Magic Boy (1961)

"Shônen Sarutobi Sasuke" (known as "Magic Boy" in English) was the first anime feature film to be released in the United States, and was handled by a major Hollywood studio on these shores. Those facts alone make the movie interesting, but the movie itself has other attributes that make it worth a look. It's clear that there was some influence from the Disney studio, most notably with the design of some of the animal characters, and how these animals are used for comic relief. But for the most part, the movie does its own thing, and in a very professional manner. The animation is generally smooth, and there is some animation that is surprisingly detailed even by today's standards. The art design of the backgrounds and various characters is also eye-catching. The movie definitely looks good. However, when it comes to the writing, there are some notable weaknesses. The basic story itself has nothing wrong with it. In fact, the ancient Japan setting and use of Japanese mythology gives it some freshness compared to American animated production. Where the writing goes wrong is with the characters. The characters are pretty weak. We learn little about the hero before he goes out on his quest to become a magician. He is trained by a wizard that we hardly learn anything about, such as why he decides to train the boy. The witch, the chief villain of the movie, doesn't have much dialogue and it's hard to determine what is motivating her.Despite these weak characters, the movie still can be enjoyed. Kids will probably be captivated by the color, action, and child protagonist. Adults will appreciate the animation and the insight into a foreign culture. It's worth a look.

The movie is pure magic, just like Sasuke. The SFX are great, the plot is coherent and the fights! oh boy! It's a pleasure looking Sasuke materialize and de-materialize at will, or his flight scenes. The really humorous scene is when he gets to the prince's castle and gets sticked into the guard's sword until they let him pass and then he gets flying! With so much power who can put a parental figure on this boy? I ask. When I looked at this movie in my teens I loved it. I just would kill to see it edited and distributed in DVD and get it into my hands...(*sob*) However "Magic Boy" was a preview of the great potential of Asian cinema and anime production that there was yet to come.

This was the first anime I watched and the detail, the story writing and lessons learned by "Magic Boy" were inspiring. Take any martial arts master teaching young student and multiply it a thousand fold and you have an inkling of what you can behold with this movie... okay I'm exaggerating. If I remember correctly, the art was somehow reminded me of those Chinese paintings of mist/cloud shrouded mountains since that is where he is trained by the old master. I particularly remember magic boy having to get pails of water two at a time and carry them from a stream down hill over craggy mountain boulders and winding paths, in rain, sleet, snow. I recommend this movie for those with kids... it can teach them of determination and perseverance. I know there are some sort of moral lessons in there somewhere... I wish I could watch it again!

Just saw this on TCM and it still has the magic. This is recognizably a Taiji Yabushita film, in that he takes much of his style from classic Disney--fluid (maybe not as fluid as Disney) movement, use of music and imagery, animal sidekicks. It's not as emotionally powerful as his The Orphan Son (his masterpiece, I think), or as all-around well done as Alakazam (his collaboration with Ozamu Tezuka), or as historically important as The White Snake (which influenced Miyazaki) but it has its virtues--the inventive way the hero appears and disappears, the 'transformation battle' that occurs at the climax, the lifelike sword fights of the prince...not Yabushita's best, but still up there, somewhere.