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Yōji Kuri

April 9, 1928 – November 24, 2024 was a Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. An influential figure in Japanese independent animation, he was the unofficial leader and most prolific of the "Animation Association of Three" collective who kick-started the renaissance of modern-styled, independently made, adult-aimed animation in early 1960s Japan. He is known internationally for the very black comedy of his films, with the typically naïve style of his cartooning often belying the surreal, obscene and disturbing situations they depict (though he has worked in a variety of styles and mediums, including pixilation); this made them a favourite among the fervently counter-cultural audiences, which included such filmmakers as René Laloux, of the first few years of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and in a 1967 publication he was considered to be "the most significant" and "the only Japanese animator whose work is known in the West" (which is to disregard the Toei Animation features and Astro Boy series that were first seen in the West around the same time that Kuri's first several films were and mentioned in passing in the same publication, though these were not known as works of an individual and characteristic filmmaker and often had their Japanese origin played down).

Also recorded as Yoji Kuri · Youji Kuri

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Yōji Kuri

Born
9 April 1928
Birthplace
Sabae, Japan
Died
24 November 2024
Occupation
* Cartoonist
Education
Bunka Gakūin
Nationality
Japan.
Honours
Medal with Purple Ribbon.
Languages
Japanese.

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wikidata · Q1118275 · wikipedia · Yōji Kuri

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Institutions cited

Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek · Getty Union List of Artist Names

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In this article

  1. 01Biography
  2. 02Archives and collections
  3. 03Honours and memberships
  4. 04Notes, references and evidence

The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.

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