 The Embassy of Japan in Dublin and the Japan Foundation will be hosting a presentation on the relationship between Japanese animated films (anime) and printed cartoons (manga) on November 1 at 12.00 noon in the IFI. The speaker at this talk is Mr.Yoshihiro Shimizu, a well-known figure in the world of Japanese animated films. While still studying economics at Tokyo Metropolitan University in 1980, he started his career in the animated film industry at Tezuka Productions Co. Ltd. In 1963 Tezuka Productions produced the first animated film for television in Japan: “Astroboy – Tetsuwan Atom ”. Mr. Shimizu participated as assistant director in such animated film productions as “Marine Express”, and “Phoenix 2272”, as well as producing several well-known Japanese animated films including “Black Jack” and “Jungle Taitei” (“Jungle Emperor”). These films are all animated versions of works by the renowned Japanese comic-strip author Osamu Tezuka (1926~89) and have attracted a great deal of attention for their groundbreaking animation techniques. A prolific artist and the founder of Tezuka Productions, Osamu Tezuka produced a wide range of comics for both adults and children, and began making animated versions of his stories for television and films in 1962. Mr. Shimizu is currently the executive producer for Tezuka Productions’ new series of “Astroboy – Tetsuwan Atom”, to be co-produced with Sony Pictures Entertainment, as well as the head of the company’s copyright section. The new “Astroboy – Tetsuwan Atom” series will have a total of 50 thirty-minute episodes to be broadcast on a weekly basis in countries around the world in 2004. Mr. Shimizu’s talk will be in Japanese with English language interpretation, and will be divided into 2 sections:
Animated films & printed cartoons (c. 80 minutes)
“Astroboy – Tetsuwan Atom” video (c. 25 minutes) |
