Toons of the Orient 3: East Steals West

Probably because their films were unlikely to be seen in America, 1930s Japanese animators of the 1930s freely “borrowed” drawings and characters from American sources. Sometimes Popeye or Mickey Mouse were used politically, to represent American warmongers; more often, these “guest appearances” were made out of the artists’ enjoyment of and reverence for the US characters. These artists were experimenting in the field out of their fascination with the medium, animation as an industry having yet to fully blossom in Japan. These early “fan homages” can confront Western audiences with very puzzling imagery. The cartoons used approximations of American styles to convey deeply rooted Japanese ideas.

TARO’S MONSTER HUNT (1936)

Courtesy of animation plundered from the first two Looney Tunes, Sinkin’ In The Bathtub and Congo Jazz (both 1930), a samurai Bosko-clone battles traditional monsters led by a Kitsune, a shape-shifting fox spirit. The cartoon briefly includes a song, which I won’t give away here, swiped from an American source.

One of the initial films by Iwao Ashida (here credited as Hiromasa Suzuki), who made Japan’s first postwar feature, Princess Baghdad, in 1948.

HOME ALONE MICE (1931)

Hungry mice drawn in the Paul Terry/Otto Messmer manner sing about how cats are of no concern to them. Charming record-based “talkie” produced and directed by Ikuo Oishi, (1901-1944), one of the first animators to use the goggle-eyed, rubberhosed style in the country. Oishi was creating cartoons in the Messmer style as late as 1939. He was killed in the Pacific while doing location (bombing) research for army training films.

MOMOTARO VS. MICKEY MOUSE (TOYBOX SERIES 3, PICTURE BOOK 1936) (released in 1934)

Jerry posted a link to this one six years ago, and I gleefully plunder facts from the comments of his knowledgeable readership.

One of the many cartoons produced to make the concept of war “kid friendly”, something judged as a higher priority in Japan than in the West.

Japan already having taken Northeast China (thus establishing Manchuria), military zealots were using the prediction that America would invade in 1936 to spur expansion. This is propaganda in that view’s favor; an “adorable” scare tactic.

The film grotesquely presents a league of revered Japanese folklore and legend figures (led by Momotaro, whom we’ve already met in Toons of The Orient 1) driving American invaders from an island already subjugated by Japan (and obviously happy with that). The “aging” chest is yet another traditional element, spun off from a fairy tale. War and defeat are interpreted on a child’s level; the enemy’s disgrace comes in the form of a schoolyard taunt. Queer that a figure derived from Felix the Cat represents a loyal “good guy”.

Among the artists credited is Yoshitsugu Tanaka, whose postwar films led to local prominence.

THE ROUTING OF THE TENGU (1934)

One of the Seven Gods of Good Luck. Fukusuke (image at right, click to enlarge) the samurai’s large head translates, through animation’s visual terminology, into Betty Boop’s noggin for a very public in-joke. Here we meet more imaginary figments, affectionately incarnated as Fleischer-style beings. The animation of Myron Waldman appears to be a specific influence here, as the characters frequently go into the “shiver-take” familiar from his Betty Boop cartoons. The concluding sequence seems inspired by Fleischer’s “goth” films, replete with a Western jazz record on the soundtrack. (A few Japanese animators had traveled to study the Fleischer studio’s procedures during this period.)

Hiding behind the pseudonym of “Furo Koyamano” is Noburo Ofuji (1900-1961; some sources say 1974), maker of the elegant cut-out animation seen in Toons of The Orient 1. Ofuji went back and forth between the two methods, always maintaining his decorative, graphically nuanced style. An animation award is given annually in his honor. (First recipient: Osamu Tezuka in 1962.)

BABY KANGAROO’S BIRTHDAY SURPRISE (1940)

Not a direct ‘steal’, this cartoon is included here because it’s one of the only Japanese cartoons that fully employs the physics of US animation (broad anticipation, squash & stretch, follow-thru, etc.). Produced very late for a cartoon without propagandistic intent. A silent print of what probably originated as a sound film.

Drawings by Masao Kumakawa (1916-2008), who devoted his entire life to animating and creating illustrations with his lovable animals.

Enjoy, MK