VFX Voice

The award-winning definitive authority on all things visual effects in the world of film, TV, gaming, virtual reality, commercials, theme parks, and other new media.

Winner of three prestigious Folio Awards for excellence in publishing.

Subscribe to the VFX Voice Print Edition

Subscriptions & Single Issues


October 03
2022

ISSUE

Fall 2022

Final Frame: Anime Advances in the New Century

(Image from Spirited Away courtesy of Studio Ghibli and Walt Disney Co.)

(Image from Spirited Away courtesy of Studio Ghibli and Walt Disney Co.)

While technically-enhanced modern anime surges in today’s world (see article on page 10), the history of anime can be traced back to the early 1900s in Japan. Even before the advent of film, Japanese artists were moving colorful images across a projection screen. Many film historians believe that the first animated film made in Japan was Kasudo Shashin (Activity Photo), produced around 1905-1907. The film shows a boy in a sailor suit drawing characters on a board. It consisted of 50 frames stenciled onto a strip of celluloid. From there, new generations of Japanese animators advanced the art. World War II saw animated Japanese propaganda films. In 1963, the first anime TV series, Osamu Tezuka’s Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy), starring a robot boy who lived with humans, reached the U.S.

Anime had never been tried on TV in a half-hour time slot before due to cost and deadline concerns. To streamline the time-intensive creative process, Tezuka used what is called “limited animation” techniques, such as reducing the number of frames per second, re-using cels, and putting different parts of a character, like the head or arms, on different layers of cels so that only the part of the body in motion needed to be animated in each scene. He also saved time by using his original manga panels as storyboards, eliminating much of the need to write and lay out individual episodes. Astro Boy was a big success, proving anime could be made for TV.

In the 1970s, Japanese animators were inspired by Disney’s expanding animated work and developed their own characters such as Mecha (a giant robot genre) and robot offspring. It was during this time that animated film legend Hayao Miyazaki rose to fame. Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli and is regarded as one the foremost filmmakers in the history of animation. A retrospective of Miyazaki’s work was featured during the inaugural series of exhibitions at the recently opened Motion Picture Academy Museum in Los Angeles. In 2003, Miyazaki won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film with Spirited Away.


Share this post with

Most Popular Stories

PROGRAMMING THE ILLUSION OF LIFE INTO THE WILD ROBOT
01 October 2024
Final Frame
PROGRAMMING THE ILLUSION OF LIFE INTO THE WILD ROBOT
For The Wild Robot Director/writer Chris Sanders, achieving the desired visual sophistication meant avoiding the coldness associated with CG animation.
VFX IN ASIA: BOOM TIME
01 October 2024
Final Frame
VFX IN ASIA: BOOM TIME
Asia is playing an evolving role in shaping the global VFX ecosystem.
META QUEST 3 AND APPLE VISION PRO SPARK SURGE IN VR/AR HEADSETS
01 October 2024
Final Frame
META QUEST 3 AND APPLE VISION PRO SPARK SURGE IN VR/AR HEADSETS
While sales of VR and AR headsets were gloomy in 2023, 2024 has seen a solid recovery.
ARTISTIC ALCHEMY: THE PERSONAL CREATIONS OF VFX TALENT
01 October 2024
Final Frame
ARTISTIC ALCHEMY: THE PERSONAL CREATIONS OF VFX TALENT
In the world of visual effects, digital toolsets reign supreme, but that does not mean that traditional mediums have been tossed to the wayside.
REALISTIC FACIAL ANIMATION: THE LATEST TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND CHALLENGES
01 October 2024
Final Frame
REALISTIC FACIAL ANIMATION: THE LATEST TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND CHALLENGES
Facial animation has come a long way since the days of animatronics, as filmmakers now have access to a choice of advanced facial motion capture systems.