Following the success of the 1937 Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Japan’s domestic anime market faced strong pressure from foreign filmmakers. Early pioneers such as Yasuji Murata and Noburo Ofuji, although masters of cut-out animation, found it difficult to compete with the quality of imported foreign animation. With huge profits invested in new techniques, Disney took the lead, using cell animation and introducing sound.
However, animators, with increasing help from the Japanese government, through the production of pre-war propaganda films, animators such as Mitsuyo Seo and Kenzo Masaoka, began to improve the quality and techniques employed. Local entertainers received a new boost after the introduction of the 1939 film law. This law placed an emphasis on cultural nationalism and promoted documentary and educational films.
Government sponsorship and support from the Navy led to the production of Japan’s first real animated feature film. Produced by Shochiku Studios and animated by Mitsuyo Seo, Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors premiered in 1945. However, it took thirteen more years for Toei Animation to release the first full-length color anime, the 1958 film Hakujaden, The Tale of the White. Serpent. . While Hakujaden’s overall tone is more Disney than modern anime, with animal companions and musical numbers, it is widely cited as the first “real” anime.
Following the film’s release in the United States, under the title Panda and the Magic Serpent, Toei continued to develop and produce Disney-style films, as well as venture into animated series such as Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Digimon. Toei’s contribution to modern anime was to put an emphasis on the animators’ own ideas during the production process. This production style led to Isao Takahata’s 1968 film Hols: Prince of the Sun, which demonstrates a change in style from what is considered “normal” anime.
Toei’s other major contribution was the introduction of “money shot” animation. This style of animation was developed to reduce production costs while emphasizing important frames in the film. The main body of the anime was produced with limited animation, with more detail used in important sections of the cels. Toei animator Yasuo Otsuka further developed this production style.
During the 1960s, Osamu Tezuka created Mushi Productions as a rival studio to Toei Animation. He launched Mighty Atom in 1963, which became both the studios’ first hit and the first popular anime series in Japan. Atom’s huge success opened up foreign markets. The fledgling American television, in search of content and programming, adapted Atom for the American market in 1964 and renamed it Astro Boy. Others soon followed, including Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s Tetsujin 28-go super robot anime, released as Gigantor in the United States.