japanese people just put more effort into it. they dont mind working long ass hours. plus art is infused into their culture. they dont view animation/cartoons as little kid entertainment. america stopped wanting to pay animators here a lot of money. they outsource a lot of shyt cuz korea/japan = cheap labor.
animating an object is difficult shyt. these fukkin studios dont wanna pay an american 125k a year to animate when they can outsource and pay some no ass getting, octopus eating, teddy bear cuddling japanese dude 30k to do the same shyt and work long hours.