Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1276583
D E PA R T M E N T 37 KEYFRAME FALL 2020 37 © 1992 Studio Ghibli – NN BEYOND LIMITS Having grown up in Japan, Rie Koga has worked in the animation industries in both countries. When she got satellite TV in 1999, she had access to Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and shows like Dexter's Laboratory and the Powerpuff Girls. As her interest in American animation developed, Koga noticed the stylized designs, quick cutting and constant dialog of those shows. "It was almost like I was watching stand-up comedy," she says. "Japanese animation has a bigger story arc," says Koga. "Sometimes the characters die, even in kids shows. I got so scared by kids shows in Japan, but it's a very normal thing." After working on multiple action shows in Japan, Koga moved to the United States in 2011 partially with an eye toward seeing how the industry worked. She studied at the Concept Design Academy and was hired as a storyboard artist on the Nickelodeon reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Voltron: Legendary Defender. In looking around the industry, Koga has noticed more American animated shows taking on some of the characteristics of anime like continuing storylines and weightier themes. "An example of that would be Steven Universe," she says. "Those designs look cartoony, but it has a big story arc from beginning to end and sometimes it has very heartbreaking moments." Ian Jones-Quartey, a writer who has worked on both the Steven Universe series and movie agrees citing 1970s-era anime like Future Boy Conan and Lupin the Third as part of the influence of the show created by Jones-Quartey's wife, Rebecca Sugar. "A lot of the visual style was based on classic video games from the 16-bit and 32-bit era," he says. "A lot of the art directors of those games were probably inspired by animation, Japanese and not." On his show, O.K. K.O.! Let's be Heroes, Jones-Quartey says that the creation of a department specifically to bring in animators to do difficult shots is inspired by the model for Japanese cartoons. "I see that trend becoming very normal on a lot of Western shows," he adds. "I think there's a lot to be inspired by." "Seeing other countries unafraid to explore the limits of what animation can do, and what kinds of stories it can tell, can absolutely inspire us to follow suit," agrees Farrell. "It's the core of being an artist to see something cool and think, 'Wow! I want to make something like that!' I hope we do." "There's no overthinking of who the audience is... It's just about what would be spectacular, what would be emotional and what would really be resonant." – Dean DeBlois