Taro Urashima (1918) User Reviews

The first...or one of the first.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 24 July 2020]

"Urashima Taro" is the oldest existing Japanese cartoon. The story is taken from "Otogi Banashi", a story about a fisherman (Urashima Taro) who falls into the ocean and learns about an underwater city where he stays for many years. However, given that animation was so new a technique, all animations of the era (including American ones) were very brief and so only an abbreviated version of this story is given in the film.

The quality of the animation is about on par for other animations in other lands at this same time period. This means it's silent and the drawings are relatively simple with simple backgrounds as well.

Turtle power.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 6/10 · 17 April 2015]

After seeing the first ever Felix the Cat film I started to search around for other cartoon shorts from the same era,and I was pleased to stumble up on one of the first ever Anima titles.

The plot:

Paying a turtle a pile of gold coins,a man is taken across the sea to a mythical island,where he gets to witness magical events,and is given a strange box.

View on the film:

Lost until 2007,director Seitarô Kitayama elegant style has thankfully not faded over time,with Kitayama dipping the movie deep into psychedelic vibes,as the mans journey to the island is covered in sliding cut-aways,and endless circles of polka dots,which along with a sweet score make this an anima to get animated over watching.

An early example of Japanese animation

[Rectangular_businessman · 11 May 2022]

One of the earliest Japanese animations, which is basically an abridged version of the Urashima Taro legend.

The animation is very simplistic but not without charm, tough it could be a little bit confusing and random if you are not familiar with the original story.