The most important event in Japan's
postwar animation circles occurred in 1963, when the manga (comic
strip) artist Osamu Tezuka released Tetsuwan Atomu ("Astro
Boy") for television broadcast. The huge popularity of
the animated Astro Boy among Japanese youngsters sparked the
production of a number of other 30-minute, made-for-television
animated serials in Japan, nearly all of which were based on
comic-magazine serials. Some (like Astro Boy) were later dubbed
into foreign languages for broadcast in other countries. Among
those were Janguru taitei (1965, shown abroad as Kimba the White
Lion) and Mahha Go! Go! (Speed Racer, 1967). Kyandi Kyandi (1976,
Candy Candy), a sentimental series aimed at young girls, was
a hit in Italy. The animated version of Sazae san (1969), from
the comic strip created by Machiko Hasegawa, portrays the everyday
life of a wacky Japanese housewife and her family, and is still
aired.(*1)
The cycle of comic-to-cartoon continued through the 1970s and
1980s. A notable example is Fujiko Fujio's Doraemon (1979)(*2).
Some of these successful animated television series have been
adapted for feature-film release. The best examples of this
Japanese method of recycling story ideas through different media
are Reiji Matsumoto's string of science fiction comics with
animation tie-ins. When his Uchuusenkan Yamato (Star Blazers)
was released to Japanese theaters in 1977, it was followed by
a flood of animated feature films, including a number of other
Matsumoto productions, such as Ginga tetsudou 999 (Galaxy Express
999, 1979).(*3)
Hayao Miyazaki's First Oscar
In March 2003, Japan's top animated feature film director Hayao
Miyazaki's Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi ("Spirited Away")
won an Academy Award for best animated feature film for the
first time in the history of Japanese animated film. The film
also received the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International
Festival in 2002. Miyazaki's masterpieces include Tonari no
Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro), 1988.
Important Japanese animation productions of the late
1980s and early 1990s include Katsuhiro Otomo's dark-themed
adventure Akira (1988), an animated feature film, and Chibi
Maruko chan (1990), a television series created by Momoko Sakura,
Akira Toriyama's adventure comic Dragon Ball (1986) and Crayon
Shinchan (1992) created by Yoshito Usui.
Most Japanese animation broadcast on television are
based on comic books and thus overlap in their themes. Animation
varies from TV animation to animated films. For example, the
Japanese word "Manga," as the prototype of animation,
is considered a viable term in the global market. Sixty percent
of animated cartoons televised around the world is Japanese
animation. In Italy, more than 80% of the animation serials
on-air come from Japan.(*4)
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