Western Animation vs Eastern Animation
I am a fan of animation, to me it doesn’t matter if it’s Disney’s The Lion King or Kishimoto sensei’s Naruto. Animation is a very flexible medium and animators are able to take you to worlds that would be impractical or too expensive to produce for live-action shows and I love that! Last year at an Anime convention I remember talking to a fellow anime fan and he asked me what some of my favorite shows were and I listed off my top 5. When I reached Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender his gaze became frigid and I received the harshest rant I have ever heard in my life. The main point of his argument was that since The Last Airbender was made for American audiences it is not anime but a cartoon. At the time I laughed it off and agreed but I want to dig a little deeper. What is it that makes western animation different from anime and why are we so quick to call all American animation cartoons?
I think we need to define anime first, what the flip is it? To those who don’t watch anime their answer may be something like,”Anime? Isn’t it that Japanese cartoon stuff with tentacles and big boobed school girls with huge eyes?” Like any otaku I cringe after hearing these words but this is the stereotype that westerners have on this art form. Yes, tentacle porn does exist but this is not what anime is. Anime is the abbreviated form of animation. Cartoons can be defined as still drawings or a sequence of drawings to convey the illusion of movement which is basically what animation is except that animation only deals with movement. For my argument I will be using cartoon and animation interchangeably. I’m sure many anime fans want to lynch me right now for saying that but cartoons and anime are the same. The only difference is in region of origin and content.
Osamu Tezuka, who is considered the ‘Godfather of anime’ has said that he was inspired by the work of Walt Disney. If you compare the works of Disney’s Bambi and Tezuka sensei’s famous Astro Boy you will find many similarities such as the use of simplistic lines and exaggerated eye sizes in their character designs. For a while it seems that animation was universally for children which would make sense given the whimsical and fairy tale like nature of the genre but if animation is so universal were did this rift come from? Why do we as Americans feel the need to separate cartoons based on region? I point out Americans because in Japan most lovers of anime don’t feel the need to place animation in a box depending on where it comes from; I believe this problem is uniquely western. To find this divergence you have to look at the growth of animated films in the 20th century.
While many countries produced animated films in the 1900’s I have found that there were only two major contributors. Can you guess…is the suspense killing you yet!? Ok, I’ll tell you; it was Japan and America. Although both countries have had success in this genre it wasn’t until the 1980’s that a serious schism formed. Following the success of hits like Japan’s Akira and Grave of the Fireflies anime started to branch out and the aim was no longer exclusively for children. The big screen wasn’t the only place to see success in Japan, animated series such as Fist of the North Star began airing. In Fist of the North Star the protagonist kills his opponents in one punch…seriously, he punches them and they literally explode. This is not meant for kids and you can clearly see the difference between this and something more kid friendly like the ever popular Doraemon.
America on the other hand never quite grew up. During the 80’s American cartoons were exclusively for kids with shows like the Jetsons, Scooby Doo, and The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Even action heavy shows like G.I. Joe, ThunderCats, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles never really brought anything mature to the table. I can’t speak on Japanese culture but I know in America adults were supposed to go out, work, and raise a family. Chasing the American dream left little time for animation and with much of the cartoons being marketed to children adults had little to desire.
America has come a long way since the 80′ with shows like IGPX, Justice League Unlimited, Adventure Time, and Teen Titans but we still have a lot of maturing to do if we want animation to be acceptable and enjoyable to an older audience. Animation in Japan has found it’s way into EVERY genre, so much so that even serious business men openly enjoy manga(comics) and anime. Adults can enjoy shows like Monster and Ergo Proxy because the content is mature, complex, and philosophical. In America we do have adult cartoons but these shows are almost exclusively comedies. While many Americans openly enjoy shows like Family Guy and Archer for a good laugh they lack more complex themes. The aforementioned Avatar series on Nickeloeon has many aspects that are appealing to children but also includes many adult themes such as national politics, the ethics of war, discrimination, and even murder.
If you look up the most popular American shows of our generation you will see that they are all live-action sit-coms or reality shows which isn’t bad because I’ll be lying if I said I didn’t love things like Big Bang Theory but I would love to see America except more mature animation. Ultimately we will need more shows to break down this stigma that animation/cartoons are for kids but I don’t think your average American is ready to dive in. In the end I don’t care what people think or what they call it, if I like the series I will watch it. I’m no scholar so if you disagree with me let me know, I didn’t even touch on animation styles and certain anime staples that have helped to define the Japanese genre so well. I would love to hear your argument so join the GeekMovement and bend my ear a bit!
