YŠji Kuri (久里洋二, Kuri YŠji, born April 9, 1928) is a
Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. An influential figure
in Japanese independent animation, he was the unofficial leader and
most prolific of the "Animation Association of
Three"(アニメーション三人㠮会, AnimÄ"shon Sannin no Kai)
collective who kick-started the renaissance of modern-styled,
independently made, adult-aimed animation in early 1960s Japan. He is
known internationally for the very black comedy of his films, with the
typically naïve style of his cartooning often belying the surreal,
obscene and disturbing situations they depict (though he has worked in
a variety of styles and mediums, including pixilation); this made them
a favourite among the fervently counter-cultural audiences, which
included such filmmakers as René Laloux, of the first few years of
the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and in a 1967
publication he was considered to be "the most significant" and "the
only Japanese animator whose work is known in the West" (which is to
disregard the TÅ ei Animation features and Astro Boy series that were
first seen in the West around the same time that Kuri's first several
films were and mentioned in passing in the same publication, though
these were not known as works of an individual and characteristic
filmmaker and often had their Japanese origin played down). He is also
known in Japan for his comics, a collection of which earned him the
1958 Bungeishunjū Manga Award. Though now retired from filmmaking he
continues to illustrate and to teach animation at Laputa Art Animation
School(アート・アニメーション㠮㠡㠄㠕㠪å¦æ ¡, Ä€to
AnimÄ"shon no Chiisana GakkÅ ). In 2012 he received a Lifetime
Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest
Zagreb.Kuri made over 40 short films between 1960 and 1981; some of
the best known are:
Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. An influential figure
in Japanese independent animation, he was the unofficial leader and
most prolific of the "Animation Association of
Three"(アニメーション三人㠮会, AnimÄ"shon Sannin no Kai)
collective who kick-started the renaissance of modern-styled,
independently made, adult-aimed animation in early 1960s Japan. He is
known internationally for the very black comedy of his films, with the
typically naïve style of his cartooning often belying the surreal,
obscene and disturbing situations they depict (though he has worked in
a variety of styles and mediums, including pixilation); this made them
a favourite among the fervently counter-cultural audiences, which
included such filmmakers as René Laloux, of the first few years of
the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and in a 1967
publication he was considered to be "the most significant" and "the
only Japanese animator whose work is known in the West" (which is to
disregard the TÅ ei Animation features and Astro Boy series that were
first seen in the West around the same time that Kuri's first several
films were and mentioned in passing in the same publication, though
these were not known as works of an individual and characteristic
filmmaker and often had their Japanese origin played down). He is also
known in Japan for his comics, a collection of which earned him the
1958 Bungeishunjū Manga Award. Though now retired from filmmaking he
continues to illustrate and to teach animation at Laputa Art Animation
School(アート・アニメーション㠮㠡㠄㠕㠪å¦æ ¡, Ä€to
AnimÄ"shon no Chiisana GakkÅ ). In 2012 he received a Lifetime
Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest
Zagreb.Kuri made over 40 short films between 1960 and 1981; some of
the best known are:
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