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Posted by The Other Jason on 02-07-2021 at 05:56:

Battle love from pop culture icon Kevin Smith

Hi all,

I found an interesting interview today on inverse.com. In it, actor, writer, producer and director Kevin Smith gives credit to TV series like Battle of the Planets and films like Akira for his love of Japanese animation.

"Most of the animation I was fed my whole life was from here, in the states,” he (Kevin Smith) says. “But [with] outliers like Battle of the Planets, you were getting another culture’s version of a ‘cartoon.’ You saw storytelling from another part of the world. Even as a kid, you could detect subtle nuances. Cartoons from across the sea were more, for lack of a better description, grown-up."

A second mention in the interview praises Battle's differences to US-created series.

"[Without] anime, this iteration doesn’t exist,” Smith says. “Anime trusts its audience to understand. To grow up and not go, ‘We can’t do that.’ Growing up in the states in the ‘70s and ‘80s, our cartoons were simple morality tales. Like He-Man, or Super Friends. But it was always animation that came from other cultures that impacted me the most. It’s always been part of my life. Battle of the Planets, man!"

Great to hear! Smith's latest project is a new animated He-Man sequel series titled Masters of the Universe: Revelation. It is premiering on Netflix on July 23. It's pretty interesting to read that shows like Battle are a direct link to this new Masters of the Universe series even existing.

The entire interview can be read on inverse.com

I don't remember ever seeing or hearing him mention Battle in interviews before, so it's great to hear about his love for the show just before the new Master of the Universe series. Maybe there will be some fun tributes to Battle, or Easter eggs to watch for!

The Other Jason
www.battleoftheplanets.info
www.battleoftheplanets.info/cnc

Posted by Katblu42 on 03-07-2021 at 05:25:

RE: Battle love from pop culture icon Kevin Smith

This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing it Jason.

This bit in particular rings true with me, too.

quote:

But it was always animation that came from other cultures that impacted me the most. It’s always been part of my life. Battle of the Planets, man!"

I remember watching a lot of US made cartoons (like The Flintstones, The Smurfs, He-Man . . .) but the ones that had the biggest impact were BotP, Astroboy, Voltron and even The Mysterious Cities of Gold and Monkey (not a cartoon, but you get the idea!).

I'm very curious about the new Masters of the Universe show - but I wont be seeing it on Netflix, so I'll have to wait until a free to air network airs it, or access it another way.

__________________
"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." 4th Doctor

Posted by The Other Jason on 04-07-2021 at 21:48:

RE: Battle love from pop culture icon Kevin Smith

Hi Katblu,

quote:

Originally posted by Katblu42

I remember watching a lot of US made cartoons (like The Flintstones, The Smurfs, He-Man . . .) but the ones that had the biggest impact were BotP, Astroboy, Voltron and even The Mysterious Cities of Gold and Monkey (not a cartoon, but you get the idea!).

I'm very curious about the new Masters of the Universe show - but I wont be seeing it on Netflix, so I'll have to wait until a free to air network airs it, or access it another way.

I enjoyed almost everything you mentioned too. I never got to see Monkey here in the US though (although I guess some areas did air the original Japanese version).

I saw it much later when a friend in the UK sent me a DVD of the first few English-dubbed episodes. It was great! I wish I had seen it growing up, I'm sure it would have been a favorite.

As far as impact from animation, I think my reaction is mixed. For humorous cartoons, nothing beats Warner Bros. and MGM theatrical shorts for me. Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry. Those types of things. But for more dramatic offerings, I think what came from Japan has lasted longer with me. Probably because there weren't a whole lot of dramatic cartoons produced in English for children until the 1980s - when I was at the tail end of the target audience.

I'm curious about the new Masters of the Universe offering too. I enjoyed the recent Netflix version of Voltron more than I thought I would.

The Other Jason
www.battleoftheplanets.info
www.battleoftheplanets.info/cnc