Anime and Manga

Anime is commonly defined as animation originating in Japan.

Manga consist of comics and print cartoons, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th century.

It is characterized by distinctive characters and backgrounds, that visually and thematically set it apart from other forms of animation.

Anime and manga share many characteristics, exaggerated physical features such as large eyes, big hair and elongated limbs... and dramatically shaped speech bubbles, speed lines and onomatopoeic, exclamatory typography.

Disney and Ideology

An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions.

Entertainment, including a child’s bedtime story, is never just entertainment. Cultural products always reinforce or resist (and sometimes both at once) a society’s collective social values and belief systems. A film’s ideological meanings refer to the ideas that the film conveys about its world’s social relations, economic structures, and political institutions. Disney classics are not as timeless as Walt Disney would have liked to think because they all carry the ideological baggage of their time.

Dumbo, for example, is an icon of the American dream; his story takes America’s capitalist sociopolitical system for granted. In a socialist context, realizing one’s dream to become a star would not be a positive story; like the horse in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a socialist hero would sacrifice his or her life for the community without wanting glamour or financial benefit in return. Dumbo’s success is measured by a Hollywood contract and a cheering crowd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbhUeom-KD4

Technology's Influence on Art.

Technology allows artists to explore new mediums that were not previously available. Three dimensional modeling on computers and various other programs graphical effects provided on various programs allows artists to do things with theirart that were unavailable to previous generations of artists. However, the influence that computers in particular have had on art in general does not compare to the influence that an earlier, less advanced technological break-through had on the arts.

The Pixar shorts are a good example, that show an interesting short story which have developed over time along with the technology.