Kenzō Masaoka

His work as a special effects artist earned him the title "Japanese Méliès." He also did work under the pseudonym Donbei Masaoka. Famous animators who worked under him include Mitsuyo Seo and Yasuji Mori.

• Name — Kenzo Masaoka • Born — 5 October 1898 • Birthplace — Osaka, Japan • Died — 23 November 1988 • Place of death — Tokyo, Japan • Other Names — Donbei Masaoka • Occupation — Animator

Masaoka was born in Osaka in 1898 and initially trained in Japanese-style painting at Kyoto City University of Arts before an ambition to paint in oils took him to Tokyo; he soon returned to Kyoto, however, and found work as a costume designer on Shōzō Makino's film Sun (日輪). His own venture came in 1927 with the founding of Nonbei Production in the Shimogamo district of Kyoto, where he produced the children's film Shell Palace (貝の宮殿) and occasionally performed on screen under the stage name Rurinosuke Segawa. A longstanding curiosity about animation led him to Nikkatsu's Uzumasa Studio in 1929; the well-received Nonsense Story, Vol. 1: The Monkey Island (難船ス物語第壱篇 猿ヶ島), released in 1931, was his first work in the medium. Masaoka struck out on his own again in 1932, founding Masaoka Eiga Seisakusho in Kyoto, where a commission from Shochiku's Kamata studio head Shirō Kido resulted in The World of Power and Women (力と女の世の中, 1933), Japan's first talkie animation. Renamed Masaoka Eiga Bijutsu Kenkyusho that December and rehoused in a purpose-built two-story facility with its own recording studio, the operation pursued higher production values through the then-costly technique of cel animation, but its finances could not sustain the ambition and the studio eventually closed. He resurfaced at Shochiku Doga Kenkyusho in 1941, where he made the film for which he remains best known, The Spider and the Tulip (くもとちゅうりっぷ, 1943). Following World War II, Masaoka teamed up with Sanae Yamamoto at Shin Nihon Dogasha (later Nihon Mangaeiga Corp.), though he departed after only a single, unreleased production, Sakura (桜, 1946); the two then launched Nihon Doga Corp.—the forerunner of Nichido and eventually Toei Animation—whose Tora-chan series (すて猫トラちゃん, 1947–1950) could not overcome the company's recurring money troubles, and Masaoka gradually turned his attention to cartooning and picture books instead.

• Year — English name — Japanese name — Romaji — Source • Sea Palace — 貝の宮殿 — Kai no kyūden • Shell Palace — 海の宮殿 — Umi no kyūden • Nonsense Story, Volume 1: Monkey Island — 難船ス物語 第壱篇 猿ヶ嶋 — Nansensu Monogatari Daīppen Sarugashima • Shipwreck Story - Second Chapter - The Pirate Ship — 難船ス物語 第二篇 海賊船 — Nansensu Monogatari - Daini-hen - Kaizokusen • Bakahachi and the Castle Lord(?) — 馬鹿八と城主様 — Bakahachi to jōshu-sama • The World of Power and Women — 力と女の世の中 — Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka • Three Crows — 三羽烏 — Sanba garasu • The Gang and the Dancer — ギャングと踊り子 — Gyangu to Odoriko • Vengeful Crow — - — Adauchi Karasu • The Dance of the Chagamas The Teakettle Marching Song — 茶釜音頭 — Chagama ondo • Fairy Forest — 森の妖精 — Mori no yōsei • Ta-chan's Underwater Adventure — ターチャンの海底旅行 — Tāchan no kaitei ryoko • Ta-chan's Monster Adventure — ターチャンの怪物退治 — Tāchan no kaibutsu taiji • Princess Kaguya — かぐや姫 — Kaguya Hime • The Sparrows' Lodge — 雀のお宿 — Suzume no Oyado • - — やっこのタコ平 — Yakko no Takohei: Otomo wa tsuyoi ne • Monkey and Crabs — マングワ 新猿蟹合戰 — Shin Saru Kani Gassen • Cat's Folktale — ニャンの浦島 — Nyan no urashima • Benkei and Ushiwaka — 弁慶対牛若 — Benkei tai Ushiwaka • Magician In The Dream — 夢の魔術師 — Yume no Majutsushi • Attack on Fuku-chan — フクちゃんの奇襲 — Fuku-chan no kishū • Spider and Tulip — くもとちゅうりっぷ — Kumo to chūrippu • Cherry Blossom: Spring's Fantasy — 桜 - 春の幻想 — Sakura: Haru no genso • Abandoned Cat Little Tora — すて猫トラちゃん — Sute Neko Tora-chan • Tora-chan and the Bride — トラちゃんと花嫁 — Tora-chan to Hanayome • Tora-chan and the Insect — トラちゃんのカンカン虫 — Tora-chan no Kankan Mushi