Cult Classic Akira Continues Anime’s Impact on Hollywood via the Shrek Universe
The anime film Akira has been a major source of inspiration for creators all around the world, particularly in the action and sci-fi genres, ever since it debuted back in 1988. Oddly enough, the director of the family movie Puss In Boots: The Last Wish recently praised the rated-R post-apocalyptic movie. Thankfully, the Puss in Boots sequel has nothing at all in common with Akira, but the animation is a positive indication that Hollywood can still preserve a fading craft.
Director Joel Crawford emphasised the influence Akira had on the animation of the Puss in Boots movie in a Variety interview. In other words, he was motivated by the anime cult classic to include 2D animation into his work with Dreamworks. Although in the broad scheme of things this may seem like a small point, for Hollywood’s animation business this is an indication of a shifting tide.
Joel Crawford’s Love of Akira
Crawford discusses how seeing the movie Akira as a youngster influenced him in the Variety interview. He says that when he was younger, the hand-drawn 2D graphics astounded him, and he was particularly motivated by the animation of the stunningly realistic explosions in the movie. Crawford states that he wanted to add unique elements to the animation that he thought only anime could achieve while tackling the art and design for the movie Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. He asserts in the interview that he and the animation team agreed to “go back to the artist and remove the mark of the computer” when working together.
Joel Crawford’s enthusiasm for Akira lies at the heart of this conversation. The cult masterpiece may have served as his introduction to anime, but as he reveals in the interview, it is also what motivated him to seek a career in the arts. Many artists, both in the East and the West, experience this.
The Lasting Impact of Akira
Akira served as a major source of inspiration for many artists in Japan, including Masashi Kishimoto, the guy behind Naruto. Regarding the US, several movies, including Looper, Inception, and many more, may be credited to Akira.
Although the anime film has a far longer history of influencing Hollywood and cinema, it had an influence even during the production of the original Netflix series Stranger Things. Despite this, Akira doesn’t get much credit for changing Hollywood’s animation, which has been a glaringly underappreciated sector of the business.
The Neglect of Animation In the West
For some reason or another, animation in general has never received the same attention in the West as it has in the East. Cartoons are seldom appreciated in mainstream media, at least outside of children’s entertainment, even though the anime genre has evolved into a massive business with a diverse fan base. Even when children’s enjoyment is the main focus, shoddy scripts, animation, and everything in between are dismissed as insignificant.
There are still many problems within the industry that need to be resolved, despite the fact that businesses like Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks have become renowned for meticulously crafting animated masterpieces. There are very few original ideas emerging from the American animation industry, apart from the censorship problem and the need for more diverse demographics in high-budget animation.
The limitations of the business are evident in the paucity of innovative animation concepts. Although there is value in amusing youngsters, the medium can — and should — be utilised for more. Instead, it is treated more like a child’s game than the art form it actually is. Contrarily, anime has a long history of enthralling and inspiring viewers of all ages. Japanese animation productions are often more meticulously constructed, whether they are for television or movies. Joel Crawford’s mention of Akira is significant because of this. It’s an indication that some American artists are beginning to realise how inspiring animation is as a method of expression.
Looking To the Future of Animation
The topic of whether to use 2D or 3D animation techniques is one that often arises among lovers of American animation in particular. Even though it seems like the days of just 2D hand-drawn animation are long gone, the genre is still much missed for more than just sentimental reasons. Crawford would undoubtedly agree that 2D animation’s ability to capture motions frame-by-frame has a unique quality. When it comes to enhancing a film or show’s look with charm, emotion, and connection, 3D animation alone can only do so much. 2D animation offers a greater possibility of portraying them, from minute differences in body language to the way that natural components move.
The Disney animated short Paperman (2012) and the Sony feature film Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018) are two recent American film projects that were among the first to combine 2D animation with 3D to create something novel, but the experimental look is still not even close to as common as 3D is right now. It may be the turning moment that the animation business needs to undergo a transformation that a big animation studio like Dreamworks will finally let its artists to do something innovative and original.
It is hoped that mainstream audiences will start to demand better quality animated films as a result of how well-liked the new Puss in Boots movie is, which earned $18.8 million on its first day at the box office. Crawford’s promotion of Akira is also a positive indication that readers of the interview would see the classic Japanese movie and be moved by it, continuing the film’s profound influence on audiences, contemporary art, Hollywood, and the cinema industry as a whole.
Cult Classic Akira Continues Anime’s Impact on Hollywood via the Shrek Universe
- Reference Sites:
- https://animesee.com/
- https://www.crunchyroll.com/
- https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/
- https://www.cbr.com/