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“Early Japanese Animation in the United States” by Brian Ruh began by talking about the origin of Japanese animation and its transition to a global export of animation. Paul Wells calls the animated cartoon one of the United States “four major indigenous art forms” which can be legitimized through the animation processes in which the United States perfected and pioneered. Japan stands as the leader in the realm of animation production worth over $4.2 billion in anime production and export with 40% of that coming from international content consumers. The focus on Astro Boy is interesting due to the show not only existing as the first Japanese television show to hit the American air waves, but it also held an anti-technological ideology in its pilot episode which was different than the episode which aired in Japan itself.
Japanese cartoons were very easy to identify as originating from Japan due to the unique and sometimes unusual drawing style along with surreal and often frightening subject matter expressed. It is interesting how the American occupation of Japan aided the technological advancements that allowed the development of content and programming for television broadcasting which continued into the post-war period in which a relationship between Japanese people and American popular culture was growing. In the article “Disney, Warner Bros. and Japanese Animation” Luca Raffaelli discusses the nuances of American animation paying closer attention to Disney cartoons like Steamboat Willie
The idea that the representation of Mickey Mouse as a personification of a child and the communication of the satisfaction from playing indulges the symbolism that Mickey is like a child, a “creator of his world.” The representation of adulthood is also curious as it is presented as authoritarian characters that strive to make Mickey into a productive member to a team, to which Mickey refutes for his abnormal interpretation of the world around him through metamorphosis that embodies the imagination of a child. Walt Disney’s ability to create an abstract parallel reality was heavily solidified by the inclusion of a synchronized soundtrack which coincided with the actions of the characters on the screen.
I thought it was interesting for Ruh to bring up the anti-technology addition to the American translation and dub of Astro Boy as well. I knew it happened in more recent anime. It was especially common in the various series that were picked out to be aired as children’s programming such as Pokemon – where a scene of James dressed in woman-typical clothing was removed from the English version – and Yu-Gi-Oh – where guns were infamously removed and the overall violence and dark themes of the show were often heavily toned down in rather inconsistent ways. Some of it could be a question of the intended audience. Despite the fantastical ideas behind Yu-Gi-Oh, the over-sexualization of the female characters and the heavy violence and the often life-threatening circumstances suggests that maybe instead of censoring the anime for younger audiences, the air time should have simply been moved like Astro Boy’s. It was likely not intended for the young audiences that ended up consuming it. Whereas Pokemon seems fairly kid friendly, but the scene of James wearing woman-typical clothing went against the cultural interests of American television programming leading to its removal, something that follows in the foot steps of Astro Boy when it received its American-specific anti-technology introduction. I also found it interesting how the United States chose to make the very first Japanese animated television show /anti-technology/ in its release of it when Japan wanted to use Astro Boy to demonstrate how Japan could develop and become an even better and more promising country /through/ technology.
The censorship of Japanese anime when it is show in the United States has definitely been a reoccurring theme. I think it’s interesting that you mentioned the censorship of James wearing feminine clothing because it seems that there has been a particular focus on censoring what doesn’t adhere to strict gender and sexuality roles in America. Sailor Moon always comes to mind when I think about this. Many aspects of the series which didn’t adhere to the strict gender and sexuality roles expected in the United States were either eliminated or heavily censored in the American version, including a relationship between two girls in the series and the inclusion of characters who changed gender when they transformed. While some alterations to anime series makes sense, sometimes the quest for “appropriateness” means that the US status quo must prevail. In Pokemon, I remember how American food was even substituted for Japanese food, as the show’s onigiri became “donuts” in the American version.
I think in America even though we are suppose to be the melting pot of culture, we often bend things and manipulate them to make them fit into the American agenda. A lot of times in any show religion that isn’t what americans deem to be “American” than it won’t make the show. It’s interesting that you talk about how Sailor Moon was censored for American Television and pokemon was made to be more american. I knew of Pokemon I did not know that Sailor Moon was so heavily censored. But I have seen my fair share japanese anime that hasn’t been censored for american viewers and I know that there is often a lot of plot that is missed within series or plot that is changed because some americans may find it offensive or not fit for children.
It’s funny that you mention Pokémon. From what research I have done it has had many episodes pulled from US market. There’s the one with James’s crossdressing womens swimwear. But two major other issues was like yugioh, a gun episode. A scene where a man held a gun to Ash’s head was deemed to graphic for American children. The big episode though has never aired anywhere after its japanese release due to 700 children being sent to the hospital due to seizure related symptoms caused by strobe effect lighting.
I found it interesting that the mainstay of anime in the states was purely a business decision. By importing an animated program for the cheapest piece. If you look at the economics of the time it coincides with the mass importation of cheap goods from overseas.
The time slot of Astro boy being on a Saturday evening at 6:30 and violent nature makes me question the intended audience of the show. That combined with the holding back of origin information from the TV guide.
The Doll Parts reading I was lost, its pretty much a synopsis of the animation but interjected with a critical review. For me it wasn’t the easiest to follow what being conveyed to the reader.
In the reading “Disney, Warner Bros. and Japanese Animation” I was most taken in by the contrast between the idealized world of Disney verse that of truth of Waner Bros. Walt Disney himself coming from simple means mirrored that in his characters at the begining, however it is showed in the Disneyan to later be whitewashed into and idealized world. This is compared to the violence and humble means of the Warner Bros. characters.
You brought up the question about the intended audience of Astro Boy due to its violent nature and I would like to offer a counter argument. While I understand where you’re coming from, I grew up watching shows like Looney Toons and Tom and Jerry, both witch can have quite a lot of violence. Between Wile E Coyote dropping boulders on himself or Tom getting himself stuck in an oven, these shows were pretty violent. The intended audience for these were undoubtedly children’s despite the nature, and they ran for a long time. Now whether you agree with violence in children’s shows is a whole different matter, and today companies seem to shy away from this. Even in the past 5 years children’s animated shows have gotten less and less violent. After rambling for a little while, my point was basically that I feel that the amount of violence that was allowed changed over time, shows now are far less violent than even when we were children.
I often watched the same shows growing up, however it was the time slot I was really referring to. As we progress in class I am able to see a pattern develop of shows in the prime time or early evening slots that push the envelope in violence, vulgar, racial issues and more. Though this are animated, hardly meant for solely for kids.
The evening timeslot for Astro Boy had me curious too. As far as I am aware, there hasn’t ever been in an action cartoon in primetime in America ever. The only thing that I could remotely think of is that Batman: The Animated Series started in primetime, and that was quickly pulled. Perhaps primetime animation is destined to remain comedy, thanks to action cartoons typically not being made for a wider audience.
I enjoyed all of the readings from this week but I would like to specifically focus on the Article about “Ghost in the Machine” and how it relates to other films and comics across history. Firstly, I have never seen this specific anime film and am gaining my ideas of the film from the articles we read, as well as other pieces I have studied.
Two big themes from the article pop up to me; motherhood , and the relationship between mind and body. I think it is extremely interesting when Napier talks about the idea of birth in relation to the Main character from “Ghost in the Shell”; Kasanagi. Napier describes the birth of the cyborg, Kasanagi, and explains that because of the means that she was born/created, she does not have any ties or inquiries about her mother/creator as a, sort of, Frankenstein monster would. She does not have any expectations of a garden of eaten, and in my opinion any urge to please anyone. Instead Kasanagi’s actions are led by specific orders she is given in combination with the sort of “conditioning” she has received from being an assassin. This creates a sort of interesting dilemma when it comes to humanity in the form of weather or not “free will” is the main driving factor of humanity and therefore having a soul. It reminds me of a comic book series called “elephantmen”. a series where human/animal hybrids are created in a lab for the purpose of fighting wars. The elepheantmen are fabricated war machines by both conditioning and electronic chips placed in their brains in order to force them to follow orders. It brings up an interesting question of whether or not the elephantmen or Kasanagi have a “ghost” or a soul inside of them.
Again looking back on. The article and reading about the mind of Kasanagi being transferred is reminiscent of the movie Chappie. Chappie is about a robot that is given a consciences and throughout the movie is struggling with adapting to a human like conciseness while also being a effectively executing machine. In the end Chappie is able to develop a machine that can harness a persons consciousness (or soul) and transfer it. With it he is able to take human souls and put them into robot bodies as well as transfer his own mind into another robot body. Like “Ghost in the Shell” it asks a good question of whether or not a soul can exist in a Fabricated body such as a cyborg or a genetically created super soldier, and if a soul can be transferred between entities.
In “Early Japanese Animation in the United States” by Brian Ruh, the author discusses Astro Boy, the first Japanese animation to be adapted for an American audience. I found it interesting that Japanese animation was essentially the only foreign language programing to be successful for general American audiences. Ruh seems to state that at least some of the ease of translation from Japanese to American TV came from the heavy influence of American animation at the birth of the Japanese animation industry. Japanese animators were very influenced by American animation, particularly Disney. Additionally, much of the stylistic and narrative features of American animation fit well with in native Japanese artistic traditions, particularly ukiyo-e prints. However, anime like Astro Boy were not imported completely with no modifications beyond translating dialogue. Often anime was imported and then modified to fit more American tastes. In particular, Japanese anime was considered to be too violent for the children that were its presumed intended audience. I find the need to censor violence in anime to be interesting, give the often incredibly violent nature of American produced cartoons such a Warner Brother’s Looney Toons.
This then brings us to our second reading, “Disney, Warner Bros. and Japanese Animation” by Luca Raffaelli, in which Raffaelli discusses some of the major differences in the animation philosophies of Disney, Warner Bros., and Japanese Animation. It seems to me, that perhaps the biggest thing separating Disney from Warner Bros. and Japanese anime is Disney’s focus on feature length, cinema animations, whereas Warner Bros. and anime in particular, were styles of animation intended for the shorter run times and production limitations of TV. Disney created a tightly controlled world, a world in which everything is explicit and understandable. Things happen for a reason, good guys are good and bad guys are bad. Nothing is unclear or ambivalent. Disney worlds are fundamentally rational and follow the structure of traditional narrative. Warner Bros., in contrast, creates world that are inherently irrational. They are often defined by conflict between character without clear moral relationships. Bugs Bunny is clever and Elmer Fudd is dumb, but that is not to say that either one of them is good or evil. Warner Bros. cartoons are an irrational world of emotion and possibility. Between, or perhaps of to the side, of these two extremes is Japanese anime, which often deals with conflict between often lonely or excluded individuals and society. Where Warner Bros. characters fight for only themselves, if they strive to fight for anything at all, and Disney characters have the whole world rooting for them, anime characters tend to be alone, but fighting for the world.
In “Doll Parts: Technology and the Body in Ghost in the Shell” by Susan Napier, the author writes about this them of both isolation and connection as seen in the anime Ghost in the Shell. the anime deals with many of the usual cyber-punk themes of isolation and lack of human connection in a world dominated by corporations and technology. Yet though throughout the series the cyborg heroine searches for her “ghost”, the force that animates her cyborg shell and defines her sense of self, the series takes a generally far less negative view of technology, which is often seen as something that separates and dehumanizes, then is often seen in the genera. Rather than reestablishing a sense of boundaries, finite self, the series instead ends with the heroine becoming one with the net, she becomes part of a greater whole, rather than separating herself from it.
I enjoy the idea that traditional animation — in particular, Japanese animation — has not changed since its implementation on American and Japanese airwaves. Many modern anime shows, for example, carry on Astro Boy’s art and editing style. Interesting that a distinctly Japanese art style drew inspiration from Disney. Other than that, though, Japanese to American translations continue to censor the source material. And, in some cases, a show is completely re-worked to meet a target demographic.
Animation, as we have discussed, is a perfect vehicle for narrative and visual storytelling due to the fact that any sort of imagery can be rendered. In reference to Japanese anime specifically, storytelling is historically and contemporarily done through the lens of many cultural and iconographic devices such as, minimalist imagery, post-war xenophobia, introversion vs. extroversion, and familial expectations to name only a few.
The success of Anime seems to be due to its widespread reception. Astro Boy was the first to exemplify this, and from the reading we can see that the legacy of Astro Boy as a cultural figure has a bit to do with its branding, and ability to please both its native viewers, and foreign viewers. Astro Boy evolved from post-war japan and the influx of American culture, and was effectively spoon-fed back to America, with little to no resistance.
Since Astro Boy Japanese animation is a landmark in global visual culture. Japan’s obsession with technology, and by proxy, robots is something that can be seen in numerous media sources. American animation, illustration, and even fine art has been influenced by anime. The line from Astro Boy to the present state of visual culture is not hard to trace.
I am curious to see what fine art is influenced by anime, there is no doubt influence to american animation and illustration but I don’t see by large the influence of anime on the world of fine art.
I like how Astro Boys original name was Mighty Atom. This demonstrates the obsession with the atomic weaponry that consumed Japanese culture during this time. We see other films like Godzilla and Gamera, both of which originate from atomic energy. The Japanese do put a strong emphasis on technology, and Astro Boy, being the success it was, helped set a trend for not only Japanese animation, but animation as a whole by seemingly barrowing ideas from Disney and creating a whole new twist.
Brian Ruh’s reading was very insightful by educating us on when Anime, now a pop-culture phenomenon, began. While reading this, it was also interesting to see the process of importing animation from Japan to America, and how it’s still similar to what we see today.
I first noted how Japan managed their production costs for their cartoons. To find out that production companies used to be able to cover the majority of their costs by fees from broadcasters, but only to have it recoup less than half of their costs, is very discouraging. They also relied on money raised locally to support production budgets, selling branded merchandise, and overseas sales to compensate. To have a famous animated series such as Astro Boy, to be booming in the U.S., and yet it’s original creators suffering from budget cuts, is a problem that was still continuing into the early 1990s.
Although I have yet to see the series Evangelion, its popularity still is heard throughout the community. Yet, we also hear the painful budget cuts the series went through, which is sad to say since it’s still beloved by fans everywhere.
The reading also mentions the violence and vulgarity within some Japanese cartoons. However, it seems to me that foreign children are just more mature than those in America. This is because of their explanation they give in the beginning of Astro Boy, when in America, a narrator is describing what is happening, whereas in Japan, they do not give the audience any description of what is going on and let their minds discover that for themselves. It’s also amusing they mentioned some of the violence being cut for U.S. broadcasts, since I remember this when I was a child as well. Whether they edited out the blood or anything “adult-like” (changing a cigarette to a lollipop), I felt it was unnecessary.
This also goes to removing anything that reflects the Japanese origin from the anime. I feel this is a major problem and insult to those who actually created it by not giving them credit or respect of their country of origin. Still, I believe this is very typical of the U.S. “Americanizing” material taken from different cultures.
It is interesting how we finally got Japanese anime into this country because of the old controversy that it was too violent. It is very clear that Japanese culture is much more liberal than that of the U.S. and this can be seen in many of their cartoons and movies. Also, the eastern countries are much more mature that us as they are allowed to explore and figure things out for themselves. Also, in Japan, a lot of the older movies and animations were used to reflect the devastation they had suffered during WW2 and the Japanese, Chinese, and so forth tend to tell things like they see it, gruesome and gory, whereas here, we tend to water things down a bit so our children aren’t traumatized.
It was no surprise to me in the Ruh reading where is states that anime takes up more than half of the animation watched around the world. Prior to the reading, I did not know Astro boy derived from an original Japanese animation. The Japanese cartoons in the 60s were much different from American ones due to our lack of violence compared to theirs. It makes me think about our tolerance with violence in TV to how much it wasn’t tolerated back then. I feel like this may be why we as Americans associate animations with children. Because at that time, it was tailored to the child’s eye. Focusing on violence in the Japanese cartoons probably gave it a wider audience in age range, which may be a factor into it’s popularity. This reading made me think of the time I was dragged to an anime convention back home and it opened my eyes to all the beautiful Japanese animation I didn’t know existed.
The Napier article is rather interesting. I’ve never see Ghost In a Shell or Evangelion. I do recall watching the birthing scene from the 1995 film Ghost In a Shell on the first day of class, if I’m not mistaken. The concepts seem cool. From what I understood, the article talks about these films as well as others and the obsession of technology taking over in the worlds created by Japanese animation.
The Raffaelli article talks about the philosophies of Disney vs Japanese animation industry. Disney plays with the more “parallel world” view with personifying inanimate objects and animals to further from reality as much as possible through his stories. Japanese tries to stick with more reality concepts by keeping things in mostly human form, whether they be robots or not. Basically, they aren’t making flowers talk like Disney. The Japanese were more focused on bringing the audience to a more emotional level. They made sure their stories made people feel.
I’m going to trail off a bit here, but this article got me thinking. It explains that Disney’s violent behaviors of his characters are mostly there for the gags and only the true fear of death comes in the features at the hand of an evil character. Some people will say that Disney films aren’t as dark as anime films, but I will disagree with that to a point. I feel like some Disney features have dark stories, but are sugarcoated by the singing birds and the soft playful music. They aren’t meant to be intense and suspenseful. In newer anime films of today, you experience darker moods with matching sounds and elements that create a frightful atmosphere throughout because that is what they are going for.
I first want to start off and say thank you japan for astro boy! American animation at the time was so dry and typical and was wrapped around morals, slow story telling, and animals being the main focus. Come on America does every show have to have talking animals. Astro Boy introduce a way to input violence in a cartoon and keeping it entertaining. Japan dominates the animation world easily with no other competition. The closes thing to competition to japan is America, but the funny thing about that some of “Americas” greatest shows are from japan.
Shows that shaped the 90s , the decade which is considered the golden years of animation and I agree 100 percent. Shows that overflowed America that was on in almost every household that had children was from japan. You have shows like pokemon which was once upon a the highest revenue show in America animation or not. Dragonball Z, gundam series, ghost in the shell to name a few.
Japan animations or in another word anime brought a specific style to the animation world not only the way they animation was drawn out but the type of genre, the plots and he censorship was completely different than ones showed in America. Anime gave its creates more personaility more realistic human emotions. There were two main types of animation coming from japan. One tyoe is where Anime ccartoon characters have a more serious feel to their life. A lot of the animation from japan tended to have have this dark aura to it. The plots and storyline was very cold which had a lot of blue emotions of heart ache, pain or sadness. It seemed as if it was a struggle one had to overcome. Usaully in this form of animation it was many times very blood driven. It had a lot of violence and killing the censorship was none existent.
The other type of animation coming out of japan was completely opposite. Anime can come off as very suggestive. They woman body is body is drawn very seductively. They do not shy away from adult censory. Adult comedy and imagery is anime bread and butter.
The Ruh reading was about the beginning of Japanese animation. It discusses how Astro boy was the first Japanese Animation to be created for the American audience. I found this reading interesting, because I learned more business and behind the scenes information about Astro boy. Astro boy set the stage for globalization of Japanese cartoons to be successful. One quote from the reading that really stuck with me is “anime accounts for over half of the animated films shown worldwide and the anime market is currently estimated to be worth 4.2 billion in the U.S. alone.” It stuck with me, because it is the truth. A lot of anime is on Television and there are massive amounts of stores and merchandise all over the U.S.
The Raffaelli reading was about the difference between Disney, Warner Bros and Japanese animation. Disney’s animation is based on bringing objects and animals to life and giving them realistic issues/events that the characters deal with and solve. Warner Bros Animation is similar to Disney, but their animations are violent and are used to make the audience laugh. And Lastly Japanese animation are more realistic than Disney and Warner, because they want to bring a more emotional and relatable sense to their audience.
The Napier reading talks about the progression of anime. It discusses the film Ghost in the Shell and the anime Evangelion. I don’t know much about each anime, but they both deal with the cyberpunk genre and show how much technology has improved and taken over mankind. Also it discusses how complex, controversial and comparable Ghost in the Shell is to Blade Runner.
Astro boy was a huge success in America in the 60s. I believe this is due to the fact that it was the classic struggle of good vs evil that had been popularized by Disney animations. This made it an easy transition into American culture and was also a proven concept that was sure to have viewers.
I find it interesting how Astro boy was described as too violent for American television and had to be edited, because that has been the case until fairly recently. Television would show war footage of real people but cartoon robots fighting was unacceptable. However I think today violence in cartoons is less focused on and attention to sexual content is taking its place.
The anime talked about in “Doll Parts” is one I particularly enjoyed, although it has been a few years since watching the movie or series. I like the existential issues it brings up. It is not just another fantasy world to watch, it makes you think about life and technology and the way they are intertwining.
While I was reading “Doll Parts” and when we watched “Ghost In The Shell” I kept thinking about the movie “The Matrix”. In The Matrix the reality that humans perceived, is a simulated reality, created by machines. Neo discovers that the life on Earth, which he perceives, is actually nothing more than a creation of the cyber-intelligence. Neo wakes up from this cyber induced word and finds himself along with others in a sort of human farming system.
In “Ghost in the Shell” Motoko Kusanagi, is a cyborg, who after an accident as a child is required that she use a full-body prosthesis to hold her brain. Because of this full body replacement, Kusanagi does not know if she retains any of her old humanity. She ponders the possibility that she’s entirely synthetic, implanted with artificially memories designed to fool her into thinking she were once human.
I totally agree, I had the same thoughts. The Matrix movies are some of my favorites. I find the idea of artificial intelligence taking over mankind horrifying yet possible. The concept from “Ghost in the Shell” is similar to the concept that an entire galaxy could be concealed in a speck of dust under my fingernail. In other words, reality is what we perceive or what others (artificial intelligence) make us believe is real. The whole concept of man being fooled and manipulated by machines is mind blowing. So in “Ghost in the Shell” if what Kusanagi wonders about is true than it is now a matter of machines manipulating machines.
Brian Ruh’s article, “Early Japanese Animation in the United States” is in intriguing article about the first animé series, Tetsuwan Atomu. I was glad that Ruh mentioned the Fleischer brothers’ influence on Japanese animation. I know Betty Boop made a cameo appearance in an early Japanese cartoon and some people theorize that her eyes might have been the inspiration for Atom’s eyes in Atomu. I am amazed that Atomu debuted during the peak of American television in Japan. The series was innovative and its content was perfect for a Japanese audience still shocked after WWII. Ruh argues that Japan wanted to show itself as a hardworking, strong competitor to the United States. If that was creator Osamu Tezuka’s goal, he certainly achieved it when the U.S. purchased the series as well.
By 1963, U.S. television companies had been running series with limited animation for years: Crusader Rabbit, Clutch Cargo, and Space Angel, to name a few. In spite of certain similarities to U.S. series, Tetsuwan Atomu (renamed Astro Boy) faced issues because of its foreign origin. The main issue was violence, which was more acceptable in Japan than the U.S. Foreign shows continue to face difficulties due to cultural differences. There are infamous Pokémon episodes never aired in the U.S. due to their violence, sexuality, and, in one particular episode, its resemblance to the 9/11 tragedy.
The article “Disney, Warner Bros. And Japanese Animation” by Luca Raffaelli focuses on the birth of Japanese animation in relation to American models. I appreciate her explanation of how Disney tested sound with “Steamboat Willie” to see whether or not it would be believable. Animators like Walt Disney and the Fleischer brothers worked to make cartoons more lifelike. The Fleischers did this by rotoscoping human movements into their cartoon characters. Disney did this by studying weight and movement. In a clip from “Steamboat Willie”, Mickey considers how to lift the cow onto the steamboat. He looks to his side, jumps for joy, and runs off-screen. His jump and fell do not give any sense of weight distribution. The skinny cow has a definite weight and the animators render it very effectively, but it is obvious they were unable to repeat this effectiveness with the other characters in the cartoon.
Raffaelli goes on to discuss the range of emotion in Disney’s later films. The animators render the characters in a way that makes them recognizable and relatable, in spite of the fact that they are not real. As a personal example, I remember how an audience reacted to a scene from Pixar’s “Up” when Carl Fredrickson asks Russell why he did not go to the bathroom earlier. Russell hangs his head and moans, “Because I didn’t have to go then!” and all the parents and young adults in the audience laughed while the children remained silent. From Raffaelli’s description, it sounds like the anime serial “Heidi of the Alps” also accomplished this effect. I watched a clip from it online and I realized that I had forgotten how animes can convey so much emotion. As Raffaelli points out, animes convey feelings to which children all around the world can relate.
Napier’s article is intriguing in its discussion of Ghost in the Shell and the presentation of the female body. I enjoyed the movie and the powerful female lead, but I was jarred by the importance placed on her body. She appears to be naked in the opening scene. I couldn’t tell if she was wearing a body suit but, if she was, it was nearly impossible to tell. There are definitely cultural differences between American and Japanese portrayal of human bodies but both cultures share an enjoyment of fetishizing the female body. I did not sense vulnerability in the same way that Napier did, but I noticed that female bodies where shown a lot more than male bodies and the film did not seem to offer any rational explanation for that disproportion.