And it's because of Streamline, and Carl Macek, that we
have the Japanimation/Anime/hybrid confusion that we have today--
In the early 90's, when Streamline wanted to sell Akira and Fist of the North Star as
cool!, and
edgy!, and
different! and Certainly Not Your Parent's Toons, the trailer blasted "THIS is Japanimation!"
The term became so identified with weirdo-cheesy 90's Streamline dubs, and the, yes, bad dubbing of afternoon Robotech and Star Blazers series, which were still seen as cheap and kitschy, that anime fans wanted to distance themselves from the snickers of the early 90's (who hadn't yet seen it or given up the anti-Japanese dismissiveness of the corporate 80's), and say that this was a new quality thing.
It settled into the general unspoken idea that Voltron and Speed Racer were "Japanimation", and Studio Ghibli was "Anime". Although, of course, one would have to have an actual working knowledge of one OR the other to make the difference...It's bad enough that every Hollywood movie adaptation today is "Based on the hit
manga!"
