I think it’s fair to say that when we think of anime, we generally envision 2D animation. It’s true that we are seeing more and more anime that are created in CGI but the hand-drawn look remains iconic. However, it’s all too easy to forget that Japan has produced many other styles of animation with stop-motion being particularly notable. Within this area, a particularly remarkable Japanese stop-motion animator would be Tadahito Mochinaga who’s had a surprising impact that many may not even be aware of. Given this, I thought it worth looking at his contributions and why you should know about him.
Born in Tokyo on the 3rd of March, 1919, he started out his career in animation by working on cel animation under the supervision of Mitsuyo Seo, himself a very important animator in the history of Japan. After serving as an animator on Arichan the Ant, for which he notably built Japan’s first multiplane set-up, and Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, he decided to move himself and his wife to Manchukuo, the Japanese-occupied territory of Manchuria, and ended up working for several years in the Chinese film industry where he developed and honed his skills in stop-motion before moving back to Japan in the early 50s.
During this time, Mochinaga set up an animation studio in Japan called MOM Productions where he produced Japan’s first stop-motion animation “Tsumeko-hime to Amanojaku”. He also produced other notable titles such as “Chibikuro Sambo no Tora Taiji” and “Kobutori” but ended up struggling financially, despite critical acclaim. He was directed to Videocraft International, which eventually became Rankin/Bass Productions, where he ended up working on a stop-motion TV series called “The New Adventures of Pinocchio“. The series proved to be successful but Mochinaga himself wasn’t fond of the idea of continuing work as an outsourcing company.
This all changed when a fire broke out at his studio, plunging MOM Productions dangerously close to bankruptcy. With this in mind, Mochinaga decided to pursue more work with Videocraft International. This resulted him in taking on a project to produce the animation for a TV special called “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was released in 1964 and proved to become a massive hit.
Following this success, Mochinaga continued to work with Videocraft international and ended up releasing theatrical films “Willy McBean and His Magic Machine” in 1965, “The Daydreamer” in 1966 and “Mad Monster Party?” in 1967 as well as “The Ballad of Smokey the Bear” TV special in 1966. However, his distaste for his work grew and he eventually moved back to China where he ended up working on TV journalism as well as teaching at the Beijing Film Academy. He did end up releasing a film, “Shonen to Kotanuki”, in 1992 but it proved to be his last as he died in 1999.
Let me know your thoughts on the remarkable Japanese stop-motion animator Tadahito Mochinaga, whether you’ve seen any of his work, if you knew that works like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Mad Monster Party? had been animated in Japan, the impact he has had and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!