A comparison of American and Japanese animation

Animation is a comprehensive art form and each country’s animation reflects its own culture. Throughout the eastern and western animation works, they reveals that there are significant differences in scene design, imagery and character performance. Japan and the United States, as representatives of both the East and West in the field of animation, have produced many excellent animated works. I grew up loving animation because it can bring people into a grotesque dramas world. The charm of animation is that it comes from our real life, but it is above our real life. People can accomplish impossible things in the world of animation. It is no coincidence that both the US and Japan have produced excellent fantasy works, such as Zootopia (2016) and Spirited Away (2001). In future works, the author also hopes to learn from the works of their predecessors and create a realistic and believable animated worldview of her own. This essay plans to learn how to make a good fantasy topic animation by analyzing the different expressions of fantasy topic animation in the two countries, and to build up the knowledge for the author’s future personal projects.

There are many great works of animation in the US and Japan, both very popular, when they each have irreplaceable characteristics. People notice Japanese animation because it is completely different from American animation in terms of style. This is rare in today’s globalised world. There are few countries whose animated films are not influenced by the American style of animation and yet are known worldwide. American cinema has a history of exaggerated expression from the days of pantomime. On this basis the 12 principles of animation were formed. Almost all Western animation follows this principles. After the founding of Pixar computer technology was applied to the field of animation. We can see that almost all Disney films are now 3D computer animated (Burger, 2018). Unlike this Japan to this day continues to follow the traditional 2D animation production. Even though the big-eyed style of characters common in Japan is influenced by American Disney animation, the overall drawing style is actually still derived from Japanese ukiyo-e (Chen, 2021). The cultural differences between the two countries have led to differences in the production of fantasy themes. Japan expands the fantasy world based on its own culture, such as the Spirited Away, BEASTARS (2019) and The Cat Returns (2002).  The United States is a country of immigrants, and American popular culture is the only one created and embraced by a multi-ethnic group (11). As a result, one can witness the merger of multiple civilisations in many American fantasy animation films. For example, there is a fusion of Mexican culture in Coco (2017), and there is a fusion of the big city styles of various countries in Zootopia. In summary, This essay discusses the similarities and differences between the United States and Japan, using the examples of Zootopia from Disney Studio and Spirited Away from Ghibli Studio. By comparing the narrative structure, the language of the films and the emotional expression of the characters, we analyse the reasons for their success.

Firstly, this article would like to talk about the narrative structure. The narrative structures of Zootopia and Spirited Away are very similar. This structure is consistent with the story circle proposed by Bach (2017). The protagonist arrives in an unknown place, faces challenges and gradually adapts to his/her new life, and then encounters dangers from outside or from within. After reflecting and growing, they overcome the difficulties and resolve the dangers, returning to their original lives but making changes at the same time. Whether it is Judy punishing evil in Zootopia or Chihiro has an adventure in the supernatural realm, audiences follow the protagonist’s footsteps into a new world of mystery and fantasy. Even with a similar structure, we can see the differences in character between the two nations, with one focusing on the internal growth of the self versus the other focusing on the confrontation between good and evil. In Zootopia, Judy, as a rabbit from a small town, relies on her own efforts to solve problems in Zootopia, a place full of unknowns, and it is when she thinks the arch-villain threatening the safety of Zootopia has been solved that the real crisis becomes apparent. Once she realises that the carnivores are being set up and reflects that her stereotypes have hurt her friend Nick, Judy retrieves her friend and works with him to solve the crisis in Zootopia and everyone returns to their old lives. The story of Spirited Away follows this same pattern in terms of narrative structure. Chihiro, who is about to face a new life, feels lost and unsettled, not realising that what comes faster than the new school life is the world kamikakushi (literally ‘hidden by gods’) . In this world of fantastical creatures, Chihiro struggles to adapt to life without losing sight of his purpose. In the process of overcoming difficulties, Chihiro gradually learns how to face the challenges of the unknown and eventually finds his name to save his parents and return to his real life. By comparison, I understood that a complete and effective narrative structure helps the audience to enter the world the film is built on.

Secondly, the use of film language differs between the two countries. There are so many clips throughout the film that it would be difficult to analyse their differences frame by frame in one article. Therefore, this article will only focus on the differences in the use of camera language in the climax of the film to compare the differences between the two countries’ animation productions. In the climax of Zootopia, the assistant mayor Bellwether tries to use Night Howler serum to make Nick go crazy and attack Judy in order to cover up the truth. But the Night Howler serum is unexpectedly replaced with blueberries. Nick and Judy act out the deception and record the assistant mayor Bellwether’s confession, reversing the ending and successfully fighting evil. In this clip, a low angle shot is first used to make the Bellwether look tall, which shows that she is now in control of the situation from a position of strength. This is followed by a high angle shot of a two-shot. Showing Judy and Nick being pinned down at this point. Cut to a close-up of Nick and Judy to show that Nick is out of control at this point. This is followed by a two-shot with different angles constantly switched to make the audience feel oppressed and in crisis. Finally, when Bellwether’s ruse is foiled, a shot that changes from a low angle to a high angle implies that the villain has failed at this point. In Spirited Away, the climax occurs when Chihiro remembers the name of the Haku. The shots are essentially medium and wide following shots, with slow transitions. This gives a sense of the introspection and beauty of Japanese culture. The use of camera language also reflects the cultural character of both countries. The use of camera language not only adds to the drama but also allows the audience to follow the perspective of the camera into the film.

Finally, this essay will analyse the differences between the two countries’ animation productions in terms of scene-setting and character emotional expression. Japanese animation often conveys emotion through static plus inner monologue, while American animation conveys emotion more through exaggerated performances by the characters. In the scenes of Spirited Away, there are many traditional Japanese buildings and mythical monsters, which make it easy to be transported to the world of the hidden gods. The setting of Zootopia not only refers to a real-life metropolis but also creates different animal communities based on the height and size habits of different animals. The Japanese focus on setting scenes to show the culture and flavour of the country is not only reflected in Hayao Miyazaki’s work, but also in the habits of many other Japanese animation directors, such as Makoto Shinkai. American animation studios such as Disney and Pixar are willing to research in-depth to show the collision of cultures on a global scale. The focus of American animation in terms of character emotional expression is on movement (Herhuth，2014), and as a result, audiences rarely see long, static shots of characters in American cartoons, led by the Disney style, whereas this is often seen in Japanese animation. The reason for this phenomenon may stem from the difference in funding. However, this difference does not lead to a difference in the quality of the virtual worlds they create. The acting style of American cartoons comes from the early clown theatre, pantomime (Stabile，2003). They were very good at using body language. So both character design and character performance in American cartoons are characterised by exaggeration. This is something that is rarely seen in Japanese cartoons. This also comes from the Japanese culture, which is more interested in expressions of mood. By comparison, it is clear that in both countries, animation requires a great deal of research and analysis to make the scenes realistic and workable.

To sum up, the fantasy genre is a large topic in the animation genre across the globe. Almost every country has animators dabbling in this field. It will also be an area I want to study later. Simultaneously, character, scene, camera language, and narrative are critical components of the film-making process. With the above analysis, animation directors who want to build a realistic and believable virtual world cannot do without these points. The United States and Japan have a significant position in the global animation market. Analysing their success stories can be a  convenient way to help new animators learn about animation knowledge. In the future, I will watch more animated works on fantasy themes to gain enough knowledge for my future personal projects.

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Reference

Burger, A. (2018). ‘PIXAR’S AMERICA: THE RE-ANIMATION OF AMERICAN MYTHS AND SYMBOLS By Dietmar Meinel. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. 240 pp. $99.99 hardcover’ Journal of Popular Film and Television, 46(3),pp.180-181

Bach, B.et al (2017) Visualizing Nonlinear Narratives with Story Curves

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Chen, A. (2012) Cartoon planet: the cross-cultural acceptance of Japanese animation. Ohio University. 22(1) pp.44-57

Stabile, C. A., and Harrison, M. (Eds.). (2003). Prime time animation: television animation and American culture. America: Psychology Press.

Herhuth, E. (2014) Life, Love, and Programming: The Culture and Politics of WALL-E and Pixar Computer Animation. Cinema Journal. 53(4) pp.53-75