a graphic style with the limited animation, often using collages and assemblages. Most of
these early films were serious films with deep themes and a dark, comic edge. Vukotic’s
Surogatwas an exceptional film and won an Oscar. By 1963 the early Zagreb School ani-
mators had moved on. So Zagreb Film promoted those who had worked and learned from
the masters. These new animators often wrote, directed, and drew their own films, so the
films were more personal. Important Zagreb School animators included Borivoj Dovnikovic,
Nedeljko Dragic, Zlatko Grgic, Zdenko Gasparovic, Boris Kolar, the team of Aleksandar
Marks and Vladimir Jutrisa, and Josko Marusic. Another important Yugoslavian animator
was Borislav Sajtinac, who worked for Neoplanta Film in Serbian Novi Sad in the 1960s and
early 1970s.
Japanese Animation
Japanese artists first resolved to experiment with moving images after seeing John Randolph
Bray’s cartoons around 1910. Seitaro Kitayama made three films in 1917:Saru kani kassen,
Cat and Mice, andThe Naughty Mailbox.The first Japanese film to be shown outside of
Japan was Kitayama’s Momotaro(1918). Other early Japanese animators included Junichi
Kouchi, Oten Shimokawa, Zenjiro “Sanae” Yamamoto, Noburo Ofuji (who made adult
films), and Yasuji Murata (who used American-style cels). During the 1930s the government
required propaganda films, and Kenzo Masaoka produced many of these as well as other
shorts. In 1943 he created his most important film,Kumo to Chulip.Mitsuyo Seo made
Japan’s first feature,Momotaro-umi noshinpei, also a propaganda film, in 1944.
After World War II animation consolidated into a more factorylike environment. One
large studio set up for a brief period was Shin Nihon Doga. Around 1947 Kenzo Masaoka
and “Sanae” Yamamoto set up Nihon Doga, which later became Toei Doga (not to be con-
fused with Toei). Toei Doga turned out some fine feature films, including Hakuja-den,
directed by Taiji Yabushita. Among animators of the 1950s were Tadahito Mochinaga
(puppet films), Ryuichi Yokoyama (founded Otogi in 1955), and Noburo Ofuji (Shaka no
Shoga). One of the most important animators of that period was Kon Ichikawa, who was
famous for his composition. There were many competing studios, including Toho, Otogi,
Nihon Eiga, and Kyodo. Yugo Serikawa made animated features as well as many television
productions. The studio Gakken, led by Matsue Jinbo, produced educational and puppet
films. In 1959 the comic strip artist Osamu Tezuka was hired by Toei to co-direct and write
Saiyuki.In 1961 Tezuka founded his own company, Mushi, and made the TV series Tetsuwan
Atom(Astro Boy) in 1963.Astro Boywas one of the first anime series to air on U.S. televi-
sion. After Mushi suffered setbacks, Tezuka founded Tezuka Productions, a company more
suited to the way he worked. Tezuka continued to make many TV series, shorts, and fea-
tures, including Jumping (1984) and Onboro Film(1985).
Starting in the 1960s television became important to Japan. By 1976, 200 animated series
had been produced, and that number doubled by 1983. In 1985 Toei alone was completing
twenty-six minutes of animation each day with some of that work done in cheaper Asian
countries. Many of the Japanese series became very popular in Europe in the 1970s, but it
271975–2005More U.S. studios subcontract work overseas. U.S. production shrinks. Production
in Korea, China, the Philippines, Australia, India, and Vietnam grows.