Eija Niskanen-- Influence and Historical Continuity in Japanese Animation: Ghibli and Its Historical Roots

[Jonathan M Hall]

I forward this posting from H-Japan.
A great opportunity to hear about the current work of KineJapan  
member, Eija.

Jonathan M Hall





Please join us for the next meeting of the Modern Japanese History  
Workshop on
Friday, April 10, from 6 to 8pm at Waseda University.  The workshop  
is open to
all, and directions to the venue can be found on our Google Group:

http://groups.google.com/group/modern-japanese-history-workshop

Best wishes,
Kendall Heitzman
PhD Candidate
East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
From: kendall.heitzman at yale.edu


Influence and Historical Continuity in Japanese Animation: Ghibli and  
Its
Historical Roots
Eija Niskanen, PhD Candidate, Film and Television, Helsinki  
University of Art
and Design

Studio Ghibli has risen to the position where it not only takes in  
the biggest
annual domestic-box-office income in the Japanese film industry, it also
receives critical success both in Japan and abroad. The studio prides  
itself on
standing apart from the rest of the Japanese anime industry, which is  
mostly
TV-oriented, with its theatrical-length releases and high production  
values.
Ghibli did not just emerge out of nowhere, however; its principal  
directors,
Miyazaki Hayao and Takahata Isao, had long careers with Toei  
Animation (Toei
Doga) via several smaller animation production companies starting in  
the early
1960s.  From various histories of Ghibli, such as interviews, books  
written by
the directors, and so on, it is clear that the studio was more  
influenced by
European art animation than the Tezuka Osamu-centered anime industry,  
but also
that it is an heir of the early pre-war, wartime, and immediate  
postwar manga
eiga, and even of such narrative pictorial arts as emaki.  This  
presentation
will discuss these influences and also raise questions about stylistic
continuity in animation art.


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