by UncleMilo » Mon Sep 09, 2002 3:04 am
Another thing to remember...
Anime that hits US TV is usually kid-stuff (since US companies feel that animation is for kids anyway)
They've been editing anime for years though.
In the 70's, when they brought Gatchaman to US, they edited out over 25% of the show.
When they brought Yamato to the US, they called Sake "Spring Water" and changed lines so people were hurt and not killed.
When they brought Macross, Mospeda and Southern Cross to the US, they jammed them all together and spliced scenes so they could simply call it one series.
When they brought BIG-O to the US, they cut out many lines referring to killing and murder (in the dub on TV)
When they put Cardcaptor Sakura on TV, they tried to gear it towards a male audience... demoting Sakura from her own show!
They hacked up Escaflowne to gear it to a younger, male audience... eliminating the 1st episode entirely!!
There are plenty of good titles coming out of Japan... but Japan is in a horrible economy right now and even the animation studios are feeling the pinch. Many OAVs are getting shorter and shorter...
Animation quality is going down with some studios.
You must not use Cowboy Bebop as an example, because Bebop was a WAY above average TV show, with movie quality animation and exceptional music.
Furthermore... don't be knockin' Lilo and Stitch! That was one of the best movies to come out of Disney in ages! It provided clever humor and tackled serious issues under the guise of a comedy. Also - Disney has always been about family movies so it's a bit unfair to compare them to Japanese Animation, since those studios target different audiences. I give them credit for making TV shows like Gargoyles and bringing over the Ghibli titles (even though they are really moving slowly on that)
Also - Disney makes animated movies that treat children like they have brains in their heads. This is one of the reasons I appretiate the movies of Disney (even though I have some real issues with the Disney corporation).
(Note I said ANIMATED movies, as I find the live-action movies Disney makes to be repulsive in all ways)
American studios should NOT seek to emulate the Japanese art style... but they should look toward making animated shows with the kind of quality in story structure that we see in anime.
The biggest let down was back when Batman: The Animated Series came out. Batman was supposed to be aired at Prime Time when it was originally concieved. It would have been a HUGE step for animation in America... it would have been an animated show that was not a comedy, aimed at an adult audience...
but WB dropped it into the kids slot... and while Batman was probably the best animated show for TV that the US has produced... it was stymied by the FCC who forced it to stick to the standards of a kid's show.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm gives you an idea what the TV show could have been.
Justice League has a bit more edge and a little more freedom... but it just is missing the mark on completely breaking the mold (and I hope the writers get more daring as time goes on)
Anyway... I'll stop here for now...
-Uncle Milo
There are two kinds of people in this world:
Those who divide people into two kinds of groups
and those who don't.