Telling an Environmental Story: The Four Seasons of Death - Spring

Samurai Jack background designs

Among the plentiful animations with lush and descriptive background designs lies Samurai Jack, a story about a righteous samurai that gets hurdled into the futuristic terraforming of Earth compiled by the hands of the most sinister evil imaginable, Aku. I've always considered Samurai Jack to be a masterpiece cartoon encompassing all aspects of animation, character, story, and context. One of the most powerful elements of the cartoon are its backgrounds which effectively introduce the tone and atmosphere of every situation Jack gets caught in, as well as the overall appearance of a semi-deteriorated Earth due to malicious advancements by the totalitarianist supreme rule of Aku. There are parts of the cartoon where the atmosphere is serene (for example, at every ancient temple or meadow that has been untouched by Aku) or where it is grim (the locations at which Aku has spread his evil). However, one scene from an episode caught my attention because it perfectly intertwines a minor character with the background in such a way that we can immediately identify the character's archetype, and her true intentions. In "The Four Seasons of Death", Samurai Jack treads along a cave like enclosed space riddled with prickled vines, all withered, which insinuate danger. However, the audience's anticipation is broken the moment the space gets transformed into a vibrant meadow, enriched with light and natural colors. As the minor character of a fairy appears from a giant petal flower, the background starts to sparkle as the lighting is increased and the characters bloom and radiate within the space, connoting a sense of serenity and peace. The flow and composition/movement of the space is "legato" - calm and ethereal, which interconnects the fairy with the space, indirectly telling a story about the space. This tacit tone and atmosphere is further consolidated as the fairy comforts Jack with her words and nurturing, however, at that point we are skeptical as to why was the space contrast at the beginning of the scene. Adhering to anticipation, the fairy turns on Jack as he visualises his demise in the hands of Aku, ultimately fending off the fairy's attacks, uncovering everything as a ruse as the background suddenly shifts to its initial state. With this culmination, we identify the background as being illusory as the fairy is seen smiling at the end amongst the prickled vines as Jack leaves. With this transitory effect of background transformation, an elaborate story is told about the hidden malevolent intentions of the fairy character, the deceit of the space, and the unrest of Jack's mind, as what he feels reflects the space around him. Furthermore, with the designs being done with hand painting acrylic, the whole sense of a natural feel is achieved as the background is purely "carbon", so to say. Without the background details (such as the texture of the plants and the blooming and sparkling lighting) the notion would not be the same as the character would seem ineffective in representing what she stands for - that belligerent smile at the end won't have the same effect.

"The Four Seasons of Death - Spring" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYKV6BdeWp8