is a Japanese animated

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

adventure film, the 6th feature produced by

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

(then Tōei Dōga), released in Japan on March 24, 1963. English-dubbed versions have been released under several titles, including ''The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon'', ''Prince in Wonderland'' and ''Rainbow Bridge''. Based on the

Shintō Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...

myth of the storm god Susanoo's battle with the

Yamata no Orochi , or simply , is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon/ serpent. Mythology Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The 712 AD transcribes this dragon nam ...

, the color, "ToeiScope"

anamorphic format Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...

film is scripted by Ichirō Ikeda and Takashi Iijima and directed by Yūgo Serikawa. It is considered one of the very best of the Tōei Dōga features and a landmark in

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

and animated features in general, placing 10th in the list of the 150 best animated films and series of all time compiled by

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

's Laputa Animation Festival from an international survey of animation staff and critics in 2003. It features distinctively

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, abstracted

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

background Background may refer to: Performing arts and stagecraft * Background actor * Background artist * Background light * Background music * Background story * Background vocals * ''Background'' (play), a 1950 play by Warren Chetham-Strode Record ...

and color design, formalised the role of supervising animator (performed on this film by

Yasuji Mori was an animator who worked with Toei Animation, while it was still known as Toei Doga. He was also a famous illustrator of children's books. Mori was responsible for one of the major animation styles within Toei Animation. In '' The Little Prin ...

) in the Japan and drew attention to the talents of

animators An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...

Yasuo Ōtsuka was a Japanese animator who worked with Toei Animation, Nippon Animation, TMS Entertainment, and Studio Ghibli. He was considered to be one of Japan's foremost animators, and he was an important mentor to both Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. ...

and

Yōichi Kotabe is a Japanese animator and character designer. He has worked on several anime films from the 1960s and 1970s, on the ''Super Mario'' video game series, and the ''Pokémon'' series in television and film. He was an employee at Nintendo for two dec ...

(who made his debut as a key animator on the film, though he is inaccurately credited on screen an in between artist) and assistant directors

Isao Takahata was a Japanese director, screenwriter and producer. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he earned international critical acclaim for his work as a director of Japanese animated feature films. Born in Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture, Takahata joined Toe ...

and

Kimio Yabuki Kimio Yabuki ( ja, 矢吹公郎) is a Japanese animator. Known in Japan for his work on many early classic works by the Toei Animation studio, his best-known film in the West is ''Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer'' from 1985, produced by the ...

. The score, composed by

Akira Ifukube was a Japanese classical and film music composer, best known for his works on the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Biography Early years in Hokkaido Akira Ifukube was born on 31 May 1914 in Kushiro, Japan as the third son of a police officer Toshimi ...

, is also acclaimed.

Plot

The film tells the story of the deity Susanoo (as a cute boy), whose mother,

Izanami , formally known as , is the creator deity A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God ...

, has died. He is deeply hurt by the loss of his mother but his father, Izanagi, tells him that his mother is now in heaven. Despite Izanagi's warnings, Susanoo eventually sets off to find her. Along with his companions, Akahana (a little talking rabbit) and Titanbō (a strong but friendly giant from the Land of Fire), Susanoo overcomes all obstacles in his long voyage. He eventually comes to the Izumo Province, where he meets Princess Kushinada, a little girl whom he becomes friends with (he also thinks that she is so beautiful that she looks like his mother). Kushinada's family tells Susanoo that their other seven daughters were sacrificed to the fearsome eight-headed serpent, the Yamata no Orochi. Susanoo is so infatuated with Kushinada that he decides to help her family protect her and slay the Orochi once and for all and he, Akahana, and Bō prepare for the showdown.

Cast

Morio Kazama is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 2nd Yokohama Film Festival for '' Shiki Natsuko'' and ''Yūgure made'' and at the 6th and 7th Japan Academy Prizes. Filmography Films * '' Wanpaku Ōji no Orochi Taiji'' (19 ...

as Susanoo * Yukiko Okada as Princess Kushinada * Chiharu Kuri as Akahana *

Masato Yamanouchi was a Japanese voice actor. Yamanouchi died on April 7, 2003, due to complications from lung cancer. Filmography Television dramas *'' Akō Rōshi'' (1964) (Uesugi Tsunanori) *''Tokugawa Ieyasu'' (1983) (Ikoma Chikamasa) Television animatio ...

as Wadatsumi, Kushinada-hime's father *

Kiyoshi Kawakubo was a Japanese voice actor. He was from Yokohama, Japan. Kiyoshi was part of 81 Produce. __TOC__ Notable roles TV drama *''Tokugawa Ieyasu'' (1983) (Torii Mototada) *''Dokuganryū Masamune'' (1987) (Sirakawa Yoshichika) Anime television *'' ...

as Titan-bô * Hideo Kinoshita as Tarô / Tsukuyomi * Kinshirô Iwao as Hi no kami (God of Fire)

Notes

This film eschewed the soft, rounded look of previous Toei animated features for a more stylized one. It is also one of the few animated films to have music by famed composer

(the other being the posthumously released ''

Tetsujin 28 , known as simply ''Tetsujin 28'' in international releases, is a 1956 manga written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who also created ''Giant Robo''. The series centers on the adventures of a young boy named Shotaro Kaneda, who ...

'' film ''Hakuchū no Zangetsu''). A symphonic suite of five movements based on the score's cues was created by Ifukube in 2003, the first recording of which was performed by the

Japan Philharmonic Orchestra The (JPO) is a Japanese symphony orchestra based in Tokyo, with administrative offices in Suginami. History The orchestra was established on June 22, 1956, as the exclusive subsidiary orchestra under the Nippon Cultural Broadcasting. Akeo Watan ...

conducted by Tetsuji Honna and released on

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

by King Records within the same year. Some of the film's music was also redeployed in the 1st and 32nd episodes, first broadcast in 1972 and 1973 respectively, of the Toei Animation television series ''

Mazinger Z is a Japanese super robot manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later was reissued in Kodansha ''TV Magazin ...

''. The film's theme song, , is also composed by Ifukube, with lyrics by Takashi Morishima, and is sung by Setsuko Watanabe. The original,

monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

soundtrack recording has been released three times on

, two of which are now out of print. The first was a two disc set released by Futureland in 1992, which paired it with a disc of alternate takes and Ifukube's score for Mitsubishi's

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

exhibit. The second release was part of a ten-disc collection of Toei Animation soundtracks released by Nippon Columbia in 1996; it featured better audio quality but lacked the alternate takes. On May 23, 2018, Japanese record label Cinema-kan released the score for a third time as a remastered, two-disc set, titled The Naughty Prince's Orochi Slaying Original Soundtrack (CINK-51-52). The first disc contains the complete score while the second disc contains alternate takes, sound effects, and trailer music. The English translated track list of the Cinema-kan release reads as follows:

Disc 1 - CINK-51

# Main Title (M1 · M2) # Susanoo Appears (M3) # Lullaby for a Motherless Child I (M4 · M5) # Izanami's Ascension (M6) # Susanoo's Sorrow (M7 · M8) # Lullaby for a Motherless Child II (M9 · M10) # Departure (M11 · M12) # Monster Fish Akuru (M13 · M14) # Yoru-no-Osukuni (M15 · M16) # Ice Mirror (M17 · M18 · M19) # Susanoo's Rampage (ME137 · M20) # Tsukuyomi and Susanoo (M21 · M21A · M21B) # Land of Fire (M22 · M23 · M24) # Fire God and Susanoo (M25 · M26) # Ice Ball (M27 · M28) # To Takama-ga-hara (M29) # Amaterasu (M30) # Land Reclamation (M31 · M32 · M33 · M34) # Flood (M35) # Ama-no-Iwato (M36) # Omoikane's Trick (M37 · M38) # Iwato Kagura (M39) # Stone Door Opens (M40 · M41 · M42) # To Izumo Province (M43 · M44) # Kushinadahime (M45) # Yamata-no-Orochi (M46) # Ame-no-Hayakoma (M47) # Susanoo and Kushinadahime (M48 · M49) # Waiting for Orochi (M50) # Yamata-no-Orochi Emerges (M51 · M52) # Sake Drinking Orochi (M53) # Susanoo Sortie (M54) # Susanoo vs. Orochi I (M55) # Susanoo vs. Orochi II (M56) # Kushinadahime's Crisis (M57 · M58) # Susanoo vs. Orochi III (M59) # Final Battle (M60 · M61) # Morning of Victory (M62) # Ending (M63)

Disc 2 - CINK-52

# Main Title (M1T1) # Lullaby for a Motherless Child (M5) # Izanami's Ascension (M6T1) # Izanami's Ascension (M6T2) # Izanami's Ascension (M6) # Izanagi and Susanoo (M7T1) # Vision of Izanami (M9) # Susanoo's Anger (M19T1) # To Takama-ga-hara (M29T1) # Damming the River (M34T1) # Flood (M35T1) # Omoikane's Trick (M37T1 · M38T1) # Iwato Kagura II (M40T1) # Iwato Kagura II (M40T2) # Leaving Takama-ga-hara (M43T1) # Preparing for Battle (M49T1) # Preparing for Battle (M49T2) # Ending (M63T1) # Ending (M63) # Lullaby for a Motherless Child 1 (PS) # Lullaby for a Motherless Child 2 (PS) # Lullaby for a Motherless Child 3 (PS) # Lullaby for a Motherless Child 5 (PS) # ME Collection 1 # ME Collection 2 # SE Collection 1 # SE Collection 2 # Yamata-no-Orochi's Cry # Trailer Music

Release

The film was distributed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, under the title ''The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon'', as a matinee feature by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, opening January 1, 1964. Its Japanese origin was downplayed, as was standard practice at the time, with William Ross, the director of the English dubbing, credited as director and

Fujifilm , trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals. The offerings from the ...

and Toei's color and widescreen processes rebranded as "MagiColor" and "WonderScope" respectively. Though still highly regarded in animation circles, the film is now little-known outside of them. A Japanese DVD-Video was released in 2002 and reissued in limited quantity in 2008. In 2019, a cropped transfer of the English-dubbed version was released in the United States by Mill Creek Entertainment as part of the "Pop Culture Bento Box" compilation set, though early copies of the set accidentally omitted the film. On February 5, 2020, Toei released the film on Blu-ray Disc in Japan.

Reception

Accolades received by ''Wanpaku'' at the time of its release including being honoured with a Bronze Osella at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

and the Ōfuji Noburō Award at the 1963

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

s and making it into the official recommendations of the Japanese

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

and the Ministry of Health's Central Child Welfare Council.

Legacy

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich Tartakovsky (russian: Геннадий Борисович Тартаковский, born ), commonly known as Tartakovsky (), is a Russian-American animator, director, producer, screenwriter, voice actor, storyboard artist, ...

watched the film and identifies it as a primary influence on the direction and design of his TV series ''

Samurai Jack ''Samurai Jack'' is an American animated action-adventure television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jack'' after finishing his wor ...

''.

was a character animator on the film. He used ''Wanpaku'' as inspiration for the art direction of the video game '' The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker''.

Tomm Moore Thomas "Tomm" Moore (born 7 January 1977) is an Irish filmmaker, animator, illustrator and comics artist. He co-founded Cartoon Saloon with Nora Twomey and Paul Young, an animation studio and production company based in Kilkenny, Ireland. His ...

, the director of the Oscar-nominated films ''

The Secret of Kells ''The Secret of Kells'' is a 2009 animated fantasy film about the making of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from the 9th Century. The film is an Irish-French-Belgian co-production animated by Cartoon Saloon, which premiered on 8 F ...

'', ''Song of the Sea'', and ''

Wolfwalkers ''Wolfwalkers'' is a 2020 animated fantasy adventure film directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The film is the third and final installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", following his previous films '' The Secret of Kells'' (2009) and ...

'', has identified the film as a major influence.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon, The 1960s adventure films 1960s fantasy films 1963 anime films 1963 films Adventure anime and manga Animated adventure films 1960s children's fantasy films Films scored by Akira Ifukube Films based on Japanese myths and legends Japanese animated fantasy films Japanese mythology in anime and manga Japanese fantasy adventure films Toei Animation films Films with screenplays by Ichirô Ikeda Columbia Pictures animated films Columbia Pictures films Animated films about dragons Films directed by Yûgo Serikawa 1960s American films