If you have watched shows like Pokemon, One Piece and other popular series, a common question anyone would have is who created anime in the first place? Everyone loves cartoons and the word “anime” is just the short for the word “animation.” In Japan, “anime” is used to refer to all animation and usually, anime shows have distinctive aesthetics and appeal to them and are one of Japan’s greatest and most influential cultural gifts to the world. But who created anime and when did it all begin?
The Creator of Anime
Anime was created by Osamu Tezuka in the late 1960s, who is oftentimes called the “god of manga,” the “godfather of anime,” and the “Walt Disney of Japan.” Throughout Japan, Tezuka is known as one of the most legendary artists of the modern era and was an artistic mastermind who created more than 700 manga titles — including 150,000 pages of hand-drawn art.
He came up with a total of 60 anime series in his lifetime, making him one of the most creative Japanese manga creators in history. Tezuka started this work in the late 1960s and his first project was the iconic manga Astro Boy, which he later adapted into an extremely successful anime. This method of close adaptation as well as many animation techniques Tezuka gave birth to in Japan to accelerate the adaptation process, kickstarted an industrial practice that still continues. Impressed by Tezuka’s work,
Stanley Kubrick asked him to serve as the art designer for 2001: A Space Odyssey (though Tezuka had to decline the proposal as he had too much work to do in Japan). And that’s everything you need to know about who created anime. For more guides and news, be sure to check out Twinfinite.
