Short answers, pulled from the story.
Tadahito Mochinaga worked as an assistant to Seo Mitsuyo and was officially in charge of backgrounds and visual effects for the 1943 film Momotarō's Sea Eagles. He carried a heavy burden of guilt regarding the film's impact on young men who volunteered for the flying corps.
Tadahito Mochinaga survived the post-war period in Manchuria after being captured by the Soviet army and given papers identifying him as a Chinese film worker. This bureaucratic accident allowed him to work at the Northeast Film Studio and avoid the consequences of the Japanese army's flight.
Tadahito Mochinaga worked in China from 1950 to 1954 and developed the stop motion technique known as Animagic. He created puppets and shot film frame-by-frame to save scarce resources during the Chinese Civil War.
Tadahito Mochinaga established his own studio MOM Production and began collaborating with American director Arthur Rankin, Jr. after returning to Japan in 1954. This partnership led to the creation of the Animagic technique and holiday classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Tadahito Mochinaga directed Shōnen to Kodanuki in 1992, which was seven years before his death in 1999. He also created films such as Beer Mukashi Mukashi, Chibikuro Sambo no Tora Taiji, and Uriko-hime to Amanojaku during his career.