Forum - View topicAmerican Cartoons or Japanese Anime
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Next |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
|
|||||
There's a difference between a level-headed argumentive discussion, such as we've been having here, and an all-out war, which The Frankman was expecting to happen.
I think that's debatable... |
||||||
|
||||||
rond556
 Posts: 26 Location: Newark, DE |
|
|||||
|
The only good American cartoons left are the stuff on Adult Swim....Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab, Home Movies, etc. But ever since Samurai Jack was finished and Dexter's Laboratory became dumb, there really isn't anything I like watchin. Everything that was cool when I was a kid is gone....the old X-Men and Spiderman cartoons, Rocko's Modern Life, The Tick, the original TMNT, Tiny Toon Adventures (Looney Tune babies SUCK), Road Runner, Ren and Stimpy, the GOOD Doug, the GOOD Rugrats (Nick Toons have sucked since Hey Arnold.....Spongebob is ok I guess).....hell, even the Jetsons, the Flintstones, and The Smurfs aren't shown anymore. Still, most of that stuff can't really compare to my favorite animes, but it was at least cool
In terms of movies, the only animation director who can live up to Japanese directors is Brad Bird. The Iron Giant is hands down the best American animated movie, and The Incredibles kicked ass also. John Lasseter and the Pixar crew are cool to, but are dwarved by Miyazaki. And if Astro Boy turns out as cool as Dexter or Samurai Jack, Genndy Tartokofsky will be great also |
||||||
|
||||||
Tenchi
 Posts: 4471 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
|
|||||
|
Eh, I can list a slew of animation directors, American, Japanese, and "miscellaneous", whose works I more consistently prefer to Miyazaki's, though Miyazaki currently has a larger body of work as director than any of the more consistent directors I can name, barring Chuck Jones. I mean, Kiki's Delivery Service is one of my top two favourite standalone anme films (though Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer is my favourite anime film overall) and I also really like Totoro, but the excessive aduation the guy gets is increasingly "blah blah blah" white noise to me which I find myself mentally tuning out.
|
||||||
|
||||||
Haru to Ashura
 Posts: 617 Location: Termina |
|
|||||
Yes, very debatable. :) I hold them as equal. It's actually very unfair to compare Miyazaki's work to Disney's work, because Walt Disney's films were made many, many years before Miyazaki, and thus had tenchnological limits that Miyazaki does not have. As for Japanese Directors, I'm also a big fan of Satoshi Kon. Not so much Perfect Blue, but I absolutley loved Millenium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers. Millenium Actress's animation quality was...iffy, but Tokyo Godfathers was a bit better, Satoshi Kon is slowly but surely working his way up that ladder, and I'm very glad that he is. :) |
||||||
|
||||||
jfrog
 Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
|
|||||
|
Two directors that I greatly prefer to Miyazaki would be Masaaki Yuasa (he's only directed Mind Game, and I'm probably the only one here who's seen it) and Isao Takahata, who still evolves in really interesting directions (My Neighbors the Yamadas, anyone?) and contributing to anthology films based around the poetry of Basho, while Miyazaki keeps doing his annoying "this is my last movie!" Cher thing, while the quality of his work declines. Granted, he's still a better director than most...but he doesn't have a whole lot left to say.
And I think that Disney's best movies (pre-war, also synonymous with "the good Disney") are better than Miyazaki's. There are scenes in Snow White and Pinocchio of the characters just singing and dancing at home simply to pass the time (not advance the plot or whatever like in later Disney films) that most people don't remember very well, but strike me as just as charming as the Totoro bus stop scene. Or five minute sequences of just animals trying to find shelter from the rain in Bambi...I bought the Platinum Edition of that over the past week, but haven't picked up Porco Rosso yet (despite it being my second favorite thing by Miyazaki). |
||||||
|
||||||
The Frankman
 Posts: 1160 Location: Binary Culture HQ |
|
|||||
Oh wow, I actually forgot about that! The funny thing about that was I got a little too "into it" on that argument, left, and then came back. I was just SO TIRED of the insecurities (my perception at the time) of a lot of fans of Japanese anime that they had to denounce American animation and give circumstantial evidence as "proof". In the '05 I have a much different viewpoint: watch what appeals to you regardless of animation style. And you're right: this is a discussion, THAT was a argument. When Cartoon Network showed the special premeire Iron Giant marathon in July 2-3 years ago, I watched it and I'm not ashamed to say that I did shed a tear at one point, though it may have been sweat (In NY we were in the middle of a hellish heat wave, and it was like 90 degrees at 10pm). |
||||||
|
||||||
Edo
 Posts: 88 Location: Ontari-ari-ari-o! |
|
|||||
|
///
Last edited by Edo on Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||
|
||||||
Chiroptera Rex
 Posts: 262 Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin. |
|
|||||
|
Wow! I read the "war" thread and that was some pretty bad stuff going on there. It almost went an entire year!! The argument here (and this thread started about a month after the "war" thread ended) has been much more subdued here...at least so far.
For myself, before I had started watching Japanese anime, back in 1992 I was watching Batman: The Animated Series and loved it. Later, while I loved the storylines and characters for later shows like Superman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, I hated how they drew the characters. I know it probably sounds dumb, but it made it harder for me to relate to the characters. I wanted them to look more human. When my cousin introduced me to Ninja Scroll I really began to enjoy Japanese anime. I just like to watch cartoons in which the characters look human and not like, IMHO, stick figures. But American cartoons are not the only ones that do that. Big O is an example of animation from Japan that I have trouble with. They just don't look human to me so I really have trouble relating to the characters. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
No_Name
Posts: 9 |
|
|||||
|
I'd watch cartoons in the AM and anime in the PM.
Cartoons exist in the 20 minutes they air. There's little story beyond good vs evil. As some else said you can pick it up right away. Anime on the other hand can take several episodes to develope stories and there's usually several side plots too. I do think you'll develope better mentally if you can follow anime. |
||||||
|
||||||
trackstar1013
 Posts: 179 Location: Canada |
|
|||||
Actully I have the same problem, I used to watch so many Amarican cartoons but ever since I found school getting harder and harder as the years whent on and life was gettin more difficult, I started watching Japanese anime,I was able to relate to the characters and it became an escape from day to day life. That is I still enjoy mindless American Cartoons like Family Guy and Simpsons for a cheap laugh. But like I said I go to anime for something more substantial. Its an another world.
Also on a sorta unrelated topic. American cartoons are designed for a person with less of an attention span. This is not becasue of Amaricans being Amaricans, its because of all the marketing campaines that all big advertising companys have. I am Canadian and I still feel the effects of this advertising, but not to the extream that the US does. So I do say that Amaricans have short attention spans. Sorry. But this does mean that shows in Amarica have developed into eye catching cheap thrills which can be great if you want to get into a show, in the middle or at the start/end. I like Family Guy but I also like a real story. Also Warner Bros does have good animation, I see that now but... its story lines are very poor. Road Runner looses its fun quickly, theres only so many times that I can watch a Kyote try to get a Road Runner and lose. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Red Recluse
Posts: 56 |
|
|||||
I'm not too sure about this one. The things you listed only represent a portion of American entertainment; just like we have to remember that anime only represents a portion of Japanese entertainment, as well. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Cloe
Moderator
Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
|
|||||
I just bought that too.  One of the things I especially like about the pre-war Disney films is they have the feel of a series of short vignettes tied together through the characters (the Dwarfs work at the mine, the Dwarfs wash their faces for supper, etc); little details that come together to make a full, beautiful film. Bambi, especially, had this feel. I like Takahata's work for that reason as well. Only Yesterday has a little bit of a fragmented, reminiscent quality, which adds to its nostalgic atmosphere. Unfortunately, I haven't yet seen My Neighbors the Yamadas, but as the only Takahata film I have yet to see, I can probably safely say that his talents as a director are right on par, if not above and beyond, Miyazaki. It bothers me a little when people refer to studio Ghibli as "Miyazaki's studio," because Isao Takahata has produced the best work.
I just thought I'd throw out there, also, that I think animation meant for children can be every bit as powerful as animation for adults, so I take no notice of that argument if someone uses it to prove anime's (or any animated genre's) superiority (I'm really happy that nobody in this thread has used it! Thanks everyone!) I find that when watching the work of Yuri Norstein or Jiri Trnka (both who make animation for children), I am deeply moved by the beauty and the delicacy of the storytelling. And I won't even begin to describe how choked up I get whenever I watch Fantasia or The Iron Giant; it would be almost embarrassing.  not to mention that I bawled while watching Bambi last night...
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
jfrog
Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
|
|||||
|
Yeah, I don't get why people like plot so much. Movies that don't really have one are so much better.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
trackstar1013
Posts: 179 Location: Canada |
|
|||||
|
How can you say that? The plot makes up the movie, sensless fighting without a purpose is so bad. I would hate to watch a movie without a plot.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
jfrog
Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
|
|||||
|
I'm not really an action guy, so I don't have to deal with much in the way of senseless fighting. And plot is not the same as story, if that makes any sense (prolly not).
I find that plot is really obnoxious because anything strongly plot-driven is almost impossible to watch a second time through. And it's really an easy way out, anyone can come up with one. *I* can come up with a plot. What takes real talent is to make art out of the mundane - if you have any doubts about this, watch 'The Brown Bunny.' Vincent Gallo couldn't pull it off, and it ended up as one of the greatest cinematic trainwrecks I've ever seen. If you want some good movies that have no plot, watch Chungking Express or Breathless (since Only Yesterday and My Neighbors the Yamadas aren't available in America yet). Not much in the way of traditional plot elements, besides people falling in love, but they were so well acted and directed that I was literally jumping off my couch with excitement when I was watching them. Hell, I'd even go so far as to say that watching Breathless is like sex, but without any of the waking-up-the-next-day-and-hating-yourself. But I'm getting waaaaaaaay off topic now. But yeah. Real substance in art comes out of depictions of real life. |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group