A LOOK INTO THE ANIME AND MANGA TIME CAPSULE

Picture in your mind the beginning of the 20th century. Japanese graphic artists began to feel the influence of two very powerful Western inventions: the newspaper comic strip and the motion picture. With its text balloons and linear story-line, the comic strip provided Japanese story-tellers with a simple structure that was readily accessible to the masses. Soon, were producing their own serialized newspaper prints. These would eventually contribute to the development of the modern Japanese comic book or "manga".

In 1914, cartoonists were among the first Japanese artists to experiment with animated motion pictures. Japan's first world-wide success was Kitayama Seitaro's short film Momotaro. Although the Japanese animation industry continued to grow slowly, its one, last pre-war milestone was Chikara To Onna No Yononaka. Appearing in 1932, the short film was the first animated "talkie" in Japanese.

Elswhere in the world, the animation industry was not only thriving but breaking new ground. The undisputed leaders in the field were Walt Disney. When Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs appeared in 1937 to overwhelming popular acclaim, Disney demonstrated that animation could be just as expressive and feasible a medium as live-action film.

The popularity and influence of Disney’s animated films were not limited to the United States. Before World War II, much of their work was seen by receptive audiences in Europe and Asia. These works also inspired the dreams of a young man who would go on to alter the direction of Japanese graphic story-telling forever.

As unbelievable as it may seem, the success of both the anime and manga industries in Japan rests firmly on the shoulders of one man: Osamu Tezuka. Originally an aspiring animator, Tezuka became a cartoonist after World War II. He was only a 19 year old medical student when his first significant work, the novel-length Shintakarajima or "New Treasure Island", debuted in 1947. In just a few years, he became Japan's most popular manga artist, eventually earning the title "God of Manga."

Tezuka's approach was completely different from anything that had come before. Whereas, most contemporary manga stories were told in a straightforward, stage-like fashion, Tezuka's illustrations burst with action and pure emotion. Borrowing techniques from French and German cinema, he stretched his stories out for hundreds of pages. To appreciate a single emotional moment, a scene might unfold slowly over several pages. Tezuka was telling stories in the manner of a filmmaker. In the process, he was also teaching an entire generation of artists how to visualize and compose a story kinetically.

For manga and anime fans, Tezuka's most obvious contribution came in the design of his characters. The artist needed an immense emotional template to tell his often complex stories. Seeking inspiration, he returned to the pre-war Disney cartoons that he loved as a child. Just like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Tezuka's animal and human characters sported round heads with huge, expressive eyes. Although these features seemed simple and cartoonish, they allowed characters to express a wide range of emotions. The flexibility of Tezuka's character designs paved the way to today's "manga-style" character with simplified facial features and frisbee-sized eyeballs. Sailor Moon and Ash Ketchum can thank Tezuka for their dashing good looks. Eventually, Tezuka's great success as a manga artist led to a more direct impact on the post-war animation industry.

In the mid-1950's, Hiroshi Okawa was the president of the Japanese film company Toei. His ambition: to become “the Disney of the East.” In 1956, Toei Animation was founded and, two years later, the company released its first full-length feature The Tale of the White Serpent. Based on a Chinese legend, The Tale of the White Serpent was considerably darker in tone than your typical Disney feature. It and Toei's follow-up films, made for a more serious and adult approach to animation than had previously never been seen. They also featured some of the earliest work of two later giants in the anime film field: Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki.

January 1, 1963. Fuji Television broadcast a 30-minute animated television series called Tetsuwan Atomu (better known in English as Astro Boy). Astro boy was one of Tezuka’s creations. The show was a worldwide hit. An international phenomenon. It started an anime boom and a period of intense competition for TV audiences. The success marked the beginning of a new kind of anime industry. A leap towards the future, of what anime is today.