Archive

Pioneers of Japaneses Animation: From Tekobo to Momotaro

Aerial Momotaro

Yasuji MURATA

Japan1931 10min 16mm B&W

Synopsis

Momotaro, a dog, a monkey and a pheasant board a plane to the South Pole to rid it of the eagle, disturbing the Antarctic peace by attacking the penguins living there. After an air battle, they succeed in capturing the eagle. Setting up a mid-journey fueling base on the long flight to the Antarctic is somewhat striking.

Diretor

Yasuji MURATA

Creating the subtitles at the Yokohama Cinema Club, Yasuji Murata got interested in foreign animation and started studying it on his own. His Fight of Monkey and Crab was released in 1927. He improved the technique by putting a motor on a moving-camera, and his cut-out animation technique equals that of latter-day cel animation. Among his main works are Octopus Bones(1927), Saru Masamune(1930), Aerial Momotaro(1931), The Monkey Goes Fishing(1933), Corporal Norakuro, The Mooncastle Princess(1934), and A Night at the Bar(1936).