Toei Channel To Broadcast 4K Restorations of Toei Doga Classics

From September to December, Japan's Toei Channel will broadcast new 4K restorations of classic Toei Doga animated features, including Hakujaden, Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon, Wan Wan Chuushingura, Horus, Prince of the Sun, Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island. These films will be broadcast under the banner, Toei Doga Meisaku Anime Gekijo, or "Toei Doga Anime Masterpiece Theater."

According to the official Toei website, this series will coincide with the hotly anticipated daytime drama series, "Natsuzora," a retelling of the animation studio's early days. All of the characters are based on real Toei alumni, including Reiko Okuyama, Yoichi Kotabe, Yasuo Otsuka, Akemi Ota, Michiyo Yasuda, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. The drama will appear on the NHK network, which many Studio Ghibli fans will recognize.

In addition to their animated features, Toei will broadcast a 1959 documentary about the making of the studio's second feature, Shonen Sarutobe Sasuke. It should prove to be an invaluable document of the era, even though its portrayal of the making of an animated movie will most likely be itself carefully staged. Hopefully, we will catch a glimpse of a very young Isao Takahata, who worked on the film as assistant director.

Best of all (for me) will be the premier of a new documentary program on Horus, Prince of the Sun that features interviews with the artists and animators, a look at production artwork and more. I do hope the show's creators were able to speak to Paku-san while he was still alive. I would hope that there are some new discoveries to be made about this anime masterpiece. I shared pretty much everything I know for the BD audio commentary track, as well as the supplemental essays and production gallery (and, by the way, you're freaking welcome).

For those of us in the West, the most exciting prospect of these 4K restorations is the possibility of new home video releases on Blu-Ray or Ultra Blu-Ray. Of the classic Toei Doga library, only a handful of films have been released in Europe and America, and continuing rights issues over the domestic (dubbed) versions may complicate matters. As always, such matters can be solved by writing a lot of checks, but the limited appeal of classic Japanese animation may stop such plans cold.

In Japan, the only Toei Doga anime film to be released on Blu-Ray was Horus, Prince of the Sun (which was also released here). Everything else was released on DVD, but nearly all of those titles were simple transfers from LaserDisc. Most of the DVDs were given English fan translations some years ago, but it's nearly impossible to find any of those movies online today.

Needless to say, now would be a terrific time for Discotek or GKIDS to pick up these movies for a US release. Start your email and letter campaigns immediately, kids. Christmas is only three months away.

Hayao Miyazaki Comics: Puss in Boots (1969)

Hayao Miyazaki always wanted to become a manga comics artist, but somehow found himself working as an animator for Toei Doga instead. Fortunately, his boundless energy and work ethic gave him the opportunity to pursue his first love, with this 1969 newspaper comics adaptation of Toei's Puss in Boots movie.

This comics version of Puss in Boots closely follows the plot to the anime movie, skipping all the slower parts and song numbers and getting straight to the action. These panels are wonderfully drawn, full of action and great poses. The panels are very small, owing to the format, but Miyazaki works wonders on every page. It's quite remarkable to see how quickly he has progressed since 1963 when he joined Toei.

It's at this same time that Miyazaki also began his serialized adventure comic People of the Desert, and we see his growing skills at layout and scene design that would pay off spectacularly in the 1970s with Heidi, Marco and Anne, to say nothing of Future Boy Conan.

This is a great document from Miyazaki's early formative years as an artist. It shows that he was still mimicking the comics style of Osamu Tezuka. We also see that in the People of the Desert's early chapters. Over time, however, that drawing style quickly evolved and grew into the Miyazaki "look" that we all know so well from Studio Ghibli.

There are still people in the West who believe that Hayao Miyazaki's career began with Castle of Cagliostro or Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. His career began here, in the 1960s, and it's here that you'll find the seeds that blossom in his later works. Fortunately, that perception is slowly changing as more of us become aware of that elusive (to Americans) pre-Ghibli period. If would help tremendously, of course, if more of those early works, and especially his comics, were made available on our shores. Who wouldn't pay to read the maestro's comic adaptations of Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island? I can't believe Viz Media still hasn't picked up People of the Desert, which feels like a perfect link between Horus, Prince of the Sun and Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind.

Oh, well. Progress is often slow. It will take time. You should spend a little time to admire these great Puss in Boots comics pages.

Puss in Boots 1969 Trailer

Puss in Boots, the 1969 Toei Doga feature, is one of the all-time classic anime films. If you're a fan of old Tom and Jerry cartoons, then you'll have a blast. It's very funny and goofy, with a number of terrific action sequences, a few song-and-dance numbers, and some really inspired art design. This movie remains almost entirely unknown in the West, which is a damn shame. It deserves to find an audience, and it's a personal favorite.

The castle chase sequence in the final act is probably the most famous, and was animated jointly by Yasuo Otsuka and Hayao Miyazaki. This sequence would later be parodied in 1971's Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, which Miyazaki also animated, and was his final film at Toei before jumping ship with Isao Takahata and Yoichi Kotabe to join their elder brother Otsuka at A Productions. Nearly the entire crew who created Horus, Prince of the Sun worked on this picture, and you can feel the sense of excitement and liberation as they created this classic. What a great movie!

Here is the first of two trailers created for this movie. The subtitles indicate that this was borrowed (ahem) from the Discotek DVD, which is now out-of-print. Obviously, I would love to see this movie reissued again, or even released on Blu-Ray.

Discotek DVDs For John Lennon Fans Who Completely Missed The Beatles

One thing I can't wrap my head around is the fact that most American Hayao Miyazaki fans are completely aware of his vast career before the founding of Studio Ghibli.  Even prominent animation scholars and movie critics think it all began with Castle of Cagliostro or Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind.  It's a bit like meeting a diehard John Lennon fan who's only aware of his 1970s solo output..."Beatles?  What's that?  Never heard of it."

Thank God for Discotek, I say.  The US distribution label has steadily grown into one of the best anime publishers around, and they've done an excellent job providing us with the pre-Ghibli works of the 1960s and 1970s.  In 2006, they released a trio of Toei Doga classics: Puss in Boots (1969) and Animal Treasure Island (1971).  In 2012, they released Lupin III: The Complete First TV Series (1971-72), of which I contributed three short essays, and Panda Go Panda (1972, 73).

Discotek also released the 1979 Toei feature, Taro the Dragon Boy, which was not connected to Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata, but old friends Yoichi Kotabe and Reiko Okuyama were the Animation Directors, and the movie was a surprising throwback to the Toei Doga classics of old.  Every self-respecting anime fan should have this DVD in their collection.

All of these DVDs seems to completely disappear from the radar, and remain criminally overlooked.  These classics manage to fall between the cracks for varying reasons: too old, too clunky, lack of quality dubs, lack of advertising or marketing, no presence at retail.  Ignore all of that.  Just buy everything directly from the Discotek website, and send them your thanks.

Where are all these so-called Miyazaki and Takahata fans I keep hearing about?  I've got a whole stack of Beatles albums, just waiting to be discovered.

Puss in Boots (1969)

Animal Treasure Island (1971)

Lupin the 3rd: The Complete First TV Series (1971-72)

Panda Go Panda! (1972, 73)

Polish Anime Movie Posters - Animal Treasure Island, Puss in Boots 3

In an age where Photoshop and marketing departments have drained all the fun out of movie posters, there is still Poland.  This nation has produced some of the most ingeniously inventive designs anywhere in the world.  If you're the sort who enjoys collecting vintage movie posters, then you need at least a couple Polish designs on your wall.

A number of Toei Doga films have been given the Polish treatment.  The first photo shows the poster for Animal Treasure Island, one of my all-time favorites.  I love that movie to death, and it's always within reach if I want to impress someone with classic Miyazaki (and friends) anime.  This design is pretty abstract, definitely "inside baseball."  If you didn't know what movie this was for, you'd probably miss it completely...score one for the dedicated fans.

The second photograph is the poster for Toei's Puss in Boots 3 (Around the World in 80 Days) from 1976.  I'm not a fan of the third movie; in fact, I think it's just dreadful.  But I am a huge fan of the original 1969 Puss in Boots, so I would be happy to have this poster among my collection.  I really dig this psychedelic, Peter Max-inspired watercolor design.  This reminds me of a lot of the trippy cartoons that played on Sesame Street way back in the '70s.  Animation was seriously trippy back in the '70s, wasn't it?

Would you like to buy these Polish anime movie posters?  PolishPoster.com has them for sale.  The Animal Treasure Island poster sells for $36.12 and is available here.  The Puss in Boots 3 poster sells for (ouch) $82.56 and is available here.  Let's hope they'll have enough inventory to go around.

Buy These DVDs Already!

I always make it a personal habit to pitch for the Discotek DVDs once per year, and since the topic came up, here we go again, kids.  Buy these DVDs for Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island!  These are excellent discs, containing the full movies with Japanese language, as well as long-lost English language dubs, trailers, and very nice packaging.

Of course, I would wish the image quality was better, but this is the fault of Toei, who only released their classic animation movies in single-layer DVD format in the year 2000.  That's right, they haven't touched their "Golden Age" films in a decade.  Amazing, isn't it?  Well, let's show some support and prove the demand is out there.

Oh, and lest I forget, Discotek also released Toei's excellent 1979 anime Taro the Dragon Boy.  It's a rare return to form for the company, whose fortunes had long since faded by that time.  It's very much in the style of the lavish production and Disney-esque visuals from Toei Doga's golden era (1958-1972).  Be sure to grab this one while you can.  If Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island have only sold a few copies in the USA, than Taro probably sold in the single digits.  Again, anime fans need to support their history.

Poster - Puss in Boots 3: Around the World in 80 Days (1976)

Here is another addition to the always-impressive lineup of Toei Animation movie posters: Puss in Boots 3: Around the World in 80 Days, from 1976.

I'm a great fan of the original 1969 Puss in Boots.  In fact, I think it's an anime masterpiece and one of Toei Doga's crowning achievements.  It benefited greatly from the immense talent at the studio, including Hayao Miyazaki, Yasuo Otsuka, Yoichi Kotabe, Reiko Okuyama, and Yasuji Mori.  Within a couple years, however, they would begin the migration away to other studios and projects like Lupin III and Heidi, and the quality of Toei's movies deteriorated as a result.

Puss in Boots 2, made in 1972, was a weaker sequel, but it still had some charms, thanks to Mori and Okuyama.  At least, the Wild West theme was a bold change of pace.  Most sequels aim to repeat the exact formula, so you have to admire the willingness to take risks.  I think it's an alright movie and is worth watching at least once.

Puss in Boots 3, however, is a disaster.  If there was ever an example of Toei's decimation as a great movie studio, it's this picture.  It's amazing that this was even considered a feature release at all.  It has the look and feel of crude television, some low-budget mess that was probably green-lighted as a result of some executive losing a poker match.

I will say this in the movie's defense: I really like the setting.  "Around the World in 80 Days" is a terrific idea for a movie; in fact, it happens to be a terrific movie.  That's a movie you watch with the grandparents at holiday gatherings.  So it makes sense to give it a try with Pero the Cat.  It's a pity the whole thing is such an unimaginative mess.

I found it a bit weird that Puss in Boots 3 completely rips off the 1968 anime masterpiece Horus, Prince of the Sun.  How did that come about?  Was Toei finally feeling remorse over letting the movie tank at the box office, sacking the director, Isao Takahata, only to see him steal the studio's best talent and revolutionize anime with Heidi and Marco?  Strange.  Personally, I chalk it up to a lack of ideas.  The filmmakers who made this picture couldn't find a decent idea if it bit 'em on the....ehh, whatever.  You get the point.

I also wonder if Hayao Miyazaki had seen this movie?  How strange is it that a movie that steals from Horus features a climactic chase through a clock tower, one that Miyazaki seems to steal for Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro?  Yes, it's true that the clock tower motif first appeared in an episode of Lupin III: Series One, but, still.  I came away with the impression that Miyazaki ripped this scene out.  You can't blame him for being cranky, in any event.

Let's see, what else is there?  The animation is stiff and crude, barely television quality, as I've mentioned before.  Pero is certainly likable, but dull and witless.  You can tell this isn't the same whipsmart anti-hero from the original 1969 classic.  The villains are likewise boring.  Just why are we seeing that fox character yet again?  He was first a character on the television show Hustle Punch, and then a pirate in Animal Treasure Island (another of my all-time favorites).  Why is he in this lousy picture?  And why can't he get to do anything interesting or fun?

An animated movie version of Around the World in 80 Days should be wildly funny, colorful, full of life.  This should be a movie for Pixar, not the creatively bankrupt Toei.  This is an absolute clunker.  I can't think of any redeeming qualities for this movie....except for the movie poster.  That's a really terrific poster.

Poster - Puss in Boots (Spain)

I would love to get my hands on this poster. I think this even may be better than Toei's Japanese poster. Here is Spain's contribution to our poster series.

Tragically, I lost my DVD on my December flight into Bogota, Colombia, and I've been without a copy of Puss in Boots of Animal Treasure Island ever since. Augh! These are two of my all-time favorite animation movies. Obviously, every Miyazaki fan has bought their copy....right?

It would help if Discotek would send more copies to retailers. And it would really help if Toei would finally give their classic animated features the proper respect they deserve. When the heck are we getting these movies on Blu-Ray? A single-layer disc from the year 2000 just doesn't cut it, guys.

Posters - Puss in Boots 2: Nagagutsu Sanjuushi (1972)

After long searching online, I finally managed to find this elusive poster for the second Puss in Boots movie, 1972's Nagagutsu Sanjuushi. It's a terrific poster, very colorful and bold and detailed, as you'd expect from the Toei Animation classics. I'm sure if you visit the Japanese auction sites, you would find one of these sooner or later, and one of these days, I'll have to start collecting these great posters.

Why was Puss in Boots 2 made into a Western? That's one of the stranger ideas I've seen for a sequel, and it's completely unheard of in this day of corporate conglomerates and endless franchises. No doubt Toei saw Pero the Cat as a mascot to be used, like Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse, in countless cartoons and movies. So perhaps variety was what was needed. It surely does free up the writers, which otherwise would have been seriously stuck with repeating the original. Besides, there's no way they could beat the 1969 Puss in Boots. There just ain't no way.

I don't think this second movie, titled Nagagutsu Sanjuushi ("The Three Musketeers," presumably named after the three black cats who chase after Pero), is as good as the first; it is also very clear that the studio's best days as an animation powerhouse were gone by 1972. The production values are far lower than previous movies, much closer to television animation. It's a much more limited animation style, and it shows. For Toei, lavish, original full animation was out; cheap and easy was in. No wonder all the key players left.

That said, I do think this is a very good movie, and when I turned it on to watch a second time I found myself strangely attracted to it. It's painfully short (just under one hour), but it grows on you, especially in the second half, when the momentum picks up and we get some action. There's a terrific chase with stagecoach and mule, with Pero and the Three Musketeers in pursuit, that's probably worth the price of admission. This cross-cuts another chase that quickly turns into a skillful shootout which ends the picture.

You can only imagine how good the action scenes would have been with Yasuo Otsuka and Hayao Miyazaki at the helm. They were the ones responsible for that spectacular castle chase, and all those groundbreaking action scenes from Horus, Prince of the Sun. And Miyazaki gave us the pirate ship battle in Animal Treasure Island, and the anarchic Dr. Seuss Genie chase in Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. There's a large, gaping whole in Nagagutsu Sanjuushi where they are missing. Heaven only knows what could be done with the script, which runs through every Western movie cliche in the book. Even the fadeouts remind me of Blazing Saddles.

The key remaining players - animation director Yasuji Mori, Akira Daikuhara, Akemi Ota, and Reiko Okuyama - do an excellent job with what they have. They're working without half the old team, and apparantly half the old budgets and production schedule. It's a testament to their skills as great artists that this movie is as good as it is, that it still retains a great deal of the charm that makes the Toei classics so good.

By this point, however, it's clear the game is up. The rest of the crew finally drifted their way down to A Pro and then Nippon Animation, where Takahata and Miyazaki and the rest of the gang migrated. The Toei Doga era was over. Ah, well, all things must pass. It is the way of life and art and cartoon cats.

Photos - Nagagutsu Sanjuushi (Puss in Boots 2)

Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I was able to get copies of the two sequels to Toei's 1969 classic Puss in Boots. This is the second movie, Nagagutsu Sanjuushi ("The Three Musketeers," which I'm guess are those three black cats who chase Pero). This movie was released in 1972...and it's a Western! That's a big surprise.

This movie isn't anywhere in the same league as the original, and that's largely because Takahata, Miyazaki, Otsuka and Kotabe had moved on by this point. The remaining members of the Toei gang - Reiko Okuyama, Akemi Ota, Akira Daikuhara, and animation director Yasuji Mori - do an admirable job under the circumstances, and this is a very enjoyable movie that closes out the era of Toei Doga classic animation.

We have the "raw" video available as a download, but an English fansub has yet to be made. Hopefully, somebody could get to that one of these days. We should all be adding to the fansub community; it's easier than ever to provide subs for sharing. Remember to support the scene, kids - you're not just a passive consumer.

Poster - Puss in Boots

I found some obscure foreign sites that had many classic Toei movie posters, so I made sure to come away with as many as possible. This, of course, is the great Puss in Boots, one of the most beloved and justly famous comedies in anime. This is one movie poster I would kill to own, and I'm frankly puzzed that Toei doesn't sell prints. All of their classic animation posters would be great sellers, not just among the anime fans, but movie lovers in general. Their designs are marvelous.

Toei made two sequels, Nagagutsu Sanjuushi (The Three Musketeers in Boots) in 1972, and Nagagutsu wo Haita Neko 80 Nichikan Sekai Isshuu (Puss in Boots: Around the World in 80 Days) in 1976. Although neither can really compare, since all the best talent at the studio - Takahata, Miyazaki, Otsuka, Kotabe - were gone, but Yasuji Mori, Reiko Okuyama and Akemi Ota Miyazaki worked on the second one (Three Musketeers).

Thankfully, Discotek has released Puss in Boots here in the US, and they even preserved the original movie poster for the trailer. God Bless Them. Go pick yourselves up a copy and send them your thanks. Options for anime distributors are shrinking and shrinking.

Puss in Boots, Animal Treasure Island - Buy These DVDs!

I was checking my archives and realized, to my surprise, that I haven't promoted or pushed these two movie lately. So here's the hard sell once again, Ghibli Freaks: Buy These DVDs!

Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island are two of my favorite films from Toei, blazing fast, brilliant designs, hysterically funny. These films come at the absolute peak or performance for our beloved Toei crew - Yasuo Otsuka, Hayao Miyazaki, Akemi Ota, Reiko Okuyama, Yoichi Kotabe, Yasuji Mori, Akira Daikuhara. I don't think they were ever as perfect a unit as during this period, which began with the long, difficult struggle to realize Isao Takahata's revolution with Horus, Prince of the Sun, then cutting loose in a flurry of cheery anarchy with Puss in Boots, Animal Treasure Island, and Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.

Two action/comedy setpieces - the castle chase in Puss in Boots, the pirate battle in Animal Treasure Island - rank among the anime classics; the elements of action, suspense, and slapstick goofiness have no peer. These should be required study for all aspiring animators.

These DVDs were released in the US a few years ago by Discotek (they also released Toei's excellent 1979 film Taro the Dragon Boy), and I think it's safe to say they've all but disappeared. A crying shame, because these are wonderfully entertaining movies. Miyazaki fans should already have bought several copies to give to friends and family. At least, that's what I did.

Trailer - Puss in Boots (1969)

I started this Ghibli Blog back when I first saw Toei's 1969 movie, Puss in Boots, and absolutely loved it to pieces. It's one of my favorite anime films, and its zany castle chase is one of the most iconic sequences in Hayao Miyazaki's (and Yasuo Otsuka's) career.

I've also begged and pleaded my readers on occasion to buy this DVD. It's available in the US courtesy of Discotek, and includes English subtitles on the Japanese soundtrack, as well as an ancient dubbed soundtrack if you're watching with the younger kids. So if you're a Studio Ghibli fan looking for more of Miyazaki's vast career to explore, begin here.

Enjoy the movie trailer, kids!

For the Love of God, Buy These Movies!!

I don't know how much media exposure these two movies have received since they were released on DVD earlier this year, but I'm shocked, shocked at how completely invisible they remain. I checked the IMDb pages for Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island, and their vote tallies were just awful.

Puss in Boots has 58 votes, and Animal Treasure Island has 45. How is that possible? Both pages are almost completely sparse, with five user comments and five external reviews between the both of 'em. And those five reviews include one by me and two by Stewart Galbraith (the author of "The Emperor and the Wolf").

So, what's the deal here, people? And where the heck is Discotek?

Who Did What? - Puss in Boots #2

It's time for some spring cleaning at Conversations on Ghibli, and that means finishing up some older posts that I've been putting off forever. Back in June, when Puss in Boots was released on DVD, I wrote a post detailing who was responsible for animating what. It was a somewhat unfinished listing, based largely upon snippets of information here and there, and good ol' fashioned deduction. Ben Ettinger, our beloved anime scholar at Anipages, detailed a few more scenes from the movie. Let's take a look.

Of course, I'm assuming you've all bought the Puss in Boots DVD by now, right? If you haven't yet, then step away from the keyboard, head over to the store, and get your copy. Don't worry, we'll wait until you get back. Hmm hmm....

....Alright, are you back? Good. Let's go.




Yoichi Kotabe: Here is another extended sequenced that was animated by Yoichi Kotabe. It begins with the sunset scene where Pero prods Pierre to spend some quality time alone with the Princess Rosa, then continues into the next extended scene. It's a lengthy bit that starts with Pero leading the mice in a choir (it's very Doris Day, ain't it?), while Pierre confesses that he's really a peasant, while Rosa still accepts him, then leads to Lucifer charging in, stealing Rosa away in a chariot, and finishes with Pierre suddenly losing the sleepy-eyed look and turning into an action hero.

Yes, I know, it's not that important. Just go with it. It's the lead-up to the castle chase, which is the whole reason you're watching this movie anyway.


Reiko Okuyama: Okuyama has a couple important scenes early on in the movie. First, she's the animator during the early fight scene between Pero and the cat assassins. As Ben Ettinger explains, it's the scene that begins with the chase around the table. I wonder if she took that throwing food gag from the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup. If anyone gets the chance, be sure to ask.

She picks up again after Yasuji Mori's musical skipping number, when Pierre and Pero arrive in town and spot the King and Princess for the first time. Pierre is more dumbstruck than usual, which is really saying a lot for him, so of course Pero heads over to the castle to spy the Princess' oddball collection of suitors. The suitors scene at the castle is pretty funny stuff, and it marks the arrival of Lucifer, the wizard bad guy who, strangely enough, looks an awful lot like Bluto. Doesn't this whole scene remind you of an operatic Popeye cartoon? Only this time, there isn't any spinach.



These three scenes are very different, and showcase Okuyama's considerable skill and diversity as an artist. Like her husband, Kotabe, she figures strongly in the early careers of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and is an important figure in the history of anime.

It's also a good opportunity to admire the terrific visual and color style of Puss in Boots. There's something about the rich saturation, and brilliant color of the Toei Doga movies. We've never really seen anything like it ever since. The WMT productions of the '70s and the Ghibli films of today go for a much more natural, impressionistic look, while the old Toei classics are so completely immersed in color. It's really too bad that Toei couldn't have provided Discotek with a properly remastered source for the DVD, instead of this worn down, scratchy, single-layer disc. There's really no excuse for skimping out, especially in this day and age.

Miyazaki Riffs #3

I haven't written anything about Puss in Boots in a little while, even though I'm still not through endlessly praising it to the heavens. But since the new Castle of Cagliostro DVD is coming in a few weeks, this is a great opportunity to spot another patented Miyazaki Riff.

Cagliostro contains one of the more famous parodies of the castle chase from Puss in Boots. We've already seen one example, and here's another one. At top, the bit where Lucifer takes a couple ballet leaps across the air; and at bottom, the Lupin version, with similarly funny results. I'm a sucker for these goofy little gags. Blame it on sugary breakfast cereals and Saturday morning cartoons.

Miyazaki Riffs #1

Puss in Boots (1969)


Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

One of the most famous images, from one of the most famous action sequences, in Hayao Miyazaki's career. The shot of Lucifer lumbering up the stairs has reappeared in countless homages, tributes, and riffs. Castle of Cagliostro, shown here, pays tribute with predictably humorous results.

Today's Screenshots - Puss in Boots #2

Cheap cartoon gags, I know. But they're still funny, and that's the one thing that matters. Another pair of photos from the new Puss in Boots DVD. If I have to keep harping on this movie until every one of you own it, so help me, I'll do it. Oh, that the classic gag cartoon would make a comeback...

Puss in Boots - Who Did What?

One of the fun things in watching animation is learning who is responsible for everything. Animation buffs and people who work in the business are always pouring over this sort of thing. So, continuing our Puss in Boots conversation, I wanted to catalogue exactly who animated which scenes in the movie.

One important thing I should note is the difference between Japanese and American animators. Here in the States, animators will focus on a particular thing - a character, or elements like water - and a scene will be the collective work of many people. In Japan, however, a key animator will be responsible for all the key drawing in that scene. So, for example, the pirate battle in Animal Treasure Island - that was Miyazaki's scene.

Puss in Boots is so much of an animators' movie, because they had the freedom to create, to add new ideas as production moved along. That's much more of an American style, which likely is a reason the movie has such an American cartoon flair. It was also the polar opposite to their previous Toei film, which was Takahata's Horus, Prince of the Sun. Takahata maintained creative control over every single shot, every scene, and he battled the studio heads relentlessly for three years to get it made. You can understand why the mood on Puss in Boots was so free, so much fun, and so creative. It's a tremendous release of energy, and it's seen here, in Animal Treasure Island, and in Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.

Anyway, let's see if we can't put our heads together and see who contributed what to this picture. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section.



Yasuji Mori: Mori served as Animation Director and also designed all the characters. His studious efforts at correcting everyone's drawings kept a unified look to the picture, which was essential with all the animators running loose. His most well-known scene is the first song number with Pero the Cat and Pierre. It's not one that he was ever happy with, speaking about this in a 1984 article in Animage magazine:

"That part is awful. I'm so ashamed. I had a hard time getting the skipping right. The difficult thing about skipping is how the legs come up. That's why when I was asked to do another skipping scene for the opening of Heidi, Girl of the Alps. I didn't want to screw it up again, so I filmed some people [Miyazaki and Kotabe] skipping on 8mm and drew it by analyzing that."



Yoichi Kotabe: Kotabe was responsible for this scene, when a lovestruck Lucifer grows impatient waiting, in vain, for Princess Rosa to arrive. Note the giant slide that's attached to his throne. I really wish I had one of those. Ben Ettenger's, on his AniPages site, lists Kotabe as also responsible for the scene where "Pero play[s] the guitar while Pierre and Rose meet;" although Pero never plays a guitar, he may be referring to the Cyrano moment when Pero feeds words to a lovestruck Pierre (why is he always so half-dazed, anyway?), until the cat assassins show up and spoil the party.



Yasuo Otsuka: Otsuka got the first half of the massive castle chase. This is the part where Lucifer transforms into a series of animals to impress Rosa, all the while Pero and Pierre wait for the moment to pounce. There's also a great gag when Lucifer turns into a three-headed dragon, and Rosa faints at the sight. This brings us right to...



Hayao Miyazaki: Otsuka's in charge right until the part when the skull pendant drops onto the small cat's head. Then Miyazzaki takes over and runs with it. There are so many terrific gags and fits of action packed into this climax, the whole final act could work as a movie in itself. Pierre and Rosa crashing through a glass window, just like Douglass Fairbanks; Lucifer's bumbling and bouncing in pursuit; that rediculous cookoo clock with the cats trapped inside; the heroes' climactic climb to the top of the tower; Lucifer's locomotive stampede, and then his ballet jumps to the stairs. Which brings us to an essential topic that we'll be returning to in the future: the Miyazaki riffs.