Anime - According to Lent (2000), what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia?

According to Lent (2000), what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia?

Animation has been fitted to Asian Countries and their mass media. Throughout Asia, animation has been able to:
- Carry political messages

-Stress morals (eg, whole hearted service to the people)

-Promote campaigns
- Expose enemies to the state

- Carry wartime themes

- Carry heavy propaganda

                                         (Lent, 2000).

In the early stages of animation in Asia, there was an obvious western influence (the main example being Disney). According to Lent (2000), many Asian animators took it as a compliment to be called ‘the Disney’ of their countries. Many of the popular artists such as James Wang,  Payut Ngaokrachang, Tezuka and Shin Dong Hun had a lot of exposure to exposure to foreign cartoons such as Bambi, Snow White and Felix the cat.

However, Lent (2000) goes on to say that “The Chinese, perhaps more than any other Asian animators save those of Japan, were insistent on adapting only those elements of foreign animation that fit their culture, never favouring full adoption.” So as time went on, Chinese animation started to develop and change. For example, China produced its first feature-length animation, Princess with the iron fan, and although there were still a lot of obvious Disney influences it wasn’t as sweet and pretty as those made by Disney. The Chinese then began to add more local stories into their animation, as well as styles and techniques such as “paper-cut, ink and wash (shuimo dong huapian), and folded paper were applied to what became classic works” (Lent, 2000). Chinese animation was now veering further and further away from the works of Disney, and gaining it’s own identity.

In Taiwan, the pioneer animators also had many connections to the United States. The director of Taiwan’s first animated film, Chao Tse-Hsui, studied in Japan and the US. He even learned some of his animation at the Disney studios, returning to Taiwan in 1964 with “four thousand pounds of animation equipment with which he established the Tse-Hsiu Institute of Art Production” (Lent, 2000).

In India, animators were, and are, inspired by outside factors and individuals. The first animated shorts in India were produced during World War 1, and since then have had steady growth whilst incorporating many aspects of the Western World. “As Bendazzi wrote, Indian animation always:

betrays the ethnic heritage of local animators and almost always borrows from Western productions. The few films referring to the extremely rich figurative, pictorial and colourist tradition of the country can be counted on the fingers of one hand” (Lent, 2000).

Reference:

Lent, J. A. (2000). Animation in Asia: Appropriation, reinterpretation, and adoption or adaptation. Retrieved September 4, 2012, from http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr1100/jlfr11c.htm

Yegalulp, S. (n.d.). Japanese Animation Introduction (What Is It?). Retrieved from http://anime.about.com/od/animeprimer/a/What-Is-Anime.htm