Momotaro: Sacred Sailors

• 1. Introduction

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  Momotaro: Sacred Sailors screened for the first time on the 12th of April 1945. Director Mitsuyo Seo made it by order of the Japanese Naval Ministry. It was the first feature-length animated film Japan had ever produced, running 74 minutes. The folk hero Momotaro, beloved in children's stories for generations, appeared here as a General commanding an army of animals.

  Its opening title card read "For Little Citizens," Shôkokumin ni tsugu in Japanese. What drove a wartime government to commission an animated feature for children? And how did a film screened in April 1945 spend decades afterward presumed lost?

• 2. Fantasia and a Commission

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  The Naval Ministry had shown Seo Disney's Fantasia before the commission for Sacred Sailors arrived. That 1940 film became his model. Seo said his aim was to give children dreams and instill hope for peace. He described the same purpose in connection with Momotaro's Sea Eagles, his earlier film for the Naval Ministry. Sea Eagles was released in 1943 and ran 37 minutes.

  Both Sea Eagles and Sacred Sailors starred the traditional Momotaro character. Japan's approach differed from that of Germany and the United States. Unlike those countries, Japan had not fully promoted animation as a propaganda instrument. Government officials considered animation less effective than other media. The Naval Ministry's commission was therefore unusual within Japan's wartime media landscape. The story Seo built around that commission began with four young animals completing naval training and preparing to leave home.

• 3. Animals at War

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  A bear cub, a monkey, a pheasant, and a puppy had just completed their naval training when the film's story began. The four said their farewells to their families. Before they could depart, a mishap threatened to turn tragic. The monkey's younger brother Santa tumbled into a river while chasing a windblown cap. The current pushed him toward a waterfall. The dog and the monkey coordinated a rescue and pulled Santa clear just in time.

  A tranquil scene followed, the animals looking out at Mt. Fuji and the surrounding countryside. The monkey then watched dandelion seeds drifting in the air and grew absorbed by the sight. Those seeds became, in the monkey's mind, an image of paratroopers descending from the sky, and the film shifted forward in time.

  Japanese forces now appeared on a Pacific island, clearing forest and constructing an airbase. The local jungle animals helped with the work, singing as they labored. Momotaro arrived by plane, accompanied by the four animals who had become high-ranking officers. The island's residents were depicted as unsophisticated figures overwhelmed by the glamour of their visitors. Japanese officers taught the island animals the Japanese alphabet through song. The animals sang the AIUEO song while doing laundry and preparing meals. Officers also prepared ammunition and artillery for the warplanes waiting on the airstrip.

  A narration within the film then explained that the island of Celebes had been acquired by the Dutch East India Company. The Japanese forces were preparing to take it. The monkey, dog, and bear cub became paratroopers; the pheasant took the role of pilot. They ambushed a convoy of armoured cars and stormed a British fort. The soldiers inside panicked and fled. Three British officials, stammering and clearly terrified, were brought to negotiate. After a brief argument, they surrendered Celebes and the surrounding islands to Japanese rule.

  The film ended with Santa and other children playing paratroopers, jumping onto a chalk outline drawn on the ground. That outline represented continental America. The film named the United States as the target of their generation. After its premiere, Sacred Sailors seemed to vanish, and for decades its continued existence was uncertain.

• 4. The Ofuna Discovery

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  After Japan's defeat, Sacred Sailors was presumed to have been confiscated by the American occupation forces and destroyed. In 1983, a negative copy turned up in Shochiku's Ofuna warehouse. The Moving Picture Laboratory at Shochiku had originally shot the film in 1944.

  The 1983 discovery made a re-release possible. Sacred Sailors returned to Japanese screens in 1984. A reproduced version was subsequently circulated, and the film eventually became available in Japan on VHS. The VHS release put Sacred Sailors in Japanese living rooms, but the film's international journey was still ahead.

• 5. Cannes and Beyond

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  The Cannes Film Festival selected Sacred Sailors for its Cannes Classics section in 2016. That recognition placed the film in a curated programme of historically significant cinema. In May 2016, UK-based company All the Anime announced plans to release it on Blu-ray. American distributor Funimation announced its own Blu-ray and DVD release that same month.

  Funimation planned to pair Sacred Sailors with Spider and Tulip, another Japanese animated film, on a single disc. More than seven decades had passed since Seo said he wanted animation to give children dreams of peace.