Abstract
Much of Asia' s animation production since the 1960s has been tied to foreign
interests attracted by stable and inexpensive labour supplies. For nearly
forty years, western studios have established and maintained production
facilities, first in Japan, then in South Korea and Taiwan, and now also in
the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and
China. The economics of the industry made it feasible for Asia to feed the
cartoon world, to the extent that today, about 90% of all American television
animation is produced in Asia.
The usual procedure is for pre-production (preparing the script, storyboard,
and exposure sheets) to be done in the United States or other headquarter
countries, after which, the package is sent to Asia for production (drawing
cels, colouring by hand, inking, painting, and camera work). The work is sent
back to the U.S. or other headquarter country for post-production (film
editing, colour timing, and sound). Offshore animation has led to the creating
and nurturing of a local industry, as an infrastructure is built up, equipment
is put into place, and skills are transferred.
An emerging trend in the Asian animation industry is the increasing focus
towards production of local animation content for television as well as
production of animated movies. An increasing number of Asian animation studios
are giving importance to owning and protecting animation content by investing
in intellectual property protection mechanisms.
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