The Animal Olympics
About The Animal Olympics
Animals march in under a lion flag. A monkey takes the athletes' oath, promising sport-beast-ship. A polar bear misses the pole vault and a monkey with a movie camera clears it. An elephant throws the discus over a mountain. In the hurdles a black rabbit beats a pig, which inflates like a balloon and floats off. A javelin then hits the flying pig. In the 1,500 metres a camel, a hippo, a bulldog, a duck, and a monkey start. The bulldog and the monkey stop to fight, and the duck wins. The elephant, with two firsts, gets the cup, is tossed in the air, and lands on the cup and smashes it.
Cast & crew
More about The Animal Olympics
Yasuji Murata directed and animated Dōbutsu Orimupikku Taikai for Yokohama Cinema Shōkai. Chūzō Aochi supervised. Kōji Iida is credited with the photography. It was number 30 in the studio's Athena Library of educational shorts. The Japanese censorship board passed it on 4 November 1928. Distribution is listed for September 1928, in 35mm through regional firms and in 16mm through Konishiroku. The short runs 13 minutes. It was made with the Amsterdam Olympics of that summer in mind.
Themes
Background
Amsterdam held the Summer Olympics in 1928. Murata's short opened in Japan that autumn, after the censorship board passed it on 4 November.
Making
Murata drew the meet in his Yokohama studio and sold it both as a theater short and as a 16mm print for the Sakura Graph.
Preservation
The extant print is the 16mm Sakura Graph edition. The National Film Archive of Japan lists it among its animation classics.
Notes
- The Japanese title is 動物オリムピック大会.
- Koji Iida and Yukikiyo Ueno are named as animators beside Murata.
- The surviving print is a 16mm Sakura Graph sold by Konishiroku's main store, not the 35mm release.
- A monkey with a camera records the meet and also enters the pole vault.
- The National Film Archive of Japan's anime classics site holds a viewing copy and a shot-by-shot title list.
- Monkeys also work the horizontal bar, and bears and hippos swim.
Scenes
- The procession enters behind a flag that is the lion's face.
- A pig in the hurdles swells into a balloon and drifts away, then meets a javelin.
- The duck takes the 1,500 metres after the bulldog and the monkey start a fight.
- The winners toss the elephant, who comes down on the cup.
Influenced by
- 1928 Summer Olympics, Amsterdam
