Omochabako series dai san wa: Ehon senkyûhyakusanjûroku nen (1934)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Release Date:

13 April 1934 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Short

Also Known As:

Omochabako series dai san wa: Ehon 1936 nen (Japan) (alternative spelling)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Company:

J.O. Talkie Manga-bu

This Japanese cartoon I found on Cartoon Brew linking YouTube was pretty fascinating for its views on America and Mickey Mouse in particular

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is a bizarre cartoon from '30s Japan I just discovered on YouTube as linked from Cartoon Brew. It's basically about an island with peaceful citizens (one of whom resembles Felix the Cat) dancing to music before being invaded by a giant Mouse that resembles Mickey flying on a giant bat with a mouse-like head with others looking like them following. Then the islanders contact legendary folk-hero Momotaro from a giant book to battle "Mickey". After defeating "Mickey" in a sword duel, the giant mouse falls through the clouds and grows very old after one of the doll inhabitants releases some spirit from a box. Also defeated are some snakes that spit bullets and many of the bats with mouse heads that also have ammunition in their mouths. Then at the end, the sun god makes blossoms appear on trees as the islanders (which ounce again includes "Felix") dance happily ever after...Anyone who knows about Japanese history could probably tell that "Mickey" represents America which the country with the rising sun on their flag thought was about to attack them. On that note, I found this cartoon fascinating for its political-point-of-view. I was also entertained by the way this partly resembles many of the musical cartoons that we Americans made plenty of during much of early talkie era. One more bizarre scene was when "Felix" hit the turtle's head during the beginning dance sequence. Did he not realize he might be hurting that turtle physically? With all that, this was one of the many fascinating Japanese cartoons I discovered on YouTube. By the way, although IMDb doesn't say so, this was directed by Komatsuzawa Hajime. P.S. The title translates into "Toybox Series # 3: Picture Book 1936".