American animation VS. Japanese Animation

This bachelor thesis is a comparative study between American animation and Japanese animation. We take a look into differences, taking into account the culture, history, production- and the animation techniques employed. The main theoretical questions that are answered in this study are: - How has each side of animation influenced the culture surrounding it, and vice versa? -Why can Japanese animation studios presumably produce more than twice the amount that an American animation studio produces? - What are some of the structural differences when looking at similar, but ultimately different, productions from each side of animation? We have come to decisive conclusions to each theoretical question. The biggest cultural influence for Japanese animation is the Shinto religion. It is at the core of Japanese animation, and influences both storytelling and visual elements. In American animation, a shift happened in the culture, making its animation oriented towards children. In later years, it shifted again towards adults. This gave birth to adult-oriented animated sitcoms, which has become the norm in America. Japanese animation studios produce content faster than American animation studios. The biggest reasons for this is their budgets, how detailed the work is, and how hard the studio pushes themselves. Japanese anime is not as detailed as American animation, therefore it doesn’t take as long to produce. On average, 30 minutes of Japanese animation takes 1-3 months to produce, while 30 minutes of American animation takes 6-9 months to produce. Some of the biggest structural differences between Japanese and American animation is how they blur the line between good and evil, and how they pace their stories. Japanese animation usually gives characters a mix of both good and bad qualities, while American animation clearly defines a good hero, and an evil villain