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NEWS: New Franco-Japanese Animation Studio Launches


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KabaKabaFruit



Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Posts: 1901
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:42 pm Reply with quote
Color me interested. Smile I'm glad to see that there is quite a lot of imagination in these animation projects.
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Divineking



Joined: 03 Jul 2010
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:45 pm Reply with quote
Sounds interesting. The only French-Japan collaboration I'm familar with is Oban Star Racers and that was actually pretty good so if we can get projects similar in quality to that, I would be pretty excited. Wish them the best of luck in finding stuff to work on.

Also if these guys are in need of funding maybe they should call up Funimation since they seem obsessed with colaborations these days and these already sound way more interesting than the Bioware stuff.


Last edited by Divineking on Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:06 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:46 pm Reply with quote
Cool. Hope something really does come out of this.
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Soundmonkey44



Joined: 25 May 2010
Posts: 1243
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:46 pm Reply with quote
A Utopian World Where No One Is Allowed To Complain..... So basically everyone on the internet would be screwed!? Laughing

But on a more serious note, yeah those do look like some interesting projects, hope they turn out well, that Happy Land one in particular intrigues me.
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SpacemanHardy



Joined: 03 Jan 2012
Posts: 2511
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:48 pm Reply with quote
Maybe this will bring more French animation into the spotlight. So much of it is good, and yet other than a handful of shows (like Oban or *shudders* Code Lyoko Mad ) we hardly see any of it here in the States.

I've been begging and pleading for someone, ANYONE to license Wakfu over here for years now, but no dice. Crying or Very sad
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dandelion_rose



Joined: 12 May 2012
Posts: 657
Location: Kuala Lumpur
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:50 pm Reply with quote
AWESOME!

Seriously, this is AWESOME!
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Marzan



Joined: 29 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Looks interesting. Let's see what comes out of it.
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Oh man these look cool as hell. Glad to see animation that actually takes full advantage of it's pros.
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:18 pm Reply with quote
dandelion_rose wrote:
AWESOME!

Seriously, this is AWESOME!


My sentiments exactly.
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Stuart Smith



Joined: 13 Jan 2013
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:29 pm Reply with quote
In my years of watching animation, I find all the Japan/French co-productions I have seen don't interest me very much. I would probably point to the fact that they always lead more towards 'cartoon', than 'anime'. Oban Star Racers being a good example of a show I found was held back considerably and came off more like French animation than an anime. And French animation in general is some of the most repetitive animation I have seen. I really gave it a try to become interested in another Foreign country's animation industry, but after watching over 30 titles I realized it just wasn't for me. Les Mystères d'Alfred, Monster Buster Club, Code Lyoko, Funky Cops, Totally Spies. Martin Mystery, Wakfu, Team Galaxy, Linus et Boom, Zombie Hotel, Spirou, Pet Alien, and many more. Each of them I felt was extremely repetitive and mostly the same thing each episode, and it doesn't help all of them always skew for little kids and have no real adult shows. In my trials I would say American animation is better than France animation at this point and would rather see an American/Japan co-production anyday over a French one.

- Stuart Smith
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DavidShallcross



Joined: 19 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:39 pm Reply with quote
I think the only Franco-Japanese co-production I have seen has been Valerian and Laureline, which I thought was pretty good.
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GeorgeC



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 795
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 4:37 pm Reply with quote
I believe the CG Garfield series shown on Cartoon Network is also produced by French animators. It actually debuted in France before the US.

****************

There's a long relationship between the Japanese animation studios and the French. (For that matter, there seems to be a greater appreciation of animation in France than the US, period... That extends to the classic semi-forgotten studio shorts done in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.)

French appreciation of Japanese animated films and character design predates the US by at least a decade. Project A-ko and any number of other Japanese theatrical releases were shown in France shortly after the Japanese debut. Many, many TV series, for that matter, have aired in Europe well before the US saw them. The US was probably the last major market to get Dragonball!

(Sidenote: the US market is now more fortunate in several ways. Prices for videos are generally cheaper, we get more shows and movies from Japan now, PERIOD, and most series/movies generally don't get the severe editing/censoring that they do in other countries -- including European countries.)

You can see the influence of anime design in many French projects including but not limited to "Totally Spies" (another French-produced TV series) and the works of independent animators/directors like Eric Belliardo whose short, "Hors Jeu," (English subtitle "Off the Ground" which is the literal translation) was shown on the late Sci-Fi Channel series Exposure. That short was even called "anime" on that experimental short TV series despite the fact that it was a French production!
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:41 pm Reply with quote
More French-Japan collaboration! I look forward to their future projects.
GeorgeC wrote:


There's a long relationship between the Japanese animation studios and the French. (For that matter, there seems to be a greater appreciation of animation in France than the US, period... That extends to the classic semi-forgotten studio shorts done in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.)


There was also a movement called "La nouvelle" which combine French (and Belgium) comic artists with Japanese mangaka together, like the "Japan as Viewed by 17 Artist" anthology.
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dandelion_rose



Joined: 12 May 2012
Posts: 657
Location: Kuala Lumpur
PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:04 pm Reply with quote
Stuart Smith wrote:
In my years of watching animation, I find all the Japan/French co-productions I have seen don't interest me very much. I would probably point to the fact that they always lead more towards 'cartoon', than 'anime'. Oban Star Racers being a good example of a show I found was held back considerably and came off more like French animation than an anime. And French animation in general is some of the most repetitive animation I have seen. I really gave it a try to become interested in another Foreign country's animation industry, but after watching over 30 titles I realized it just wasn't for me. Les Mystères d'Alfred, Monster Buster Club, Code Lyoko, Funky Cops, Totally Spies. Martin Mystery, Wakfu, Team Galaxy, Linus et Boom, Zombie Hotel, Spirou, Pet Alien, and many more. Each of them I felt was extremely repetitive and mostly the same thing each episode, and it doesn't help all of them always skew for little kids and have no real adult shows. In my trials I would say American animation is better than France animation at this point and would rather see an American/Japan co-production anyday over a French one.


Well, this is just a matter of taste. I can't say I've watched as much French animation as you have, but everything I have seen I have liked. I think there's an aesthetic in French animation that I have seen and that I find missing in American animation. Maybe not Totally Spies (which I find loud and annoying), but definitely something like Dragon Hunters -- I find it really enjoyable to watch, kids' show or not.

Anyway, I'm more hopeful of good possibilities when the projects are feature films, rather than TV series, because I find that feature films tend to have higher quality (both when it comes to Japanese and French animation). Maybe because feature films are where animators go for impressing adult critics rather than targeting a market demographic to be entertained for say, half an hour a week.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:27 pm Reply with quote
Stuart Smith wrote:
In my years of watching animation, I find all the Japan/French co-productions I have seen don't interest me very much.

OTOH, I haven't seen any of the shows you list and have only even heard of a few... I assume you were unfortunately born too late or in the wrong place to grow up with Ulysses 31 and Mysterious Cities of Gold and Belle and Sebastian.
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