[/floatl]Playbackstl: The Roots of Japanese Anime - Until the End of WW II
Today, animated television programs and movies from Japan are popular all over the world, and often serve as the first contact Americans have with Japanese culture. It was not always so, however: although film animation in Japan dates back to 1907, early production was decentralized and animation techniques often lagged behind that of American studios such as Disney. Many of these early Japanese films are lost to history, which makes the DVD collection The Roots of Japanese Anime, available from Zakka Films, particularly welcome. It presents eight early Japanese animated films, created between 1930 and 1942, along with informative essays by Jasper Sharp and Aaron Gerow. Together these films make a significant contribution to our understanding of Japanese animation and its historical development, and also provide fascinating window into Japanese culture in the years leading up to World War II...more...
