History of Anime on STARZ
Last night I caught the History of Anime special on STARZ. Meh.
While their interpretation of the timeline was fairly decent (they put anime in the context of manga, the influence of Osamu Tezuka [he didn't pronounce the "u", so it would be Tez-ka; they all got it wrong], and anime’s influence on modern action films), it left a lot out. A decent history of anime would probably take a multi-part documentary, like Ken Burns’ “Jazz.”
First of all, they give way too much credit to anime as an influence to “Blade Runner.” The production designer on that film was Syd Mead. Mead was already an established industrial designer who had worked at Ford Motor Company amongst others. Mead has flat out said that his main inspiration was the work of Jean “Moebius” Giraud, particularly his work in the French SF comic Metal Hurlant (Heavy Metal, which Moebius co-created). Ridley Scott asked Moebius to join Blade Runner as a production designer, but Moebius declined so he could work on Rene Laloux’s animated film Les Maitres du temps, a decision he later regretted. Gee, not one mention of anime there.
They put too much emphasis on the American versions of Anime, and not the Japanese versions. Ask any real fan of anime about Sandy Frank’s wholesale butchering of Gatchaman, “Battle of the Planets”, and all you will get is scorn and ridicule. The story of anime imported to America in the 1960’s and ’70’s goes something like this; the American distributors of these shows didn’t think these were “rich, adult oriented stories” as they said in the documentary. To a them, these were kiddie shows, worth no more then their sale into syndication. Once they were out of the hands of their creators, the US distributors could do whatever they wanted. Gatchaman is an incredible saga about friendship and loss, and it was turned into a simple space saga so they could sell lunch boxes and coloring books.
The first “close” adaptation of an anime series in this country was “Space Battleship Yamato” or “Star Blazers” in the US. This show was conceived in 1973 by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, and brought to term by the great Leiji Matsumoto. The only things the US distributors did differently was change the character names, tone down the violence and get rid of alcohol use. The main storyline, the search for a reagent to sterilize the Earth from radiation, was used intact.
The real letdown was the non-mention of early fan groups in the US. This was like a “cult-within-a-cult.” The home video revolution made it possible for fans from around the world to trade tapes. Anime clubs sprung up like weeds in major cities in the US. At science fiction conventions, anime fans always made sure that there was a ball room or guest room available to show tapes from Japan to bring these shows to the attention of American SF fans and get them excited. I know, because I was in the C/FO (the Los Angeles branch of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization) and I supervised a couple of rooms in the early days. If it had not been for the early anime fans, I doubt the genre would be as popular as it is.
In the final, this was not even close to being the last word on anime. We have yet to hear it and I hope there is someone out there who can do it justice.
Tags: animation, anime, influence, science fiction
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Atasha and I met in one of those C/FO rooms at LOSCON 7 in 1980 (!). The next day, we watched Saturday morning cartoons.
I said this on another blog that picked up my article.
1964/65 and a black and white Astroboy on Monday through Friday afternoon NBC tv in Los Angeles! Sure glad Cartoon Network was good enough to bring it back for a look-see. Bits and pieces of images from it have stayed in my mind with no memory of where they came from.
I ended up dropping out of Camp Fire Girls at 10 so I could stay home and watch whatever redubbed anime was on at the time — Prince Planet, I think. I didn’t understand that they were from Japan; that information was very much buried in the english credits. It did puzzle me as to why they were eating rice in the morning.
I was incredibly excited when I found about the first CFO club in Los Angeles, founded and presided over by Fred Patterson. I think it was the only thing in my life I have ever been early for :)!!!
Ah, yes — Gatchaman, with fully one-third of every show cut out and that stupid robot, 7-Zark-7, in its place. It wasn’t until I saw an uncut show from Japan that I realized how graphically violent it was! No wonder the cut versions made absolutely no sense! Cut version: Princess would walk into a room and the villian would disappear. Uncut version: Princess would walk into the room, take a weapon from her dainty pink utility belt, and decapitate the sucker — blood spray everywhere!
Back then, the idea of just being able to watch a decent Japanese anime show with dubbing that didn’t make you laugh (ie, Space Pirate Captain Harlock with the imitation John Wayne voice) as regular programming was a daydream that I didn’t think would ever happen.
I didn’t see the STARZ program, but it sure sounds as though the writers did not do nearly enough research, resulting on a narrow and distorted view. It sounds as though the writers were confused. Anime is not a general name for all animation, yet their story seemed to proceed from this confusion. I think you should write them and send your comments.
I remember your dad distributing some anime from Toei in the early days as well. I think he saw the handwriting on the wall before a lot of people. His versions were not totally rendered unwatchable, though they were still a little dumbed down.
I remember watching anime as a youngster. True it was horribly butchered and dubbed but this was Saturday morning and wtf did I know. I am referring to Speed Racer, Kimba the White Lion and Gigantor. Thanks to YouTube, I am seeing my childhood memories in a whole new light.