This article examines the aspects and implications of nostalgia and historical nostalgia in animated films, based on the case study of the 2001 Hong Kong animation My Life As McDull, directed by Toe Yuen. The investigation includes three components: a discussion around the notion of historical nostalgia, a survey of professional animators with the audience’s expectations and its perception of animated films, and an analysis of the mechanisms the movie utilizes to address the concepts of shared memory, local culture and sense of identity. The paper establishes connections between the animation’s visual elements, the notion of positive memory, and their socio-cultural implications. The results present data findings, as well as an analysis of the cinematic effects of conceptual and aesthetical processes to induce nostalgia through storytelling, concluding with their cultural and social resonance.

A painting, a musical piece, a text and a film have in common an arrangement of distinct elements organized to produce the work and to generate meaning. However, when the focus diverts from what is perceptible in the composition to what is implied, a new dimension can emerge. By concentrating on what is missing, the mind has a different perception of the art. The message is not direct, but suggested, allowing for freedom of interpretation. Utilizing omission rather than addition enables the viewer to recompose the piece and be involved through personal emotions. In this regard, the exploration of the void leans toward inwardness, emphasizing introspection and reflection. A closer look at psychology and its use in the visual arts with the Gestalt theory examines how the human brain tends to close gaps in shapes that are unfinished. This mechanism creates an immersive experience. Additionally, the Japanese concept of Ma utilizes and manipulates the notion of in-between, shifting the center of attention, to enable an intensification of vision. The work can operate on a new level of awareness, where the attributes that are actually absent become quintessential.

By its nature, art cannot be without mistakes, although no s ingle definition of art can be found. It is a process of expression of the world through the work of a creator. To the credit of many miscalculations and errors made by artists all through time, we a re gifted with masterpieces of art and inventions. The emergence of the unexpected through the process of creation turns to be an aesthetic matter. What are the limits of different communicative languages of art media or their conflicting probabilities of creating errors aesthetically called unexpected objects?