classic animator

Tezuka Osamu confidence and also influenced his creativity.

Growing up in the city of Kobe in Japan, Te-

Manga no zuka and his mother often visited the Takara-

zuka Theatre in Takarazuka city. All the artists
performing in this theatre were women who

kamisama also played the male characters in plays.

This theatre specialized in romantic musicals,

or the God
of Manga
Often called the Walt Disney of Japan, Te-
zuka Osamu once said: “What I try to appeal
through my works is simple. The opinion is
just a simple message that follows: Love all
the creatures! Love everything that has life! I
have been trying to express this message in
every one of my works though it has taken
different forms like the presentation of nature,
the blessing of life, the suspicion of too much
science-oriented civilization, and anti-war
and so on.”

Born on November 3, 1928, in the town of

Takarazuka, Osaka, Tezuka Osamu was a
small-framed, bookish child who was eas-
ily bullied at school. His build earned him
the nickname, gashagasha atama or messy
head (gashagasha — messy and atama —
head). Tired of the bullying and name calling
Tezuka turned to his mother who comforted
him by telling stories. These stories gave him

42 u
April 2009 u
animation reporter

which were mostly aimed at women. This too
influenced Tezuka’s works in the later years.
Tezuka grew up watching cartoons and films
on his father’s projector. He also had an ever
growing collection of comic books. His fasci-
nation with insects and bugs, a common col-
lection among children in Japan, led him to
draw these. Osamushi, a ground beetle, was
his favourite insect. He later derived his pen
name of Osamu from this very insect.
He turned to studying medicine in college but
his real passion remained manga. He gave
up his medical career to follow his passion.
Through his art, he realized that he could
spread awareness in the world. At the age of
17, he created his first piece of work, Diary
of Ma-Chan, and Shin Takarajima (New Trea-
sure Island) followed soon after. This led to
the beginning of the golden age of manga.
The comic books he
drew had different cre-
ative techniques of illus-
trations, which included
descriptions of sounds
and depicted a single ac-
tion over several frames.
His work gained reputa-
tion and he was able to
publish dozens of sto-
ries in various newspapers, magazines and
books. Tezuka was responsible for inventing
the distinctive large eyes-style of animation in
Japanese Manga. He derived this style from
cartoons like Betty Boop and Walt Disney’s
Bambi and Mickey Mouse.
Although Tezuka had given up his career in
medicine, he used this knowledge to cre-
ate a sci-fi manga, Black Jack. In the year
1960, he was asked to write the screenplay
and to co-direct the film Saiyuki (Western Di-
ary). Thus, began his career in animation.
He founded his production company, Mushi
which is now Tezuka Productions, in 1961.
Here, in 1963 he developed the cartoon se-
ries Tetsuwan Atom, also known as Astro Boy
which was an international hit.
In 1965, Tezuka used colour in animation for
the first time in the animated television series,
Jungle Taitei (Jungle
Emperor) which is also
known as Kimba the
White Lion. Both, Kimba
the White Lion and Astro
Boy were based on his
1950s classic comics.
In the same year, he
received an invitation
from Stanley Kubrick
classic animator
who wanted him to act as the art director for
the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The offered
made to Tezuka was tempting, but he could
not leave his studio for a whole year to live in
England and therefore refused the invitation.
Phoenix is considered to be his life’s greatest
work. It revolves around life and death, con-
cerning a phoenix whose blood would enable
an individual to gain immortality if he drank
it. Tezuka was inspired by Russian anima-
tor Ivan Ivano-Vano’s Konyok Gorbunok and
drew the phoenix on the lines of the fire bird
in the film.
Tezuka’s animation style was known for its
imaginative storytelling technique and styl-
ized adaptations of literature of the west. Be-
ing an admirer of Walt Disney, his earlier style
was inspired by Disney’s cartoons. The use
of different camera angles can be seen in his
early works that helped to create an illusion of
watching a movie than reading a book. The
Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion remain
his best works. Apart from these, his other
famous works include Princess Knight which
was the first shojo or girl-oriented manga se-
ries.
At the age of 60, Tezuka died of stomach
cancer. He had drawn 50,000 pages of
manga art and created 60 animations. A 3D
animated film on Astro Boy is set to release
later in 2009 and it is going to be directed by
David Bowers.
All images courtesy: Tezuka Productions
animation reporter u April 2009 u
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