The Making of a Color Animation
"Inside Ofuji's color animation workshop, 1937."
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About this film
Shigeji Ogino's five-minute color documentary visits Noburo Ofuji's studio to record how a color animated short is painted, photographed, and assembled, including footage of the experimental Princess Katsura segment. The 16mm production documents Kodachrome-era techniques at a moment when natural color film was new to Japanese filmmakers.
More about this film
About the production
Themes
Themes & topics
Historical background
Ogino shot the documentary in 1937 when Ofuji was experimenting with Kodachrome after years of hand-tinted chiyogami cutout films; Dai Nippon Tennenshoku Eiga was also premiering feature color productions that year.
Why this film matters
The Making of a Color Animation is prized by animation historians as rare behind-the-scenes evidence of Ofuji's process and of Ogino's role documenting peers in Japan's early animation community.
Making of
Open sources chiefly list credits with Shigeji Ogino named as director.
What critics said
Modern writers including Frederick Litten and Aaron Gerow cite the short in studies of Japanese color film; anime historians rate it among the most valuable documents of 1930s technique.
Did you know?
- Documents Noburo Ofuji creating Katsura-hime.
- Uses Kodachrome 16mm color stock.
- Runtime about five minutes; preserved on Wikimedia Commons.
What audiences thought
Audience documentation for The Making of a Color Animation is limited; availability today depends on archive and streaming copies.
Film restoration
Preservation status should be confirmed against archive holdings.
Where to watch
- Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shigeji%20Ogino-%20The%20Making%20of%20a%20Color%20Animation%20(1937).ogv