Yasuji Murata

An adaptation of the The Ugly Duckling.

A rare glimpse of early Japanese sound anime and prewar Japanese culture, The Roots of Japanese Anime features the masterworks of such pioneers of Japanese animation as Noburo Ofuji, Yasuji Murata, and Kenzo Masaoka, in addition to Mitsuyo Seo’s Momotaro’s Sea Eagle, the notorious war cartoon billed as Japan’s first feature anime. These movies represent the brilliance and variety of anime, ranging from beautiful Japanese paper animation to powerful multiplane cel cartoons. They also evoke the fascinating complexity of Japan, a nation that is then both marching towards war, enlisting kids in militarist nationalism, yet also delighting in a mixture of modern popular culture, ancient folk tales, irreverent comedy, and the everyday life of prewar Japanese children.

A train conductor goes about his duty. All the characters are animals in human form. Hippo ladies in dresses try to jam into cars and other passengers pull jokes and cause havoc.

An old man with a huge lump on his face encounters a band of Tengu in the mountains.

Once upon a time, the birds and the beasts fought each other in a war. It was a terrible conflict, and the clever bats would side with the birds when the birds were looking victorious, and then they would become allies of the beasts when that side was winning battles. At last the war came to an end, the two parties reached an amicable settlement, and a great party of friendship was held. But when it came to the turn of the bats to perform in the program, their fence-straddling tactics were exposed, and everyone refused to associate with them. Since that time, the bats have been too ashamed to show their faces during the day, coming out only at night to flit silently around.

The story is based on the traditional, Japanese myth of Urashima Taro; in which a fisherman is transported from the seashore into a fantastic underwater world on the back of a giant turtle.

When a poor, yet honest, man rescues an old man who has fallen off a log bridge, the little people of the forest give him a "Mortar of Treasures" that will grant any item that a person desires. The man uses the mortar to become the richest person in the village. But the man's greedy brother steals the mortar and, determined to enjoy all the luxuries by himself, climbs into a rowing boat and heads for an isolated island. On the way, however, he asks for salt from the mortar, but then cannot figure out how to stop it. Finally, the boat sinks under the weight of all the salt, and the mortar sinks to the bottom of the sea where it is pouring out salt to this day.

A baseball game between the rabbits and tanuki (raccoon dogs).

This early Japanese animation opens with a festival of sorts...

Momotaro takes to the ocean to fight a shark.

Kintaro, gentle and strong, is popular in the forest. He eventually becomes a great samurai with the name Sakata no Kintoki.

The Larks' Moving Day. Early Japanese animation.

Two girls were watching a street performer. The girls sang out loud and the performer brought them up front so that they could sing for the audience. (Source: MyAnimeList.net)

A group of animals want to end the violence of the wolf.

A man and his young son travel through the countryside to take their donkey to a horse auction. Unfortunately every person they pass has a different opinion on how this should be accomplished, leading to disastrous results when the dim-witted father abandons common sense in an attempt to please everyone.

A family of mice dance to entertain a cat that disrupted their festivities after returning home early. (Source: MyAnimeList.net)

A miller and his son clumsily attempt to transport a donkey.

The lazy Tompei is still asleep past 10 o'clock and even at 11 o'clock. He finally wakes up at 12 o'clock at the deafening sound of the angry clock. Hungry, Tompei walks to Sarukichi's house and grabs food Sarukichi has harvested. The next day, while Sarukichi is working in the hills, Tompei beats Sarukichi's two children who are staying at home and tries to steal things from Sarukichi's house. Sarukichi, who is alerted of the situation via telephone from his children races home, is infuriated at the cruel Tompei and punches him so hard he falls down.

Haru is a Japanese word that means spring (season). A lighthearted anime about spring time. It was originally set to an elementary school song. The film features several vignettes.

Sports Day at Animal Village. Japanese animation short.