Salutations.

[Masamune_Washington]

('_' )( '_')
Well, I'm here. Maybe in this new forum interest in this subject can expand, or I'll just spend more time talking to myself. Great leaders have occasionally appointed peculiar individuals into certain departments, so I will be moderator of this subject until removed from office.

I was going to post a long rambling opinionated message, but my assignment here is to moderate, not rant (^_^) Who reads my rants anyway?
I'll just sit calmly and quietly officiate over this topic should anything happen here.

-Mad Modeler Masamune
masamune@cardmodels.net

 

[Peter H]

During my preteens I watched the black and white anime versions of Astroboy and Gigantor (late 60's)
These to me were as absorbing as Rin Tin Tin and Hopalong Cassidy but now I see them as a fledgling Japanese industry creating low cost efficient televison series.

What is around now is so sophisticated.......How, when, were, what and why ??

Gigantor

 

[Masamune_Washington]

Wow, you're asking about the history of Japanese animation technology for the last century?

To start with the country was still struggling up out of a major disaster, trying to equal themselves against a world that they had previously snubbed (remnants of it exist today in the way they treat gaijin).
They learned from the early studios in America; production houses such as Max Fleischer (Betty Boop, Felix the Cat, Popeye, Superman), Warner Bros and dizney. That is the "BIG ANSWER" for the big eyes, they adopted MM's and Boop's then merely reinvented them as technique and technology progressed instead of making them more naturally proportioned.

Seeming to thrive on novelty may have attributed to their live-action work lagging as animation continued to develop, and somewhen 80's pretty much exceed American animation in most ways. By the 1990's they had animated just about every category in entertainment (HelloKitty and Pokemon to Urutsukidoji and DragonPink), and slid into CGI incorporation and digital finishing (in some cases the only handart being keyframe sketches).

There are a few books on this subject which may be more enlightening and definitely more in-depth, I don't have them myself though (I've been too busy watching anime ^_^).
Anime Companion, The (Book) (176 pgs)
Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 (Book)
Anime Essentials: Everything a Fan Needs to Know (Book) (128 pgs)
Anime Explosion! The What? Why? & Wow! Of Japanese Animation (Book) (320 pgs)
Anime: A Guide to Japanese Animation (1958-1988) (Book) (320 pgs)
I know www.rightstuf.com has these, I didn't check Amazon.com

Those classics are not forgotten (many available on video), while Tetsujin28 (Gigantor) doesn't seem currently active, dizney recently paid homage to Jungle Taitei, and there is a Tetsuwan Atomu (Astroboy) movie in the works reportedly by Tim Burton.