Tsutomu Shibayama (芝山努, b. 1941) admits that he is patting himself onthe back by listing his own films in the Animation Top 20 questionnaire that hefilled out at the Laputa Animaton Festival in 2003. He uses the expression “temae miso” (手前味噌) – which literally means “home-made miso” butis colloquially used to express that one is singing one’s own’s praises. Shibayama’s entire list but two are all moviesfrom the popular Doraemon franchise which Shibayama has been involved with since the 1970s.
Despite his long history as ananimator and director in the anime industry, Shibayama writes that he does notfeel that he is particularly discerning when it comes to the quality ofanimation and doesn’t really feel that he is suited to the task of rankinganimation.
Paul Grimault’s The Shepherdess andthe Chimneysweep (1953) – which later became the basis of his Grimault’sfeature film masterpiece The King and the Mockingbird (1980) – was the film thatinspired Shibayama to become an animator himself. Before this film, Shibayama had only seenDisney animation for children and the contrast between Grimault’s work and thatof Disney made a great impression on him.
Frédéric Back’s The Man Who PlantedTrees was so highly recommended to Shibayama by a friends that he finally “liftedhis heavy bottom” and went to see it and it did impress him very much.
The rest of Shibayama’s list rankswhat he feels are the best Doraemon feature films. I did not have the impression that Shibayamawas listing his own series out of mere egotism, but more out of a place of beingproud of the work that he has done. Someanimators who work for big franchises grow weary of the limitations they setupon creativity. It is nice to seesomeone who seems to truly enjoy what he does, even after all these years.
Catherine Munroe Hotes 2012
1.
The Shepherdess and the Chimneysweep / La Bergère et le ramoneur
(やぶにらみの暴君, PaulGrimault, 1953)
2.
The Man Who Planted Trees / L'Homme qui plantait des arbres
(木を植えた男, Frédéric Back, 1987)
3.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan
(ドラえもん のび太の日本誕生, Tsutomu Shibayama, 1989)
4.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Wind Wizard
(ドラえもん のび太とふしぎ風使い, TsutomuShibayama, 2003)
5.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Robot Kingdom
(ドラえもん のび太とロボット王国, TsutomuShibayama, 2002)
6.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Winged Braves
(ドラえもん のび太と翼の勇者たち, TsutomuShibayama,2001)
7.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King
(ドラえもん のび太の太陽王伝説, TsutomuShibayama, 2000)
8.
Doraemon: Nobita Gets Lost in Space
(ドラえもん のび太の宇宙漂流記, Tsutomu Shibayama, 1999)
9.
Doraemon: Nobita's South Sea Adventure
(ドラえもん のび太の南海大冒険, TsutomuShibayama, 1998)
10.
Doraemon: Nobita's Adventure in Clockwork City
(ドラえもん のび太のねじ巻き都市冒険記, TsutomuShibayama, 1997)
11.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-Express
(ドラえもん のび太と銀河超特急, HiroshiFukutomi, 1996)
12.
Doraemon: Nobita's Genesis Diary
(ドラえもん のび太の創世日記, Tsutomu Shibayama, 1995)
13.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Fantastic Three Musketeers
(ドラえもん のび太と夢幻三剣士, Tsutomu Shibayama,1994)
14.
Doraemon: Nobita and Tin-Plate Labyrinth
(ドラえもん のび太とブリキの迷宮, Tsutomu Shibayama,1993)
15.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Kingdom of Clouds
(ドラえもん のび太と雲の王国, Tsutomu Shibayama, 1992)
16.
Doraemon: Nobita in Dorabian Nights
(ドラえもん のび太のドラビアンナイト, Tsutomu Shibayama, 1991)
17.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Animal Planet
(ドラえもん のび太とアニマル惑星, Tsutomu Shibayama, 1990)
18.
Doraemon: Nobita's Parallel "Journey to the West"
(ドラえもん のび太のパラレル西遊記, TsutomuShibayama, 1988)
19.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Knights of Dinosaurs
(ドラえもん のび太と竜の騎士, TsutomuShibayama, 1987)
20.
Doraemon: Nobita and the Steel Troops
The Doraemon films are available via cdjapan:
