1984 Nemo Pilot: The Complete Riffs

The 1984 Nemo pilot film is a landmark of Japanese anime, a three-and-one-half minute short that dazzles with a mastery of character animation, action and set design. It was created at Tokyo Movie Shinsha's Telecom studio, created by Yoshifumi Kondo (director), Kazuhide Tomonaga (animation director, ekonte, key animation), Nobuo Tomizawa (key animation), Kyoto Tanaka (key animation) and Nizo Yamamoto (art direction). These very same people worked with Hayao Miyazaki on Lupin the 3rd, Future Boy Conan and Sherlock Hound, as well as the later Studio Ghibli movies.

Several "riffs," or quoted shots, appear in this Nemo pilot. Some aim back to previous films, while others are seen in later works. Here is a brief rundown of those riffs, as shown by the screenshots above:

1. Nemo hops onto his bed as it rises above the floor, passing a collection of toy airplanes on the right side of the frame. Miyazaki would later quote this shot in Porco Rosso, in the scene where Marco describes the sight of endless ghost planes floating in the clouds.

2. Nemo and an unnamed boy give chase through an Edwardian-era city street, startling a policeman below. This shot was directly taken from Sherlock Hound, which was created by the same animators in 1981.

3. After skidding underneath a bridge, Nemo's bed skips over the river several times. This sequence is taken from Animal Treasure Island, Toei Doga's 1971 feature film. It would also be used again in Porco Rosso in 1992.

4. Nemo gives chase through a series of winding curves through buildings. This shot and composition would later be riffed by My Neighbor Totoro, in the scene where Catbus races Mei and Satsuki to their mother, running through the woods.

Finally, we should also note that the completed Little Nemo animated feature recreates almost the entirety of the 1984 Nemo pilot in its opening sequence, and makes for an interesting contrast between the Japanese and American animators.

Photos - Nemo Pilot (1984)

Watch the 1984 Nemo pilot and learn its story here.

A collection of screenshots from the Yoshifumi Kondo-directed Nemo pilot from 1984. This is one of the greatest action sequences in anime history; no wonder, when you realize the small team of artists had worked with Miyazaki on Future Boy Conan, Castle of Cagliostro, and Sherlock Hound in the late '70s/early '80s, then later at Studio Ghibli.

The Nemo pilot is something you can throw on every now and then. It's always a rush, a spectacular showcase of action cinema. It's only four minutes long, but it always leaves you aching for more. The troubled movie project is the stuff of animation legend, eventually culminating in a rather disappointing feature film in 1989. At least, I found it disappointing, especially when compared to Nemo '84. But, as always, YMMV*.

(*Your Mileage May Vary. It's one of those internet shorthand things.)

The Nemo Pilot (1984)

Courtesy of YouTube, the 1984 Nemo Pilot film. A masterpiece of animation, of action, and of movement, it represents everything that defines anime. There's probably only a handful of films or television shows that deserve to sit on that mantle.

The Little Nemo film project was extremely ambitious, a joint effort between the top animators from Japan and America. Production began in 1982, and a number of big names were courted, including Ray Bradbury, Gary Kurtz, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Dezaki, and Isao Takahata. Unfortunately, production was stalled as people walked away. Miyazaki, for instance, didn't want to make a movie in which everything was a dream, and Takahata wanted to tell a story about Nemo's growth into adulthood (much like Anne of Green Gables and Omohide Poro Poro).

Fortunately, in December of 1984, after six months of work, the first pilot appeared. Created by Yoshifumi Kondo (director), Kazuhide Tomonaga (animation director/e-konte/key animator), Nobuo Tomizawa (key animation), Kyoto Tanaka (key animation), and Nizo Yamamoto (art director). The pilot is essentially an extended chase sequence through a surrealist landscape of buildings and skyscrapers and waterfalls, drawn in full animation and shot in 70mm.

Sadly, despite the praises of the American side, the Nemo production stalled again, and by March, 1985, Kondo had left. Eventually, two more pilots would be created, and the project finally hobbled together in 1988, but with a much more typically bland and banal Disney style. Nemo was finally released to theatres in 1989, and was roundly dismissed by critics and the public.

The history of the movies is very often the history of artists frustrated in achieving their visions. Frustration by the suits, by the men with the money, who always second-guess anything that doesn't shamefully pander to their worst expectations of the public. The first Nemo is one of those great "what-if?" moments. You're amazed, endlessly thrilled at this three-minute self-contained universe; truly, whoever was in charge should have had the sense to get out of the way and let these brilliant artists follow their muse. Kondo and Tomonaga and crew poured everything they learned from Miyazaki's Future Boy Conan and Castle of Cagliostro, and at Telecom, the second Lupin III series, and then Sherlock Hound, which was really the one that most clearly predicts Nemo (one shot from Hound is riffed in the short).

And Nemo, of course, predicts the rise of Studio Ghibli; which brings us here to the present day.

(Update 4/1/20: I reposted a new version of the 1984 Nemo pilot on YouTube.)