was a Japanese

animator An animator is an artist who creates 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. Animat ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of animated films who played a central role in the development of Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

. He was born in

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is ...

Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...

Career

Initially working as a sign painter, Seo began dabbling in drawing animation by working at a toy film company that made short movies for home entertainment. Although his most famous films were

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

for

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Seo's political sympathies were

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

, and early on, he was actually a member of the Proletarian Film League of Japan, where he helped out on such animated films as ''Sankichi no Kūchū Ryokō''. In 1931, he was arrested for his activities, tortured, and spent 21 days in jail.Official booklet, ''The Roots of Japanese Anime'', DVD, Zakka Films, 2009. Seo met

Kenzō Masaoka was a Japanese early anime creator. Masaoka was the first to use cel animation and recorded sound in anime.Kōdansha (1993). ''Japan: an illustrated encyclopedia.'' Kōdansha, He worked at a number of companies as an animator and actor, and w ...

and joined his company, working on Japan's first sound animation film, ''

Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka is a 1933 anime short film by Kenzō Masaoka and the first Japanese anime of any type to feature voiceovers. The film was released in black and white. There are no known prints of this film available, and it is considered a lost film. ''Chikar ...

'', before starting his own production company in 1935, where he made cartoons featuring the character Norakuro. He joined the Geijutsu Eigasha studio in 1937Okada (1988), "Seo Mitsuyo," ''Nihon eiga terebi kantoku zenshū''. Kinema Junpō, p. 218. and made '' Ari-chan'' in 1941, the first Japanese work to fully use the

multiplane camera The multiplane camera is a motion-picture camera that was used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another. This creates a sense of pa ...

. His most famous works are two propaganda animated films produced during World War II: ''

Momotarō no Umiwashi is an animated Japanese propaganda film produced in 1942 by Geijutsu Eigasha and released on March 25, 1943. With a running time of 37 minutes, it was close to being a feature film, feature-length film. A DVD version without English subtitles w ...

'', which featured

Momotarō is a Folk hero, popular hero of Japanese folklore. His name is often translated as ''Peach Boy'', but is directly translated as ''Peach + Tarō (given name), Tarō'', a common Japanese given name. ''Momotarō'' is also the title of various books, ...

and his animals bombing

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

; and its sequel, '' Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei'', which was made for Shōchiku and was Japan's first real

feature length A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

animated film. (''Momotarō no Umiwashi'' was advertised at the time as the first feature-length anime, but since it is only 37 minutes long, today most recognize the 74-minute ''Umi no Shinpei'' as the first.)

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

, the father of Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

and a later anime artist himself, said he was so impressed with ''Umi no Shinpei'' as a teenager that he wanted to become an animator for a time. After the war, Seo joined Nihon Manga Eigasha and made the film '' Ōsama no Shippo'' as a pro-democracy anime in 1949, but when Tōhō, which was supposed to distribute it, found it politically too leftist, the film was left without a distributor.Yamaguchi, p. 239. Nihon Manga Eigasha went bankrupt, and Seo, finding the conditions for animation in the immediate postwar too difficult, left the industry and became an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

for

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

Selected filmography

* ''Sankichi no Kūchū Ryokō'' (三吉の空中旅行, 1931), Animation * ''

'' (力と女の世の中, 1933), Animation * '' Ari-chan'' (アリチャン, 1941), Director * ''

'' (Momotaro's Sea Eagles, 桃太郎の海鷲, 1942), Director, Animation, Photography * '' Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei'' (Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors, 桃太郎海の神兵, 1945), Director, Script, Photography * ''Ōsama no Shippo'' (王様のしっぽ, 1949), Director, Script

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seo, Mitsuyo 1911 births 2010 deaths Anime directors Japanese animators Japanese film directors Japanese illustrators Japanese propaganda film directors Japanese propagandists People from Himeji, Hyōgo

Career

Selected filmography

See also

References

External links