Animation is not truthful; in fact it can be summed up as a deceptive way of entertaining people. This is so because it is generally a rapid sequence of purely still images put together in order to give an illusion of movement. It is a human creation that can even be seen as a trick that eyes play on an individual but gets some form of interpretation in the human mind. It is important to understand it from this perspective otherwise comparing and contrasting American animation and Japanese animation also known as anime will not make sense at all. Both of them are animation but they exhibit some differences which both of them distinctively identify with. In as much as both are animations, their differences help one draw the line between the two. These differences are so major that lovers of animation tend to like either of the two basing their judgment of the two.
When it comes to skill, the organization of the work process between American animation and Japanese animation is quite different. When looking at how the Japanese animation is done, voice overs or acting is normally done once the animation is complete. This means that the producers have to work on the animation up to the end first before introducing the dialogue between the characters. This makes it sometimes a bit difficult for the two to be in sync. This means that the animators or voice actors will definitely time their dialogue together with the mouth movements of the animation. American animation is quite different when it comes to this because lip sync is always finely tuned to such an extent that one can mute the sound yet still tell what the animations are telling each other. This is very evident when comparison is done between “Mind Game,” a Japanese production and “Toy Story,” an American animation production.
In these two animations, general skill and eye to detail have been given attention in as much as this may not be in equal measure. The skill employed in Toy Story can be said to be more superior to that employed in Mind Game because on how the general presentation of the two is done. Whereas lip sync in Toy Story can be seen to be very synchronized, in Mind Game it is a bit removed because the movement of the lips and the voice over is not as synchronized. This is typical to not only these two animations but their general categories. American animations tend to be more real when it comes to voices, lip movement and the actions involved whereas Japanese animation cannot be said to be so. The back therefore stops at the skill that is employed to bring out the animations and it can therefore be said to be belonging to different categories perhaps because of the time taken as well as the resources used in production. At some point in Mind Game, the faces of the characters change from the animated faces to photographic ones and this could explain how skill comes into play and when this aspect is put in comparison with Toy Story, and then perhaps Mind Game stands a better chance of having more skill put into it.
It should be noted that when it comes to comparison of color between the two, Toy Story is more colorful as compared to Mind Game. Mind Games presents a bit of dull colors when it comes to the setting as well as presentation of characters whereas Toy story has a litany of bright colored characters as well as scenes. Perhaps this can be explained by the mere fact that American animations for very many years have been presented as so because they are dictated by the audience. The target audience for cartoons in the American context is children and therefore presentation of animations is key to ensuring that the attention of the children is caught and kept throughout the presentation. Mind Game takes up a dull grey color without much spicing up because perhaps the audience is wide and adults who are not so much into color are also accommodated. This major difference in the presentation of animation from these two setups therefore indicates how the two vary from the angle of color which now happens to be a very important aspect in the presentation of animations.
The two animations also differ a lot when it comes to its use of characters. In Mind Game, every character has got a detailed story. For example, Nish dreams of becoming a Manga artist one day and it becomes a story within another story considering the wider context. This aspect depicts the humanness in these characters because in as much as they are animations, their portrayal of this human attribute makes them more real. One of the very many highlights of this series is the fact that it’s three dimensional aspect makes it very real when it is compared to human attributes. On the other hand, the cartoons in Toy Story are just cartoons in all aspects. By the mere fact that they act as cartoons when they are a lone and pretend to be cartoons in the presence of humans just leaves them out of the thought of them possessing humanly attributes. This is a major difference that can be seen in the two animations. The presentation of characters in both therefore plays a major role in drawing the line between the two on where their major differences are.
One more difference which is present even though it does not really stand out is the difference in length. Toy Story is a bit shorter by a few minutes than Mind Game is. This may not necessarily be very important in this case but it does help in comparing and contrasting how Japanese animations and American ones differ in terms of length. In many cases, American animations tend o be short as compared to Japanese ones. This maybe so because of the lifestyles of the people from these two different cultures and the targeted people who the animations are meant for. American animations targets young people especially young children whereas Japanese anime targets people of all ages. When children are taken into account, they are not supposed to be burdened with very long movies which may end up boring them and therefore losing interest in them. This is the main reason why American animations are split into smaller episodes which are characterized by suspense and other stylistic features which help in making the audience want to watch more. But for Japanese anime, they are normally a bit longer.
It’s indeed hard to choose which is better among the two. But with a critical evaluation on its scope, content and which of the two really is better as compared to the other, I would prefer Toy Story for various reasons. To begin with, it is a very interesting animation. Secondly, it easily entertains and educates. It is easier to follow because the story is indeed fascinating in the sense that the characters transform from one form to another and this is a bit that makes it very dear to the audience. Also for the simple fact that the plot and content is narrowed down to a certain scope to fit into a specific age group just makes it an interesting one. One outstanding attribute about it is the fact that it uses familiar childhood cartoons and icons by grouping them together and does introduce them to the present by using Andy’s chest of toys. These toys bring out present characteristics and life as seen through the eyes of mere toys. This is very inspiring and mind boggling indeed (McCarthy 93).
Toy Story also has got the best story line as well as very good animation. The actors who give the animations the voices are very talented and are good at what they do therefore making the movie very interesting. Everything seems to have been done to perfection. The movie in general provides a very interesting adventure story that can also be watched and be liked by anyone who does attempt to get hold of it. The themes that are highlighted are also well too good, some of the major ones being the importance of friendship and loyalty. All the characters are also very well developed who told the story very well from the beginning to the end. Everything about it just seems to depict real life because there are lots of possibilities that are brought to light. All in all, the animation is pretty perfect, very exciting and adventurous and can be watched by everybody including animation snobs. The story and plot is way above reproach.
Well there are lots of differences that can be drawn between Japanese animation and American animation. To begin with, animation enthusiasts who love either of the two animations point an accusing finger at each other because of how the two are set. The bone of contention has always been which of the two is superior to the other. American animators as well as American animation enthusiasts think that Japanese animation is way too lazy, Japanese animators and animation enthusiasts on the other hand think that American animation is way too clunky and also too comical for it to be called an animation (Levi 63). This means that the back stops at the style which these two employ. Style therefore marks the major difference that the two exhibit regardless of a lot more differences being in place.
Normally, the general difference in visual outlook of Japanese animations and American animations can be seen through the design of their human characters. When looking at the Japanese ones, they have distinctive large eyes that have quite a number of reflective highlights as well as detailed color. On the other hand, American animation normally exhibits some bit of exaggerated features which are rounded at the same time (Wells 49). It is therefore evident that American animation is quite different in as far as the physical features are concerned before one looks at finer details. Japanese animations of humans tend to have more details in some aspects, features like eye lashes; hair and even clothing are given more detail more than any other feature. Much attention is also given to non outlined features such as shadows in order to add more depth. Not exactly the same can be said about American animations as they tend to focus mainly on the tricks employed and not the physical features.
Another difference that one will not fail to notice is the fact that American animation contains content that is to a large extent meant for children. Normally their story line is very simple so that children can understand the animations easily. This means that the animated cartoons are purely meant to entertain children because they are the ones who are always taken into account when producing them. If adults are to be slotted into the content then it means that they have to suit themselves in (Smoodin 29). This therefore means that American cartoon animations have a specific audience which is children. Japanese animation on the other hand has content that can be watched by everybody regardless of their age. This therefore means that the target audience is literary everyone. But one wonders whether the Japanese animation takes into consideration that there is content that is supposed to be for adults and that children are not supposed to watch it.
This leads to another major difference that is depicted through the cultures of the two audiences. American animation is purely meant for children whereas Japanese animation is supposed to be watched by everybody. Whatever that is considered appropriate for an eleven year old child in Japan will definitely not be good enough for a child of similarly age in America. Cultural differences stretch all the way to the clues that one may notice depending on the context in regard to locations. The locations and other physical parameters that will be present in either of the two will surely indicate that the two types of animations belong to different cultural contexts. This implies that the cultural issue stretches all the way from the content to the physical parameters present in either of the two.
When it comes to the moral lessons that the audience can pick from the storylines, there is a clear cut difference between the two types of animations when it comes to the religious perspectives given to the two. Whereas Judeo- Christianity is the background upon which the storylines are drawn in American animation, the Japanese religion of Shinto is used in Japanese animation. In Shinto, there is belief in many gods as well as deities. The kinds of values upheld by the two religions are quite different and because they are the ones from which much of the inspiration is drawn, it means that there is quite a bit of a difference on the moral lessons that are intended to be passed on to the audience. It is also crystal clear that the Japanese culture is more liberal when it comes to what to censor and what not to, which therefore leads to the fact that their animation does not choose on the age of who is to watch. When it comes to American animation, morality is highly considered and therefore everything that is produced in the name of animation has got to meet a certain threshold in regard to what is morally acceptable in society.
Also, Japanese animation producers or creators have got the tendency of giving real personalities to what can otherwise be considered bland characters (Levi19). This can best be described by the fact that they possess uniquely quite a number of protagonists with very peculiar behavior. An example on point can be seen in Mesashi Kishimoto’s “Naruto,” his is an animation that contains more than thirty protagonists and funnily enough, the viewers will never get confused by this very big number of characters. In comparison to American animation, just a few characters are used with the sole aim of not confusing the viewers considering the fact that the audience is just limited to children. A case in point is the animation “Sleeping Beauty,” where much of the action centers on only one character and all the other characters just compliment the main character.
Maybe considering how the end results of either of the two looks like, it is becoming more evident that American animation is relying more on computer generated graphics. These graphics tend to be so much limited to such an extent that they do not show very quick movements like the Japanese ones do. They tend to focus more on the fluid motions which are way too robotic and very unnatural. Japanese animations on the other hand depict more advancements because in them one is able to see very realistic and fast and also abrupt movements. An example in point is Yoshihiro Togashi’s “Ghost Files.” The fight scenes there are very realistic in as much as they are very speedy and one can even think that they are real life actions and movements (Mccarthy 22).
The differences between the two are not so great as to demean one against the other because the bottom line is they come from different cultures and are inspired by different backgrounds. The bottom line is that both of them are out to tell a story through animation the best way both know how. They also use traditional as well as digital means to come up with ideal creations that are acceptable among the masses that prefer either of the two. In as much as the American animation is exaggerated, there is some degree of exaggeration too in the Japanese anime therefore pitting both on the same platform in regard to presentation. Many other tricks are employed in both in order to come up with animations that will meet the expectations of viewers. People prefer either of the two and others that are produced the world over but it is a matter of taste and preference. None is better than the other because they follow the same principles of animation and the bottom line is that they both have people who love them and prefer one over another. In conclusion it can be argued that regardless of the many differences cited, there are similarities that Japanese and American animations have in common. They both tell a story though from different perspectives. They also have moral lessons that the viewers are suppose to have picked by the time they finish watching these animations. Animations do not just tell a story that does not seek to teach a few lessons here and there.
Works Cited
Levi, Antonia. Samurai from Outer Space: understanding Japanese Animation. Chicago: Open Court Publishing. 1996
McCarthy, Helen. Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation: Films, Themes Artistry. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press
Smoodin, Eric. Animating Culture: Hollywood Cartoons from the Sound Era. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press
Wells, Paul. Animation and America. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2002
