The Astonishing Work of Tezuka Osamu

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This DVD has an 18-minute interview with Tezuka, back when he was still alive, on his views of experimental short animation (subtitled in English). This is what you should watch first. His view was that Japanese anime was hitting a wall in the 80's by focusing only on the domestic market, and that anime studios should be shooting for more of an international audience. Since that wasn't happening, he'd decided to be the one entering international festivals and start winning awards to show what anime can really accomplish. From his point of view, all of his TV work was specifically for raising money for his privately-funded festival entry works.The one anime short that he talks about the most is Jumping (1984), which was the first one I'd seen by him. It's still my favorite. The animation is top-grade and the gag pieces are still funny after 30 years. Many of the shorts have an environmental theme, as well as showing "man's inhumanity towards his fellow man". His messages continue to ring true today.If you like animation of any kind, then you owe it to yourself to get this DVD. I'd give it 5 stars, but the timing on the subtitles from kimstim is really, really off in several of the shorts.

A collection of thirteen animated films by the famed, so called, father of anime, these experimental films show what a prolific and creative stylist Tezuka really was. This is a must for any serious fan of animation. Legend of the Forest, a 30 min. epic on man vs nature if worth the price of the DVD alone. Astonishing is an understatement.