Exhibition/event has ended.
Tadahito Mochinaga, Puppet Animation Filmmaker
National Film Archive of Japan
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Tadahito Mochinaga
As 2017 is the centenary of animation in Japan, there is surely no better time to retrace the steps of its pioneers. Among the many filmmakers who appeared and invented techniques such as paper cutout, cel, or silhouette, it was Tadahito Mochinaga (1919-1999) who established puppet animation as a new genre. Born in Tokyo and brought up in Saga Prefecture, Japan and Changchun, China, Mochinaga entered the Geijutsu Eiga Sha company in 1939 and learned cel animation under Mitsuyo Seo. He invented the first multi-plane animation stand in Japan when he made “Arichan the Ant” (1941). He moved to China in 1945, the year the war ended, where he devoted himself to setting up a film studio in the newly born state. Mochinaga took charge of animation production and nurtured many animators who would later become leading lights in China’s animation industry. After coming back to Japan in 1953, he led the Ningyo Eiga Seisakujo and produced masterpieces such as “The Story of Little Black Sambo” (1956), and afterwards got involved in American TV programs and films such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1964). In particular “Mad Monster Party” (1967) had a strong impact on film director Tim Burton when he was a boy.
As a pioneer puppet animator both in Japan and China, who also attracted the interest of children in the US, Mochinaga has a unique international status in Japanese animation history. This exhibition aims to take a close look at the life of this distinguished creator and prominent educator through his puppets, production documents, photography and animation works, which have been kept at his family home for many years. It is also an opportunity to encounter delightful puppets created by his apprentices such as Kihachiro Kawamoto.
[Related Events]
Tadahito Mochinaga’s works from the standpoint of psychology
Date: July 15 (Sat)
Speaker: Masao Yokota (Professor at Nihon University, College of Humanities and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Former Chairman of Japan Society for Animation Studies)
*Event in Japanese
As a pioneer puppet animator both in Japan and China, who also attracted the interest of children in the US, Mochinaga has a unique international status in Japanese animation history. This exhibition aims to take a close look at the life of this distinguished creator and prominent educator through his puppets, production documents, photography and animation works, which have been kept at his family home for many years. It is also an opportunity to encounter delightful puppets created by his apprentices such as Kihachiro Kawamoto.
[Related Events]
Tadahito Mochinaga’s works from the standpoint of psychology
Date: July 15 (Sat)
Speaker: Masao Yokota (Professor at Nihon University, College of Humanities and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Former Chairman of Japan Society for Animation Studies)
*Event in Japanese
Schedule | May 13 (Sat) 2017-Sep 10 (Sun) 2017 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults: ¥250, University Students & Seniors: ¥130, High School Students & Under: Free | ||||
| Website | http://www.momat.go.jp/english/fc/exhibition/mochinaga/ | ||||
| Venue | National Film Archive of Japan https://www.nfaj.go.jp/english/ | ||||
| Location | 3-7-6 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0031 | ||||
| Access | 1 minute walk from exit 1 at Kyobashi Station on the Ginza line, 1 minute walk from exit A4 at Takaracho Station on the Toei Asakusa line, 5 minute walk from exit 7 at Ginza-itchome Station on the Yurakucho line. | ||||
| Phone | 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial) |
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