The Liminal Spaces of Our Favorite Childhood Cartoons

Have you ever looked at the television screen in awe; perplexed as to how a cartoon show is able to capture such a beautiful space? In just the width and height of a screen, the walls of the space seem to open up beyond infinity. The lines go on forever; running parallel to a point unseen. There is enough in the frame that the scene is set; but enough missing for your imagination to wonder, “Have I been here before?”

As defined by the New Yorker, “[l]iminal spaces are in-between places that exist as means to an end, to be traveled through but not lingered in: stairwells, roads, corridors, hotels.”

Recently, the Internet has been fixated on the liminal spaces of a specific cartoon series. One most of us watched for hours as a kid: Tom and Jerry.

The comment explains, in less formal jargon, what The New Yorker gets so right about liminal spaces. According to The New Yorker, “[liminal spaces] owe much of their appeal to their framing and lack of human presence, which obliterate context and invite the viewer to populate the image with her own memories of comparable scenes.”

In other words, part of the reason why liminal spaces feel so nostalgic is because there is enough visual information given to create the scene but enough is missing so that you are able to fill in the blanks. Perhaps another one of the reasons why the liminal spaces of Tom and Jerry feel so nostalgic is because of the grainy aesthetic the animations display.

Liminal Spaces in Classic Cartoons

Reddit users have gathered to discuss the liminal spaces of Tom and Jerry and many noticed that the first 10 seasons of The Simpsons and Looney Tunes have similar liminal spaces.

Unlike Tom and Jerry, The Simpsons showcases liminal spaces with a slightly different aesthetic. Whereas Tom and Jerry display muted colors with vast landscapes, the Simpsons display liminal spaces with vibrant colors and cozy small spaces; rooms that looked like our kitchens and bedrooms growing up.

The Looney Tunes shows a pleasant mixture of the liminal spaces of Tom and Jerry and The Simpsons; combining the aesthetics of retro and futurism to create nostalgia for a world that never existed.

Scary Or Comforting?

While the unanimous verdict of liminal spaces being nostalgic has been reached, there is something else that is up for debate: are the spaces scary or comforting? The lack of anyone in these spaces can be seen as comforting: a serene world without the hustle and bustle as we know it but also can be seen as scary: a lonely world void of any emotion.

The Atlantic describes liminal spaces as “eerie comfort” and “can be both comforting and discomforting, nostalgic and unsettling, intimate and unnatural.”

Liminal Spaces in Real Life

While it may seem that liminal spaces are difficult to find in the busy and chaotic world of today, liminal spaces are all around us; we just seldom look.

The liminal spaces around us are found in, for example, abandoned malls with their vast, empty spaces or schools after hours with winding hallways and fluorescent lights; void of any students. Schools, malls, grocery stores, parks, downtown, hospitals, our neighborhoods. Liminal spaces are indeed all around us and are a beautiful reminder of how beautiful and still life can be; if we just look.