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Thursday, December 15, 2005

TEZUKA, Osamu

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Birth/Death

Birth: November 3, 1928 (Toyonaka-shi, Osaka)
Death: February 9, 1989


Occupation/Title

Manga artist/Animator


Bio Summary

Tezuka was born in the town of Toyonaka of the Osaka prefecture, and was the eldest of three children. Though he attended medical school and trained to become a physician, Tezuka chose to devote his life to Japanese manga and animation. Tezuka believed that he could convince people to care for the world through the two mediums. In Japan he is known by people as "Manga no Kami-sama" or "The God of Manga". He died on February 9, 1989 at age 60.


Early Life/Family

Loved to draw and collect insects. At an early age he was picked on by classmates for looking skinny and weak. Tezuka was a great lover of nature (especially bugs) and desired that humans would take care of it and treat it with respect. Created his first work called Diary of Ma-chan.


Education/Training

No formal art training. Attended Osaka University and received his M.D. for a physician practice.


Career Outline

Made debut as a cartoonist at age 17 with a four-panel comic strip called Ma-chan's Diary and soon followed up with New Treasure Island, Lost World, and Next World. These all became big hits and sold over 400,000 copies. Brought both a creative and educated mind to the manga field and experimented with long narratives of hundreds to thousands of pages, leading to a cinematic look and narrative style being introduced to manga. In 1950 he released his next manga Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor) followed by Tetsuwan Atom (Mighty Atom) in 1952. These were followed by other titles such as Princess Knight (1953), Ambassador Magma (1965), Vampire (1966), and what is considered his life's work, Hi no Tori (Phoenix) (1967).

During his career, Tezuka drew nearly 150,000 pages for comics with a total of 500 different titles of various works.

Tezuka's inspiration and love for Disney animation led to him forming his own studio, Mushi Productions, allowing him to bring his works to the screen. Tezuka became extremely involved, serving as a director, scenario writer, key drawer, and art director. Tetsuwan Atom, Jungle Taitei, and a large variety of shows became some of Japan's first television series.
In 1968 Tezuka reformed Mushi Productions thus calling it Tezuka Productions.
Tezuka also experimented with animation techniques and did not limit his studio to simply commercial animation. He believed in pursuing animation as an art form.

Even after his death, Tezuka Productions continues to produce films based off the original stories.


Comments On Style

Tezuka is the first person to use the "large anime eyes" as a style for characters. Tezuka based this off cartoons such as Max Flesicher's Betty Boop.


Influences

Walt Disney, Max Fleischer


Personality

Anecdotes

Miscellaneous

Filmography

Saiyu-ki (Alakazam the Great, The Enchanted Monkey) (1960)
Arabian Night: Sinbad no Boken (Arabian Nights: Adventures of Sinbad) (1962)
Aru Machikado no Monogatari (Story of a Certain Street Corner) (1962)
Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) (1963)
Mermaid (1964)
Memory (1964)
Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor, Kimba the White Lion) (1965)
Tenrankai no E (Pixtures at an Exhibition) (1966)
Maguma Taishi (Ambassador Magma) (1966)
Ribbon no Kishi (Knight of the Ribbon, Princess Knight) (1967)
The Amazing 3 (1967)
Senya Ichiya Monogatari (One Thousand and One Arabian Nights) (1969)
Hi no Tori (Phoenix) (1978)
Hyakumannen Chikyu no Tabi: Bandar Book (One Million-year Trip: Bandar book) (1978)
Dawn 1978 (1978)
Fumoon (1980)
Shin Tetsuwan Atom (New Astro Boy) (1980)
Unico (The Fantastic Adventures of Unico) (1981)
Jumping (1984)
Taishizen no Makemono Bagi (1984)
Yamata (1986)
Space 1986 (1986)
Mori no Densetsu (1987)
Self Portrait (1988)
Aoi Blink (1989)
Shinsaku Jungle Taitei (New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion) (1989)


Honors

Annie Award: Winsor McCay Award 1990
Best Animated Film (Tenrankai no E - 1966) -1967
Mainichi Film Concours (Burakku Jakku - 1996)- 1997
Ofuji Noburo Award (Mori no Densetsu - 1987) - 1988
Ofuji Noburo Award (Tenrankai no E - 1966) - 1967
Ofuji Noburo Award (Aru Machikado no Monogatari - 1962) - 1964
Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films Grand Prize (Jumping 1984) - 1984


Related Links

Bibliographic References

BIO-AAA-420

Contributors To This Listing

M. Kenji Gonzales

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Birth/Death


Birth: November 3, 1928 (Toyonaka, Osaka)

Death: February 9, 1989
(Osaka Prefecture)



Occupation/Title


Manga artist/Animator/Writer/Producer/Medical Doctor

Bio Summary


Osamu Tezuka, often credited as the “Father of Anime” and the “Walt Disney of Japan”, is best known in America as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. Born in Osaka to a medical family, Tezuka went on to receive a doctorate in medicine, but never practiced. Instead, he devoted his life to Japanese comics and animation. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him the title “God of Manga". Tezuka created over 700 manga with more than 150,000 pages during his lifetime. He created manga and anime for all genres, including comics for infants; boys’ adventure, girls’ romantic fantasy; adult drama, including political thrillers; adult erotic humor and drama; cartoon adaptations of classical literature, such as Dostoyevky’s Crime and Punishment, and biography, such as the lives of Beethoven and Buddha, and sci-fi as social satire. Tezuka also directed the first X-rated animated film, and dabbled extensively in experimental and independent animation efforts. He actively promoted the concept that cartoon art is not a medium merely for children’s entertainment.
Early Life/Family


Tezuka was born on November 3, 1928, in Toyonaka City, Osaka, and was the eldest of three children. He was taunted by his classmates for being small, skinny and having wavy hair. His mother often consoled him by telling him to look to the blue skies, which gave him confidence. His mother's stories inspired his creativity as well.
Tezuka loved the environment, especially insects, and wished that all humans would take care of it. He would later name his first animation studio Mushi (insect) Production Company.
He started to draw comics around his second year of elementary school. He came to the realization that he could use manga as a means of helping to convince people to care for the world. After surviving World War II, he created his first comic at age 17, Diary of Ma-chan (1946) followed by New Treasure Island (1947), and Lost World (1948). These comics were a huge success and sold over 400,000 copies. Thus began the golden age of manga, a craze comparable to American comic books at the time.

Education/Training


No formal art training.
Tezeku graduated from Osaka University and obtained a medical degree.

Career Outline


Tezuka brought both a creative and educated mind to the manga field and revolutionized the industry with his use of cinematic art direction and long narratives of hundreds to thousands of pages. In 1950 he released his next manga Janguru Taitei (aka Kimba the White Lion) followed by Tetsuwan Atomu (aka Astro Boy) in 1952. These were followed by other titles such as Princess Knight (1953), Ambassador Magma (1965), Vampire (1966), and what is considered his life's work, Hi no Tori (aka Phoenix) (1967).
Inspired by his love of Disney animation, Tezuka created his own animation studio, Mushi Production Company, in 1962.

 Tezuka was extremely involved in the animation process, serving roles as producer, director, writer, art director and animator. When the television animated Astro Boy debuted in 1963, it was an immense success, gaining US syndication, running for four years with 193 weekly episodes, and jump-starting Japan’s TV-animation industry. In 1965 Mushi released Japan’s first color TV animation, Kimba the White Lion, which was partly subsidized by the US’s NBC.
Tezuka was interested in exploring animation as an art form. He wrote an produced several experimental films, including Pictures at an Exhibition; a response to Disney’s Fantasia. Tezuka was determined to produce sophisticated, feature-length animated films for theatrical release to emphasize that animation was not just for children.
In 1969 Mushi premiered its first theatrical, feature-length animated movie, The Thousand and One Nights, quickly followed by Cleopatra in 1970. These films were brilliantly innovative and erotic, but they bewildered the critics and bankrupted Mushi Production Co. Tezuka left in 1971 to start Tezuka Production Company, while Mushi staggered on until 1973.
Tezuka Production Co. went on to produce an animated movie for TV every year from the late 1970s to the late 1980s, as well as the theatrical feature Phoenix 2772 in 1980 and a color remake of the Astro Boy TV series in 1980-1981.
Tezuka thought of these projects primarily as commercial works. On the side, he wrote, storyboarded, and co-directed independent animated shorts for personal presentation at international film festivals. These included Jumping (1984), Broken Down Film (1985), and Legend of the Forest (1987).
Tezuka made his final appearance as one of the judges at the first Shanghai International Animation Festival in November 1988. On February 9, 1989, Tezuka died of stomach cancer at the age of 60. 

To this day, Tezuka Productions continues to produce films based off his original stories. 




Comments On Style


Tezuka’s manga brought a cinematic look to the medium, using dramatic camera angles, pans and close-ups instead of static imagery.
Tezuka created the distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation, inspired by cartoons of the time such as Max Fleischer's Betty Boop and Walt Disney’s Bambi and Mickey Mouse.

Influences


Walt Disney, Max Fleischer


, Wan Bros.’ Princess with the Iron Fan, and Seo’s wartime Momotaro films

Personality

Anecdotes


In January 1965, Tezuka received a letter from Stanley Kubrick, who had watched Astro Boy and wanted to invite Tezuka to be the art director of his next movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Tezuka couldn't afford to leave his studio for an entire year to live in England, so he refused the invitation. Although Tezuka could not work on the film, he thought it was great, and would play its soundtrack at maximum volume in his studio to keep him awake during the long nights of work.
It is said that Tezuka’s last words were "I'm begging you, let me work!"

Miscellaneous


Around his fifth year in elementary school, Tezuka found a bug named "Osamushi". It so resembled his name that he adopted osamushi as his pen name.

Filmography


Astro Boy (2009)
M.W. (2009)
Dororo (2007)
... aka Blood Will Tell (International: English title) 
... aka Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo (USA)
"Hi no tori" (2004)
... aka "Phoenix" (USA: dubbed version)
"Astro Boy tetsuwan atomu" (2003)
... aka "Astro Boy" (USA)
Black Jack III (2001) (TV)
Metoroporisu (2001) 
... aka Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (Australia) (USA: DVD title) 
... aka Metropolis (USA) 
... aka Osamu Tezuka no Metoroporisu (Japan: complete title) 
... aka Robotic Angel (International: English title)
Black Jack II (2000) (TV)
Black Jack (2000) (TV)
Garasu no nô (2000) 
... aka Sleeping Bride (USA: DVD title) 

Janguru taitei (1997) 
... aka Jungle Emperor Leo
Burakku jakku (1996) 
... aka Black Jack (USA)
Black Jack (1996) (TV)
Black Jack 2: Pinoko ai shiteru (1996)
"Kimba the White Lion" (1994) TV series
Magma taishi (1993) (V) 
... aka Ambassador Magma
Akuemon (1993)
Kimba the White Lion: Symphonic Poem (1991)
Adachi-Ga-Hara (1991) 

"Shinsaku jungle taitei" (1989) TV series 
... aka "Jungle Emperor" (International: English title) 
... aka "New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion" (USA)
"Aoi Blink" (1989) TV series
Unico: Kuroi kumo to shiroi hane (1989) 
... aka Unico: Black Cloud White Feather (USA)
Self Portrait (1988/I)
Mori no densetsu (1987) (V) 
... aka Legend of the Forest (USA)
Hi no tori: Hôô hen (1986) 
... aka Firebird: Karma Chapter (International: English title) 
... aka Phoenix (International: English title) 
... aka Phoenix: Karma Chapter (International: English title)
Space 1986 (1986)
Yamata (1986)
Akuma Shima no prince: Mittsu-me ga tooru (1985) (TV)
Broken Down Film (1985)
Taishizen no makemono Bagi (1984) (TV) 
... aka Bagi, the Monster of Mighty Nature (International: English title) 
... aka Daishizen no majyuu bagi (Japan)
Jumping (1984)
Unico: Mahô no shima e (1983) 
... aka Unico: In the Magic Island
"Don Dracula" (1982) TV series
Unico (1981) (original story) 
... aka The Fantastic Adventure of Unico-1 (International: English title) 
... aka The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (USA: video title) 
... aka Yuniko (Japan: non-modified Hepburn romanization)
"Shin Tetsuwan Atom" (1980) TV series 
... aka "Astroboy" (USA) 
... aka "New Astro Boy, The" (USA: literal English title)
Fumoon (1980) (TV)
Hi no tori 2772: Ai no kosumozon (1980) 
... aka Fire's Bird 2772: Love's Cosmozone 
... aka Phoenix 2772 
... aka Space Firebird (USA: cut version) 
... aka Space Firebird 2772 

"SF Saiyûki Starzinger" (1979) TV series 
... aka "Spaceketeers" (USA)
Umi no Triton (1979)
Dawn 1978 (1978)
Hyakumannen chikyû no tabi: Bandâ bukku (1978) (TV) 
... aka One Million-Year Trip: Bandar Book (USA)
Hi no tori (1978) 
... aka Fire's Bird 
... aka Firebird: Daybreak Chapter (International: English title) 
... aka Hi no tori - Reimei hen (Japan) 
... aka The Firebird 
... aka The Phoenix
Hitomi no naka no houmonsha (1977) 
... aka The Eye's Visitor
"Wansa-kun" (1973) TV series 
... aka "Little Wansa" (International: English title: informal literal title) 

Senya ichiya monogatari (1969) 
... aka One Thousand and One Arabian Nights
"Banpaiya" (1968) TV series (based on the ideas of)
"Ribbon no Kishi" (1967) TV series 
... aka "Adventures of Choppy and the Princess, The" (UK: dubbed version) 
... aka "Knight of the Ribbon, The" 
... aka "Princess Knight"
"Goku no daiboken" (1967) TV series
"Janguru taitei Reo" (1966) TV series 
... aka "Leo the Lion" (USA)
"Maguma taishi" (1966) TV series 
... aka "Ambassador Magma" 
... aka "Space Avenger" (International: English title)
Tenrankai no e (1966) 
... aka Pictures at an Exhibition
"Janguru taitei" (1965) TV series 
... aka "Jungle Emperor" (International: English title) 
... aka "Kimba the White Lion" (USA)
"The Amazing 3" (1965) TV series 
... aka "Amazing 3, The" (USA) 
... aka "W3" 
... aka "Wonder Three" (Japan)
Tetsuwan Atom: Uchû no yûsha (1964) 
... aka Astro Boy (USA: dubbed version)
Mermaid (1964)
Memory (1964)
"Tetsuwan atomu" (1963) TV series 
... aka "Mighty Atom" (International: English title)
Aru machikado no monogatari (1962) 
... aka Story of a Certain Street Corner (USA)
Arabian naito: Shindobaddo no bôken (1962) 
... aka Adventures of Sinbad 
... aka Arabian Nights: The Adventures of Sinbad
Saiyu-ki (1960) 
... aka Alakazam the Great (USA) 
... aka The Enchanted Monkey (International: English title: literal title) 
... aka The Magic Land of Alakazam (USA)

Honors


1958 - Shogakukan Manga Award (Manga Seminar on Biology and Biiko-chan)
1975 - Bungeishunjū manga Award
1975 - Japan Mangaka Association Award — Special Award
1977 - Kodansha Manga Award (Black Jack and The Three-Eyed One)
1984 - Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films Grand Prize (Jumping)
1985 - Hiroshima International Animation Festival (Onboro-Film)
1986 - Kodansha Manga Award (Adolf)
1989 - Nihon SF Taisho Award - Special Award
1989 - Zuihōsho 3rd class
1990 - Annie Award: Winsor McCay Award
1997 - Mainichi Film Concours (Black Jack)


Related Links


http://tezukaosamu.net/
http://www.tezukainenglish.com/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0856804/

Bibliographic References
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=883
http://www.anime.com/Osamu_Tezuka/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka
Beck, Jerry. “Osamu Tezuka”. Animation Art. Flame Tree Publishing.

 

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