It's been almost thirty years since I first encountered Mori-san's
work, and that was not through his animation but through the cover
illustration of a monthly magazine, "Manga Shonen",
or "Boy's Comics". The covers he drew were something
special, neither comics nor illustrations for children, and I
could feel his animal characters moving, thanks, I'm sure, to
the animator in Mori-san.
He drew these covers for five or six months, and the one I
particularly liked showed a group of animals traveling on a camel
through a moon-lit desert. "Where are they all going?"
The picture immediately enchanted me with the question.
Mori-san's characters are warm, graceful and peaceful to look
at. I had the privilege of animating some of them at Toei Animation
Studio, and in those days work never felt like work; I wonder
if I didnŐt go to the studio to play with his characters.Although
Mori-san is a gentle, unassuming man, he is very strict about
his work, so I remember how nervous I felt when I had my animation
drawings checked by him.
Mori-san is often called "anime no kamisama," or
"animation god." That is not, I think, only because
of his guru-like appearance, but because he attracts people with
his personal goodness - much more so than a mere genius or prodigy
does. The animators from Toei Animation Studio or Nippon Animation
are all influenced by him in varying degrees, and if we were to
count the number of animators who have been, in turn, influenced
by us, the figure would be enormous.
Also, Mori-san was the first animation director ever. For Toei's
feature, "Little Prince and the Eight-headed dragon"(1963),
Mori-san, as the first animation director, unified the look of
the whole film with the unique set of characters witch he created.
Nowadays, the animation-director system has become the norm, but
in those days no clear-cut system existed to unify the animation
style of the whole picture. It is due to the success of this film
that the system, since then, has become indispensable.
Mori-san is also full of ideas for new projects. "Hustle
Punch" was ahead of its time with its sharp wit and slick
sense of humour. I wonder if there can't be some producers who
would make better use of Mori-san's talent. Wouldn't it be fun,
for example, to do a remake of "Hustle Punch"
or the "Kitten Series"?
For my part, I am anxiously awaiting Mori-san's latest work
- new animation projects and brand new picture books with fresh,
original characters.
(Animator)
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