By Mark Schilling
Japan is the world capital of anime, with nearly locally-made eighty cartoon shows broadcast weekly on the five terrestrial networks. The great majority target under-twelves and the most popular often make the transition to film. Some anime film series, such as Doreamon, about a blue robot cat and its boy companion, and Crayon Shinchan, whose title character is a dirty-minded, potty-mouthed kindergartner, roll out new installments annually, with the regularity of the moon rising over Mt. Fuji.
Of the twenty top-grossing Japanese films in 2004, nine were animation, though one, Mamoru Oshii's deep-think SF epic Innocence, was emphatically not for the kiddies. The rest just as emphatically were, though two by leading anime auteurs -- Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle and Katsuhiro Otomo's Steamboy -- targeted at a wide demographic. Howl's (2004 gross: $184 million) hit it far harder than Steamboy ($10.6 million) -- and since added another $100 million or so to its total. Meanwhile the best the Hollywood animated competition could manage last year was Finding Nemo's $101 million -- hardly shabby, but about a third of Howl's overall take.
Live-action Japanese films for kids are far fewer, at least on annual BO top twenty charts, though entries in the Ultraman, Masked Rider and other boy-friendly series continue to be made. (Godzilla, another boy favorite, has unfortunately bit the dust.) Girls are less well served, though animal films that appeal to children of both sexes are making a comeback. The ignitor of the boom was Quill -- a drama about a guide dog and its cranky middle-aged master that grossed $20 million last year. Now Fuji TV has entered Shining Boy and Little Randy, a film based on a true story about teenage boy's quest to become an elephant trainer, into the summer box office sweeps, hoping to best Quill's total.
Japan's birth rate, however, is among the lowest of industrialized nations, with the number of live births hitting a record low in 2004, for the fourth year in a row. "There aren't that many children left in Japan any more," says Keisuke Shirasaki, assistant manager of Toei Animation's corporate strategy department. "That's made it tougher for us to recoup on children's animation alone." Toei's strategy, says Shirasaki" to "appeal to teenagers and thus broaden our market."
The rapid rise in sales of pre-recorded DVD videos -- a gain of 24% to $2.93 billion in 2004 -- has boosted profits industry-wide, but says Shirasaki, "We're starting to hit a ceiling." Sell-through is now a much larger income driver than rental, accounting for 78.5% of all DVD sales last year. Meanwhile, Toei Animation recorded $31 million in DVD sales in fiscal 2004, compared with $36.7 million the year before, mainly due to release delays.
The money for animated and other commercial films appealing to kids comes from the same sources as mass audience films for teens and adults -- major media companies. Among the backers of the new Pokemon installment, which Toho will release this July, is TV Tokyo, which broadcasts the Pokemon cartoon show. Another is Nintendo, which made the Game Boy game on which the entire franchise is based.
Merchandising is still an important money spinner, but the days when hit toys spelled the difference between profit and loss are gone, says Shirasaki. "It's still difficult to recoup on theatrical alone, but DVD sales have made it easier for us to move into the black, even without toy sales," says Shirasaki. Promotions, however, are forever: Japanese kids will be able to get a Pokemon card with their Happy Meals at McDonald's from July 1 to 25. Who needs Star Wars when you've got Mew and Pikachu?
In the works
GDH (formerly Gonzo Digital Holdings) is making Brave Story, an animation based on a best-selling Miyuki Miyabe novel about a Harry Potter-ish boy who enters a fantastic new world of magic, treasure and danger. Budgeted at $9.3 million and made in partnership with Fuji TV, the film is GDH's biggest-yet wedge into the domestic and world animation market. Japan release is set for the summer of 2006. The proclaimed target: everyone who goes to Hayao Miyazaki movies, which means nearly every sentient, upright human in the country.
Top ten children's film chart (2004~2005)
Title/gross
1. Howl's Moving Castle/ $183 million (note: 2004 total only)
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban/ $124 million
3. Finding Nemo/ $101 million
4. The Incredibles/ $48 million
5. Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation/ $40 million
6. Doraemon: Nobita's Bow Meow Space-Time Story/ $28 million
7. Detective Conan: Magician with the Silver Wings/ $26 million
8. Shrek 2/ $23 million
9. Shark Tale/ $18 million
10. One Piece The Movie/ $17 million
