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Anime Expo - Friday - International Animation
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Is this the year when American distributors and Japanese
production companies start working together on animated projects? Mike
Tatsugawa (left) of SPJA wanted to know. At a panel discussion, he brought
together Ken Durr center) of Time Warner's TV production arm, best known
for its Kids WB network which carries Pokemon, and Shoji Murahama (right)
of Ganzo Studios from Japan. |
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For five years, Durr has been pushing for Time Warner
to import anime and to produce shows. Durr had an interesting description
of his goal, to "remake series and make them more contemporary for the
U.S. audience." Ironically, the success of selected anime series was undercutting
that goal, since it was easier (read less expensive) for U.S. companies
to buy older Japanese series than to finance the production of new shows.
(Another person in the industry hinted to the author on Friday that Japanese
companies don't get much for the U.S. rights to shows, hoping that they'll
make their profits on ancillary sales such as toys). |
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Murahama added that the success of Pokemon was a
"starting line for the Japanese animated industry." Ganzo had received
offers for shows from companies in the U.S., France and Hong Kong, he said
- and the studio's Blue Submarine No. 6 had been promoted in Singapore.
However, Murahama noted that Pokemon had one advantage that other anime
series did not; it was pre-promoted through the Nintendo video game. "It's
better not to say that because Pokemon is successful, Japanese animation
is more popular," said Murahama. |
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Beyond that, Durr noted that Pokemon's popularity
has started to fade with declining ratings and merchandising sales, so
"We need to find the next hit. It's a company-wide initiative to approach
Japanese companies." Murahama said he's not worried that Ganzo would lose
creative power by dealing with a large American company, but Durr wondered
about the anime storytelling style and its acceptance in U.S. television.
Anime shows follow the manga tradition of long story lines, but American
series have presented episodes as stand-alone events. "Both ends are coming
closer and closer and will meet at a halfway point," Durr predicted. "We're
learning from each other." |
