The Japanimated Folktale: Analysis Concerning the Use and Adaptation of Folktale Characteristics in Anime
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Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Masters Theses & Specialist Projects Graduate School 8-2012 The aJ panimated Folktale: Analysis Concerning the Use and Adaptation of Folktale Characteristics in Anime Amber N. Slaven Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses Part of the Folklore Commons Recommended Citation Slaven, Amber N., "The aJ panimated Folktale: Analysis Concerning the Use and Adaptation of Folktale Characteristics in Anime" (2012). Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 1198. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1198 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses & Specialist Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE JAPANIMATED FOLKTALE: ANALYSIS CONCERNING THE USE AND ADAPTATION OF FOLKTALE CHARACTERISTICS IN ANIME A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Folklore and Anthropology Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, Kentucky In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By Amber N. Slaven August 2012 For Tom, who introduced me to anime. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A written work is never really a product of one individual, but it is a thing created by many. Several layers of revision and suggestion from an abundance of friends, professors, and knowledgeable folk help to make a written thing whole. For this particular essay, I had the very best individuals who helped direct my thoughts into something both feasible and worthwhile. And, therefore, I will give these individuals the recognition that is their due. Firstly, without the support of my committee members Drs. Timothy Evans, Ann Ferrell, and Lindsey Powell I would probably be trying to make cockamamie claims with half-baked proofs. More precisely, these individuals helped to direct my research concerning fan culture, folk tales, narratives, Japanese culture and history, and fantasy. Most importantly, they helped me gain proficiency in academic research and writing. Without the support and consideration of these professors, I would not have been able to complete the first chapter, let alone and entire thesis. For these reasons and numerous others, I say thank you. It is also important to acknowledge individuals who are not members of my committee but who nonetheless were essential in the creation of this work. Firstly, I wish to give special thanks to Sarah McCartt-Jackson and Katherine Chappell who provided voluntary editing services with absolutely no bribing or blackmailing involved. I would like to say thanks to Justin Sumner and Melody Vanover who are my very best friends and provided essential feedback throughout the entire process and laughed at my “research”. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge Daniel Baker, Janice Crane, and iv Molly Bolick. Each of these individuals spent the entire year patiently listening to my ramblings with virtually no complaint. After which, they helped sort out what would and would not be appropriate to say. I can only hope I have been as good a friend to them as they have been to me. Thirdly, I would like to thank my mother, Shelva, my dad, Wade, and my sisters, Stephanie and Sarah. Though they did not edit or help with analysis, they did help shape who I am and the way I see the world. It is very obvious; Amber would not be Amber without them. Finally, though this is but a small list, there are several others who have helped, assisted, or downright influenced this finished project. To those unnamed ones: thanks! All in all, this has been a time consuming, daunting, frustrating, and humbling business that I do not regret in the slightest. Though there are several places for improvement and obvious areas for further research, I finish with a feeling of accomplishment. At heart, I value each revision and every suggestion for improvement because they are cherished examples of the lessons I have learned and the experiences I have gained. My aim here has been for those I have mentioned above to know their part in the achievement of these lessons and experiences and to know that it would have not been possible without them. Therefore, to one and all, I send my deepest, sincerest, heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for your assistance. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... iv Abstract .................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1:Disney, Manga and the Introduction of Anime ....................................... 22 Chapter 2: Borrowing from the Tale Tradition ....................................................... 44 Chapter 3: Anime: An Example of the Adaptive Quality of Folktales ..................... 90 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 113 APPENDIX A ......................................................................................................... 117 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 118 Filmography ............................................................................................................ 122 GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................ 127 vi Abstract THE JAPANIMATED FOLKTALE: ANALYSIS CONCERNING THE USE AND ADAPTATION OF FOLKTALE CHARACTERISTICS IN ANIME Amber N. Slaven August 2012 129 pages Directed by: Timothy Evans, Ann Ferrell, and Lindsey Powell Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology Western Kentucky University In this thesis, I examine the relationship between folk tales and Japanese animation, or anime. In spite of the popular association between animation and adolescence, animated television series and films have a dynamic and compelling relationship with various age groups and nationalities. Additionally, anime and animation draw liberally from a number of folk tale traditions. Consequently, in this essay, anime is understood as a global phenomenon that draws on international cultural elements and is consumed in several international markets. Before entering an analysis of the use of folk tales in anime, a history of animation and the place of anime within a Japanese and global matrix is provided. This history not only looks at the development of anime, its connection to Western cinema and animation studios, but also its connection to other Japanese artistic genres, such as manga. Once this foundation is established, it is possible to connect anime with folk tale scholarship in chapter two. This chapter explores this connection in three ways, namely similar content, structure and function. Chapter three builds on the analysis in the preceding chapter and examines the ways anime, as a visual, televised, episodic series, builds on and alters the folk tale tradition. This is primarily explored through the use of visual storytelling techniques and the proliferation of advanced technology. Additionally, this chapter addresses a major vii point made against the use of folk tales in mass media, specifically the loss of variation. The final chapter concludes and summarizes the ideas, and analysis through out the thesis. It is in this final chapter that suggestions for further research can be found. This thesis looks not only at the use of folk tales and folk tale characteristics in new media, such as anime, but how these new media contribute to and help to pass on folk tale traditions. Ultimately, this paper suggests anime is an example of a contemporary form of tale telling, which draws on traditional elements as well as catering to a contemporary audience. viii Introduction I cannot remember a time when I haven’t been interested in cartoons. As with other children, I was an avid consumer of animation and I never missed an opportunity to experience a new show or movie. Even when I was growing up, I remember waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch the cartoon line up with my dad. This was part of our relationship and our weekly ritual, even into my college years. When my family eventually upgraded to satellite television and got access to all the additional programing that came along with that, I discovered Cartoon Network. It was through Cartoon Network I was able to experience an animation aesthetic vastly different from animation I had previously experienced. Every weekday from 4 until 6, I was invested in the Toonami block of programming on Cartoon Network that specialized in airing anime or Japanese animation. The first series I remember experiencing during this time was Sailor Moon, an anime classic which Drazen describes as “the biggest breakthrough [in the sense of acceptance of anime by an American audience] up to that time” (1995) (Drazen, 2003: 11). As I began to appreciate the diversity of story lines in anime and the aesthetic of the animation style, I started to broaden my exposure to the genre. I became interested other series such as Ruroni Kenshin, Dragon Ball Z, Astro Boy, Inyuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, and the various others that Cartoon Network aired over the years. While I realize these examples of anime provided only a limited familiarity with Japanese