Veteran animators still have the touch
Written by Writer on Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Veteran animators still have the touch
Kumi Matsumaru / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
Koike-san, a man with curly hair and glasses who always eats ramen noodles, is a popular character in Obake no Kyutaro, a manga by Fujio Fujiko. The man is based on a real person who lived in the legendary Tokiwa-so apartment building in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, where many talented cartoonists, including Osamu Tezuka and Fujio Akatsuka, lived and worked in their early days.
And the model for Koike-san–whose real name is Shinichi Suzuki–is now showing his latest work as a veteran animator along with nine other cartoonists at Animation Seisaku Shudan G9+1 (Animators Group G9+1) at Suginami Animation Museum in Suginami Ward, Tokyo.
G9+1 is a collaboration of 10 independent, long-experienced animators. “We are all independent animators, but get together once in a while to demonstrate what we are involved in as animators since animators over a certain age often run into difficulties in working extensively in the current animation industry,” said Suzuki, one of the 10 who once lived in Tokiwa-so.
The other nine are Haru Fukushima, Keizo Kira, Fumio Oi, Azuru Isshiki, Hiroshi Nishimura, Taku Furukawa, Norio Hikone, Tatsuo Shimamura and Toshikatsu Wada.
According to Suzuki, who is also the director of the museum, the average age of the 10 is over 60, and it was two years ago that they started working together.
“We first created Tokyo Fantasia. We each made a 40-second work to go with the arranged version of ‘Yagi-bushi,’ one of the most popular minyo folk songs, as background music. We then combined the works into a six-minute-long piece,” Suzuki said.
Last year, the 10 again created separate works and compiled them into the collection Junin Toiro no Animation (Various Colors of Animation), which is being presented at the exhibition as the main exhibit. Suzuki himself is showing Hitchhike, a short work about an old woman who finds difficulties in stopping a car with her thumb. Like the woman played by Claudette Colbert in the 1934 film It Happened One Night, she tries to stop a car by lifting up her skirt and showing off her leg. But to find out what actually stops in front of her, you’ll have to see the film.
The exhibition, which runs until Nov. 24, also features the original drawings for Tokyo Fantasia. The 10 animators will also appear at a talk show on Nov. 8.
Suzuki, who lived at Tokiwa-so before joining the Otogi Production anime production company and then establishing the Studio Zero anime production firm together with Akatsuka, Jiro Tsunoda, Shotaro Ishinomori and others, said: “I think what we have been doing is a good example of how senior citizens can remain engaged in this aging society.”
Wada, born in 1966, is much younger than most of the group members and is designated the “+1″ because of his role in “uniting” the members. Wada said he is inspired a lot by his senior fellows, who are enjoying animation production wholeheartedly. “I can say the strength of G9+1 is that every one of the 10 is fascinated with the act of making pictures move.”
Wada himself is showing Junin Toiro no Animation, which has the same title as the collaboration, as the opening piece of the approximately hourlong work. In Wada’s work, 10 aliens of 10 different colors indulge in their own enjoyment using a hi-vision monitor without a care for what others may think of them, which seems to resemble of the activities of the 10 animators.
“I hope the exhibition will also help people find the joy of animation-making itself, which is, contrary to the belief of many, something that can be enjoyed easily by everybody,” said Suzuki whose greatest memory is working with Tezuka for the manga giant’s Astro Boy.
Suzuki said that is why his museum organizes a lot of workshops enabling both the young and old to create their own animation with the help of computers.
“Animation evolved from flip animation enjoyed at the corner of pages of books. It is something everybody can enjoy not only by seeing it but also by making it,” Suzuki said.
“Animation Seisaku Shudan G9+1″ runs through Nov. 24 at Suginami Animation Museum in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Nov. 4, 10 and 17. Admission free. For more information, visit www.sam.or.jp or call (03) 3396-1510.
(Oct. 31, 2008)
