The Japan Times has a long, and at times sensationalistic, article describing how the Japanese animation industry is struggling to survive and why their “animation bubble” is about to burst. A vast number of reasons are offered. I don’t know enough about their industry to properly assess which reasons are accurate and which are overblown, but some of the reasons covered in the article include a sluggish economy leading to lower production budgets, too much adult content turning off general audiences, piracy and fansubs in the West, lack of financial incentives for show creators, shady business practices by production studios, and low pay for the average animation worker. I was also surprised to read that 90% of their animation work is outsourced to countries like China and the Philippines. Maybe the US animation industry isn’t that bad after all.

(Thanks, Karl Cohen)

A lot of people online are talking about the forthcoming live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon’s animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender and nobody has a single nice thing to say. The source of controversy: the four lead actors cast in the live-action version are all white.

Comic book artist Derek Kirk Kim wrote an impassioned blog entry about the casting choices and explains succinctly why this is such a poor decision on Paramount’s part:

“[Avatar is] wholly and inarguably built around Asian (and Inuit) culture. Everything from to the costume designs, to the written language, to the landscapes, to martial arts, to philosophy, to spirituality, to eating utensils!—it’s all an evocative, but thinly veiled, re-imagining of ancient Asia. (In one episode, a region is shown where everyone is garbed in Korean hanboks—traditional Korean clothing—the design of which wasn’t even altered at all.) It would take a willful disregard of the show’s intentions and origins to think this wouldn’t extend to the race of the characters as well. You certainly don’t see any blonde people running around in Avatar. (I’m not saying that would have necessarily been a bad thing, I’m just stating the facts of the show and the world in which it is set.)”

To rub salt in the wound, this is what actor Jackson Rathbone told an interviewer about how he needs to prepare to play a role in Avatar: “I definitely need a tan.” Unbelievable.

Recently Madeline Ashby penned an excellent thought-provoking piece for FPS Magazine about the growing trend of live-action anime adaptations and the systematic exclusion of Asians from these films (the upcoming live versions of Akira and Cowboy Bebop also handed lead roles to white actors). She also ponders why movie studios don’t actually support the studios making the original works instead of trying to cash in with watered-down adaptations:

The anime industry is barely getting by, at a point in time when its global appeal is most highly recognized. As Roland Kelts points out in Japanamerica, people who believe that anime is a lucrative business for the animators or even directors are sadly deluded…But big names like DiCaprio and Reeves could give the industry a much-needed boost by following the Tarantino and Wachowski method: fund your own anime, rather than commissioning adaptations. For the cost of a Hollywood film, couldn’t you pay the people at Gonzo or Production IG or Bones to animate your own script? What if, instead of meatsack re-hashings of classic anime titles, we got fresh product done by professionals who know the medium inside and out?

Back to Avatar, an online letter-writing campaign has been launched encouraging people to write in about the film’s casting. Concerned fans are being asked to address their letters to Paramount’s head of production, Mark Bakshi, who, in an ironic twist, is the son of Ralph Bakshi, a filmmaker who always dealt frankly and openly with racial issues in his work. UPDATE: It has been pointed out to me that though everybody is addressing their complaint letters to Bakshi, he was laid off from Paramount quite a few months ago.

(Thanks to Anson Jew who brought this story to my attention on Cartoon Brew’s Facebook page)

That’s the headline in the Singapore based The Straits Times this morning. The outspoken Hayao Miyazaki was quoted by Hong Kong’s Sunday Morning Post in an interview to promote his latest movie, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.:

Miyazaki said his recruits are tested in a boot camp where mobile phones, iPods and other electronic devices are banned. “Young people are surrounded by virtual things,” Miyazaki was quoted as saying. “They lack real experience or life, and lose their imagination. Animators can only draw from their own experience of pain and shock and emotions.”

That’s why we love this guy. Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and John Lasseter are currently producing the English dub featuring Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Cloris Leachman.

The Japan Times has details about a press conference that Hayao Miyazaki held in Tokyo a few weeks ago. The article describes him as a “cranky 67-year-old” which is not too inaccurate a description considering what he said at the conference. Then again, anybody who makes films as well as Miyazaki does deserves to be as cranky as they want.

Miyazaki seemingly has an opinion about everything, from Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso’s apprecation of manga (”It’s an embarrassment. He should do that sort of thing in his private time.”) to how classic films don’t work for today’s audiences (”[A]udiences today can no longer enjoy films that are more than 30 years old, save in a historical sense…If Casablanca were released now, it wouldn’t be a hit.”). He also thinks that today’s kids shouldn’t use so much technology (”It takes away their strength.”) and that the world is ending (”I’m not confident that we can stave off the collapse of civilization, though we must make the maximum effort.”)

That latter statement is actually more positive than he was about the fate of humanity in this 2005 The New Yorker profile (a highly recommended read by the way):

“I’m hoping I’ll live another thirty years. I want to see the sea rise over Tokyo and the NTV tower become an island. I’d like to see Manhattan underwater. I’d like to see when the human population plummets and there are no more high-rises, because nobody’s buying them. I’m excited about that.”

(via Harvey Deneroff)

Can’t wait for the live-action version Akira that Leonardo DiCaprio is currently producing? Here’s a satirical version showing what would happen if Akira were made by Americans. I was unable to dig up details on who made it. Please post in the comments if you know.

Artist Robert Burden set a time lapse camera on his canvas as he painted his tribute to Voltron:

We may have a Felix Chevrolet dealer in Southern California, but Ben at the Japanese Nostalgic Car blog reports on a new chain of Speed Racer themed gas stations in Japan. Here’s the Official Web Site.

(Thanks, Doran Gaston)

Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature, Ponyo On The Cliff, opened yesterday in Japan. It’s one of his gentler films, more along the lines of My Neighbor Totoro - and I’m looking forward to it. Not wild about the theme song on the trailer, but the visuals look terrific.

(via Frames Per Second)