Tadanari Okamoto
Directing
Biography
Tadanari Okamoto (岡本 忠成) was a Japanese independent animator. From 1965 until his death he completed at least 37 short subject films in a wide variety of mediums, many of them winning award-winning, his honorific nicknamed "Sheldon Cohen and Hans Fischerkoesen of Japan." Eight of his films have been awarded the Ōfuji Noburō Award at the Mainichi Film Awards (more than any other director in the history of the prize) and his films have altogether earned at least 24 other awards internationally. In 2003, four of his films placed in a list of the best 150 animated films and series as voted for by practitioners and critics of animation from around the world in a survey commissioned by Tokyo's Laputa Animation Festival: most notably with The Magic Fox (おこんじょうるり, Okon Jōruri, literally "The Ballad Drama of Okon", 1982), which came twenty-eighth.
Known For
The 25 minute film tells the tale of an ailing elderly woman named Itako who encounters a fox named Okon. The story opens with Itako lying bedridden, as she has for a long time. Okon enters her home and Itako tells the fox that he is welcome to take anything that he wants, for she has no use for anything anymore. Okon is delighted and in order to return the favour (the act of ongaeshi), Okon performs a magic jyōruri (a ballad with shamisen accompaniment) that heals Itako so that she is fit enough to walk again. Everyone is surprised by Itako's sudden recovery. She then hears of a hunter who has been badly injured and is near death. Itako hides Okon in the back of her shirt and has the fox sing the song while she plays shamisen in order to heal the man. This act of kindness is repeated for others until Itako's good fortune leads some to be suspicious of her.
The Magic Ballad
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto.
The Woodpecker Plan
A short film based on a story by Japanese writer Kenji Miyazawa in which two young British hunters get lost in the woods and discover a strange restaurant. Are the hunters about to discover how it feels to be hunted?
The Restaurant of Many Orders
In this animated musical short, a traveling donkey becomes upset at minor inconveniences, each of which his chipper young master is only too happy to accommodate.
A Donkey Got a Bit Sulky
A short animated film by Tadanaro Okamoto.
Ten Little Indians
Two unfettered robbers try to steal a new, mysterious medicine from a laboratory; they butt heads with a needy crow and the head professor's apprentice.
Mysterious Medicine
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto.
The Tree of Courage
A short animated film by Tadanaro Okamoto.
Who's That?
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto
Welcome, Aliens
Japanese independently-animated short.
Monkey and Crab
A short animated film by Tadanaro Okamoto.
Chikotan
The Robot Moles is an adorable story about flowers, moles, dumb scientists and a little girl.
The Flower and the Mole
A special performance for Laforet, the large department store/museum in Harajuku.
ビューティフル・ネーム
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto.
Mirror
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto.
コロは屋根のうえ
A short animated film by Tadanaro Okamoto.
Five Small Stories
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto.
Praise be to Small Ills
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto.
Towards the Rainbow
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto
Urameshi Denwa
A short animated film by Tadanari Okamoto