#337. A Brief History of Anime

With the different animation techniques that was practiced and employed in France, USA, Russia, and Germany, Japanese filmmakers decided to experiment with the techniques at the start of the 20th century; thus began the history of anime. In 1917, a short 2 minute clip of animation which showed a samurai's attempt to test his new sword on a target was released. The samurai ends up failing in this clip of the oldest known anime.

By the time the 1930's came around, the poorly developed live-action industry of Japan was being challenged by this new storytelling alternative called anime. This was much unlike the live-action industry found in the United States. The industry remained a very small market with many issues stemming from being under-budgeted and casting. The main issue in casting was the fact that there were not very many Caucasian actors in Japan. This made it impossible to shoot movies which were to be set in Europe or America; a major problem which restricted plots to involve only Asians. Animation was a great way to battle this restriction as it allowed unlimited possibilities in plot lines.

In 1937, the huge success of an animated film in the United States became a major influence to the Japanese animators. This animated film was Disney's classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Godfather of Anime, Osamu Tezuka, employed and streamlined Disney's animation techniques which resulted in the reduction of number of frames which lead to the reduction of costs. This allowed him to produce animation films with limited resources, tight schedules, and inexperienced staff.

The popularity of manga, had a huge spike in the 1970's, especially those produced by Osamu Tezuka. Osamu Tezuka as well as the other pioneers of anime inspired the genres as well as specific characteristics which are considered to be fundamentals of the industry to this day. For example, the giant robot genre, known also as the Mecha genre, was originally introduced by Osamu Tezuka and revolutionized by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Mecha anime has produced series such as Gundam and Macross which are massive hits and considered classics in the industry. During the 1980s, anime was to experience a massive boom in terms of production as mainstream Japan learns to accept the industry.

Eventually, in the 1990s and 2000s, anime received quite a positive response in overseas markets after a few successful adaptations were released in the 1980s.

Source :abcArticles