The first Japanese animated feature film gets screened at this year’s Lacarno Film Festival

by Chris MaGee

The 61st Annual Locarno Film Festival taking place in Locarno, Switzerland between August 6th and the 16th has got a real treat for fans of Japanese animation. The fest will be screening Mitsuyo Seo’s 1945 feature length animated film “Momotarō Umi no Shinpei (Momotarō’s Divine Sea Warriors)”. Commissioned and financed by the News Division of the Japanese Naval Ministry and produced by Shochiku the film (a sequel to Seo’s 1943 half hour “Momōtaro’s Sea Eagles”) tells the story of how Momōtaro, the “peach boy” of Japanese folklore, leads an army of cartoon animals in a surprise attack on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi as part of Japan’s plan to “liberate Asia”.

While clearly war propaganda the film also holds an important place in Japanese cinema history, being the first feature length animated film to be produced in Japan ; and in many ways it’s a miracle that it’s survived at all. During the American Occupation after the war films that were deemed to be perpetuating Japanese feudalism and militarism were banned, in fact 236 films were destroyed by the American occupying forces for these reasons. Long thought to have been lost during this purge the negatives of “Momotarō Umi no Shinpei” were discovered in Shochiku’s vaults in 1984.

Along with “Momotarō Umi no Shinpei” Locarno will also be featuring the 1943 animated short “Kumo to Tulip (The Spider and The Tulip)” directed by Kenzo Masaoka.

For full details on the Lacarno Film Festival visit its official site here and while you’re at it check out clips from “Momotarō Umi no Shinpei (Momotarō’s Divine Sea Warriors)” below courtesy of YouTube.

Thanks to Anime News Network and Variety for the details on this.