HAKUJADEN (1958, Taiji Yabushita, Movie)

JPN: Hakujaden, "The White Snake" / AKA: Legend of the White Serpent; The White Snake Enchantress; Panda and the Magic Serpent / DIR: Taiji Yabushita / SCR: Sochi Yashiro, Taiji Yabushita / DES: Akira Okuwara; Yasuji Mori / ART: Kazuo Kusano; Koiji Maeba / ANI: Yasuo Otsuka; Gisaburo Sugii; Kazuko Nakamura; Reiko Okuyama / MUS: Masayoshi Ikeda / PRD: Toei Dôga. 1h 15m

This was the first color Animation Feature of Japan and the first japanese animation to be released in USA. It bringed Toei Dôga some fame on the West, and probed that producing animation for theater release was commercially viable. It is loosely based on a Chinese legend: The legend of the White Snake; but really there are multiple versions of this core myth in all asian cultures. Here, a young boy, Xu-Xian pets a White Snake, but his parents force them to separate. The Snake is really a Yôkai, the haunted spirit of a woman named Bai Suzhen. She has fallen in love for the boy and will continue to search for him. The years past and finally, the handsome Xu-Xian and the beautiful Bai Suzhen - yes...in human form - meet again. But a priest (a bonzo monk) named Fa Hai in charged of expelting all the bad spirits from the Earth will try to kill the snake Yôkai... ///

As a teenager, Hayao Miyazaki watched this movie; and once said that the innocence and simplicity of it, produced such a profound impression on him, that made him want to become an animator. And the animation is very simple indeed, but beautiful: flawless artisanic handicraft. The background art is a little bit exotic (because we are in China) and the character design looks like it has been inspired from ancient Chinese painting stamps. The influence of the american cartoon it is also felt, specially with the design of the little cute animals. In the climatic duel, Bai Suzhen and the priest, both literally float in the sky, throwing each other supernatural lightning atacks: a scene that seems like one of the fights in many contemporary anime Shônen pieces. Eventually the priest will erase Bai Suzhen, sending her to the spirits world. She will fly through space and time over the milky way geting in front of Kamisama, trading him her inmortality for a human body and a mortal life near Xu-Xian. So, this fantasy piece, esentially is a romantic story; Love can overcome anything, even death. (by pelida77)

Basado en una leyenda China. Un jovencito, Xu-Xian, compra una serpiente blanca como mascota, pero sus padres le obligan a devolverla. La serpiente es una mujer (una Yōkai en realidad), la bella Bai-Nyang; se ha enamorado de su amo y no cesará de buscarle. Años después se produce el ansiado reencuentro. Pero un fanático monje encargado de expulsar los malos espíritus que pueblan la Tierra, quiere matar a la serpiente.  ///  Este fue el primer film de animación japonesa a color. Hayao Miyazaki conoció esta película de joven; y alguna vez aseguró que su inocencia y simpleza, produjeron tan fuerte impresión en él, que lo decidieron finalmente a convertirse en animador. El duelo entre el sacerdote y la Yōkai es bien japonés y hasta parece tomado de un animé moderno. La calidad de la animación es de primera (trabajo artesanal impecable); el diseño de los escenarios tiene algún toque exótico por ubicarse la historia en China (el diseño de los personajes, parece tomado de estampas chinas). Aunque la influencia del cartoon también es clara (especialmente en los animalitos). Le atrajo a Toei Dōga algo de fama en Occidente. Además de ser una muy bella película, comprobó que la animación local para ser estrenada en teatros era comercialmente viable. (by pelida77)

4/4 RAR Parts

MKV / 696 MB / 1h 15m / Audio: Jap / Sub: Eng - Ita
Video: MPEG-4 / 640x480 (4:3) / 1198 Kbps / 23.976 fps / 0.156 Qf
Audio: MP3 / 48.0 KHz / 64.0 Kbps

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SHONEN SARUTOBI SASUKE (1959, Taiji Yabushita, Movie)

JPN: Shônen Sarutobi Sasuke, "The Sarutobi Boy, Sasuke" / AKA: Magic Boy, Adventures of little Samurai, Sasuke Ninja Boy / DIR: Taiji Yabushita; Akira Daikuwara / SCR: Toppei Matsumura / DES: Akira Daikuwara; Hideo Furusawa / ART: Saburo Yokoi; Mataji Urata; Kazue Itô / ANI: Taku Sugiyama; Gisaburo Sugii; Norio Hikone / MUS: Satoshi Funemura; Toru Funamura / PRD: Toei Dôga. 1h 23m.

To defeat an evil Yokai (a demon known as Princess Yasha), little Sasuke wants to learn the ancient art of Nin Jutsu (here, a sort of Magical Kung Fu). He leaves the comfort of the family home, and his only sister Oyu; learns Magic from an ermit, and return years later to kill the Yokai.
This was the second theatrical feature length film released by Toei. Some of the animators that worked in this one will later join Tezuka in Mushi Productions (but certainly they didn't use there almost anything of what they've learned).
It is also known as The Adventures of Little Samurai; but Sasuke is a Sarutobi, which is a sort of ninja, or a martial art outlaw... (in any case opossed to the samurai). The beautifull art that Toei came to forge made the studio be known throughout the world. And this one was also the first japanese animated feature to be released in America (by MGM).
The orphan brothers was Toei's formula to the childrens heart, and they will use it again in Anju To Zushio Maru (1961). They fed childrens anxieties and fears: the loss of a pet; parental abandonment; a possible divorce; the upcoming birth of a new baby, etc.

The first half of the movie shows a considerable influence from Disney's Bambi (1942); specially in the backgrounds (but we also have a killed deer: the mother of one of Sasuke's pets). The animation shows big flaws; but this clumsiness makes the movie more appealing to the nostalgic eye. And the music exceed all praise, with memorable tunes and some fantastic vocals.
The highlight of this movie, at least for me, is the extraordinary Geisha dance performed by the Yokai. But the magical duel is definetely Japanese Anime in its purest form: the characters fly and throw each other fireballs atacks... and all of this way before Dragon Ball Z. So this is also a really cool Kung Fu kind of movie. (by pelida77)

5/5 RAR parts
AVI / 770 MB / 1h 23m / Audio: Jap - Eng - Spa / Subtitles: No
Video: MPEG-4 / 640x288 / 891 Kbps / 29.970 fps / 0.161 Qf
Audio: MP3 / 44.1 KHz / 128 Kbps

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