Rascal the Raccoon

This article is part of the World Masterpiece Theater Production History series. Read the previous entry here

This article was co-written with Toadette

The World Masterpiece Theater entry for the year 1976, Marco, pushed studio Nippon Animation and the artists associated with it to their limits. As a result, the year 1977 was marked by disorganization, as most of Marco’s staff temporarily or definitively left the WMT, and the series for that year, Rascal the Raccoon, brought on new, possibly inexperienced, and simply less notable artists. This article will therefore not only focus on Rascal, but on two other works: the first is another Nippon show, Jacky the Bearcub, which counted among its staff most of Marco’s main artists: directors Isao Takahata and Seiji Okuda, and animators Toshiyasu Okada, Kôichi Murata, Reiko Okuyama and Yôichi Kotabe. The other is a completely different production, the first film by studio Shin-Ei, Tenguri, Boy of the Plains, which reunited Yasuo Otsuka and his students outside of Nippon Animation. Just a year before Future Boy Conan, 1977’s Rascal and Tenguri were the last works on which Hayao Miyazaki made significant contributions as a key animator. They therefore represent a turning point in his career, as well as that of all other artists who had been revolving around World Masterpiece Theater productions.

Let us start with the situation in Nippon, and in the World Masterpiece Theater series. Like every WMT show, Rascal aired for 52 episodes throughout the year, from January to December 1977. Jacky is half that length, and aired from June to December, that is, during Rascal’s second half. Even if Jacky’s production obviously started a few months earlier, there was a time difference between it and Marco, and it would have been conceivable for some of the latter’s staff to work on Rascal’s first half during the in-between time. However, there is almost no such thing, revealing how much the WMT team needed some time off.

The Rascal-Jacky situation is a bit of an exceptional case in the WMT’s history, in the sense that there was a mix-up between production teams. With the change from Zuiyo Video to Nippon Animation in 1975, the studio started diversifying its activities, with various mecha and sport coproductions, and another series of Western literature adaptations that ran parallel to the World Masterpiece Theater. It wasn’t as cohesive as the WMT, since it didn’t have a dedicated sponsor or timeslot; however, starting with Sôgen no Shôjo Laura in 1975, the main creative would be Yasuji Mori. It is possible that, with Jacky, Nippon’s producers aimed to create a new series, under the banner of Seton Animal Tales. Indeed, there would be a follow-up, 1979’s Bannertail the Squirrel which inherited, just like Jacky, many WMT animators who probably wanted a change of pace and could avoid having to endure Isao Takahata’s demands on Anne of Green Gables.

On the other hand, in terms of staff and production, Rascal seems to have been in a rather troubled situation. Things were probably not as bad as they had been on A Dog of Flanders 2 years prior, but the credits are similarly worrying. The first thing is that the show’s credits don’t include anyone on chief direction, series composition or character design. All of these are mentioned in the series’ page on Nippon’s website and in various official documents; but their absence from the credits themselves remains unusual.

The chief direction is said to have been in the hands of Masaharu Endô, who had been the director (and possibly the true character designer?) of Rocky Chuck. However, at the director level, things were not so simple. In fact, the director credit included multiple artists, with Endô’s co-director switching back and forth between Shigeo Koshi and Hiroshi Saitô: Koshi is said to have co-directed episodes 1-14 and then 27-52, while Saitô helped with 15-26. There is a similar situation at the writing level: Akira Miyazaki is credited as the main script writer for every episode. But three other people were credited as co-writer over the course of the series: Kasuke Satô for episodes 15-26, one Tai Katô for episodes 29-38, and finally Shôgo Ota for episodes 42-49. It should be noted that none of these three men had ever worked with Nippon, or in anime in general.

Furthermore, there is the issue of the series’s character design. As strange as that may seem, it is Endô, the chief director, who was in charge of them: he is credited as such on every official Nippon document, and his signature is visible on some of the design sheets. But it must be noted that the human characters, especially Starling and Alice, are very close to the styles of two other artists that were in Nippon: Shûichi Seki for Starling, and Yasuji Mori for Alice. It is therefore possible that the designs were a collective work, with drafts, contributions or revisions added by Seki and/or Mori. In any case, Endô’s involvement shows that Rascal was his personal project. This may also shed light on a mystery that we already evoked on Rocky Chuck: the identity of the storyboarder “Morimitsu”. Given that this person does not show up anywhere outside of Endô’s shows, it is easy to believe that it is an alias for Endô himself.

There are still more indications of how difficult or messy Rascal’s production was in the main animation credits. Michiyo Sakurai is usually credited as the animation director, a clear acknowledgement of her work for Zuiyo and Nippon since Rocky Chuck alongside Shun’ichi Sakai, who is here in charge of layouts. The first strange element, however, is that there was no in-between checker for the first 9 episodes: instead, the person usually in charge of this task, Megumi Mizuta, is credited as “assistant animation director” – perhaps the very first time in anime history that such a credit made its appearance. But this is not all, as both women’s presence in the credits is extremely irregular: Sakurai disappears for a while after episode 14, leaving only Mizuta credited as assistant AD (to no one apparently!) before she herself disappears from episode 20 onwards, leaving no animation director credits of any kind. Sakurai’s credit then briefly returns in episodes 27 and 28, only to once again disappear from 29 to 38, before finally returning for good from 39 to the end of the series; Mizuta’s assistant AD credit, however, never comes back. For that matter, in yet another sign of how quickly the series’s production went off the rails, the in-between checker position eventually does return with episode 10, in tandem with the already-existing assistant AD position, but then disappears in the aforementioned episodes 28 and 29 before returning once more.

Sakai, Sakurai and Mizuta are actually among the very few staff members left over from Marco and previous WMT series. Alongside them are some animators (notably Hayao Miyazaki, Yôichi Kotabe, Yukiyoshi Hane and a group of animators under Masako Shinohara’s lead) and the storyboarder Yukiyoshi Tomino. Notably, the WMT’s most regular subcontractor since Heidi, Oh! Production, is completely absent from Rascal, except for a single episode early in the show’s run. On the upper creative level, there is the art director, Masahiro Ioka. He had been on Heidi, but had after that worked on Nippon’s non-WMT series, notably Sôgen no Shôjo Laura and Piccolino no Bôken. Rascal actually marks his return to the WMT, on which he would remain until Anne of Green Gables.

Most of Rascal’s staff was therefore comprised of new people and studios. There were notably three: Trans Arts, Neo Media and JA. Their statuses are all a bit different. Of JA there is basically no other record available, which means we don’t know anything about them. Trans Arts was a photography studio established in 1967 by ex-Tatsunoko members Mamoru and Keishichi Kuroki, which took charge of the photography of most Zuiyo and Nippon shows since Rocky Chuck. At some point, however, they grew their own animation division, and Rascal was likely their first work. Finally, Neo Media was an animation studio created in 1969 by Tôei artist Keiichirô Kimura. The important element about Neo Media, as well as most of Trans Art’s animators, is that they had until then largely worked not for Nippon, but for studio Tokyo Movie. This was already from that side of the industry that Takahata’s group and Oh Pro had been taken: Nippon used Tokyo Movie’s subcontractors as its own pool of new workers. All this is confirmed by the strange presence of Tokyo Movie director Kyôsuke Mikuriya as a storyboarder on some of Rascal’s early episodes.

However, the 1977 situation was quite different from the 1973 one: when Takahata and his group left A Production for Zuiyo Video, Tokyo Movie was in full expansion and could even be said to have entered its golden age. Four years later, it was going through major changes: A Pro, Tokyo Movie’s main subcontractor, had just split off to become Shin-Ei, while the studio itself was in the midst of rebranding to Tokyo Movie Shinsha, or TMS. Mikuriya himself was still busy directing episodes of Ganso Tensai Bakabon and Hana no Kakarichô, the only two series Tokyo Movie was producing at that point (and both of which suffered greatly from the chaos happening behind the scenes), during his time on Rascal.

Whatever their origin, it is immediately apparent that all these new animators were unable to reproduce the level of quality that previous WMT series had kept. The most painful instance of it is episodes 1 and 2, those that should have been animated in advance: in the hands of the inexperienced artists from Trans Arts and Neo Media, they barely move and it’s hard to believe how the level could drop lower. But it does, as some of the later episodes start showcasing animation mistakes, or a complete mismatch between the soundtrack and the image. For example, in episode 42, there’s a moment when Starling’s father kindles a fire. We hear the sound effects of the movement, and the fire grows, but the cel of Starling’s father remains immobile when everything else tells us it should be moving.

The only thing that saves Rascal’s animation from being hopelessly bad is Hayao Miyazaki’s presence between episodes 4 to 6, and from 10 to 27 (with some small interruptions), accompanied by Yôichi Kotabe between episodes 12 to 22. But their presence is only visible in the early episodes: by #15, the animation level drops once again, with only a few exceptions later on. When it is apparent, though, it is Miyazaki’s style that stands out the most: it has the nervousness and intensity specific to his earlier works, and the best fit to  realistically translate the movements of animals, especially that of Rascal.

Miyazaki’s animation (perhaps alongside that of Yukiyoshi Hane in the few contributions he made to the early episodes) was probably the only one which both revealed and stood up to the challenge of Rascal: that of truly realistic animal animation, in which the animals would really be the center of the action, and not just secondary figures or comic relief as they had been in previous WMT shows. Miyazaki managed to give Rascal just the right expressions and motions, making him relatable without falling into anthropomorphism. It is in that regard that Rascal and Jacky are most different, although they share many similarities in other aspects.

As mentioned above, Jacky the Bearcub aired during the second half of Rascal. Just like it, and its “predecessor” Sôgen no Shôjo Laura, it was adapted from American children’s literature. Moreover, just like Rascal, it initially focuses on its animal characters – in this case, the two little bears Jacky and Jill. However, in terms of narration and animation, Jacky is quite different: the bears talk between themselves, and once they are adopted by humans, they conform rather easily to their behaviour. In that sense, anthropomorphism is really prevalent. It is not as pronounced in the animation, but it is still far removed from Rascal: Jacky remains very close to Heidi in the sense that, while detailed and convincing, the animation is always cute and endearing.

In stark contrast against Miyazaki, then, was Jacky’s ace animator and the one who had set the standard for Heidi’s animation a few years prior: Toshiyasu Okada. As mentioned in the previous pieces of this series, Okada suffered from back problems which made it hard for him to bear the intense workloads that are so frequent in animation, and were especially when Takahata was at the helm. Marco, which was most probably even more intense and painful than Heidi, was almost the last straw for Okada, who was close to leaving Nippon altogether to get as far away from Takahata as he could. But before that, he would try his hand at some other, possibly more relaxed series: Jacky was one of them.

Okada’s presence on Jacky may seem minor at first: he was only there on 5 episodes (#01, #02, #04, #09 and #14), and only until episode 14. But one realizes how impressive the performance actually was when one sees that 4 of those 5 episodes were solo-key-animated, and that they are probably some of the best in Okada’s entire career up to that point. As mentioned just above, the only suitable point of comparison would be Heidi’s early episodes: they, too, never stop moving, are brimming with energy, and the character animation is both lifelike and endearing. But Okada didn’t stop there, as episode 14 illustrates. It is his last episode and the only non-solo one: perhaps Okada couldn’t bear the charge anymore, and he was therefore assisted by Shûichi Seki on key animation. Interestingly, it is also the only episode of Jacky storyboarded by Yoshiyuki Tomino – he was busy enough, for Nippon series at least, on Rascal on which he storyboarded no less than 19 episodes.

The Tomino episodes on both shows clearly show how much he had grown as a creator, and how, outside of Takahata and Miyazaki’s heavy supervision, he could deliver work that stood out not just for its quality, but also for its personality. That latter quality was something that the other Takahata student who storyboarded most of Jacky, Seiji Okuda, couldn’t boast of: his storyboards are efficient and definitely Takahata-ish, but they never reach quite the same level as Takahata himself or Tomino. On Jacky #14, then, the excellence of the storyboards was supported by an almost exceptional strength in the drawings: in terms of how much it moved, this episode was weaker than Okada’s previous work, but in terms of how it generally looked, it was almost superior. The characters’ expressions are more intense, the way the bodies occupy space more grounded, and the layouts more complex than usual.

Okada’s work is even more remarkable when one considers that Jacky was not short of  prestigious animators. As mentioned, it regrouped most of Marco’s staff: 6 episodes were animated by Kôichi Murata’s team (but without its ace, Toshitsugu Saida), and 3 by Reiko Okuyama and her husband, Yôichi Kotabe (plus one Okuyama solo, on storyboards by Isao Takahata). But none of them seems to have been as invested in their work as Okada was. Except for #05, which is in any case considerably elevated by Takahata’s storyboards, no other episode of Jacky comes close to Okada’s level.

To sum things up, it initially seems like Jacky mostly ended up with Nippon’s top teams, that is the animators and subcontractors that had until then mostly been working on the WMT. But in truth, things were slightly more complex: explaining them in detail will be the occasion to detail the precise organization of Nippon as a studio and its animators. It must be noted that the precise status of all these animators differed, some in-house and some others freelance, but that it is always hard to ascertain.

First, the core group of the A team that mostly worked on the WMT was made up of the animators that had been present as early as Rocky Chuck: the well-established trio of Shun’ichi Sakai, Megumi Sakurai and Megumi Mizuta, plus Yukiyoshi Hane. Starting from Heidi, the A team would receive three new members: Toshiyasu Okada, Masako Shinohara and Hidemi Maeda. They were largely under the supervision of Hayao Miyazaki and Yôichi Kotabe, two properly in-house artists who themselves very seldom animated but acted as layout artist and animation director. Their presence as animators on Rascal for Miyazaki and Jacky for Kotabe is therefore exceptional. On Rascal especially, Miyazaki was the lead animator of what was left of the A team, composed of Shinohara, Maeda, and a new member who had joined on Marco: Nobuo Tomizawa (or Tomisawa).

On the other hand, on Jacky, Kotabe was mostly in a team of his own; in fact, he seems to have been under the lead of his wife Reiko Okuyama, who joined the show first. Besides them, it is there that what we may call Nippon’s B team worked. Under the lead of Kazuo Iimura, its members were animators Masayoshi Ozaki and Mitsuo Kusakabe. This tightly-knit group (who may have originated in Mushi Pro’s last days) actually called itself Za In, although it seems that it didn’t exist as an actual company until the mid-80s, which probably explains why it was only rarely credited as such in Nippon’s credits. They were not totally absent from the WMT, since they did work on Rocky Chuck and Dog of Flanders – but the latter was not a representative production by any means. However, because they mostly worked on less prestigious series, it’s harder to track exactly what they did in Nippon between Flanders and Jacky; it seems that Iimura, at least, was an animation director on the sport show Dokaben.

Besides Okuyama and Iimura’s groups, Jacky’s staff featured two other, outside teams. One has already been mentioned multiple times: the first is Oh! Production, led by the veterans Kôichi Murata and Jôji Manabe. The other represents a far less fun side of Nippon’s history and its collaborators: it is a Korean studio, named Yoon Sung Industry, which animated on some of Nippon’s minor shows and notably entirely produced Ashita E Attack in 1977. Besides in-betweens, they animated 3 episodes, and their work there is quite instructive: unlike on Ashita E Attack, it’s not that these episodes don’t move, but that they don’t move well. The characters are off-model most of the time, and the motion is often incredibly awkward.This makes us enter into the topic of Nippon’s third, C team, which would have worked on the lower-quality series the studio started producing in late 1975. As mentioned, most of them were outsourced to outside Japanese studios or Korea: Nippon’s in-house staff was more in charge of animation direction and eventually layouts than actual animation. The problem is that the credits from these forgotten shows haven’t been transcribed, so it’s hard to know exactly who worked on them. However, from what we do have and the credits of 1978’s WMT show The Story of Perrine, we can make the following conclusions: the remainder of Nippon’s animation staff (if they were actually members of Nippon) was more diverse and less coherent. Its lead artists would be Shûichi Seki, who had been there since the Mushi-Zuiyo days, and Yoshiyuki Momose, who joined in 1975. Among the possible key animators under their supervision were Yoshishige Kosako, Tadashi Shirakawa, Takao Ogawa, and one Masao Miyazaki. Shirakawa had been working with Zuiyo-Nippon since the Mushi-associated episodes of Vicky the Viking, while Ogawa was a Mushi veteran who had already animated on Andersen Monogatari and ‘72 Moomin. With Seki’s possible contributions, Rascal was the point when this C team started coming into the spotlight, something that would be definitely confirmed by Perrine.

The precise reasons that made it impossible for the studio’s A team to animate on Perrine will be further explored in the next article of this series, but for the purpose of this piece, suffice it to say that there were two: Tenguri, Boy of the Plains and Future Boy Conan.

Tenguri is a notable work because it is one of the only directorial efforts by animator Yasuo Otsuka. To  understand how it came about, it is necessary to turn the focus outside of Nippon, towards studio Shin-Ei Animation. The studio had been established on September 9, 1976 as a successor to A Production: this rebranding was the result of the separation between A Pro and Tokyo Movie, which had also renamed itself to become Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Besides its name, Shin-Ei also changed locations and restructured its management. Through Shin-Ei, studio leader Daikichirô Kusube wanted to produce his own projects and keep a steady flow of work coming in rather than continuing to subcontract exclusively for Tokyo Movie, which at the time was in an unstable position business-wise. But breaking with Tokyo Movie meant having to reach out wherever work was available, often by way of unusual ties the studio or its staffers had formed in the preceding years.

For the first months after its creation, the studio subcontracted here and there, notably on Sunrise’s Fujiko Fujio ripoff Robokko Beeton (possibly at the behest of its ex-Tokyo Movie chief director Masaaki Osumi) and Group TAC’s Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi (on which the studio’s main luminaries Tsutomu Shibayama and Osamu Kobayashi had been moonlighting for some time). Their ending up with Tenguri seems just as counterintuitive-yet-sensible: sponsored by a dairy company, the short’s initial concept was by Osamu Tezuka, whose own Tezuka Productions was initially supposed to animate it. However, Tezuka dragged his feet, which led the sponsor to turn towards TAC, which doesn’t seem to have been very enthusiastic either. In the end, Shin-Ei would be the only ones to agree to produce it, in a complete rush: according to Benjamin Ettinger, it was animated in less than a month.

The credits also illustrate the difficult situation Shin-Ei was in: Otsuka had never been keen on actually serving as a director, and his ending up in the position probably came from the fact that the studio’s remaining directors Shigetsugu Yoshida (who served as assistant director on the film) and Hiroshi Fukutomi did not have the long experience in the industry that Otsuka did. Perhaps Kusube wanted to make an impression with what was essentially his studio’s first independent film, and/or Otsuka was in the mood to help A Pro/Shin-Ei along at the time: just months prior to this, Otsuka had solo-key-animated three uncharacteristically subpar segments of Ganso Tensai Bakabon (all directed by Yoshida), presumably to help the studio finish off its remaining obligations to Tokyo Movie as quickly as possible (the last of these segments, the abysmal 76B, did not air until 21 March 1977 – over 6 months after the Tokyo Movie-A Pro split had already occurred!). This happened after a period of relative inactivity following 1973’s Samurai Giants in which he mainly focused on giving lectures and some uncredited animation here and there: besides Marco, he is said to have worked on Gamba no Bouken – a comic he drew based on the series would seem to confirm as much.

Moreover, if we look at the 6 credited key animators, we see that the only other ex-Toei veteran at Shin-Ei to be involved besides Otsuka and Yoshida was Yoshio Kabashima, himself recently returned from a sabbatical following the end of Gamba (his first credit post-Gamba was Beeton episode 18, two months before Tenguri). Shibayama and Kobayashi were by this time mostly focused on creating their own short films for MNMB, and within a year or so would leave Shin-Ei altogether to found Ajia-do and become directors in their own right. In fact, most of A Pro/Shin-Ei’s animators at the time would leave in the following years (although many of them would continue to associate with Shin-Ei afterwards), with only one exception besides Kusube himself: future Doraemon animation director Eiichi Nakamura, who would become Shin-Ei’s main in-house pillar. 

Besides Kabashima and Nakamura, two of the eventual departees who animated on Tenguri were also Otsuka’s direct, closest, and most talented students at the time, namely Yûzo Aoki and Yoshifumi Kondô. The two others were Hisatoshi Motoki and Noriko Yazawa (née Kusayanagi). The first had been working alongside Kobayashi and Nakamura since Gamba and Ganso Tensai Bakabon, and would leave the following year to begin working on Madhouse and Annapuru projects as a freelancer. The second, who appears to have been the wife of the obscure Norio Yazawa, had begun as an inbetweener at his and Noboru Ishiguro’s studio Japan Art Bureau on projects like the 1971 Lupin III series before moving to A Pro, with her surname changing to Yazawa early on in Gamba. By 1977, she had already served as key animator on various random occasions before being promoted for good with this film, after which she appears to have left Shin-Ei; she would eventually resurface as an animator on various Pierrot and Nippon shows in the 1980s. (As for the other staffers at the time: Tomekichi Takeuchi was busy as animation director of Shin-Ei’s Beeton episodes, while Toshiyuki Honda and Michishiro Yamada, the studio’s least talented key animators, were demoted to inbetweening for Tenguri in addition to serving as Beeton’s main animators.)

Besides these, however, were three uncredited artists: Hayao Miyazaki, Reiko Okuyama, and Yôichi Kotabe, with Miyazaki in particular purportedly working on the film as a way of repaying Otsuka for his uncredited work on Marco. If Benjamin Ettinger is right in saying that Tenguri was completed in April 1977, it means that it was Okuyama and Kotabe’s first work after Marco. Such is not the case for Miyazaki, who had been on Rascal since January. Although it would be tempting to try dating Tenguri’s production following Miyazaki’s absences from a few of Rascal’s early episodes (notably between episodes 7 and 9), the explanation is probably simply that he needed to rest from, or prepare for, the most taxing of Rascal’s episodes (most notably episode 10, which was exceptionally animated entirely by Nippon’s A team). But this would in fact mean that Miyazaki delivered his best work on Rascal at the same time as he was animating on Tenguri – which is nothing short of a feat. It is likely not a coincidence that Rascal’s animation never picked itself up even after Miyazaki and Kotabe came back from Tenguri, which would be around episodes 18-20, aired in May.

Indeed, Tenguri’s animation is simply superb, and it is obvious that it was made by some of the greatest talents of the time. Story-wise, it is pretty simple and clearly borrows many elements from the WMT (such as the “exotic” setting of Mongolia, the slice-of-life format and the exploration of other lifestyles), but it does not deserve Ettinger’s and Ghibli expert Daniel Thomas MacInnes’s harsh words, which refer to it as a badly-plotted clone of Hols and Heidi. The cute and basic plot is essentially a canvas for the animators, but also the occasion for some of Otsuka’s most original designs, particularly that of the titular main character.

Most probably with the help of Miyazaki and Kotabe, Tenguri would allow Shin-Ei to get its first proper work as a subcontractor for Nippon on the series Ore wa Teppei, which began airing on 12 September 1977. There, artists who had only been animating had the opportunity to do some of their first storyboards (aside from series like MNMB and Madhouse’s Manga Sekai Mukashibanashi, on which Shin-Ei worked between Tenguri and Teppei): this was the case for Yoshifumi Kondô, Osamu Kobayashi and Tsutomu Shibayama, with the latter also being credited for layouts alongside Yasuo Otsuka. But it seems that Otsuka in fact only worked on the first episode, as, just like Kondô, he would soon become busy with the production of Future Boy Conan. It would be the occasion for the two men to cut their ties with Shin-Ei and join Nippon; it would just be during Conan for Otsuka, who then went back to TMS and became the leader of studio Telecom, while Kondô would remain at Nippon until the end of 1980, and continue to associate with it until the mid-1980s.

The production chronology of Conan is rather well-established, with Miyazaki himself stating that it began in October 1977 – this likely would have been right after Kondô did his final animation for Teppei on episode 5, aired on October 10. However, looking at the overlaps between Conan and Rascal can perhaps provide us some more detailed information. Miyazaki left Rascal on episode 27, aired on July 3, 1977. If it is the actual production that started in October, that is the storyboarding and animation, Miyazaki must have been approached by producers earlier than that: July would seem to be a good estimate. It might seem considerably early for a series that only started airing in April 1978, but given that all of Nippon’s best animators and resources were poured into it, this was clearly an ambitious project.

Among those top animators was, naturally, Toshiyasu Okada, who only worked on one episode, #07. By that time, he seems to have been on his way out, and Conan was the last experience he would have with Miyazaki and Takahata (who storyboarded the episode) for a decade. Aside from his own health problems, his departure was understandable: at Nippon, he was stuck between the unreasonable demands of the two directors and low-grade shows that the studio’s management often outsourced to new and sometimes completely incompetent (or simply overexploited) companies.

Therefore, after completing his work on Jacky, Okada began working instead for Group TAC’s omnibus series Manga Ijin Monogatari, where he delivered animation for an entire 11-minute segment almost every month, presumably starting from August or September 1977. Okada’s 11 solo-animated segments aired from December 30, 1977 to September 15, 1978. It was during that time that he worked on Conan, an unpleasant experience in which he purportedly ended up doing more than he was originally asked. After animating at least three more segments for MIM’s successor series Manga Kodomo Bunko (his last known segment aired January 12, 1979), he associated with Nippon one last time for Bannertail the Squirrel, solo-KAing three half-hour episodes which perfectly illustrated his rapidly declining interest in the studio. The first (#01), devoted to showing Bannertail’s origins and the farm animals he lived with, is an incredible feat of animation, possibly even better than his episodes of Jacky, while the two others, #07 and #13, are mediocre to downright awful; clearly Okada had little use for the banal anthropomorphism and inane stories that the series quickly settled into after the first episode. By that time, he was finding far more interesting prospects in the newly-created studio Pierrot and their first series, the WMT-inspired The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.

What is clear from all the above is that, even more than usual, it is impossible to consider the WMT in a vacuum. Admittedly this is made easier by the fact that Rascal the Raccoon is unremarkable in many ways. This is perhaps what made Marco so important in contrast, and helps us appreciate the considerable impact it would have in the following years – even if that impact is something as dark as nobody wanting to approach Isao Takahata for some time. All the artists who were unable or unwilling to invest time and effort in Rascal would work outside of the WMT for some time, laying the ground for some of the most interesting developments in late-70’s anime history.

Bonus: Toshiyasu Okada’s most impressive episode of Manga Ijin Monogatari, about the early life of Helen Keller, which he designed and animated under the joint direction of chief director Masakazu Higuchi, art director Kôji Abe, and director Chikao Katsui with background art by Tomie Akiu.

Rascal the Raccoon credits transcription

Original Work: Starling North

Executive Producer: Kôichi Motohashi (本橋浩一)

Music: Takeo Watanabe (渡辺岳夫)

Art Director: Masahiro Ioka (井岡雅宏)

Layout: Shunichi Sakai (坂井俊一)

Recording Director: Yasuo Urakami (浦上靖夫)

Photography Director: Keishichi Kuroki (黒木敬七)

Producers: Junzô Nakajima (中島順三),  Takaji Matsudo (松土隆二)

Planning: Nippon Animation

# 01

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆; Neo Media: Sadahiko Sadamaki (坂巻貞彦), 角谷和義

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#02

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Morimitsu (?) (森光)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆; Neo Media: Sadahiko Sadamaki (坂巻貞彦), 角谷和義

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#03

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Morimitsu (?) (森光)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Oh! Production: Kôichi Murata (村田耕一), Jôji Manabe (真鍋譲二), Ken’ichi Okamoto (岡本健一)

Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代); Neo Media: Sadahiko Sadamaki (坂巻貞彦), 角谷和義

Assistant Episode Direction: Takeshi Baba (馬場健, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)Production Assistance: Katsugi Takasuna (?) (高砂克己)

#04

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Kyôsuke Mikuriya (御厨恭輔)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆; Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代); Neo Media: Sadahiko Sadamaki (坂巻貞彦), 角谷和義

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#05

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Morimitsu (?) (森光)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Yukiyoshi Hane (羽根章悦); Neo Media: Sadahiko Sadamaki (坂巻貞彦), 角谷和義

Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代), Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

Assistant Episode Direction: Takeshi Baba (馬場健, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#06

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Kyôsuke Mikuriya (御厨恭輔)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#07

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Morimitsu (?) (森光)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Yukiyoshi Hane (羽根章悦); Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄); Neo Media: Sadahiko Sadamaki (坂巻貞彦)

Assistant Episode Direction: Takeshi Baba (馬場健, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)Production Assistance: Katsugi Takasuna (?) (高砂克己)

#08

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (富野喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆, 寺田由紀子, 菅谷知男

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#09

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Kyôsuke Mikuriya (御厨恭輔)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆, 寺田由紀子, 菅谷知男

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦), 坂田とおる

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#10

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (富野喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yukiyoshi Hane (羽根章悦); Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#11

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (富野喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆, 寺田由紀子, 菅谷知男

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Katsugi Takasuna (?) (高砂克己)

#12

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Hiroshi Saitô (斉藤博)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), Yoshitaka Gokami (後上義隆), 寺田由紀子, 菅谷知男

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Katsugi Takasuna (?) (高砂克己)

#13

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆, 寺田由紀子, 菅谷知男

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#14

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Kyôsuke Mikuriya (御厨恭輔)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆, 寺田由紀子, 菅谷知男

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#15

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆, 寺田由紀子, 菅谷知男

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#16

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Hiroshi Saitô (斉藤博)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆, 寺田由紀子, 菅谷知男

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Katsugi Takasuna (?) (高砂克己)

#17

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆; JA; Neo Media

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#18

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 石之博和, 小湊登; JA

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#19

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction Assistance (作監補佐): Megumi Mizuta (水田めぐみ)

Animation: Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 石之博和, 小湊登; JA

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#20

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Shûji Yamazaki (山崎修二)

Animation: Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 石之博和, 小湊登; JA

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Production Assistance: Kôsei Kanô (?) (鹿野公靖)

#21

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation: Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆; JA; Neo Media

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#22

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation: Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆; JA; Neo Media

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Yôichi Kotabe (小田部羊一), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#23

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: 大田信

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 後上義隆; JA

World Fantasy

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#24

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kôsei Kanô (?) (鹿野公靖)

#25

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA; Neo Media

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#26

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Kasuke Satô (佐藤嘉助)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Katsuhiro Terada (?) (寺田克弘)

#27

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: Hidemi Maeda (前田英美)

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#28

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦); Neo Media

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#29

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Hiroshi Saitô (斉藤博)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦); Neo Media

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kôsei Kanô (?) (鹿野公靖)

#30

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#31

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Katsuhiro Terada (?) (寺田克弘)

#32

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#33

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#34

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kôsei Kanô (?) (鹿野公靖)

#35

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: 山崎博

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Yoshimasa Kada (?) (神田善雅)

#36

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Katsuhiro Terada (?) (寺田克弘)

#37

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#38

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), Tai Katô (加藤盟)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和; JA

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Toshihiro Horiuchi (?) (堀内敏弘)

#39

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#40

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kôsei Kanô (?) (鹿野公靖)

#41

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Morimitsu (?) (森光)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Yoshimasa Kada (?) (神田善雅)

#42

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), 太田省吾

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Katsuhiro Terada (?) (寺田克弘)

#43

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), 太田省吾

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#44

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), 太田省吾

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#45

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), 太田省吾

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kôsei Kanô (?) (鹿野公靖)

#46

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), 太田省吾

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Masako Shinohara (篠原征子), Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Yoshimasa Kada (?) (神田善雅)

#47

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), 太田省吾

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Katsuhiro Terada (?) (寺田克弘)

#48

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), 太田省吾

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kô Usuda (?) (臼田宏)

#49

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃), 太田省吾

Storyboard: Morimitsu (?) (森光)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Kôji Takeuchi (竹内孝次)

#50

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)

Production Assistance: Kôsei Kanô (?) (鹿野公靖)

#51

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: 馬場健二 (misspelling for Takeshi Baba, pseudo for Yûzô Yamada 山田雄三)

Production Assistance: Yoshimasa Kada (?) (神田善雅)

#52

Screenplay: Akira Miyazaki (宮崎晃)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation Direction: Michiyo Sakurai (桜井美知代)

Animation: Trans Arts: Kazuo Tashiro (田代和男), 小湊登, 石之博和

Nobuo Tomizawa (富沢信雄), Hidemi Maeda (前田英美) Sadahiko Sakamaki (坂巻貞彦)

In-between check: 吉田十色

Assistant Episode Direction: Tsunehisa Osonoi (小園井常久)Production Assistance: Katsuhiro Terada (?) (寺田克弘)

Jacky the Bearcub credits transcription

Original Work: Ernest Thompson Seton

Executive Producer: Kôichi Motohashi (本橋浩一)

Direction: Yoshio Kuroda (黒田昌郎)

Character Design: Yasuji Mori (森やすじ)

Music: Akihiro Komori (小森昭宏)

Art Direction: Kazue Itô (伊藤主計), Nizô Yamamoto (山本二三)

Photographic Direction: Keishichi Kuroki (黒木敬七)

Producer: Akira Negoro (根来昭)

Planning: Nippon Animation (日本アニメーション)

#01

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Toshiyasu Okada (岡田敏靖); Kazuo Iimura (飯村一夫), Masayoshi Ozaki (尾崎正善), Mitsuo Kusakabe (日下部光雄), Yoon Sung Industry (澗成実業)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#02

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Toshiyasu Okada (岡田敏靖); Kazuo Iimura (飯村一夫), Masayoshi Ozaki (尾崎正善), Mitsuo Kusakabe (日下部光雄)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#03

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Kazuo Iimura (飯村一夫), Masayoshi Ozaki (尾崎正善), Mitsuo Kusakabe (日下部光雄); Yamashita Pro (山下プロ)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#04

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Toshiyasu Okada (岡田敏靖); Oh Production (OHプロダクション), Mitsuo Kimura (木村光雄)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#05

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Isao Takahata (高畑勲)

Animation: Reiko Okuyama (奥山玲子 misspelled as 奥山礼子); Yamashita Pro (山下プロ), Mitsuo Kimura (木村光雄)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 小泉正二

#06

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Kazuo Iimura (飯村一夫), Masayoshi Ozaki (尾崎正善), Mitsuo Kusakabe (日下部光雄); Akiko Murata (村田明子)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎) 

Production Assistance: 高砂克己

#07

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Seiji Yamashita (山下征二), Takao Ogawa (小川隆雄); Yamashita Pro (山下プロ), Mitsuo Kimura (木村光雄)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#08

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Isao Takahata (高畑勲)

Animation:  Oh Pro, feat. Kôichi Murata (村田耕一), Jôji Manabe (真鍋譲二), 内山昇寿郎, 西戸すみえ, 束田久美子

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 星出和彦

#09

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Toshiyasu Okada (岡田敏靖); Akiko Murata (村田明子), 武市正勝, 古字田文男

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 小泉正二

#10

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation:  Oh Pro, feat. Kôichi Murata (村田耕一), Jôji Manabe (真鍋譲二), 内山昇寿郎, 西戸すみえ, 束田久美子

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 高砂克己

#11

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Fumio Ikeno (池野文雄)

Animation: Yôichi Kotabe (田部羊一), Reiko Okuyama (奥山玲子); Mitsuo Kimura (木村光雄), Takashi Yoshihashi (吉橋節)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#12

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Kazuo Iimura (飯村一夫), Masayoshi Ozaki (尾崎正善), Mitsuo Kusakabe (日下部光雄); Akiko Murata (村田明子)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 星出和彦 

#13

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation:  Oh Pro, feat. Kôichi Murata (村田耕一), Jôji Manabe (真鍋譲二), 内山昇寿郎, 西戸すみえ, 束田久美子

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 小泉正二

#14

Screenplay Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Yoshiyuki Tomino (とみの喜幸)

Animation: Toshiyasu Okada (岡田敏靖), Shûichi Seki (関修一); Mitsuo Kimura (木村光雄), Takashi Yoshihashi (吉橋節)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 高砂克己

#15

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Kazuyoshi Yokota (横田和善)

Animation: Yôichi Kotabe (田部羊一), Reiko Okuyama (奥山玲子), Yoshihige Kosako (古佐小吉重); Akiko Murata (村田明子)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#16

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Kazuo Iimura (飯村一夫), Masayoshi Ozaki (尾崎正善), Mitsuo Kusakabe (日下部光雄), Akiko Murata (村田明子 misspelled as 村田雅子)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 星出和彦

#17

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Shûji Yamazaki (山崎修二)

Animation: Oh Pro, feat. Kôichi Murata (村田耕一), Jôji Manabe (真鍋譲二), 内山昇寿郎, 西戸すみえ, 束田久美子

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 小泉正二

#18

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Yoon Sung Industry (澗成実業)

In-between check: Tadashi Shirakawa (白川忠志)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#19

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Osamu Tanaka (田中治)

Animation: Yôichi Kotabe (田部羊一), Reiko Okuyama (奥山玲子), Shûichi Seki (関修一), Yoshishige Kosako (古佐小吉重), Katsuo Takasaki (高崎勝夫)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

#20

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Kazuo Iimura (飯村一夫), Masayoshi Ozaki (尾崎正善), Mitsuo Kusakabe (日下部光雄), Akiko Murata (村田明子 misspelled as 村田雅子)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#21

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Osamu Tanaka (田中治)

Animation: Oh Pro, feat. Kôichi Murata (村田耕一), Jôji Manabe (真鍋譲二), 内山昇寿郎, 西戸すみえ, 束田久美子

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 小泉正二

#22

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Yoon Sung Industry (澗成実業)

In-between check: Tadashi Shirakawa (白川忠志)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#23

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Reiko Okuyama (奥山玲子), Katsuo Takasaki (高崎勝夫), Yoshishige Kosako (古佐小吉重)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: 高砂克己

#24

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Osamu Tanaka (田中治)

Animation: Yoon Sung Industry (澗成実業)

In-between check: Tadashi Shirakawa (白川忠志)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance: Manabu Tamura (田村学)

#25

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Kazuo Iimura (飯村一夫), Masayoshi Ozaki (尾崎正善), Mitsuo Kusakabe (日下部光雄), Akiko Murata (村田明子 misspelled as 村田雅子)

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance:  小泉正二

#26

Screenplay: Ryûzô Nakanishi (中西隆三)

Storyboard: Seiji Okuda (奥田誠治)

Animation: Oh Pro, feat. Kôichi Murata (村田耕一), Jôji Manabe (真鍋譲二), 内山昇寿郎, 西戸すみえ, 束田久美子

Production Desk: Sôjirô Masuko (増子相二郎)

Production Assistance:高砂克己