‘Yeah, looks like it n’all…’: mapping the relationship between the ‘live action’ universe, abridged figurative design and computer animation within Modern Toss

This article will discuss formal aspects of the Channel Four TV show Modern Toss. Through a minimalism in image and dialogue it looks at how a range of characters negotiate miniature social rebellions. What is of interest here is the highly distinctive approach to animation form that utilizes deliberately abstracted figurative designs framed in collusion with previously filmed backgrounds and actors. This specific approach of placing Flash computer figures within an agreed universe accesses, firstly, a sense of `distance' that is pertinent to the show's humorous register. Secondly, this complements the fatalism inherent within the narratives themselves and then, lastly, this process allies the show to the original graphic/web cartoon sources in service of a signature aesthetic endemic to this concept.