Today, I read a thoughtful article called "How animé conquered the world" written by S.B. Zulueta, a lecturer-technologist who works in the Animation Department at College Central, Singapore. Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the article discusses key points in the history of animé and mentions the 1979 Anne of Green Gables animé.
In the article, Zulueta describes how TV audiences initially viewed Japanese animation as "crude and corny." These opinions began to change in 1963, when Osamu Tezuka created an animated series featuring his popular manga character Mighty Atom (aka "Astroboy"). Astroboy was the first Japanese animated TV series. Tezuka had a limited budget, so Zulueta explains that he compensated for the lack of drawings and movement by applying a cinematic approach with "interesting layouts and camera movements."
This cinematic approach is Tezuka lasting legacy. During the robot animation fad of the 1970s, others used Tezuka's approach to create animation TV series quickly and cheaply and then sell toys based on the series.
Zulueta writes that, "Only Team Takahata and Miyazaki, later to form Ghibli Studio, tried to buck the system by doing better-quality TV series of Western classics such as "Heidi, Girl of the Alps," and "Anne of Green Gables." When all the other ’70s TV series had faded into obscurity, those Takahata-Miyazaki TV series remain watchable today because of the care that went into them."
According to Zulueta, the rest of the world began to appreciate animé with the release of Katsuhiro Otomo's “Akira” (1988), Mamoru Oshii’s “Ghost in the Shell” (1995), and Hayao Miyazaki’s stunning feature films.
Zulueta describes the two most important factors that have helped animé develop. The first is the strength of the manga industry, which provides source material for many popular animé adaptations for television and film. The second is the ability of animé "to absorb world stories and repackage them as its own. Indeed, the Anne of Green Gables animé is an example of the latter. As Zulueta concludes, "good stories know no borders."
Image Credit:
Drawings of Astroboy and Anne of Green Gables.
Reference:
Zulueta, S.B. How animé conquered the world. (September 20, 2010). Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved from: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/artsandbooks/artsandbooks/view/20100920-293216/How-anim-conquered-the-world (archived).
Created September 21, 2010. Last updated November 27, 2024.
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