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Forum - View topicHow important is anime to Animation?
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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I've been thinking about anime's significance within the context of world animation. American animation such as Disney, Warner Bros. and Fleisher Bros. did the most to pioneer and popularize the medium. Many animation enthusiasts prize the cartoons of Zagreb studios in the former Yugoslavia and various Russian animation houses as highly as anything from Japan (and the handful of Zagreb films I've seen were as good as any animation I've ever seen.) So what does anime really bring to the table that no one else has?
One answer is "Animation for adults." I'm uncertain about this; Fritz the Cat is one example of animation that isn't for children, and much western animation has aimed to entertain people of all ages, not only children. Zagreb has a whole DVD of adult-oriented animation for sale. But anime has probably done the most to advance the idea of popular animation that isn't for children. Anime certainly draws on western animation and filmmaking techniques, and I'm not sure how many technical innovations in animation have really come from Japan. Anime has created some unique genres (mecha, magical girls) but I'm not sure these constitute artistic advances. They seem more like effective ways to channel consumer interest to me. And some of the most "arty" recent anime, like Eva and Utena (both of which I love) seem more like individual recastings of decades-old art-film techniques in anime form than real innovations. Perhaps anime's real legacy within the spectrum of world animation will be the reawakening of international interest in an entertainment medium that was in danger of flagging. On the other hand, despite the occasional unique work of anime art, most anime is streamlined, assembly-line product, and I fear that may prove to be anime's primary heritage. |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7549 Location: Maine |
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Ah, the old Fleischer Superman cartoons are classics, they were doing some really amazing stuff back in the 40's, the quality was great for being made of television.
Anyway, that aside, I don't think Japan's place in the animation world has been so much about inovation, but about improvement. Kinda like the old BASF commercials, they don't make the animation techniques, they make the techniques better. They keep things competative by improving frame rates, makeing better use of CGI, utilizing computers, and I'm sure countless other things that go on behind the scenes. That's not to say they're doing a better job of things than the rest of the world, but once in a while something like Macross Zero comes out that makes you go, "wow, I didn't think they could do that with animation." Emerje |
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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I think you're right about Japanese animators figuring out lots of cool stuff, but western animators also are figuring out cool stuff, so maybe I'm being silly to expect Japan to do something specific that no animators from other countries do. Animators without Borders!
Seriously though, I think Japan has done more to blend popularity and diversity in animation than any other countryin recent years, but the nature of the diversity is often kind of disappointing. Having more really specific genres and a wider range of allowable violence and sexuality is pretty tepid as claims to fame go. The kind of broad overview I'm trying to do also gets jumbled up when you look at individual works of art that pretty much stand by themselves, or individual artistic outputs that aren't repeatable. For example, Studio Ghibli is popular and wonderful, but since no one can really duplicate what they do, while it's easy to duplicate Gundam, Gundam winds up making more ripples. |
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Carol Maxwell
 Posts: 359 |
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Anime, in my opinion, has definately given everything a nudge to get better. Nowadays, we see American made stuff look better then it has ever been. I point you to Shrek, some of the stuff in my opinion is incredibly life like, save for Shrek. I don't know, that's just my opinion.
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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It's possible that anime was an indirect influence on
Shreck, but it seems to me that Pixar was a bigger inspiration, and the makers of Shrek saw Pixar as the competition to beat. Anime hasn't really done anything in the Pixar vien that I can think of; so far that's more a Western thing. It occurs to me that Anime has done a lot to make virtue out of neccessity as far as budgets go: of course Bullwinkle did too, and one could make a case for Hanna-Barbara, though I wouldn't really want to push that argument too hard. When it comes to finding effective ways to use limited animation, anime has probably pushed the envelope further than anyone. |
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ShellBullet
 Posts: 1051 Location: I hit things, with my fist. |
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And the folks over at Pixar are highly influencdd by anime! Remember John Lasseter's homage to Miyazaki?
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Lady Sango
Posts: 106 Location: Texas |
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I hope that anime will help the american industry come up with more mature cartoons that don't rely on potty humor. I think it's kind of sad that one of america's most sophisticated cartoons is South Park.
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Carol Maxwell
Posts: 359 |
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And Simpsons too!
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Nagisa
Moderator
 Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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Actually, if you pay attention, South Park does have some pretty weighty messages about today's society...especially this most recent season (anti-smoking hysteria, file sharing, and several other big social issues were heavily featured). |
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Carol Maxwell
Posts: 359 |
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That it does, I know one went over tolerance in America and such. Everyone can learn something from South Park and The Simpsons. |
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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Now, a cartoon referencing an anime shows that the animators are aware of anime, but it doesn't really show that there's an influence. It's pretty obvious that stylistically the Simpsons is far more indebted to Rocky and Bullwinkle than anime in general. Anyway, I'm really interested in how animation history will evaluate the real importance of anime. I dunno if stuff like Gundam or Eva will really seem like such hot stuff in fifty years, while the classic Warner Bros. shorts, for instance, will still be important. I do think that specific animes will be seen as landmarks, but which and why remains to be seen. I suspect that in a century the anime we know will be largely forgotten, with the exceptions of Tezuka's influential early work, Ghibli's films, maybe Akira and GitS.
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Shadowwave
Posts: 58 |
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reverse the question, then compare girls and boys instead of contrasting them. Youd find that animation started anime by mixing flat and round styles from boys and girls to give diversity.
Krillin was drawn sort of flat in the american style but people still love him just the same. Goku was more round and given more detail japanese drawn. The relationship between krillin and goku is as strong as their relationship with girls. |
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rektagunn
 Posts: 218 Location: enohana |
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yep....just listen to Kyle's "I learned something today" speech at the end of almost every episode.... |
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Carol Maxwell
Posts: 359 |
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See, so in a way, South Park is good for everyone. All of you! Go watch South Park!
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ShellBullet
Posts: 1051 Location: I hit things, with my fist. |
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I'd rather poke my favorite eye out with a sharpened chop stick. |
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