Starting Point: 1979-1996

Tezuka-san was a rival against whom I struggled This article is supposed to be for a special issue devoted to Osamu Tezuka, so I’m assuming there will be a loud chorus of other people mourning his passing, and I do not intend to add my voice to it. I think I have probably been far more deeply involved with Mr. Tezuka than with the gang who go about

Certainly, it takes a great effort to create significant work given the current flood of animation. It is like pouring clear water drop by drop into the muddy flood waters. I can’t help but feel lonely that, just because it is such an effort, some decide to settle for sending out mediocre work to be pushed along with the rest of the deluge. Having

When Sikorsky flew his four-engine plane over Russia, he is known for having dined on board, and then, when an engine failed, for grabbing on to one of the struts supporting the wings and standing up, out of the cockpit. With the full blast of the wind in his face, he personally and anxiously checked the condition of his engines. I personally think

There’s no need to understand everything. When I’m asked what a totoro is, I don’t know myself.

Loss of motive. Japanese animation is testimony to the horrors that occur when people keep producing works that don’t assign independent motivations to the protagonists based on some sort of value system.

the animator must fabricate a lie that seems so real viewers will think the world depicted might possibly exist.

And when you’re stuck, something deep in your brain will start thinking for you … That’s the only way to look at it. It’ll be some experience from the past that you don’t recall, some fusion of a variety of things, something that will make sense to you if you do it in a specific way, something that appears to be at the limits of your ability … And

They say that Disney Studios failed to nurture successors. The core animators, called the “Nine Old Men,” stayed at the top too long. They became stale and lost their energy. In reality, Disney did try to cultivate new animators. Disney formed a school and trained animators and unearthed talent, even bringing animators to the U.S. through immigrati

I want to go beyond thinking that the colors we have been using are good enough. We have created new colors with each new film, and in order to maintain these colors and create new ones, we must have people with a wealth of experience.

People take a completely different approach with other forms of entertainment. I really don’t think, for example, that many people would leave a theater after watching only five minutes of a boring film. And it’s probably why people have so many strong opinions about films. They often sit through films even while feeling angry and wondering why the