You are here:

Lines: Horizontal

Name: Lines: Horizontal
Director: Evelyn Lambart, Norman McLaren
Released: 1962
Duration: 5 min

Representation Score

1.6/10

Minimal

1962

Director

Evelyn Lambart, Norman McLaren

Runtime

5 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Lines: Horizontal is a formalist animation that operates through pure abstraction rather than character-driven storytelling. Since the film lacks a plot or dialogue, it cannot be evaluated using standard metrics of identity-based representation. The film's significance lies in its production, particularly the inclusion of Evelyn Lambart as a co-director, which challenges the male-dominated experimental animation landscape of the 1960s. Ultimately, the low diversity score reflects the inherent difficulty of applying social the way different parts of someone's identity overlap to a work composed entirely of lines, color, and music.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Lines: Horizontal have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

Since the film is a non-narrative, formalist work without characters or dialogue, there are no depictions of sexual orientation or gender identity.

How does Lines: Horizontal portray gender?

Fair

As the film lacks human subjects, Evelyn Lambart’s role as co-director disrupts the traditional gender roles in animation production during the 1960s.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Lines: Horizontal?

Minimal

This abstract study focuses solely on geometry, color, and motion. With no cast or characters, it does not engage with racial or ethnic representation.

How does Lines: Horizontal represent religion and culture?

Fair

The work prioritizes mathematical precision and pure design, avoiding traditional Western moralities or nationalist themes by presenting a purely secular, aesthetic experience.

Does Lines: Horizontal include disability representation?

Minimal

The film contains no characters or depictions of human physical or neurodivergent experiences. It remains strictly focused on abstract visual elements.

Present on Screen

Evelyn Lambart’s co-direction challenges the traditional gendered hierarchies of 1960s animation production.
The film avoids reinforcing traditional gendered narratives or domestic clichés by excluding human subjects.

Limited or Absent

The non-narrative, abstract nature of the work prevents any engagement with racial, ethnic, or LGBTQ+ representation.
The absence of characters makes it impossible to address disability or neurodivergent experiences through the medium.

Official Synopsis

An experiment in pure design by film artists Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart. Lines, ruled directly on film, move with precision and grace against a background of changing colors, in response to music specially composed for the films.

How are these scores produced? →