What is anime? In Japan, anime means any animated film. And anime is big business! Japanesse anime films and related sales are a $10 billion industry.

The highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history (more than $234 million),is Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. We own Spirited Away and many other Japanese animation films. See a list of anime you can borrow.

How is anime different from manga? In Japan, manga is any printed cartoon. In the United States, sales of Japanese manga reached $125 million in 2004 in the United States. That's up from $55 million in 2002. Manga is the top-selling form of graphic novels. To learn more, read Anime Explosion!: the What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation by Drazen, Patrick (call number NC1766.J3 D73 2003).

American Animation and Graphic Novels

The United States has been the leader in film animation for close to 100 years. Mickey Mouse's appearance in Steamboat Willie in 1928 followed by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, established Disney Studios as the dominant leader. The field of innovative animators has widened now to include Pixar and Dreamworks, as well as television animation studios.

Would it surprise you to know that the third highest grossing film of any kind of all time is DreamWorks' 2004 Shrek 2 which grossed $436.4 million. We own Shrek 2 and many other award winning animation films in our collection. See a list of animated films you can borrow.

A graphic novel is a comic presented in the form of a novel. The graphic novels market has exploded! According to ICv2.com, a trade news website, the market has more than tripled over the last four years, rising from about $75 million in 2001 to $245 million last year.See a list of graphic novels you can borrow.

Please stop by the DiMenna-Nyselius Library to see the April-May 2007 exhibit highlighting the library's own collection of Japenese animation and manga, as well as American film animation, comics and graphic novels.

To see a slideshow of the exhibit

To see pictures and leave comments

Special thanks go to students Dwight Tejano for lending his beautiful Japanese movie scrolls, to Matt Sylvia for sharing his animation figures and to Stephanie Stadig for arranging the exhibit so artfully.

Also thank you to Mike Fischetti for book recommendations