This essay aims to explore some issues of the distribution of Miyazaki Hayao’s animated films in the US, in particular, censorship, modification, and diverse impact these had on the reception of his films. Drawing on two aspects of the status of his films, a work of artistic value on the one hand, and a consumer product on the other, I analyze many different materials which include taglines, the cover design of the VHS/DVD, and edited scenes.

Miyazaki has been praised as an auteur by critics and audiences in the US. Here I suggest that such factors as fans, distribution companies and reviews also played an important role in Miyazaki establishing the present status. Today Miyazaki’ s films have an influence on the art of feature-length animated films and beyond in the US popular culture.

This essay focuses on animations in which a story is told or suggested. Research has been done on animation in psychology, but a study of animation comprehension, using unified theories of film comprehension, has not yet been done. In this essay, I review and compare two film comprehension theories, Event-Indexing Model and Event Segmentation Theory. According to Event Segmentation Theory, viewers segment film into fine or coarse units. But, these units are subsumed under the concept of situation in Event-Indexing Model. In addition, Event-Indexing Model deals with the process of film comprehension in usual viewing conditions. Here I suggest that the framework of animation comprehension should adopt Event- Indexing Model. It is expected that clarifying comprehension processes of animation contribute to animation production.

In 1984, Toei Animation Studio Co., Ltd. began to limit the use of drawing paper to 3500 sheets per TV program. In order to reduce costs, other studios, such Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. and Sunrise Inc. established similar measures. An unexpected result of these restrictions was the advancement of Japan’ s unique anime style of visual presentation. Based on documents and the experiences of directors and animators of that time, this essay will discuss how a move to conserve resources resulted in artistic evolution of Japanese anime.