how identity factors such as gender, race, queerness, age, and disability inform the characterization of heroes and shape the journey, the main purpose will be to show how traditional and sometimes outdated concepts, roles, and models are being (re)imagined, (re)interpreted and represented in contemporary works, and what that can tell us about the evolving nature of myth.