Representation of Animation

About sixty animation are shown at movie theaters in Japan this year.  Some of them including Hollywood films were already released.  As far as I am concerned, I don't much care for ones with 3D-type and video-game-type characters.  In other words, I prefer Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) to "Toy Story" (1995) as a computer-animated film. 

It isn't a matter of my reminiscence about the good old days but the technique of the Manga, comic book/cartoon.  "Traditional" animation, whether or not it is difference of the number of exposures, gives the viewers more imagination of the story.  Computer-made animation seems to be too realistic.  It is like moving dolls or puppet.  I don't know exactly the difference of the production cost between them, and there are always the pros and cons of the representation, but I think one made by the computer doesn't give viewers dream and/or the taste of "a-castle-in-the air" at all.  The production staff of the Manga should realize that new technology is not always superior to old ones, and they should more focus on the quality of the story, seeking for fhe essence of the human being, rather than the image technique.     #YS

Lovely "Tom & Jerry" and "Woody Woodpecker"

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Since early 1950's, I have been watching lots of American and Japanese animated cartoons. Among fine animations by Walt Disney, Osamu Tezuka and many others, I still love to see the shorts of "Tom & Jerry" by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and of "Woody Woodpecker" by Walter Lantz.

The short films of "Tom & Jerry" center on a never-ending rivarly between a housecat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry) whose chases and battles often involve comic violence. While, "Woody Woodpecker" is a noisy woodpecker who bores holes in all kinds of things.

The two cartoons are similar in every point:
- the shorts run only for 7 ~ 8 minutes
- they tend to use vivid/original colors
- every-second scene has a sense of humor and wits
- main characters are active in high spirits
- they are big stars: "Tom & Jerry" got Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Short Subject: Cartoons for seven times! And, "Woody" has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

I highly appreciate that the U.S. TV stations still show us the animations from time to time.#

Japanese animation in the U.S.

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Japanese animation aired on American TV or screened at theaters in the U.S.:

[Year][Title when shown in the U.S.][Japanese Title]
1963 ASTRO BOY (Tetsuwan Atom)
1966 Gigantor (Tetsujin 28-Go)
1967 Speed Racer (Mach Go Go Go)
1981 Galaxy Express 999 (Ginga Tetsudo 999)
1986 Warriors of the Wind (Kaze no Tani no Naushika)
1992 The Professional: Golgo 13 (Gorugo 13)
1995 Dragon Ball (Dragon Ball)
1995 Sailor Moon (Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon)
1998 Pokemon (Pocket Monster)
2001 Mobile Suit Gundam (Kido Senshi Gundam)
2002 Kinnikuman: Ultimate Muscle (Kinnikuman)
2002 Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)
2003 Lupin the 3rd (Rupan 3-Sei)
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