Anime along with Japanese popular culture have become increasingly more and more prominent in the modern West. This was exemplified recently in the US where Godzilla Minus One and The Boy and the Heron outperformed expectations and swept the box office. However, this hasn’t always been the case and it certainly wasn’t for the first several anime films that were released in America. Given how fascinating this topic is, I thought it worth taking a look at these anime films and what their reception was like.
To begin, it’s important to note that the three films that I’m about to discuss were all produced by Toei Animation whose ambition was to become the Disney of the East. Understandably, their ambition included international success, thinking that animated movies were more likely to succeed than live-action, and they eventually managed to secure the release of several of their films in America.
The very first anime film to be released in America was actually the second animated movie that Toei Animation made. Originally called Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke, the film was released in Japan in 1959 before eventually being released in America in June, 1961. This release was by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and I’m unable to find a comprehensive list of alterations although it is noted that the Japanese songs were unaltered and the main character was falsely advertised as a samurai rather than a ninja.
The next anime film to be released in America was released merely weeks after the debut of Magic Boy. Panda and the Magic Serpent, known as Hakujaden in Japanese, was Toei Animation’s feature film debut and the first anime film to be in colour. When it came to its American release, the film was distributed by Globe Pictures and released in July, 1961. Unfortunately, I’m unable to find much information about its performance beyond some vague statements that it was a disappointment but the film did receive some changes with perhaps the most notable and amusing being that the red panda is referred to as a cat.
The last film that I wish to discuss is Alakazam the Great. Known in Japan as Saiyuki, the film is based on the Chinese literary epic Journey to the West and was originally released in 1960. It was later picked up for North American distribution by American International who made sweeping changes to hide its Eastern origin, explaining why the main character is called Alakazam and not Son Goku. Despite these changes, the film ended up being a financial flop with Jonathan Clements noting in the Anime Encyclopedia that its failure led to a perception that Americans wouldn’t watch Japanese animation.
Let me know your thoughts on these anime films that were the first to be released in America, if you’ve seen any of them and, if you have, what you thought of them, what information you have about their American release as well as any other alterations made to them and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!