Momotaro's Sea Eagles (1943)
March 25, 1943Release Date
Momotaro's Sea Eagles (1943)
March 25, 1943Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Mitsuyo Seo
Director / Director of Photography
Arishige Kurihara
Screenplay
Noboru Itô
Original Music Composer
Details.
Release DateMarch 25, 1943
Original Name桃太郎の海鷲
StatusReleased
Running Time37m
Genres
Last updated:
Wiki.
Momotarō no Umiwashi (桃太郎の海鷲, literally Momotarō's Sea Eagles) is an animated Japanese propaganda film produced in 1942 by Geijutsu Eigasha and released March 25, 1943. Running at 37 minutes, it was close to being feature-length, but it was not the first animated feature film in Asia; that honor goes to China's 1941 Princess Iron Fan, which was 73 minutes long. A DVD version without English subtitles was released in Japan by Kinokuniya Shoten in 2004; one with subtitles was released in the United States by Zakka Films in 2009.Although recorded as being produced with the cooperation of the Japanese Naval Ministry, there was in fact no cooperation in order to protect military secrets, although the Japanese Imperial Navy endorsed the film.
Featuring the "Peach Boy" character of Japanese folklore, this film was aimed at children, telling the story of a naval unit consisting of the human Momotarō and several animal species representing the Far Eastern races fighting together for a common goal. In a dramatization of the attack on Pearl Harbor, this force attacks the demons at the island of Onigashima (representing the Americans and British demonized in Japanese propaganda), and the film also utilizes actual footage of the Pearl Harbor attack.
A sequel, Momotaro: Sacred Sailors, was released in 1945, becoming the first full-length Japanese animated film.