The History of Japanese Animation
...ot of the Japanese animation shown is one of deeper, sometimes more mature themes, including developed storylines, linear plots, and aspects of violence, sex, drama, and comedy. The Japanese had originally converted their manga (pronounced Mayn-ga or Mahn-ga), or Japanese comics, to televised versions creating the modern ideal of Anime today. Anime was first created in 1917. Originally these told of old Japanese folk stories and lasted only for a few minutes. By the 1920s small animators started to work in studio?s producing their work for theatrical companies in exchange for money for their next creations. Unfortunately, their creations were not released in the US at this time. During the 1930s, anime turned darker and more militaristic with the influence of the Japanese military, and were mostly used for propaganda. By the early 40s, the first animated feature was produced; it was a black and white film used for propaganda that lasted for about an hour. It showed personified animals going to war to rid of the rule of the Western forces, ironically it was released within months of their surrender. The first color feature didn?t appear until 1955. It was around this time the Japanese started competing with American studios. In 1956 the Toei Animation Company was formed. Their first production was the ?Doodling Kitty? in 1957 after close observation of Disney drawing techniques. Soon they developed feature films a year apart based on folk tales. They were more Oriental than American, but they conveyed the same appeal ? cute creatures that distracted them from their present problems for a while. These were sold to the US, but Disney had already captivated the American public. Thus the Japanese animation had died temporarily over the next twenty years, until an interesting new anime took America by storm. In 1963, Astro Boy was released to the American public. This sparked new ideas for Disney and all that tried to compete with Disney failed. Japanimation soon took hold of the American public. They craved the thick storylines and characterizations as opposed to cheesy Saturday morning cartoons made specifically for kids. Who knew that cartoons could be for adults too? In the late 80s a new animated film about a futuristic Tokyo hit the...