Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s director considers his own anime roots

polygon.com:

Joaquim Dos Santos is one of the most influential and successful animators of his generation. Even if you’re not immediately familiar with his name, you’re no doubt familiar with a series or film he’s worked on.

The 46-year-old Portuguese American director’s filmography is studded with contributions to some of the most highly acclaimed animated shows of the 21st century, from episodes of Justice League Unlimited and Avatar: The Last Airbender to executive producing series like The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender. That’s not even mentioning what is easily his greatest professional accomplishment to date: co-directing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the 2023 follow-up to the Oscar-winning animated superhero film.

Dos Santos was one of several high-profile guests who were invited to the 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards to present this year’s nominees and honor the accomplishments of the anime industry at large. Polygon had the opportunity to speak with Dos Santos ahead of the awards to discuss his personal history with anime, what fascinates him the most about the medium, and the artists and animators that inspire him in his own approach to storytelling.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Polygon: What was your first favorite anime, and what’s your favorite anime now?

Joaquim Dos Santos: They’re both the same. I don’t know if it was my first anime per se, because I think anime had been kind of infiltrating the U.S. for many, many years without us really realizing it back then. But the first one that stood out to me that I knew was not made in the U.S., that existed outside of Western storytelling conventions, was Macross. In the States, it was called Robotech.

I remember that made a huge impact on me. You have to remember it was the mid-’80s and ’90s, and all the cartoons at the time — and I love them all, by the way — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, and Thundercats, they were all great, but they felt like they were