LA REDÉCOUVERTE DES ŒUVRES CLASSIQUES DE L’ENFANCE À TRAVERS L’ANIMATION
REDISCOVERING CHILDHOOD CLASSICS THROUGH ANIMATION

Summary/Abstract: In the heterogeneous category of animated adaptations based on children’s literature, the series produced in the late 20th and early 21st centuries by Nippon Animation Studios under the name World Masterpiece Theater represent a unique blend of narrative fidelity and audio-visual innovation. This article examines these animated series, which draw on classic works of Western children’s and young people's literature, from two angles: sources, space-time settings and essential subjects, on the one hand, and a synthesis of thematic and structural common features, on the other. The intrinsic quality of the animations, the mentality and morality they convey, as well as the respect for the source texts, transform the animated series into what we might consider legacy productions, an essential element in the history of Japanese and world animation.

• Details
• Contents