Japanese animated films eye the international market

By Gotot Prakosa

JAKARTA (JP): On Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, a workshop on animation featuring Yashuo Yamaguchi, 62, and Koichi Tsunoda, 59, was held at the Japanese Cultural Center. These two animation experts came to Indonesia under the sponsorship of Anima (the Association of Indonesian Animation Film Makers) and the Japanese Cultural Center.

The event was packed and various institutions have since contacted the organizing committee requesting more workshops on the same lines. Anima chairman Wagiono Sunarto could only apologize that the time and space were both limited.

Similar workshops will be organized at Red Rocket Animation Studio, Bandung; Index Studio, Surabaya and FFTV IKJ.

Yashuo Yamaguchi is an animation film producer with a 30-year history in the field. His works include Okami Shonen Ken, Moretsu Ataro, Kick no Oni, Candy Candy, Maple Town Story.

In 1995 he helped establish Toei Institute (an animation course institute) and now he is the executive director of Toei Animation Co. Ltd. Koichi Tsunoda has more or less the same track record in animation as an animator and artistic designer. His works include Devilman, Maziner Z, Microid S, Cyborg 009 and Space Battleship Yamato.

Japan's animated films are attractive in terms of their production. Their techniques and the story lines are unique. In Indonesia they are pretty popular. Almost every day they can be seen on TV. To mention a few: Dora Emon, Sailor Moon, Saint Seya, Dragon Ball, Candy Candy, Remi -- these names are very familiar to both children and adults.

In Japan, animated films first appeared in 1917. The whole thing began with a very simple film using the cut-out technique (hinges were attached to pieces of paper where they were to be put together, just like leather puppets).

Animated films then developed further in the U.S., with transparent cells or dolls. But Japanese animation techniques have never really imitated the technical approach that has prevailed in U.S.

Japan does not want to copy the Walt Disney technique, which uses 24 pictures to make a movement in one second. The Japanese think this is too expensive.

Most Japanese animated films are made with eight pictures (known as the limited picture style). This is so as not only to cut down on production costs but also because of artistic considerations. As a result this technique is now known as the Japanese style, or "Japanimation".

This technique is often exploited to create various possibilities, such as 3-D images, by moving still pictures in a number of layers in various directions at the same time.

In early 1953 television broadcasting began in Japan. Three years later Toei Animation Co. Ltd. was established. Its ambition was to parallel Disney productions, which then dominated the world.

Toei's initial productions were full-length cartoon films based on classical stories from China and Japan, among others Hakuja Den (The White Snake Enchantress), directed by Taiji Yabushita in 1958 and Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke (The Adventure of Little Samurai Magicboy, which many years later inspired the creation of the now-popular Dragon Ball. This animated film won an award at the Venice Film Festival in 1960.

The pioneer of Japan's animated film industry, who spoke in many international forums was Nobure Ofuki. In 1958 he was the industry's spokesman at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Since then Japanese animated films have been considered an important phenomenon in the global film industry.

Another promulgator of Japan's animated films was Yoji Kuri. He made a lot of experimental animated films and these always took part in European and American films festivals. Kuri is an animated film maker who has always stayed outside the system. He was of the opinion that animated films were an artistic medium for personal expression.

Not until 1963 did Toei enter the television industry and control it with the production of a 30-minute cartoon series, Tetsuwan Atomu, known in Indonesia as Astro Boy, which was made by Osamu Tezuk. This TV serial has become popular not only in Japan but also the world over because it tells the story of a robot with human feelings.

According to Yamaguchi, to produce a 24-minute animated film in Japan today costs some 12 million (US$102,000) while a TV station can afford to buy films for 9 million .

So, to ensure animated films become popular, most are based on popular comics. This was the case when he produced Candy Candy. Of course this strategy is well received because the producer is able to sell products related to the films, such as games, CDs and so forth,

Toei and a number of animated film production houses in Japan use the same strategy.

The largest market is the domestic one. The films can then be sold on to Asia, Europe and Central America at the producers' leisure.

Japan's television stations now air more or less 60 titles of local cartoon serials every week. Toei can supply only 6 to 68 titles.

Social changes in Japan, which have reduced birth rates and allowed young people to spend most of their time outside the home, have also affected the airing hours of animated films. Film owners prefer to broadcast their films at night, Or, the films are broadcast in special channels, cable TV for instance.

This has led to the introduction of changes in the content and storylines of films to cater to the viewers' tastes and lifestyles. Most of the topics popular now are related to youngsters and male-female relationships although the films are still based on popular comics with similar subjects.

Yamaguchi and Tsunoda revealed that, as a large company, Toei embarked on digitalization with Macintosh hardware only two years ago (not all Toei productions are computer-aided).

It means that some of its productions still rely on a classical technique, namely using animated cells. The production, that uses drawing and coloring, is often entrusted to parties outside Japan, in Taiwan or even Indonesia.

Now that computers are being used more and more, it is expected that the production time will be cut and fewer people will be need. Besides, greater accuracy should be possible.

However, the weakness of both current hardware and software to make animated films, he said, was that time was needed to learn how to use them and experts in the field are still relatively few in number.

So, he and his colleagues established in 1995 the Toei Animation Institute. however he admitted that Japan was still well behind the United States in terms of animation education. No universities offer animation courses like the ones available in the U.S.

It seems that to Japan's animated film-making industry, having the latest technology is not the main goal. The most important thing is consistency and seriousness in processing creativity which is adjusted to market demands.

According to some animators at the workshop, Indonesian animators can now get hold of sophisticated equipment like silicon graphics, soft images, Targa, Henry and scores of Avids and hundreds of Macintoshes but unfortunately the results are not equitable with the quality of the equipment.

Yamaguchi and Tsunoda said they came to Indonesia to paint a picture about Japan's animation world and also to find out the state of the development of Indonesia's animated film industry.

They said they would take some Indonesian products home to study further and then consider cooperating with Indonesian animators.

The writer is a filmmaker and teacher at FFTV IKJ.