The Scribbling Kitten
Yasuji Mori's first major animation for Toei Animation Studios
Today we are watching a segment from a 1957 Japanese short film The Scribbling Kitten, animated by Yasuji Mori and directed by respected industry pioneer Taiji Yabushita. The charming little cartoon is considered the first notable release by Toei Animation. It was an auspicious start since this still-active studio, established with a goal of being a Japanese competitor to Disney, is responsible for such well-known films and series as Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Digimon, One Piece and The Transformers. This early film itself is notable for its western style of character and scene design and high-quality animation, a testament to Mori’s skill and to the worldwide influence of the American studio that he was eager to emulate, at least early in his career. While pre- and post-war Japanese animation was still working on polishing its style, Mori elevated the art form with exacting standards, a meticulous approach and an insistence on quality output. The Scribbling Kitten also provides a great example of Mori’s focus on character appeal and movability, with the kitten’s light, fluid movements well represented in the gif segment. In his time at Toei, he mentored a studio-full of the next generation of talent that would go on to fame and success including such animators as Yasuo Ōtsuka, Reiko Okuyama and Hayao Miyazaki. Cartoon historians consider Mori one of the most influential cartoonists in Japan’s storied history of animation.
Yasuji Mori was born in 1925 in Japan and raised in Taiwan. He earned a degree in architecture from the National University of Fine Arts in Tokyo, specializing in zoo design. Now to me, zoo designer seems like a dream job, but after graduation Mori decided he wanted to pursue a career as an animator. In 1947 he was hired by animation studio Nihon Dogasha, which was acquired by Toei (later renamed to Toei Doga) in 1956. As one of the studio’s senior animators, Mori spent the next fifteen years helping to create the Toei Doga style. During his time at Toei, he was top animator behind many great early anime features like Panda and the Magic Serpent (1958), Alakazam The Great (1960) and Little Prince and The Eight Headed Dragon (1963), a film where Mori was credited as “animation director,” a first in Japanese cinematic history. These films would help usher in the Japanese anime explosion that would come over the next decade and heavily influence the style of Japanese animation that followed. One of his last contributions at Toei was as animation supervisor for The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots in 1969.
In 1973, Yasuji Mori and several Toei Animation veterans went on to work at Zuiyo Enterprises, later renamed to Nippon Animation. This studio was primarily focused on television animation. For the 1974 series Heidi, Girl of the Alps, Mori was responsible for the series’ initial character design and he helped animate the final series. He also created two scenes for the opening credit sequence, with the remainder animated by Hayao Miyazaki. Not just an animator, Miyazaki was also happy to assist in character study: when Mori was tasked with animating a ring dance for characters in the Heidi series, he needed a movement reference, so Miyazaki and animation director Yôichi Kotabe performed a ring dance in a parking lot next to their studio and Mori filmed them with an 8mm camera to use as a study film.
Mori would continue to animate, design and direct for Nippon—splitting his time illustrating children’s books—until his untimely death from liver cancer in 1992. His son continues the family tradition and is currently working as an animator.
Check out The Scribbling Kitten at the Internet Archive link here: The Internet Archive: Koneko No Rakugaki Movie
And one more little treat, a fan-created video featuring Mori’s animation over the years:
Cartoon Brew: "Yasuji Mori and Hayao Miyazaki" by Amid Amidi, 8/14/09
AniPages: Yasuji Mori filmography
IMDB: Taiji Yabushita Biography
Cartoon Research: "Zagreb & Japanese Cartoon Oddities" by Jerry Beck, 1/30/19
Very cool. I shall watch these animations forthwith. But first I'll share what little I know.
I heard of "Alakazam the Great" through a show called "Two Old Furry Fans." Yes, you read that right. Mark Merlino and Rod O'Riley founded the first furry convention, Confurence, in 1989. But long before that, Mark Merlino ran the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, an animation fan club in L.A. This was back when Japanese animation (or foreign film in general) was hard to come by in the USA, so the fans went to extraordinary lengths to get their hands on it. They once arranged for Osamu Tezuka to appear at a convention. This is a long way to say that Merlino knew a thing or two about Japanese animation, and he relayed some of his knowledge in "Two Old Furry Fans."
Anyway, "Alakazam the Great" was originally released as "Saiyuki" in Japan. It was based on the Chinese story "Journey to the West" about the adventures of the monkey king Son Wukong (or Son Goku as he's known in Japan). The US release heavily edited some scenes, used a totally different soundtrack composed by Les Baxter, and added narration by Sterling Holloway. Yes, Winnie the Pooh narrated the movie. While the movie was a hit in Japan, it flopped in the USA.
Hoo, that was long, wasn't it? Sorry. But I'm really into the history of animation, and the way the USA has approached the importation of Japanese animation is a story unto itself. Anyway, I'm off to watch some cartoons. Have a good day!
Thanks for the information, Martini. The animation was really nice. When I was very little we used to watch what anime was available in the states. Astro Boy and 8 Man were the main ones in the early 60s. This story reminded me of the time I applied for a job to teach conversational English in Japan. At the time (late 90s} I was working as a cashier at Hellmart and saw an ad (a printed one!) for a meeting in Phoenix. It didn't give a lot of details but I though I could make more money and get to see a part of the world I hadn't been to before. When I got to the meeting the conference room was full of young men. They were all wearing anoraks - in Phoenix! I was the only woman and realized at once that all these guys were anime fans looking for a way to get to the birth place of their obsession. The meeting gave me enough details on pay and cost of living that I realized I wasn't going to be making any more money and possibly make less because of the high cost of living. I called the recruiter and let him know I wasn't going to take the job. He had been really excited when I showed up to the meeting and was begging me on the phone to take the job because I was the only woman and "normal" person who had ever applied. I felt bad for the guy but I was looking to make more money. The travel part was not as important as the money part. I'm just not that adventurous.