Momotaro: Sacred Sailors

{{Infobox film

| name = Momotaro: Sacred Sailors

| image = Momotaro-_Sacred_Sailors_poster.jpg

| caption =

| director = Mitsuyo Seo

| producer =

| writer = Mitsuyo Seo

| starring =

| music = Yūji Koseki

| cinematography = Mitsuyo Seo{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142666/fullcredits|title=Momotaro, Sacred Sailors (1945) - IMDb|website=IMDb|access-date=2018-06-28|archive-date=2016-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010142615/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142666/fullcredits/|url-status=live}}

| editing =

| studio = Shōchiku Dōga Kenkyūsho

| distributor = Shochiku

| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1945|4|12}}

| runtime = 74 minutes

| country = Japan

| language = Japanese
English

| budget =

}}

{{nihongo|Momotaro: Sacred Sailors|桃太郎海の神兵|Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei}}{{cite web|url=http://www.shochikufilms.com/film/detail.php?product_code=358|title=Momotaro, Sacred Sailors|publisher=Shochiku|access-date=2009-10-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224065020/http://www.shochikufilms.com/film/detail.php?product_code=358|archive-date=2012-02-24}} is the first Japanese feature-length animated film.Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy. The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917. Revised and Expanded Edition.—Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2006.—P. 12.—{{ISBN|978-1933330105}} It was directed by Mitsuyo Seo, who was ordered to make a propaganda film for World War II by the Japanese Naval Ministry. Shochiku Moving Picture Laboratory shot the 74-minute film in 1944 and screened it on 12 April 1945. It is a sequel to Momotarō no Umiwashi, a 37-minute film released in 1943 by the same director and also starring the traditional Momotarō character.{{Cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142666/|title = Momotarô: Umi no shinpei|website = IMDb|date = 12 March 1945|access-date = 28 June 2018|archive-date = 27 July 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180727063728/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142666/|url-status = live}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=January 2024}}

In English, the film is sometimes referred to as Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors.

Plot

File:Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors-screeny.JPG

After completing naval training, a bear cub, a monkey, a pheasant, and a puppy say goodbye to their families.{{cite book|last=Clements|first=Jonathan|title=The Anime Encyclopedia|year=2006|publisher=Stone Bridge Press|location=California|isbn=1-933330-10-4|author2=McCarthy, Helen}} While they are preoccupied, the monkey's younger brother Santa falls into a river while chasing the monkey's cap and is carried towards a waterfall. The dog and monkey coordinate a rescue to save Santa just before he is swept downstream. They succeed and the monkey and his little brother then enjoy the scenery of Mt. Fuji and the surrounding land. While Santa frolics in the field chasing the cap in the wind, the monkey observes the dandelions spreading their seeds and is mesmerized by its beauty. The dandelions floating gently down remind the monkey of paratroopers descending from the sky, transitioning to a time skip. The Japanese forces are seen clearing a forest and constructing an airbase on a Pacific island with the help of the jungle animals who sing as they work. A plane lands at the airstrip and from inside emerges Momotaro, depicted as a General, together with the bear, monkey, dog, and pheasant, who by this point have become high-ranking officials. The animal residents of the island are shown as simple primitives who are star-struck by the glamorous and advanced Japanese animals. The subsequent scenes show the jungle animals being taught the Japanese kana via singing and they continue to sing the AIUEO song while washing and drying clothes and preparing meals. The officers then prepare ammunition and artillery for the warplanes.

Thereafter, a narration of the story of how the island of Celebes was acquired by the Dutch East India Company follows and it is revealed that the Japanese are attempting to invade it. The monkey, dog, and bear cub become parachute jumpers while the pheasant becomes a pilot.{{cite book|last=Clements|first=Jonathan|title=The Anime Encyclopedia|year=2006|publisher=Stone Bridge Press|location=California|isbn=1-933330-10-4|author2=McCarthy, Helen}} The paratroopers ambush a convoy of armoured cars and hastily invade a British fort, causing the unprepared British soldiers to panic and flee. Captain Momotaro, the monkey, and the puppy are then shown negotiating with three clearly terrified, stammering British officials. After a brief argument, the British agree to surrender Celebes and the surrounding islands to Japanese rule. A brief epilogue shows Santa and other children playing paratrooper and jumping onto a chalk outline of continental America. Thus, depicting the United States as the target of their generation.

There are some musical scenes. Of note is {{nihongo|The Song of AIUEO|アイウエオの歌|AIUEO no Uta}}, a scene where Japanese soldiers teach local animals how to speak.

Background

The Naval Ministry previously showed Seo Fantasia (1940), the Disney film. Inspired by this, Seo tried to give dreams to children, as well as to instill the hope for peace, just as he did in the film's predecessor, Momotaro's Sea Eagles. At that time, unlike German animation and American animation, Japanese animation was not fully promoted as a tool for propaganda by the Japanese government. Animation was not considered as effective as other media by Japanese government officials. As we can see in the first scene of the film, "For Children (小国民に捧ぐ Shôkokumin ni tsugu)", the film was designed for children.{{Cite book|title=Masaoka Kenzō to sono jidai : "Nihon animēshon no chichi" no senzen to sengo|author1=Hagihara, Yukari|author2=萩原由加里|isbn=978-4787273741|location=Tōkyō|oclc=905837834|date = 2015-03-27}}

For a long time, the film was presumed to have been confiscated and burnt by the American occupation. However, a negative copy of the film was found in Shochiku's Ofuna warehouse in 1983 and was re-released in 1984.{{cite book|last=Clements|first=Jonathan|title=The Anime Encyclopedia|year=2006|publisher=Stone Bridge Press|location=California|isbn=1-933330-10-4|author2=McCarthy, Helen}} A reproduced film was later screened and the VHS package is now available in Japan.

Legacy

{{nihongo|The Song of AIUEO|アイウエオの歌|AIUEO no Uta}} is famous for being given a homage in the series {{nihongo|Kimba the White Lion|ジャングル大帝|Janguru Taitei}} by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka had seen the film in April 1945. He later said that he was moved to tears by the film's hints of dreams and hopes, hidden under the appearance of war propaganda.

The film was selected for screening as part of the Cannes Classics section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/62136.html |title=Cannes Classics 2016 |access-date=21 April 2016 |date=20 April 2016 |work=Cannes Film Festival |archive-date=10 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210012746/http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/62136.html |url-status=live }} UK based company All the Anime announced in May 2016 that would release the film on Blu-ray and in that same month it was also announced that US distributor Funimation would also be releasing the film on Blu-ray and DVD alongside Spider and Tulip on a single disc.{{cite web|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-29/anime-limited-updates-from-mcm-london-comic-con/.102628|title=Anime Limited Updates from MCM London Comic Con (Updated 3)|publisher=Anime News Network|date=29 May 2016|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=18 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618130812/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-29/anime-limited-updates-from-mcm-london-comic-con/.102628|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-31/funimation-licenses-wwii-era-anime-film-momotaro-sacred-sailors/.102694|title=Funimation Licenses WWII-Era Anime Film Momotaro, Sacred Sailors|date=31 May 2016|access-date=24 February 2017|archive-date=5 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205012125/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-31/funimation-licenses-wwii-era-anime-film-momotaro-sacred-sailors/.102694|url-status=live}}

References

Sources

{{cite book|last=Patten|first=Fred|author-link=Fred Patten|title=Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews|orig-year=First published in Animation World Magazine 1, no. 7, October 1996|year=2004|publisher=Stone Bridge Press|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=1-880656-92-2|pages=325–328|chapter=Momotaro's Gods-Blessed Sea Warriors: Japan's Unknown Wartime Feature

}}

{{cite book|author= Clements, Jonathan and Helen McCarthy|year=2001|title=The Anime Encyclopedia : A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 |publisher=Stone Bridge Press|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=1-880656-64-7}}
{{cite book|author= Clements, Jonathan|year=2018|title=Sacred Sailors: The Life and Work of Seo Mitsuyo |publisher=Anime Limited|location=Glasgow|isbn=978-1-9997698-0-2}}

External links

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sjDjtJkD2w Momotaro, Sacred Sailors (1945) (Full Original Movie) [English Sub]]
{{IMDb title|0142666|Momotaro: Sacred Sailors}}
{{YouTube|dqcrgQNWVHY|Full 4K remaked film}}

Category:Japanese World War II propaganda films

Category:1945 anime films

Category:1940s war films

Category:1940s Japanese-language films

Category:Japanese black-and-white films

Category:Japanese sequel films

Category:1940s rediscovered films

Category:Funimation

Category:Films set in Indonesia

Category:Shochiku films

Category:Films directed by Mitsuyo Seo

Category:1945 films