Scherrer Jean-Baptiste

Keio, spring semester 2013

Comparison between the novel and the animation film: Call of the wild
The mutual fascination between east & west has a cyclic intensity. The current interest in Japanese cultural product such as animation films has induced a demand for explanatory theories and comments about the secret of Japanese creativity. During a discussion with Miyazaki at the University of California, Berkeley in 2009, the writer of Japanamerica, Roland Kelts, claimed that the idea of apocalypse was a subtext of Miyazakis films and gave the example of the tsunami which threats to destroy the setting in Miyazakis last film, Ponyo. But, contrary to Keltss expectations, Miyazaki explained that the tsunami was not an element of an apocalyptic worldview, but the result of the belief according to which there is no separation between human beings and nature (ningen no naka ni shizen ga aru). Thus, Miyazaki explained that the tsunami which was the nature inside Ponyo did not destroy the town but was like a cleansing. Here, the misunderstanding should be explained by difference in cultural references. Kletz used the Christian mythology as background and Miyazaki used Buddhist and, or Shintoist interpretation. Denis de Rougemont in "Amour et Occident" claimed that the emotion of love in Western world had been understood from a religious perspective, the passion of the Christ and saw interwoven between apparently independent conceptions. According to his approach, we interpret always through cultural frame which is based on assumption coming from the dominant religion(s). The trace of cultural mindset is very significant in intellectual and artistic works. Hence, through an analysis of German films and with sociological works, Siegfried Kracauer in his book From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film argue that we can see the expression of Nazi ideology in German cinema during the prewar period. We would like to do a similar study but through the comparison of an American novel with its Japanese adaptation in animation. The goal is the reveal the difference of approach between concerning animals. We have chosen to do a close reading of a novel written by Jack London in 1900, The call of the wild, and a faithful adaptation ( ), directed by Kz Morishita (),with a scenario written by Keisuke Fujikawa () and produced in 1981

I. Deleted elements in the animation a. Inferiority of animals Londons book begins with the sentence, Buck did not read the newspapers. Therefore, animals inferiorities are immediately stressed. In contrast, the beginning of the Japanese version depicts the equality between humans and animals at the dawn of civilization. According to Aristotle, only man has the intellectual or rational soul. Some scientific theories such as the research of Van Petrovich Pavlov claim that animals

learn by habitude, a try-and-error approach not by logical reflection. In, Londons book, this theory is used when Buck, the dog, did the experience of the club. He had never been struck by a club in his life, and did not understand. () A dozen times he charged, and as often the club broke the charge and smashed him down. He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He had learned the lesson (). Christianity can be used to justify a dichotomy between animals and humans. The status of man is regarded as halfway between the beasts and the angels. A polarity between the categories "man" and "animal" and that they invariably regard the animal as the inferior . (Keith, P.31). The best for the beast that they should be under man"(Keith, P.21) b. Reification and servitude The Garden of Eden was a paradise prepared for man in which Adam had God-given dominion over all living things (Genesis, i.28) (Keith, P.17) Indeed, Western countries have often considered animals as things. The description of Buck is often consistent with the Descartess view of animals like machines. Animals did not feel pain. The cry of a beaten dog was no more evidence of the brute's suffering than was the sound of an organ proof that the instrument felt pain when struck. (Keith, P.33) In the book, Buck was depicted as a good and as a slave. You might wrap up the goods before you deliver 'm," the stranger said gruffly, and Manuel doubled a piece of stout rope around Buck's neck under the collar() "All I get is fifty for it," he grumbled; "an' I wouldn't do it over for a thousand, cold cash. Indeed, like during the Roma Empire, Buck like a slave is used as a good and as entertainment. Indeed, similar to a spectacle in a circus, because of the torture of Buck there was an instantaneous scattering of the four men who had carried it in, and from safe perches on top the wall they prepared to watch the performance. Next, towards good man like John Thornton, Buck's love was expressed in adoration. Jack London wrote that Thornton was the the ideal master". Therefore, Buck is always in a position of servitude. He was used as a tool by Thornton like a lifeguard and like a champion who earned sixteen hundred dollars in five minutes for John Thornton . The purpose of the existence of animals, vegetables and minerals was only to enhance human life. (Keith, P.20) As Karl Marx would note, it was not their religion, but the coming of private property and money economy () exploit the natural world (Keith, P.23) c. Racist ideology The book has a clear representation of the superiority of civilized people towards savage creatures. Indeed, the domestication of Buck was an explanation of its supremacy on other wild animals. Buck developed an ersatz of human intelligence The race of Buck is better than other s dogs. Moreover, the animation film changed the final protagonists. In the book, the bad guys are Indians who killed the adored Thornton. We can see an expression of the supremacy of white race. Using Darwinist theories, Buck was in quest of domination. Only the strongest can survive, Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good.

II. Added elements in the animation a. Sympathie First, the animals in the animation express sympathy towards other animals. When, a dog is killed because of exhaustion, the other dogs howl like a funeral ritual. Moreover, when Bucks is tortured the other dogs stop to bark and watch in silence.

Concerning, spectators feeling, the mise en scene aims to stir pity towards Buck.

b. Buck and nature We can argue that for Japanese people, Buck is spontaneously connected to nature. One reason is the unclear distinction between dogs and wolves. Dogs were not regarded as entertainment before the modernization of Japan. Dogs are respected: oinu "honorable dog"(Walker, P.79), the dog is a zodiac sign in the Chinese calendar (Walker, P.80). The wolf was seen as symbolic loneliness and impermanence, of a windswept plain inhabited by beasts, and of decaying stone memorials to ancestors past . (Walker, P.68) In the animation version of The call of the wild, the moon is omnipresent. This can be interpreted as poetic expression of impermanence of things. (Walker, P.68)

Buck howls to the moon. Through metaphors we understand the abstract in terms of the concrete (Lackoff and Johnson). We try to say something about emotions - like sadness, happiness, love, anger, frustration, frustration and so on - as well as about life - birth, ageing, and death - through metaphors taken from a more concrete world.

c. deification We claim that Buck follows a ritual through purification (water, fire) and ordeals.

In the animation, several artistic technics underline the reflection and spirituality of Buck. When he experienced a critical moment the background moved or the frame turned as a spin.

The reflection of mirror or water is a typical way to express self-consciousness.

Buck is doing soul-searching, a deep reflection. He makes mystic experiences. In particular, in a dream, he communicated with something. Awaked by a howl, Buck runs to a spot to respond to the moon.

During his dream, Buck saw gods or wolves moving like gods. At the end of the film, Buck will move like this and will dodge bullets like an immortal god.

This surprising representation for western people is kind of natural in the East because it is consistent with the local philosophy. Indeed, Confucius wrote that "Animals can achieve entlightment" (Bulliet, 214) and all sentient beings" vegetables and animals coined the nature of Buddha. (Walker, P.63)

Bucks become a messager between the human world and the worl of gods. Indeed, when he goes to the wild and comes back to the camp he symolically use the monn as a bridge. According to the Shinto tradition, deified natural phenomenon (kami) inhabited the natural landscape, cast the natural world as divine space teeming with spiritual life... Walker, (p.69). We can notice that the Japanese word to name wolves is Ookami which can be translated as great divinity. In Japanese culture, wolves often served as divine messengers to other deities (Walker, P77)

"People who treated wolves kindly (...) were smiled upon by the gods through the agency of divine wolves and often experienced good fortune as a result Hence, Thornton is not a master but a man who did good actions and therefore received help from Buck as an emanation of nature world. Indeed, according to traditional Japanese believes, there are deities a deity who guarded but also sometimes menaced travelers as unpredictable and elusive

Conclusion We showed how the differences between the two artworks are the echo of different mindsets and different sensibilities. The art form should explain some variations. Indeed, contrary to live films, animation films can depict animals with greater accuracy and control. Animals are not as good actors than human beings. Moreover, the background (nature), the human beings and animals have the same nature due to the drawing. Animation in an animist perspective gives a soul of these entities.

References Bulliet, Richard, Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers: The Past and Future of HumanAnimal Relationships, Columbia University Press (2007) Kalland, Arne, Culture in Japanese nature, In O. Bruun and A. Kalland (eds), Asian Perceptions of Nature: A critical approach, Curzon Press (1994) Miyazaki Hayao, in Conversation with Roland Kelts, UCBerkeleyEvents (2009), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZWmOYq3fX4 Keith, Thomas, Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England 1500-1800, Oxford University Press (2009) Walker, Brett L., The lost wolves of Japan , university of Washington press (2005)