ninja The history of anime begins at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in the West. During the 1970s, anime developed further, separating itself from its Western roots, and developing unique[peacock term] genres such as mecha and its Super Robot sub-genre. Notable[weasel words] shows in this period include Lupin III and Mazinger Z. During this period several filmmakers became famous, especially Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii.
In the 1980s, anime was accepted in the mainstream in Japan, and experienced a boom in production. The rise of Gundam, Macross, Real Robot and Space Opera set a boom as well. The film Akira set records in 1988 for the production costs of an anime film and went on to become a success[citation needed] worldwide. Later, in 2004, the same creators produced Steamboy, and later took over as the most expensive anime film. The Super Dimension Fortress Macross also became a worldwide success after being adapted as part of Robotech, and Megazone 23 also gained recognition in the West after it was adapted as Robotech: The Movie.
In the 1990s and 2000s, anime series such as Dragon Ball, Pokémon, and Sailor Moon as well as films like Ghost in the Shell became worldwide successes[citation needed], while other anime series such as Gundam, Macross, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop were popular in Japan and attracted attention from the West.[citation needed] A number[weasel words] of animations have been produced in the West, and the growth of the internet also led to the rise of fansub anime. Spirited Away shared the first prize at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival and won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, while Innocence: Ghost in the Shell was featured at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
First generation of Japanese animators
Not many complete animations made during the beginnings of Japanese animation have survived until now. The reasons vary, but many are of commercial nature. After the clips had their run, reels (being property of the cinemas) were sold to smaller cinemas in the country and then disassembled and sold as strips or single frames.
Shimokawa Oten was a political caricaturist and cartoonist, who worked for the magazine Tokyo Puck. He was hired by Tenkatsu to do an animation for them. Due to medical reasons, he was only able to do five movies, including Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki (1917), before he returned to his previous work as a cartoonist.
Another prominent animator in this period was Kōchi Jun'ichi. He was a caricaturist and painter, who also had studied watercolor painting. In 1912 he also entered the cartoonist sector and was hired for an animation by Kobayashi Shokai later in 1916. He is viewed as the most technically advanced Japanese animator of the 1910s. His works include around 15 movies.
Kitayama Seitaro was an early animator who made animations on his own, not hired by larger corporations. He even founded his own animation studio which was closed due to lack of commercial success. He utilized the chalkboard technique, and later paper animation, with and without pre-printed backgrounds.
The works of these two pioneers include Namakura-gatana (An Obtuse Sword, 1917) and a 1918 film of Urashima Tarō which were discovered together at an antique market in 2007.[2]
In July 2005, an old animation film was found in Kyoto. This undated 3 seconds film, plainly titled Moving Picture (活動写真, Katsudō Shashin?), consists of fifty frames drawn directly onto a strip of celluloid.[1] It depicts a young boy in a sailor suit writing the kanji "活動写真" (katsudō shashin, for "moving pictures") on a board, then turning towards the viewer, removing his hat, and offering a salute. The creator's identity is unknown, but it is thought that it was made for private viewing, perhaps as experimentation, rather than for public release. The discoverer, Naoki Matsumoto, has speculated that it could be "up to 10 years older" than the previously first known Japanese animation, Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki, released in 1917. However, while a date of circa 1915 is possible, there is no actual basis for this extreme speculation.
Kenzō Masaoka created the first talkie anime, Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, released in 1933.[2][3]
[edit] Second generation of Japanese animators
Murato Yosuji, Kimura Hakuzan, Yamamoto Sanae and Noburō Ōfuji were students of Kitayama Seitaro and worked at his film studio. Masaoka Kenzo, another important animator, worked at a smaller animation studio. In 1923, the Great Kantō earthquake destroyed most of the Kitayama studio and the residing animators spread out and founded studios of their own, knowing that one could make money with the production of animations.
During this time the first youth protection laws were adopted, which also lead to censorship of some early animations for children under the age of 15. On the other hand, films that offered educational value were supported and encouraged by the Monbusho (the Ministry of Education). Hundreds of thousands of yen were spent for this purpose. Animation had found a persistent place in scholastic, political and industrial use, which lead to high demand of new content.
[edit] During the Second World War
In the 1930s the Japanese government began enforcing cultural nationalism. This also lead to a strict censorship and control of published media. Many animators were urged to produce animations which enforced the Japanese spirit and national affiliation. The movies were shown in News-Cinemas as an opinion-forming limbering filler and were very famous, in fact (after Japan had its own support of movie material through the newly-founded Fujifilm) News-Cinemas boomed and together with it the animation industry reached a peak in officially shown movies. At that time many small studios were closed or fused to bigger studios until only three big studios remained on the broad market.
Disney had a strong influence on the animators at that time, but due to commercial issues Japanese animations at that time didn't have a high production standard, but were rather pale imitations of Disney productions (repeating scenes and gags, after recording of sound and so on). Disney also used sound film very early but that was too expensive for most Japanese studios until the mid 30s.
Until the 30s the Japanese movie industry was dominated by the cinemas, who commissioned animations from small studios or single animators. Due to the fusing and enlarging of animation studios bigger projects were possible, but the necessary money didn't come from the Monbusho or a big cinema combine. Many animations were instead commissioned by the military, showing the sly, quick Japanese people winning against enemy forces.
In 1941 Princess Iron Fan would become the first Asian animation of notable length ever made in China. It was followed by Japan's Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors in 1945. Due to economic factors, it would be Japan which later emerged with the most readily available resources to continue expanding the industry.
[edit] Toei Animation and Mushi Productions
Japanese movie poster for the first color anime feature film The Tale of the White Serpent (195
cool In 1948, Toei Animation was founded and produced the first color anime feature film in 1958, Hakujaden (The Tale of the White Serpent, 195
cool . This film was more Disney in tone than modern anime with musical numbers and animal sidekicks. However, it is widely considered to be the first "anime" ever, in the modern sense. It was released in the US in 1961 as Panda and the Magic Serpent. From 1958 to the mid-1960s, Toei continued to release these Disney-like films and eventually also produced two of the most well known anime series, Dragon Ball in 1986 and Sailor Moon in 1992.
Toei's style was also characterized by an emphasis on each animator bringing his own ideas to the production. The most extreme example of this is Isao Takahata's film Hols: Prince of the Sun (196
cool . Hols is often seen as the first major break from the normal anime style and the beginning of a later movement of "auteuristic" or "progressive anime" which would eventually involve directors such as Hayao Miyazaki, creator of Spirited Away and Mamoru Oshii.
A major contribution of Toei's style to modern anime was the development of the "money shot". This cost-cutting method of animation allows for emphasis to be placed on important shots by animating them with more detail than the rest of the work (which would often be limited animation). Toei animator Yasuo Ōtsuka began to experiment with this style and developed it further as he went into television.
Osamu Tezuka started a rival production company called Mushi Productions. The studio's first hit Mighty Atom became the first popular anime television series in 1963. Contrary to popular belief, Atom was not the first anime series broadcast in Japan; that honor falls to Otogi Manga Calendar, which began broadcasting in 1962. The first non-series anime broadcasted was Three Tales. However, Atom was the first series to feature regular characters in an ongoing plot. American television, which was still in its infancy and searching for new programming, rewrote and adapted Atom for the United States in 1964, retitled as Astro Boy. The success of Atom in Japan opened the doors for many more anime titles to be created, including Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Tetsujin 28-go (later released in the U.S. as Gigantor), Tezuka's Jungle Emperor (later released in the U.S. as Kimba the White Lion) and Tatsuo Yoshida's Mach Go Go Go (later released in the U.S. as Speed Racer), which was produced by Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd.
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