American Animation versus Japanese Animation

張貼日期：Apr 19, 2012 8:3:8 AM

Edith Chen

I cannot deny that animations play the important role in my life from past to present. Every time as my mom tried to take me to the kindergarten, I would do anything to evade leaving my sweet home. However, I remember that the only reason to let me go to the kindergarten willingly was to watch the animation during the breakfast before I went to school. In order to make me go to school with the big smile, my mom started to collect all kinds of animation from Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and the video tapes for me, and this was the beginning of my fancy to the animation. The reason why I love animation was the atmosphere of the stories themselves. The ways of telling stories are totally different from country to country. Now, let me take the American animations and Japanese animations for example. Even though they are all called animations, they are completely distinct on story material, techniques of expression, and the ideal of creation.

When it comes to American animation, we cannot forget Walt Disney and the classic Disney animation. Walt Disney is the greatest animator and film producer in the American history. He creates not only the famous cartoon character—Mickey Mouse for children, but also the beautiful dream about the prince charming for little girls. As to the story material, Walt Disney likes to adapt the stories from the fairy tale. Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty are the representative Disney classic animations. Every girl must have a beautiful dream to become a princess, and the female characters in the stories above fulfill the dream of being the princess for the little girls all over the world. As to the technique of expression, Walt Disney is good at creating fantastic atmosphere. His animations are always combined with a lot of impressive music, which makes the audience recall the special scene from the story through the familiar music easily. Sometimes the music can evoke the funniest part of the story, and sometimes it can bring back the most touching feeling about the plot from the story. As to the ideal of creation, the basic ideal of Walt Disney’s creations is to bring the joyful, fantasy, and the dream to the whole world. In his animation he tries to give the fairy tale another meaning. Not only the different endings of the story itself, but also the elaboration of story telling and the appropriate background music stir the different feelings of watching the animation. Every time when people appreciate Disney animation, they will be inspired to chase their dreams.

When we talk about the representative of Japanese Animation, we must mention Hayao Miyazaki and his marvelous animation. He is an important animator in the Japanese history, and his works raise the different tide of animations. The story material of Miyazaki is totally different from that of Disney; his stories come from the original script. My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, and Spirited Away are the representative original animations of Miyazaki. The characters in the above movies are comparable to Mickey Mouse; if Mickey Mouse is the remarkable being for the American children, then the Totoro will be the indispensable existence to the Japanese children. The expression technique of Miyazaki is simple and warm. Different from Walt Disney, Miyazaki uses the familiar things to bring strong emotion to the audience. In My Neighbor Totoro, Miyazaki tries to describe the beautiful nature against the highly developed economy of Japan. Totoro and its incredible and abundant imagination world are the things that can only be seen by the innocent children. Because of its sweetness and warmth, My Neighbor Totoro is welcomed by the public and stimulates people’s sentiment of nostalgia all around the world. The ideal of creation by Miyazaki’s animations are to raise people’s awareness of some important issues in the world. The thinking of anti-war always appears in his story, and it results from the experience of his childhood. He also tries to bring the ideal of the relation between human beings and the environment in Princess Mononoke and The Valley of the Wind, and pacifism in The Castle in the Sky and Howl’s Moving Castle. When people finish Miyazaki’s animation, they will start to introspect what they have done to the world.

Finally, I must say that Walt Disney’s animation and Miyazaki’s animation are the masterpieces to the world. I cannot decide which one can capture my heart, but the only thing I am certain is that appreciating their animation can make me feel enriched and fulfilled. Watching the classic Disney animation can help me regain the energy and courage of chasing the dream. Miyazaki’s animation can bring me back to my innocent childhood to find the simple things that I almost forget in my life. No matter how old I am, the only thing that I never give up is to watch their animation forever and ever.