[Public Domain] 1941. Japan. Animation. "Arichan" by Mitsuyo Seo

#MitsuyoSeo
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Animals take a violin they found in the sandbox. Realizing that it is very important, they go to return it to its owner.
MitsuyoSeo (September 26, 1911 (Meiji 44) - August 24, 2010 (Heisei 22)) was a Japanese animation and picture book writer. His real name was Tokuichi Seo. He was born in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture. He is known as the director of Japan's first full-length animated film, "Momotaro's Sea Eagle" and "Momotaro, God of the Sea Soldiers". In 1930, he moved to Tokyo with the aim of becoming a painter, and made a cartoon film by imitating what he saw, which led to him publishing his work at Prokino, but he was pursued by the Special Higher Police, and fled to the "Masaoka Film Art Institute" in Kyoto, where he studied again under the director, Kenzo Masaoka. In 1933, he became independent and established his own animation studio, "Seo Hatsusei Manga," as an exclusive member of the "Japan Manga Film Institute." The film he produced, Sankichi the Monkey (1933-36), became popular for its adorable characters set in a war zone, and was made into a series. He also directed and drew the animation for the Norakuro series (1935-38). After moving to Geijutsu Eigasha in 1937, the American animated film Snow White was released (it was not shown in Japanese cinemas until after Japan's defeat). As attention was drawn to three-dimensional animation using multiplane cameras, Seo also directed and drew animation for films such as Arichan (1941), making full use of a multi-layered filming stand that imitated the multiplane camera. He produced Momotaro's Sea Eagle (1942) at the request of the Ministry of the Navy. He then left Geijutsu Eigasha and moved to Shochiku Doga Kenkyujo, where Masaoka was employed. He directed, wrote the script, and directed Momotaro, the Divine Soldiers of the Sea, which was produced in 1944 and released at the end of the war. At 74 minutes long, it was the longest domestically produced animation of the time, and it also used special effects such as transmitted light. (Tezuka Osamu, who was still a medical student at the time, is said to have been impressed that such a work could be made in Japan when he saw "Momotaro: Divine Soldiers of the Sea" at the Osaka Shochikuza Theater after an air raid, and was determined to make an animation work himself in the future.) After the war, the Shochiku Animation Research Center was dissolved due to its destruction in an air raid, and he moved to the directing department of Shochiku's Ofuna Studio, but he left Shochiku in 1947 because he could not find any work, and transferred to Nippon Manga Eigasha in January 1948. At that time, Yamamoto Sanae, Masaoka Kenzo and others had already left Nippon Manga Eigasha and established Nippon Animation. In March of the same year, they began production on the animated film "The King's Tail," based on Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes," but production was repeatedly halted due to lack of funds. The film was completed the following year in October 1949, with a total production budget of 6 million yen, an unprecedented amount at the time. However, Toho's then-president Yonemoto Uokichi took issue with the content being too left-wing, and it was shelved without being released to the public. The production of this film caused the Nippon Manga Eigasha Company to go bankrupt. After this, Seo retired from anime production due to financial difficulties and a decline in motivation to create. After that, he turned to picture book writing under the pen names "Seo Mitsuo," "Seo Taro," and "Seo Taro." He passed away on August 24, 2010.