A Brief History of Anime
Michael O'Connell
Source: Otakon 1999 program book
Early Days
At the beginning of the 20th century, Japanese graphic artists began to feel the influence of two very powerful Western inventions: the newspaper comic strip and the motion picture. With its word balloons and linear story-line, the comic strip provided Japanese story-tellers with a structure that was readily accessible to the masses. Soon, popular cartoonists like Rakiten Kitazawa and Ippei Okamoto were producing their own serialized newspaper prints. These would eventually contribute to the development of the modern Japanese comic book or "manga"
In 1914, cartoonists were among the first Japanese artists to experiment with animated motion pictures. Japan's first world-wide success was Kitayama Seitaro's short film Momotaro(1918). Although the Japanese animation industry continued to grow slowly, its one, last pre-war milestone was Chikara To Onna No Yononaka. Appearing in 1932, the short film was the first animated "talkie" in Japanese.
Elswhere in the world, the animation industry was not only thriving but breaking new ground. The undisputed leaders in the field were Walt Disney and the Fleisher Brothers. People now forgot what a shock it was for Disney to even consider producing a full-length animated feature. But, when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs appeared in 1937 to overwhelming popular acclaim, Disney demonstrated that animation could be just as expressive and viable a medium as live-action film.
The popularity and influence of Disney and the Fleishers' animated films were not limited to the United States. Before World War II, much of their work was seen by receptive audiences in Europe and Asia. These works also inspired the dreams of a young man who would go on to alter the direction of Japanese graphic story-telling forever.
The God
As unbelievable as it may