query: Tadahito Mochinaga, "Fuku-chan"

[David Blair]

Dear Roland,

thank you very much for the lengthy reply.

>programme that also included "fukuchan's submarine". i don't know whether a
>video exist - at least the film is not included in the five volumed "showa
>manga eiga daikoshin"-video edition that came out a few years ago.

I guess copyright fears keep it locked up, like so many other titles.

I admit to eyeing the "showa manga eiga daikoshin" series.

>the kinejun film directors lexicon states that mochinaga left the asahi
>eigasha in may 1945 after he fell ill due to overwork and malnutrition.
>therafter he went with his wife to manchuria to his wife's parents. in july
>1945 he joint the manchurian film cooperative (manei). after the war ended
>he stayed on in china. he adopted the chinese name fang ming and was
>instrumential in the founding of the animation studio in shanghai. in august
>1953 he returned to japan.
>shortly after the war he joint the newly established dongbei studio (former
>manei) and during the civil war in 1946 he was twice arrested by the
>nationalist army. in july 1946 he retreated with the communist army to jixi
>in heilongjiang prefecture, so it can be assumed that he rather sympathised
>with leftist thoughts. i don't know about his political ideas before 1946,
>though. 

It is such a surprising odyssey, leaving in May 45 for Shinkyo, probably
apolitical, and ending up in the group that decided to stay behind at
Manei... which is why I suspected some sort of reverse tenko [lightly using
the term].

His very sentimental commercial puppet productions [Rudolf the Red Nosed
Rain Deer, etc] were all over American TV in the 60's, and it is a bit of a
mind bend for an American to make the trip backwards, to Fang Ming, and
then back to Shinkyo.

thanks again,
David

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