Japanese anime By: Matt and Rollyn

Beginning of Anime Anime start in the 20th century and included Oten shimokawa, Jun’ichi Kouchi and Seitaro Kitayama they were known as the father of anime. During world war 2 they made propaganda films such as Momotaro no umiwashi (1943) and in (1945) Momotaro umi no shinpei. In the 1970s anime developed further separating itself from its western roots and developing distinct genres such as Mecha and super robot.

Evolving anime Students of kitayama worked at a film studio of his, kenzo Masaoka was another important animator but he worked at a smaller animation studio. In 1923 the Great Kanto earthquake destroyed most of kitayama’s studio and the residing animators founded studios of their own. At first they had a hard time competing with foreign producer such as Disney which were influential on both audiences and producers. The animators kenzo and Mitsuyo however attempted to bring japanese animation up to the level of foreign work by introducing the cel animation.

Anime during WW2 In the 1930s japanese government began enforcing cultural nationalism. This lead to a strict censorship and control of published media. Some movies were shown in newsreel theatres, especially after the film law of 1939 promoted documentary and other educational films. More animated films were commissioned by the military showing the sly and quick japanese people winning against enemy forces.

T Animation and M Productions In 1948 Toei Animation was founded and produced the first colour anime feature film in 1958, Hakujaden or in english The tale of the white serpent. The film however was more Disney in tone than modern anime with musical numbers and animal sidekicks. however, it was widely considered to be the first “anime” ever in its modern sense.

1970s anime During the 1970s, the Japanese film market shrunk due to competition from television. This increased competition from television reduced Toei animation's staff and many animators went to studios such as A Pro and Telecom animation. Mushi Production went bankrupt (only to be revived 4 years later). As a result, many young animators were thrust into the position of director before they would have been promoted to it. This injection of young talent allowed for a wide variety of experimentation. This meant new genres such as Mecha and Super robot.