Forum - View topicThe Top 100 Most Influential People in Animation
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enurtsol
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The Top 100 Most Influential People in [North American] Animation
http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/top-100-most-influential-people-animation The anime-related ones: (There's a few errors in the piece; see if you can spot.) 87. Gen Fukunaga - Gen Fukunaga is the creator and CEO of FUNimation, the largest anime studio in North America. Gen built the empire from a single license then continued to maintain the FUNimation's prominent place in the industry. He did all this while most of his competitors were going under, something that catapaulted him to the top of the American anime scene. Without Gen the American anime landscape would look a lot different. 48. Osamu Tezuka - Osamu Tezuka is widely-known as the “Godfather of Anime” and the “father of Manga”, and is another Japanese animation legend likened to Walt Disney. This cartoonist/manga artist/animator/producer is best known for his creations Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack. Osamu drew much of his creative inspiration from American comics and animation, including Betty Boop and many Disney characters. Early in his career he pioneered the “large eyes” style that has become the defining characteristic of Japanese anime. While some on this list are accredited with bringing Japanese-style animation to America, Osamu was the most influential person to reverse the trend, bringing stylized Asian adaptations of western techniques and characteristics. 47. Mamoru Oshii - Mamoru Oshii is a slightly more obscure entry to our list but his unique brand of anime storytelling has been praised by many greats in the industry, including James Cameron and the Wachoski brothers. Mamoru's film Ghost in the Shell became a critically-acclaimed masterpiece and has become an anime classic. The film topped the US Billboard video charts, becoming the first-ever anime video to do so. His other famed works inlude the Urusei Yatsura series and films, Beautiful Dreamer, Avalon, Innocence and Patlabor. James Cameron called Mamoru's Avalon was "the most artistic, beautiful and stylish sci-fi film" and praised Ghost in the Shell for being "the first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence." Mamoru's distinctive works have warranted him several awards, including the coveted Palme d-Or (the only anime film to ever win) and the Golden Lion. 40. Jerry Beck - In addition to honoring the creative minds behind the animation industry we are also recognizing those who played a pivotol role in preserving the rich history of the industry. Enter Jerry Beck. Animation historian and preservationist, Jerry has helped document, preserve and create awareness for the formidable history of animation. His work restoring, remastering and releasing of uncut classics, then releasing them on DVD has helped to restore the luster and importance of classics like Popeye, Looney Tunes Golden, Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon collections. Jerry has also authored several books, including the Tom and Jerry Mini-Classics book, The Flintstones Mini-Classics book, The Animated Movie Guide, Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town!, The Hanna-barbera Treasury, Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the World of Cartoon, Anime, and CGI and many more. Without historians like Jerry the younger animation generation may not have access to or knowledge of the classics that shaped the industry. 37. Masao Maruyama - Masao Maruyama helped found Madhouse studio, along with Osamu Dezaki, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Rintaro. Madhouse is famed for a long chain of hit successes, like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Masao made the list over the other Madhouse creators because in addition to starting Madhouse he is their Chief Creative Officer. Everything Madhouse makes has Masao's essence, and fingerprints, all over it. Masao has also been instrumental in bringing Otakon anime to the United States and is credited with bringing artistically distinct, up-and-coming Japanese animation directors' work to America—a bold move that sets him apart from his rather Otaku-formulaic counterparts. 30. John Lasseter - The man who successfully runs both Disney and Pixar HAD to be on our list. Aside from his studio-head titles John Lasseter is the Academy Award-winning director responsible for creating the first ever feature-length, computer-animated film, Toy Story. His other films include the super-successful Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL E, Up Cars, Cars 2, Toy Story 2 and 3, A Bug's Life and many others. It is through John's creative vision and supervision that Pixar created its highest-grossing and most beloved films. John has also broken animation barriers by birthing the first-ever screenplay to win an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Recently John was honored at the Venice International Film Festival by being given the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also won the Producers Guild of America's Achievement Award in Motion Pictures, the Art Directors Guild's award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery, an honorary degree from the American Film Institute, and the Winsor McCay Award for “career achievement and contribution to the art of animation”. John is a true legend of the animation industry. 18. Hayao Miyazaki - Hayao Miyazaki is touted as being Japan's Walt Disney. Despite having markedly different artistic styles Hayao's 5-decade contribution to animation, specifically Manga and Anime, is just as great. Time Magazine recognized this when they named him one of the most influential people. Along with Isao Takahata he co-founded Studio Ghibli. Recognizing his genius American studios began approaching him, including Miramax—who commissioned him to create Princess Mononoke. Hayao created the first anime film ever to win an Academy Award. |
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TitanXL
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I'm going to assume they mean in America, as that's the only way I can see Seth MacFarlane being put over Osamu Tezuka. On the other hand, if it's America, why is Masao Maruyama even on the list. Lists like these end up failing because they never establish ground rules on what their criteria is... that and realistically deciding on rankings for something as big as 100 is always arbitrary.
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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You don't read too good, do ya.
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TitanXL
Posts: 4036 |
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The actual article doesn't say that.
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wanderlustking
 Posts: 449 Location: Bozeman, Montana |
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I'd be lying if I said I didn't judge this list entirely based on the position of Don Bluth, but even someone as biased as myself can tell this list is garbage; George Lucas does not belong on a list of animation greats because Star Wars looked pretty, even if he did found the studio that became Pixar. Also, I love anime as much as anyone; but there is no way in hell Miyazaki has influenced animation more than Otto Messmer. I feel like someone spent a few days searching through wikepedia for names, and then only bothered to make sure the REALLY big names were in the top ten (Hanna/Barbera, Chuck Jones, and of course Disney); every other placing just seems random.
Do I sound like an insufferable animation snob yet? I'm reminded of a saying we have in the Marine Corps. There will always be an "old corps," and a "new corps;" and the old one will always be the one you weren't part of. |
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