Historical Context
The Westernized look of anime is rooted
in the post-World War II occupation of Japan by the American armed
forces. Inspired by the American adventure-based comic books that
appeared during the occupation, an artist named Osamu Tezuka created
the first commercially successful manga (the Japanese
name for comic books) in 1947. The manga was
called New Treasure Island and featured highly
Westernized characters with big eyes, small noses, and a variety
of hairstyles. It was based upon an English novel, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure
Island. After New Treasure Island became
a hit, imitators began churning out manga featuring
characters inspired by Tezuka, and manga went on
to become hugely popular in Japanese culture. Eventually, these
comic books were put on film and the medium of anime was
born. Like most creators of anime, Miyazaki got
his start drawing manga. His first film was based
on a successful series of manga that he created.
Spirited Away is the second of Hayao
Miyazaki’s anime to win the equivalent of the Academy
Award for Best Picture in Japan. While it would be almost unheard
of for a comic-book-based movie to achieve this honor in America,
the historical significance of manga in Japan makes
it possible there. Manga is a medium that crosses
both gender and generational boundaries. Manga exist
to fit every interest, from politics to pornography to violence,
and the Japanese read manga much the same way that
American adults read novels. However, manga’s readers
do not draw the same distinction between animation and live action
that Americans do. In fact, Spirited Away is one
of Miyazaki’s few feature-length films intended for children. Most
of his other movies, such as Princess Mononoke, which
also won Best Picture in Japan, contain violence and adult concepts
that could frighten a child.
Animation may be starting to cross generational boundaries
in America the same way it does in Japan. The audience for anime in America
is growing. As children who cut their anime teeth
on Pokémon get older, they can begin to appreciate higher quality anime such
as Spirited Away. Some filmmakers already credit anime for influencing
their cinematic style, such as the Wachowski brothers with The
Matrix. The influence of anime can only
increase as today’s young anime fans become tomorrow’s
filmmakers.
