What shows qualify as "American anime"?

[mitsuki lover]

If I remember correctly there is a difference in how we define Anime and how the Japanese define it.Here in America we define Anime as any animation that is Made In Japan,while in Japan they pretty much use it
to describe any form of animation including Disney.So perhaps what we're
doing is looking at the question through American eyes.If we were Japanese
we might not be asking it.
That said I think what we're talking about is actually better referred to
as Pseudo-Anime.
Pseudo-Anime shows would include:
*Hi!Hi!Puffy Amiyumi
*Teen Titans
*Totally Spies
*WITCH
*Avatar(the hyped new Nick show)

[Heart of Sword]

# The Last Unicorn
# Watership Down

Actually The Last Unicorn was anime as far as I know.

Watership Down was very "anime-esque". It was also very sad.


Hehe, The Lion King "qualifies", right?

[Kaori]

The Last Unicorn was animated by a Japanese studio, Topcraft, although the movie was never actually released in Japan. This is the same studio that made Nausicaa and The Hobbit.

[Arnobius]

The Last Unicorn was animated by a Japanese studio, Topcraft, although the movie was never actually released in Japan. This is the same studio that made Nausicaa and The Hobbit.

I thought these were Rankin Bass. Ghibli made Nausicaa. At any rate, I think the director of Last Unicorn was Ralph Balshiki.

[Kaori]

Both The Last Unicorn and The Hobbit were Rankin-Bass productions, but Topcraft did the animation. I guess I should have stated that more clearly. Studio Ghibli is the name that the same group of Topcraft animators took after producing Nausicaa, although I'm not sure whether the name change was due to a reorganization of the company or whether Ghibli replaced Topcraft.

[Arnobius]

Both The Last Unicorn and The Hobbit were Rankin-Bass productions, but Topcraft did the animation. I guess I should have stated that more clearly. Studio Ghibli is the name that the same group of Topcraft animators took after producing Nausicaa, although I'm not sure whether the name change was due to a reorganization of the company or whether Ghibli replaced Topcraft.

OK, that makes more sense then.

[Cracknut]

American Anime is quite a contradiction considering that term was actually coined in the west to differenciate it's eastern counterpart. As for what is considered "western anime" a lot of these wanna-be series sprouted in the mid-80's and yes some of them were made by Japanese Animation studios.

Examples:

The Real GhostBusters- Toei Doga, Philippines
Gummi Bears- Walt Disney Japan (Now Closed)
Thunder Cats- Rankin Bass (Bought by WB) and AKOM Japan co-production
G.I. Joe & Transformers- Toei Doga, Philippines

By the time the early 90's came around animation costs came soaring in Japan so Hasbro and other companies look for other countries that could produce their stuff cheaper, thuss the quality went down. Nelvana came into the picture with Jim Lee's "Wildcats" after Marvel came out with X-Men a months before who animated their stuff in Korea. But soon after they noticed that something wasn't going right as certain parts their female character's bodies became noticably bigger after a few episodes. I friend of mine told me this when I worked there.

[Jeikobu]

The only shows that come to my mind that mimic anime are Teen Titans, Totally Spies, Shaolin Showdown and Jackie Chan Adventures.

[termyt]

It seems we've gone from listing series that we believe qualify as "American anime" to a conversation about the term itself. I agree that the term needs more definition, but we are splitting hairs here.

Anime is simply the Japanese word for animation - it actually comes from the English word and was imported during the post WWII occupation. Under that definition, all American cartoons are American anime just like all bathrooms in America are American bañyos to Mexicans. We're just substituting one word for its literal translation in another language. This is not a very useful way to define the term, however, because all American cartoons fit.

Another way to go is that anime is used to describe animation from Japan, therefore no American cartoons qualify. This is also not very useful as it makes this thread either very short or very annoying. It is also not very clear cut. The Batman cartoon of a few years back would seem not to qualify as anime under this definition, but it was created by the same studio that did Big O, which most certainly would qualify. It’s like trying to figure out which car is American – the Honda Accord built in Ohio or the Pontiac Firebird made in Canada.

Since neither of these two definitions makes for a very productive thread (based on what appears to be the original post’s request), we need to find some common ground. Following this logic, along with the forum’s stated goal of trying our best to get along and not argue with one another, I would say “American animeâ€

[Cracknut]

I guess one way to look at this "American Anime" issue is that culture inspires culture. TV is a western invention, yet Japan manages to excel in this technology. Yet another completely opposite example is the invention of California Maki, a type of sushi which obviously had it's birth in America. Strictly speaking California Maki is not considered part of Japanese cuisine, but you could order it in any Japanese restaurant.

On a personal note: Nowadays "anime" is now more of genre than a style since almost everybody has a claim to it in more ways than one for most anime are now being animated beyond the shores of Japan. (i.e. Korea, China and the Philippines). Oh by the way though Animatrix is American influenced, the authors also admitted that the movie Matrix was inspired and influenced by Japanese anime. Now talk about art inspiring art and viced versa...

[The Doctor]

Teen Titans would definately be considered American Anime, as well as...............................................................



nothing else comes to mind. :-(

[mitsuki lover]

Shouldn't we use the phrase Pseudo-Anime?

[mitsuki lover]

Shouldn't we use the phrase Pseudo-Anime?

[Ingemar]

Nice idea.... I guess.

[Peanut]

A psuedo anime or american anime or whatever you want to call it that comes to my mind is... well... I think my avatar says it all, but here we go any way:

Megas XLR