Considering Whedon wouldn’t have a career without Yohko, er, Buffy, I’d say that’s pretty influential. ^_- All kidding aside, the ADV people were both successful and influential.

“Ledford and Greenfield certainly helped build (then destroy) one of America’s powerhouse distributors, but I question how much they revolutionized the industry.”

Last time I checked, Sojitz destroyed the company. As for their influence, they came up with those thin-packs which saved the rest of the industry from dying from the old singles-only model. The company also helped pave the way for a market for more middle-ground anime titles which didn’t simply appeal to import-savvy geeks, art-house lovers, and children. Plus, they took the Toonami thing to the next level with an actual cable channel devoted to anime, and not just a slot which showcased some anime. And their manga line-up made it possible for more artsy titles like Yotsuba to be profitable.

“I love Robert Woodhead for maintaining his integrity, but AnimEigo was not the first American subbed anime distributor, nor was it America’s most successful or influential.”

It was the first company to create a standard of purity and quality for subs, and the first company to place an emphasis on liner notes, though.

Kudos for mentioning the Freds, they’re my personal favorites by a long shot. Schodt’s THE ASTRO BOY ESSAYS is the most comprehensive biography of Tezuka in English to date (in addition to including a whole lot more between its covers), and Patten’s WATCHING ANIME/READING MANGA collection of articles is, quite literally, one of my bible’s of anime literature.

On the Crunchyroll comment, I grudgingly admit they are on a front runner in the new anime distribution paradigm, but I can’t stand how they got there by stealing anime and then more or less forcing anime companies to use their service because it was the most popular. It’s like Best Buy selling their wares to a ring of shoplifters who a low price because they’ll just steal it anyway and resell it cheaper, so they might as well get some money out of it.But I’m an otaku dinosaur who still insists on collecting official DVD releases, so what do I know? I’m just not going to give them a red cent, personally, but I concede they are the direction things seem to be going.

As for AOD, um, I actually think they’ve been counter-productive to the industry as a whole, since their anal-retentive obsession with quality combined with import-savvy fans who buy the same moe crap as Japanese otaku has probably put a lot of domestic licensors out of business, due to a lack of actual market demand for certain titles. Plus, a DVD which is passable to the casual viewer ends up being panned and/or “boycotted” by those stingy f**ks for not meeting whatever imaginary “seal of approval” they can come up with for that particular moment. There are R1 dvds which companies get wrong, [*cough* Blood+, everything handled by Toei, *cough*] but when you’re more concerned with a pencil board than you are with the show, then you’re not exactly doing anything for the rest of us who just want to watch.

“In 1997, following the signing of Tokuma Shoten’s distribution agreement with the Walt Disney company, Miramax was put in charge of preparing the anime film Princess Mononoke for American theatrical release. Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki sent a samurai sword and the simple message, “No cuts,” to Miramax executive Harvey Weinstein.”

Then Miyazaki said it was ok to cut Spirited Away. =p Actually, I can’t verify if it’s true, but someone pulled a quote on me from a year earlier in which he said he’d never do business with Disney. Anyway, Harvey still got his revenge by sabotaging the movie’s distribution. Or maybe it wasn’t revenge as much as an extension of his hatred of all films made by Asians.

“This concise statement still rings as a resonant reminder that America’s anime industry has a responsibility to profitably distribute anime while respecting the work that its Japanese creators put into it.”

Unless the distributors cut out songs because they’re too cheap to pay record companies. Then they’re still better than ADV. =p On a related note, why is Macek on there, but not DLW and Woodhead?

“Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter was instrumental in bringing Studio Ghibli’s 2001 feature Spirited Away to America. Lasseter served as executive producer for the American localization, and has since been an outspoken proponent of anime creator Hayao Miyazaki. Spirited Away took the 2002 Oscar for Best Animated Film, and it’s both that recognition and Lasseter’s enthusiasm for Miyazaki’s animation that have helped propel anime into mainstream American recognition and grudging respect.”

I think Lasseter’s man-crush for Miyazaki is admirable, but I wish he’d do more for the 2-d medium than endorse straight-to-video sequels of Disney classics. And frankly, I thought how his “marketing push” for Spirited Away
was almost as shoddy as that of Miramaxe’s “support” for Princess Mononoke. It does well in limited, and even makes more money than Pokemon 4ever, and what do they do with Spirited Away? Reduce the number of theaters for it, anyway. And the advertising revenue ends up going for a Miyazaki rip-off like Treasure Planet. Plus, for a guy who actively supported Miyazaki, he took an awfully long time to get his older stuff on DVD, considering that the minute that Cagliostro and Princess Mononoke hit R1, they sold like hot-cakes. And I imagine if Spirited Away didn’t win an Oscar, Lasseter would still try to take credit for “believing” in Miyazaki, while continuing to look the other way on BV stalling on the R1 DVD for SA. Seriously, for a company which pretends to love the guy, I’ve never seen such contempt for the handling of his work in the U.S. up until 2003. Could http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/65/65up.html be the reason? ^_-

“Crunchyroll has also been accused of significantly contributing to the practical extinction of the traditional American anime specialty distribution industry.”

Total bullshit, too. Many of the shows on that site weren’t even being torrented by the majority of fans. If anything, CR’s doing a favor for the rest of us who want to choose a title based on its individual appeal, and not based on the group-think of the geeks who don’t know shit about what’s cool.