Year in Review
1960 was a
seminal year in Japanese animation, marking both the birth of TV anime and the
beginning of the first wave of post-war independent animation.
Independent animation, which was known at the time as “art animation” (アートアニメーション), refers to both
animation made by independent studios and to animation made in non-mainstream
styles.
Three
animation innovators, the iconoclastic experimental artist Yōji Kuri (久里洋二, b. 1928), the illustrator and cartoonist Ryohei Yanagihara (柳原良平, 1931-2015), and the illustrator Hiroshi
Manabe (真鍋博, 1932-2000), came together to present their animation
together at the Sogetsu Cinematheque, calling themselves the Animation
Group of Three (アニメーション三人の会/ Animation
Sannin no Kai). Their collective
name was a nod to the Sannin no Kai composers
Yasushi Akutagawa (son of the great
writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa), Ikuma Dan
and Toshirō Mayuzumi, who from 1953 to
1962, collaborated together to stage performances of their avant-garde style of
music.
The first
screening of the Animation Group of Three occurred on November 26, 1960 followed by three more screenings on December 3, 10, and 17. The films screened were Kuri's Two Grilled Fish and Stamp Fantasy, Yanagihara's Sea Battle and Manabe's Marine Snow (see below for more details). The group would hold two more Animation Group
of Three festivals, before expanding the festival to include other emerging
experimental animation talent (Osamu Tezuka, Makoto Wada, Tadanari Yokoo) in 1964.
Also in
1960, the NHK aired the first televised domestically produced anime. On January 15, 1960 an experimental anthology
of three short animated films were shown under the name Three Tales (新しい動画 3つのはなし / Mittsu no Hanashi). The shorts are adaptations of tales by
Japanese authors: The Third Plate (第三の皿) by Hirosuke
Hamada, Oppel and the Elephant (オッペルと象) by Kenji
Miyazawa, and Sleepy Town (眠い町) by Mimeo Ogawa. The directors were Keiko Osonoe, Shūichi
Nakahara, and illustrator Makoto
Wada. Wada would go on to make
experimental animation in the 1960s, but he is best
known today for his pop art and book covers.
Anime could
also be found on the big screen in Japan in 1960. Toei Dōga’s
Alakazam the Great 西遊記 / Saiyuki) is an adaptation
of the 16th century Chinese novel Journey
to the West. It is directed by Taiji Yabushita and Daisaku Shirakawa, with character
design by Osamu Tezuka. Although Tezuka was not involved in the animation
of this film, it nonetheless marks
the beginning of his professional shift of focus from manga to animation. One of the first anime films to be released in
the USA, Alakazam the Great is notable for its sequences by animators Yasuo Otsuka and Yasuji Mori.
Stop motion
animation was also enjoying success in 1960.
The educational book publisher Gakken had been making puppet animation
on 16mm for distribution to schools and libraries since 1958, with distribution
in the United States by Coronet Instructional Films. The two main directors / animators were Matsue Jinbo (神保まつえ,
b. 1928) and Kazuhiko Watanabe (渡辺和彦), and 1960 saw them produced several wonderful short adaptations
of Japanese and European fairy tales. Click
on the links below to watch the films and read in-depth reviews.
1960 saw the debut of what is now the oldest and most respected international animation festival - Annecy. Three Gakken adaptations of Aesop fables, The Dove and the Ant (ありとはと, 1959), The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (いなかねずみとまちねずみ, 1960), and The North Wind and the Sun (きたかぜとたいよう, 1960) screened out of competition at the first Annecy festival under the title Trois fables d'Ésope : La fourmi et la colombe, Le rat des villes et le rat des champs, Le vent du Nord et le soleil. The programme listed Shin'ichi Kanabayashi as the director and Kazuhiko Watanabe as the screenwriter with Kachiko Terashi credited as an animator.
1960 saw the debut of what is now the oldest and most respected international animation festival - Annecy. Three Gakken adaptations of Aesop fables, The Dove and the Ant (ありとはと, 1959), The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (いなかねずみとまちねずみ, 1960), and The North Wind and the Sun (きたかぜとたいよう, 1960) screened out of competition at the first Annecy festival under the title Trois fables d'Ésope : La fourmi et la colombe, Le rat des villes et le rat des champs, Le vent du Nord et le soleil. The programme listed Shin'ichi Kanabayashi as the director and Kazuhiko Watanabe as the screenwriter with Kachiko Terashi credited as an animator.
Meanwhile,
animation pioneer Tadahito ‘Tad’ Mochinaga
(持永 只仁, 1919-1999)
and his studio MOM Productions had been recruited in 1958 by the American
production company Videocraft, run by Arthur
Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass, to help them bring their vision of Animagic to life. Videocraft, which changed its name in 1968 to Rankin/Bass would go on to become famous for their
Christmas Specials, but they began their MOM Pro collaboration with the TV
series The New Adventures of Pinocchio
(ピノキオの新しい冒険 / Pinokio
no Atarashii Bouken, 1960-61) - a total
of 130 five-minute shorts for kids.
Unlike the Japanese black and white broadcast of Three Tales, these animated shorts were shot in full colour. The New Adventures of Pinocchio were broadcast on Japanese television in 1963.
Although uncredited, The New Adventures of Pinocchio provided work for many important puppet makers and animators who would go on to shape the future of stop motion animation in Japan. The puppets were made by Ichiro Komuro, Kyoko Kita, Reiko Yamagata and Sumiko Hosaka. The animation was done by Hiroshi Tabata, Koicihi Oikawa, Fumiko Magari, and Tadanari Okamoto.
Although uncredited, The New Adventures of Pinocchio provided work for many important puppet makers and animators who would go on to shape the future of stop motion animation in Japan. The puppets were made by Ichiro Komuro, Kyoko Kita, Reiko Yamagata and Sumiko Hosaka. The animation was done by Hiroshi Tabata, Koicihi Oikawa, Fumiko Magari, and Tadanari Okamoto.
Tadanari
Okamoto (岡本忠成, 1932-1990) receives an individual Special Mention on the list below for his first puppet
animation, which was his graduate work for Nihon University. Mentored initially by Mochinaga, Okamoto would go on to
become one of the two great puppet animators of his generation along with his
friend Kihachirō Kawamoto.
Best Japanese Animated Shorts of 1960
Fashion
ファッション
1960年 / 3’
Yōji KURI (久里洋二, b.
1928)
Two Grilled Fish
二匹のサンマ
Nihiki no Sanma
1960年 / 22’
Yōji KURI
切手の幻想
Kitte no Gensou
1960年 / 7’
Yōji KURI
Marine Snow
マリン・スノー
1960年 / one reel
Hiroshi MANABE (真鍋博, 1932-2000)
Sea Battle
海戦
Kaisen
1960年 /2’
Ryohei YANAGIHARA (柳原良平, 1931-2015)
Gourd
Sparrow
ひょうたんすずめ
Hyōtan Suzume
1959年/ 55’
Ryuichi YOKOYAMA (横山隆一,
1909-2001)
Otogi Pro
Yokoyama Memorial Manga Museum 
Kasa Jizō
かさじぞう
1960年 / 9’37”
Kazuhiko
WATANABE (渡辺和彦)/ Gakken
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
いなかねずみとまちねずみ
1960年 / 9’09”
Kazuhiko WATANABE (渡辺和彦)/
Gakken
The North Wind and the Sun
きたかぜとたいよう
Kitakaze to Taiyō
1960年 / 7’29”
Kazuhiko
WATANABE (渡辺和彦)/ Gakken
The Elves and the Shoemaker
くつやとこびと
Kutsuya to Kobito
1960年 / 14’25”
Matsue JINBO (神保まつえ,
b. 1928) / Gakken
The Musicians in the Woods
もりのおんがくたい
1960年 / 13’55”
Matsue JINBO (神保まつえ,
b. 1928) / Gakken
Special Mention:
Mirror
かがみ
Kagami
1960年 / 12'40"
