In 2003, the Japanese film Spirited Away (2001), by Hayao Miyazaki, became the first anime production to win the Academy Award as best animated feature film.
Credit: © Pictorial Press/Alamy Images

April 15 is National Anime Day, celebrating anime’s distinct style of animation that developed in Japan in the 1960’s. Anime is short for animeshiyon, the Japanese word for animation. Anime stories may be original or based on popular children’s tales. Many of the stories, as well as the overall look of anime, are taken from Japanese comic books called manga that became popular in the 1950’s. Anime has a flat look and features colorful images and heroic characters. The plots are often action-filled, with fantastic, futuristic, or political themes. Many anime characters have large, saucerlike eyes, small mouths, and wild hair. The characters often display exaggerated emotions.

An action figure display features the superhero Deku from the series My Hero Academia.
Credit: © Morumotto/Shutterstock

Anime television series and motion pictures are watched around the world. “My Hero Academia”  is a popular manga and anime series of the 2010’s and 2020’s. It was created by the Japanese artist Kohei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a world where most people have a unique inborn superpower that individuals can develop to become heroes. “Attack on Titan” is among the most popular manga and anime series of the 2010’s. It is an action and fantasy series set in a world where humanity has been pushed to the brink of extinction by the mysterious Titans. The Titans are giant, humanoid monsters that attack and eat humans on sight.

A life-sized model of a Titan greets visitors to a Japanese theme park attraction based on the series Attack on Titan.
Credit: © MR. AEKALAK CHIAMCHAROEN/Shutterstock

Other popular anime TV series include “Dragon Ball” (1986-1989) by manga artist and writer Akira Toriyama, “Pokémon” (1997-2002), “Cowboy Bebop” (1998-1999), “Naruto” (2002-2007), and “Fullmetal Alchemist” (2003-2004). Notable anime feature films include Akira, Grave of the Fireflies, and My Neighbor Totoro (all 1988); Ninja Scroll (1993); Princess Mononoke (1997); Ponyo (2008); The Secret World of Arrietty (2010); and The Wind Rises (2013). In 2003, the Japanese film Spirited Away (2001), by Hayao Miyazaki, became the first anime production to win the Academy Award as best animated feature film.

The character Goku in the anime series “Dragon Ball Z”
Credit: © Fuji TV

There are many types of anime, including action, adventure, comedy, romance, science fiction, fantasy, and the supernatural. Shonen anime features action or adventure and is targeted toward adolescent boys. Shojo anime features character development and romance and is targeted toward adolescent girls. Mecha anime features giant robots with human traits. Some types of anime have more adult themes, often involving violence or sexual material. Anime may be subtitled or dubbed in other languages for release in countries outside of Japan.

Manga comics surged in popularity in Japan in the mid-1900′s. The “Naruto” (1994-2014) series by Masashi Kishimoto became one of the top-selling manga series of all time. It is about the adventures of a mischievous young ninja.
Credit: © Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha Inc.

The Japanese animator and cartoonist Osamu Tezuka was a pioneer of manga and anime. He was greatly influenced by the animation of the American motion-picture producer Walt Disney. Tezuka created a number of popular manga series in the 1950’s that later became popular anime TV series. These include the TV series “Astro Boy” (1963-1966) and “Kimba the White Lion” (1965-1967). Anime often appears jerky because it typically uses fewer drawings than the animation of such major studios as Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Animated cartoons often appeal to children, but anime can be enjoyed by adults as well as younger viewers around the world.

Disney and Pixar’s animated movie Turning Red (2022)
Credit: © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

What’s red, fluffy, and loves boy bands? Pixar’s newest movie Turning Red is a big hit shining a spotlight on red pandas. Turning Red is an animated motion picture released by Pixar Animation Studios and the Walt Disney Company in 2022. It tells the story of a young Chinese-Canadian girl who discovers she can shapeshift into a red panda. The movie is set in Toronto. It was the first Pixar movie created by an all-woman leadership team.

Turning Red tells the story of the Chinese-Canadian 13-year-old Meilin “Mei” Lee, who lives in Toronto. Mei’s family includes her mother, Ming, and father, Jin. They maintain a Chinese temple dedicated to their ancestor Sun Yee. Mei works to balance pleasing her mother and being herself with her friends Abby Park, Miriam Mendelsohn, and Priya Mangal. Mei and her friends obsess over a boy band called 4*TOWN. After Ming embarrasses her daughter, Mei has a nightmare about red pandas and wakes up transformed into a giant red panda. Mei hides her transformation from her parents. But, she cannot keep her newfound ability hidden for long, and its discovery leads her to secrets in her family’s past.

The Lee family is voiced by Rosalie Chiang (Mei); Sandra Oh (Ming); Orion Lee (Jin); and Wai Ching Ho (Mei’s grandmother Wu). Mei’s friends are voiced by Hyein Park (Abby); Ava Morse (Miriam); and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Priya).

The film was directed by the Chinese-Canadian animator and screenwriter Domee Shi and the American playwright and television writer Julia Cho. The American actor and producer Lindsey Collins produced the film.

The film’s soundtrack, also released in 2022, features original songs written and composed by the Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson. The American singer-songwriter siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell wrote three original songs performed by 4*TOWN in the film.

In real life, red pandas are adorable and unique creatures. A red panda is a medium-sized mammal with a red coat and a long, ringed tail. The red panda is also called the lesser panda, in reference to the much larger giant panda. Red pandas are not closely related to giant pandas or any other living animal. Red pandas live in bamboo forests on upper mountain slopes. Red pandas are arboreal—that is, they live in trees. A red panda has adaptations that allow it to climb trees easily including its tail for balancing and flexible ankles which allow it to climb headfirst down trees. They are found in parts of Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.

Human population growth in the Himalayan region threatens the habitat of the red panda. Deforestation has reduced the area where red pandas live in the wild. Red pandas are in danger of dying out completely. They are protected by national and international laws. Scientists and wildlife officials have worked to help ensure the pandas’ survival by protecting their habitat and breeding them in zoos.

American musician Jon Batiste
Credit: © Ron Adar, Shutterstock

For the 64th time, musicians gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, April 3rd to celebrate the past year‘s music. The Grammy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. South African comedian and television personality Trevor Noah hosted the awards show. American jazz pianist Jon Batiste won album of the year for “We Are,” in addition to 4 more of the 11 awards for which he was nominated. R&B duo Silk Sonic won record of the year for “Leave the Door Open.” American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo won three awards. She walked away from her first Grammy Awards after winning best new artist, best pop solo performance, and best pop vocal album. Doja Cat and SZA won best pop duo or group performance for “Kiss Me More.” Although Kanye West was not in attendance, he and Jay-Z won best rap song for “Jail.” In the rock genre, the Foo Fighters stole the show—winning best rock performance, best rock song, and best rock album only a week after the loss of their drummer Taylor Hawkins. Billie Eilish performed “Happier than Ever” wearing a T-shirt with the photograph of Hawkins. BTS performed their hit song “Butter” with a James Bond theme. Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, and Lil Nas X performed among other artists.

American entertainer Olivia Rodrigo
Credit: © Tinseltown, Shutterstock

The Grammy Awards are presented annually in the United States to honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences. Grammys currently are awarded in more than 80 categories in pop, rock, country, jazz, blues, gospel, folk, rap, Latin, and classical music, as well as engineering, producing, and music videos. Lifetime achievement awards are also presented by the Academy to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. Winners receive awards modeled after an old-fashioned record player called a gramophone. The term Grammy comes from the word gramophone.

American musician Billie Eilish in concert
Credit: © Ben Houdijk, Shutterstock

To be eligible for a Grammy, recordings must have been released during a one-year eligibility period defined by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. Members of the Academy and record companies submit entries, which are screened for eligibility and category placement. The Academy’s voting members nominate five finalists in each category. Members then vote for the winners. The Academy consists of musicians, producers, and other recording professionals.

Members of the South Korean pop group BTS are, left to right, front row: Suga and V. Back row: J-Hope, RM, Jin, Jimin, and Jungkook.
Credit: © RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

The first Grammys were awarded in 1958. Since 1971, the Grammy Awards have been presented on a live television special. Today, the special is watched by many millions of viewers throughout the world. In 1997, the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences was established as a separate organization with its own awards ceremony. The first Latin Grammys were awarded in 2000. Latin Grammys recognize excellence in international Latin music in more than 45 categories. Latin Grammys are selected by voting members of the Latin Recording Academy and follow many of the same rules as the other Grammys.

American rap artist Lil Nas X
Credit: © Denise Truscello, Getty Images

New Zealand screenwriter and director Jane Campion.
Credit: © Kathy Hutchins, Shutterstock

Jane Campion, a New Zealand motion-picture screenwriter and director, won the best director for The Power of the Dog (2021) at the 2022 Academy Awards hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards on Sunday. The Power of the Dog (2021) is a psychological western set in Montana in 1925. The awards are better known as the Oscars. Campion’s win made history as the first time women have won best director two years in a row. Last year, Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao became the first Asian woman to win an Academy Award for best director, for the motion picture Nomadland (2020).

Campion is also the only woman to be nominated for best director twice. She was first nominated for best director for the film The Piano in 1993, which she wrote and directed. It tells the story of a mute young Scottish woman who is sent to colonial New Zealand to marry a stranger. The Piano won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival in France. Campion was the first woman ever to receive this prestigious award. She also won an Academy Award for writing the screenplay for The Piano.

Campion was born on April 30, 1955, in Wellington, New Zealand. During the 1970′s, she earned a degree in anthropology at the Victoria University of Wellington, and an arts degree at the Sydney College of the Arts in Sydney, Australia, where she majored in painting. Campion began making short films in the late 1970′s. One of the films, the dark comedy Tissues, resulted in her being accepted in the Australian Film and Television School in 1981. Campion’s first notable short film, Peel (1982), won the Short Film Palme d’Or award at Cannes in 1986.

Campion’s first feature film was Sweetie (1989), which she co-wrote and directed. A sharp comedy about family discord, it won several international prizes. Campion’s next film, An Angel at My Table (1990), won awards at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. It is a drama based on the autobiography of the New Zealand writer Janet Frame.

Campion’s other films include Portrait of a Lady (1996), based on a novel by the American author Henry James; Holy Smoke (1999); In the Cut (2003); Bright Star (2009), about the English poet John Keats; and The Power of the Dog (2021), for which she won a Golden Globe Award. Campion also co-wrote and co-directed the television miniseries Top of the Lake (2013).

Former United States President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (both center) pose next to their portraits at their unveiling at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., in 2018. Barack’s portrait was painted by Kehinde Wiley (far left). Michelle’s was painted by Amy Sherald (far right).
Credit: © Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images

February is Black History Month, an annual observance of the achievements and culture of Black Americans. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature Black pioneers in a variety of areas. 

Until recently, tracksuits, flatbill hats, jeans, Nike T-shirts, and puffer jackets did not appear in many portraits in museums. Now in the National Portrait Gallery and galleries across the world, American painter Kehinde Wiley has livened up modern-day portraits. Wiley is known for his large, highly detailed, brightly colored portraits. His style has been called urban Baroque, a reference to the Baroque art movement of the 1500′s and 1600′s. Baroque art is large in scale and filled with dramatic details.

In 2017, Wiley was selected to paint the presidential portrait of former United States President Barack Obama. Wiley became the first Black American artist to paint an official presidential portrait. Wiley’s portrait of Obama was unveiled in 2018. It hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Wiley was born on Feb. 28, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. He was interested in painting from a young age. Wiley received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1999. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2001.

Wiley served as artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York City from 2001 to 2002. It was in Harlem that Wiley developed his unique approach to portraiture. He approached strangers on the street, asking them to pose for him. He photographed the subjects in their street clothes and then painted them in a classical European style. He called this process “street casting.” Wiley continued this process in such places as Morocco, Haiti, and India. Wiley’s signature background depicts flowers and foliage or abstract shapes. The bright, detailed backgrounds are reminiscent of the Baroque style.

Encanto opened in the United States on Nov. 24, 2021.  The story introduces the Madrigals, a compelling and complicated extended family who live in a wondrous and charmed place in the mountains of Colombia. 
Credit: © Disney

Encanto is an animated motion picture released by the Walt Disney Company in 2021. The movie is set in Colombia and features Disney’s first entirely Latino voice cast. 

The film’s soundtrack, released in 2021, became a worldwide hit. The album spent more than a week at the number one spot on Billboard magazine‘s “200 Albums” chart. Encanto became Disney’s first animated film to have two songs in the top 10 on Billboard magazine’s “Hot 100” chart. The song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” performed in the film by Adassa, Stephanie Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Rhenzy Feliz, Carolina Gaitán, and Diane Guerrero, reached number 2. “Surface Pressure,” performed in the film by Jessica Darrow, broke the chart’s top 10. The soundtrack featured original songs written and composed by the American musical theater composer Lin-Manuel Miranda. It also featured instrumental music by the American composer Germaine Franco. 

Encanto tells the story of the magical Madrigal family. The family was led to a safe haven and magical home known as Encanto by its matriarch (ruling mother). The Madrigals’ magic comes from the flame of a candle that gives a unique power to each descendent. The movie’s protagonist (main character), Mirabel, is the only member of the family who did not receive a magical gift. According to prophecy, it is up to her to restore the family’s magic when it starts to falter and repair the bonds among the family members.  

Members of the Madrigal family include Mirabel (voiced by Beatriz); Luisa (Darrow); Isabela (Guerrero); Pepa (Gaitán); Félix (Castillo); Dolores (recording artist Adassa); Camilo (Feliz); Bruno (John Leguizamo); and Abuela Alma (Olga Merediz, singing, and María Cecilia, speaking). Colombian singers featured in Encanto included Maluma, who provided the voice of Luisa’s love interest Mariano, and Sebastián Yatra, who sang the film’s main theme, “Dos Oruguitas.”  

The film was directed by the American screenwriter Jared Bush and the Japanese-born American animator and character designer Byron Howard. The American playwright Charise Castro Smith co-directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Bush.  

American entertainer Olivia Rodrigo
Credit: © Tinseltown, Shutterstock

In the past year, American actress, singer, and songwriter Olivia Rodrigo has transformed from a Disney Channel star to a big name in pop music. Rodrigo first became known as an actress on television programs produced for the Disney Channel.

Olivia Isabel Rodrigo was born on Feb. 20, 2003, in Temecula, California, southeast of Los Angeles. Rodrigo began taking voice, piano, and guitar lessons as a child. She acted in middle and high school performances and began acting professionally in 2016. She played a leading character, Paige Olvera, on the Disney TV series “Bizaardvark” (2016-2019).

In 2019, Rodrigo gained the lead role of Nini in “High School Musical: The Musical—The Series.” She wrote and performed original songs for the series, including “All I Want” (2019) and a duet with Joshua Bassett, “Just for a Moment” (2020).

She released her first single “Drivers License” on Jan. 8, 2021. It soon hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is now nominated at the 64th Grammy Awards for song of the year, record of the year, and best pop solo performance. Rodrigo is also nominated for best music video or film for “Good 4 U” (2021), best pop vocal album for Sour (2021), album of the year for Sour, and best new artist.

After “Drivers License,” her next two singles— “Deja Vu” (2021) and “Good 4 U”—also debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard “Hot 100″ chart. She became the first recording artist to start a career with three singles in the top 10. Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, included elements of pop, folk, and rock music.

Besides releasing catchy singles, Rodrigo also took a trip to the White House this summer. She met with President Joe Biden and the immunologist and Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States, Anthony Fauci, to discuss the importance of young people getting vaccinated against COVID-19. In December, Rodrigo was named Entertainer of the Year by Time magazine. She announced a world tour for 2022 in which she will travel to Europe, Canada, and across the United States.

Credit: Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) has become the first motion picture to earn $1 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic era. The movie is the latest in a trilogy about the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man. British actor Tom Holland and American actress, dancer, and singer Zendaya star in the new blockbuster.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every aspect of our lives over the last two years. Hollywood is no exception—the movie industry has suffered, with crowds nervous to venture in public and theaters shuttered to prevent the spread of the disease. It appears that Spider-Man, however, has come to the rescue, defeating the pandemic malaise. The motion picture was released on Dec. 17, 2021, and has been drawing out reluctant theater-goers around the world.

Spider-Man was created by the American writer Stan Lee and the American artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared as the Amazing Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy comic book #15, published by Marvel Comics in August 1962. By the end of the 1960’s, Spider-Man had become one of the most popular comic book characters in American publishing history. Spider-Man is the superhero identity of Peter Benjamin Parker. As a high school science student, Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, which gave him superhuman powers.

Spider-Man has been featured in many motion pictures, television series, and video games. Recent Spider-Man movies include Spider-Man (2002), starring Tobey Maguire, and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), starring Andrew Garfield.

British actor Tom Holland
© Tinseltown, Shutterstock

Tom Holland has starred as Spider-Man in Marvels’ Captain America: Civil War (2016); Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017); Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019); and now Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). He also played Spider-Man in other Marvel superhero movies of the 2010’s, including Avengers: Endgame (2019). Zendaya has played MJ, short for Mary Jane Watson, in the three Spider-Man films with Holland. She made her first theatrical motion-picture appearance in a supporting role in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

American actress, singer, and dancer Zendaya
© Tinseltown/Shutterstock

The success of Spider-Man: No Way Home is giving hope to the movie industry. There is nothing like the Spider-Man’s “spider-sense” and powerful webs pulling people into the theaters!

Lorde is a New Zealand pop singer and songwriter. She became the first New Zealand solo artist to have a number-one hit in the United States, with the song “Royals” (2012).
© Daniel DeSlover, ZUMA/Alamy Images

In a new EP (extended play) recording, the New Zealand pop singer and songwriter Lorde paid tribute to the Māori, the indigenous (native) people of New Zealand. After her third album, Solar Power, was released on Aug. 20, 2021, Lorde re-recorded five songs from the album in the Māori language, the language of the native Māori people of New Zealand. Lorde is not Māori but acknowledges the influence Māori culture has had on her life. The songs were released on her third EP Te Ao Mārama, which translates to “world of light” in the Māori language, on Sept. 9, 2021. The EP’s name builds off her album Solar Power and a well-known Māori phrase.

Lorde worked with several qualified translators to re-write the songs in Māori. Many of the lines are not translated exactly but use Māori to capture the meaning of the original English lines. The cover features a colorized version of the print  Serene by New Zealand artist Rei Hamon. The album is a celebration of New Zealand.

The Māori are a Polynesian people of New Zealand. They were the first people to live in what is now New Zealand. Māori made a living by fishing, hunting, and farming. By the 1700′s, all of New Zealand was under Māori control. Europeans started arriving in New Zealand in the late 1700′s and eventually took over the land and power. Today, the Māori make up about 15 percent of New Zealand’s population.

Lorde was born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor on Nov. 7, 1996, in Takapuna, near Auckland. She was signed to a recording contract at age 13 and began writing songs soon after that. At the age of 16, she became the youngest person in more than 25 years to have a number-one hit on the United States  Billboard singles chart “Hot 100.” The song, “Royals” (2012), also made Lorde the first New Zealand solo artist to have a number-one hit in the United States. “Royals” reached number one on the singles charts in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom as well. In 2013, Lorde won a Grammy Award for best pop solo performance for “Royals.” She also shared a Grammy for song of the year with the song’s co-writer, the New Zealand songwriter and musician Joel Little.

Timothée Chalamet as Paul and Rebecca Ferguson as his mother, Jessica, in Dune (2021).
Credit: Warner Bros.

This month, an exciting new motion-picture adaptation, titled Dune (2021), appeared in theaters. The film starred actor Timothée Chalamet as the lead character, Paul Atreides. Dune was directed by Denis Villeneuve.

Dune is a science fiction novel by the American author Frank Herbert. It was published in 1965. The title refers to the desert planet Arrakis, where the action of the novel takes place. Dune is notable for its imaginative desert setting and its religious and environmental themes.

The novel tells the story of Paul Atreides, the heir of a noble house that is taking control of Arrakis. The planet is important because it is the only place where deposits of the fictional spice melange are found. Melange is a druglike substance also used in interstellar travel (travel among the stars).

When House Atreides is betrayed by the evil House Harkonnen, Paul is cast out into the desert along with his mother, Jessica. Jessica is a member of an order of mystics called the Bene Gesserit. In the desert, Paul and Jessica take up with a mysterious people known as the Fremen. The Fremen survive in the desert wearing stillsuits, special suits that conserve and recycle their body fluids. The Fremen follow a religion that revolves around melange, giant sandworms that live in the open desert, and transforming Arrakis into a more habitable world.

Dune features a large and complex cast of characters. Notable people in House Atreides include Paul’s father, Duke Leto; the swordmaster Duncan Idaho; the minstrel Gurney Halleck; the doctor Wellington Yueh; and the mentat Thufir Hawat. Mentats are human beings trained to replace advanced computers, which have been banned. Notable characters in House Harkonnen include the evil Baron Vladimir; his nephews Glossu “the Beast” Rabban and Feyd-Rautha, and the mentat Piter de Vries.

Herbert wrote five more books in the “Dune” series. Dune‘s direct sequels are Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976). God Emperor of Dune (1981) shifts the action thousands of years into the future, to an Arrakis transformed by Paul’s son, Leto Atreides II. Heretics of Dune (1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) continue the saga of the Atreides family. Following Frank Herbert’s death in 1986, his son Brian and the American author Kevin J. Anderson wrote a number of additional novels set in the Dune universe.

A motion-picture adaptation, also titled Dune, was directed by David Lynch and released in 1984. The Dune saga has also been adapted into two television miniseries, “Dune” (2000) and “Children of Dune” (2003).