Ask John: How Would Anime Have Evolved Without Disney?

Question:
What do you think the outcome of the manga/anime world would have been if not for Disney? Would neither have arisen? One of them? Both but later?

Answer:
I’m sure that it’s impossible to accurately gauge how Japanese manga and animation would have evolved had the influence of Disney animation not reached Japan, and I suspect that there are manga and anime scholars that are more knowledgeable and capable of making theoretical speculations than I am. But I can pose my own guess. Based on the information and facts available, I think it’s safe to say that Japanese comics and animation might not look exactly the way they do now if Disney animation hadn’t influenced Osamu Tezuka early in his career, but I do think that manga and anime would have continued to develop.

In his book Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, author Fred Schodt explains that Japanese comics were a thriving artistic medium decades before Walt Disney introduced Mickey Mouse to the world. Likewise there were Japanese animated films in circulation before Disney’s influence reached Japan. The influence of Disney animation on manga and anime seeped in largely through Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka. Growing up and working in the post WWII era, Tezuka was exposed to Disney animation, and was naturally led to believe that America’s victory in WWII and the following American occupation of Japan signified that American culture would one day dominate the world. So Tezuka modeled his comic characters on the design style of Walt Disney’s art. Tezuka was also inspired by live action movies to make his comics very visual and theatrical. These two characteristics, and Tezuka’s prolific body of work, influenced and helped form the modern manga and anime culture of Japan. But Osamu Tezuka, the “Godfather of manga,” did not single-handedly create or jump-start the manga and anime industry. His 1963 anime television series Tetsuwan Atom is considered the first regularly scheduled anime television series, but the 1962-1964 Otogi Manga Calendar program was actually the first anime series ever broadcast on Japanese television.

Disney undoubtedly had a significant influence on Osamu Tezuka, who in turn made a major impact on Japanese manga and anime industry. But manga and anime both existed before Tezuka, and before Disney animation became an influence in Japan. Based on those facts, I think it’s inevitable that Japanese manga and anime would have developed and flourished with or without any borrowing from Disney animation. But I think it’s also undeniable that Disney animation helped shape the way Japanese manga and anime look today.