[b] [big] Penn State Prof intrigued by Japanese animation [/big] [/b]
? Bill Ellis is exhibiting some of the items from his collection at the Hazleton campus library and will present a program there on Oct. 4
[b] By KENT JACKSON [/b]
kent.jackson@standardspeaker.com
(for a scan of the start of this piece, see:
http://www.eu.animanga.com/cels/ForumImg/1095642947100.jpg )
Li Syaoran is woozy from exhaustion.
His head tilts, his tassel swirls, his eyes unfocus in a climactic scene from ?Cardcaptor Sakura,? an animated series produced for Japanese television between 1998 and 2000.
For many of the previous 68 episodes, romance seemed possible between Li Syaoran, a teenaged boy, and the title character, Sakura, as he helped her search for magic cards.
Now after defeating a final foe and ready to faint from the effort, Li Syaoran calls to Sakura.
A sketch that animators drew of Li Syaoran for the scene is among the drawings, watercolors and painted plastic sheets called cels on display in the library at Penn State Hazleton. [i] Actually, the cels aren?t on display, as he notes later in the story -- Sensei [/i]
Professor Bill Ellis, who purchased the artwork at Internet auctions and trade shows, arranged the exhibition. He plans a public lecture in which he will show still pictures and video footage from Japanese animation as part of Community Day at Penn State Hazleton on Oct. 3.
Ellis became interested in Japanese animation while watching programs with his daughter five years ago. Since then, he sought out folklore in the programs just as he tracked down other modern myths from stories of ritualistic murders, mutilated cattle, vampire hunts, and Satanic rites for scholarly books.
?In the last 10 years, the concept of urban legend emerged in Japan,? Ellis said.
Western folklore influences the new Japanese myths, which nevertheless take Eastern twists and borrow symbols from Shinto and Buddhist faiths.
Editors excise much of the Eastern lore from versions of the television shows that they dub in English and release for Western audiences.
But in America, the Japanese versions with English subtitles greatly outsell the overdubs and provide viewers with an introduction to Japanese culture and language. [i] Certainly true of CCS/Cardcaptors; I don?t know if this is true of all sub/dub series, though -- Sensei [/i]
The programs helped influence more U.S. college students to study about Japan and learn to speak Japanese, Ellis said.
?When I teach mythology, I always end with a unit on Japanese animation. It?s a student-friendly way to learn about Japanese religious beliefs,? he said.
Unlike Disney animation that pleases all ages but is directed at younger children, the Japanese television programs and movies depict quandaries that adolescents encounter.
Frightening situations and monsters that appear on screen often are allegories for conflicts occurring within a character?s thoughts.
?The devils people create show up ? (as) internal problems projected onto the world,? Ellis said.
His daughter, Elizabeth, was 16 when he started watching shows with her.
They still watch, but rarely agree on the best programs.
?To her bemusement, I developed an interest in shows she was not interested in,? Ellis said.
She likes horror [i]she says ?action? would be more accurate -- Sensei[/i] and vampire shows, whereas he prefers fantasies that delve into folklore.
Fans of the shows become collectors of the drawings.
For scenes that have special meaning to them, collectors might pay $5000 for a colorized cel.
Ellis, however, assembled much of his collection by paying as little as $15 for a batch of drawings. Nothing on display at Penn State Hazleton cost more than $50.
?In all honesty, it?s a fun hobby within an academic?s budget ? It?s interesting, beautiful and cheap,? he said.
?For me and other collectors, these are series we see as becoming classics. A chance to own something that went on camera is an unexpected opportunity.?
Many of the drawings sell just as they were when artists discarded them years ago.
Ellis buys some drawings that are stuck together by adhesive tape, splotched with paint, or dotted with holes through which artists drove pins when aligning transparent layers of drawings to assemble a scene. [i]He?s referring to the registration holes here -- Sensei[/i]
?Some have big splashes of coffee,? he said.
Plastic cels on which artists photocopied the black outlines of a scene and painted on the reverse side deteriorate in light and cannot be displayed.
Studios regard cels as hazardous waste unsuitable for incinerators or landfills.
Collectors, though, create virtual museums on the Internet to showcase the cels without harming them.
Ellis is curator for the Sensei?s Anime Gallery at
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/home.asp
His exhibit at Penn State Hazleton illustrates how ideas and characters take shape as the artists move from rough sketches to colored cels.
For the scene of Li Syaoran about to collapse, an art director looked at a colored-pencil sketch and drew changes that Ellis noticed after studying pictures. [He?s referring to a genga/shuusei genga set in the exhibit -- Sensei] He placed the pair of drawings side by side in the exhibit for comparison.
?At first, you say this is the same thing. The more you look at it, you see why this one is a more professional image,? he said of the edited sketch.
In that drawing, Li Syaoran?s eyes point in different directions, more of his hat shows, and his tassel swings at a different angle to indicate that he is about to faint.
Does he declare his love for Sakura?
Ellis won?t say.
Animation enthusiasts never give away decisive moments.
