INTERVIEWs
インタビュー
Instructor Interview
Part 3: “Tempestuous Teaching”
Masaaki Mori
3
We’ve come to the third and final installment in our series of interviews with Masaaki Mori. In the previous interview, he’d become one of Japan’s leading clay animators and was about to set foot in the unexplored (for him) world of college education. I encourage you to pay attention to the invaluable overview he gives of his fifteen years of life as a teacher. (Interviewer: Takanaka Shimotsuki, September 2020)
──So, after founding your company, you also started teaching the next generation of animators at Tokyo Zokei. Could you first tell me what made you want to take up teaching?
What started it was a place called the Tokushima Animation School that was around in the 90s. It was a cultural center for residents, created by Tokushima City as part of a public-private collaboration. The people teaching there included Takuya Ishida and Masahiro Katayama*1. When another teacher suddenly quit, I was asked if I’d come and teach there. This was back when I was still running my company. I’d never been to Shikoku before, so it was out of interest that I started commuting to Tokushima. I found teaching everyday people really stimulating, and that’s what got me interested in education.
*1 Masahiro Katayama (1955-2011): Animator, illustrator, former executive director of the Japan Animation Association, and professor in the Department of Graphic Design at Tama Art University. He helped educate many young animators and artists at Tama Art University, and also taught at Tokyo Zokei.
──This experience led to you teaching at Tokyo Zokei?
“I get giddy every April when the entrance ceremony and orientation for the new semester begin, because the cherry trees are in full bloom in Tokyo Zokei’s campus. This is a picture of me, taken with the other faculty members of the Animation program: Masashi Koide, Tokumitsu Kifune, Toshikatsu Wada and our two assistants. The assistants change over about every three years. From 2021, Professor Arisa Wakami will be taking my place among the full-time professors.”
Not immediately. Teaching at a university in a formal capacity seemed like a lot of responsibility, and I really resisted that. At the Tokushima Animation School, I could teach casual workshops that ended with everyone saying, “Hey, that was fun.” But with university teaching, there is a heavy responsibility for training the students, which meant I’d have to get personal with them at times. I hesitated about this at the time because I was averse to having to get that involved in teaching people. Of course, now I get up close and personal when I teach my students. [laughs] With Tokyo Zokei, Professors Koide and Kifune came all the way to my house and invited me to become a part-time professor there, but I turned them down. Despite that, they kept coming to my house, saying I could work as a specially appointed professor instead of as a part-time one. I eventually gave in and agreed to do it. So, starting in 2001, I began holding special lectures at Tokyo Zokei. This was back when the university still didn’t have an animation program. Taku Furukawa*2 was already teaching at Tokyo Polytechnic University and Masahiro Katayama was at Tama Art University. When I started teaching classes, though, I no longer had the same hesitation I mentioned before. I think a big part of that was my five years at the Tokushima Animation School. Teaching everyday people, and sometimes interacting with them as friends, helped me to gradually understand how to associate with college students. While teaching a class for local residents is a little different from teaching at a university, knowing the differences helped me to do that.
*2 Taku Furukawa (1941-): Animator, illustrator and President of the Japan Animation Association. A prominent member in Japan’s animation industry, he is also involved in animation education and devotes his energy to training young animators.
──So, Tokyo Zokei was where you first started teaching at university level?
“‘Animation Theory B’ is a well-known class at Tokyo Zokei that introduces the history and techniques of puppet animation. We start with Jiří Trnka, and continue on to animation from the Czech Republic, Hungary and America. Then we cover special effects in film and Ray Harryhausen’s work. We have fun taking a detour with films such as ones about how the dinosaurs became extinct, leading into the transition to CG. And Finally, we end with a showing of some of my films.”
“In this picture, I’m on the platform and performing a live demonstration of stop motion animation with clay during a special lecture on clay animation. Sometimes, I do the same thing for cutout animation. Since I want to get the students interested and enthused to try stop motion animation themselves, I do my best to make the demonstrations look simple. When I play back the results, I often hear astonished cries from the audience!”
Right. It was around that time Tokyo Polytechnic University started offering its Animation Studies program, so a few years after teaching at Tokyo Zokei, I also began teaching at Tokyo Polytechnic. In addition to both teaching jobs, I was also accepting work to make commercials. I was involved in making things like Saibo no Fushigi for NHK’s Minna no Uta*3, and other jobs that I wanted to do. Because I didn’t want my students talking behind my back about how I was doing work on the side, I was partially open about it. What I mean by “partially open” is that after telling my students to get to work on something during class, I’d be at the podium drawing storyboards for my other jobs. [laughs]
However, I quit teaching at Tokyo Polytechnic after four years. The reason was that teaching at two schools was making my classes become too similar. I didn’t like that they were becoming ‘cookie cutter’ classes. I decided to devote myself to Tokyo Zokei because I wanted to bring out the university’s unique characteristics in my classes.
*3 Minna no Uta: A five-minute music education TV program produced by NHK from 1961 to the present. Each episode presents songs written especially for the program and accompanied by animation. It has been responsible for the birth of hit songs, such as Yamaguchi-sanchi no Tsutomu-kun (1976).
──Did you mostly teach clay animation at Tokyo Zokei?
This is one of the puppet animation labs where students plan and build the armature for a puppet they’ve come up with, giving thought to an easy-to-move and hard-to-break design. Then they finish it by building the body on top of the armature. One needs to be careful, though, because too many details can make the puppet difficult to animate. We then shoot stop motion, starting with the basic movements of walking and running.
I never really taught anything specific about how to make clay animation because it’s really tough to do. [laughs] You use different colors of clay, and college students tend to handle it roughly, so the colors get mixed together. [laughs] That’s why I start with the basics of making puppet animation. In the beginning, my class was only about four times a semester, so I’d tell the students to bring something from home to use as a puppet. Since I said “something”, some students brought plastic robot models like Gundam. [laughs] Today’s robot models can be moved like puppets, but back then, if a student asked why they couldn’t use it, I’d start out by explaining that it was because it couldn’t stand on one foot. [laughs] But then I’d add, to get it to stand, they’d have to put a wire armature in it. When we shot those kinds of models, we’d just lay them down and shoot them from above. That’s how I recall the class starting out, as a hands-on experience of casually shooting stop-motion animation. As long as you have a well-made armature it doesn’t matter whether or not you build a body from foam or clay, a puppet is a puppet. At the time, I believed if you taught students the basics, they’d start making animation on their own. Then in 2007, Fumiko Magari started teaching at the Laputa Art Animation School*4, and a steady stream of good puppet animation started coming out from there. Although the calibre of student is slightly different, with Laputa dealing with working adults and Tokyo Zokei teaching college students, I was in a panic. I suppose those results were because Ms. Magari taught her students with a strong sense of camaraderie. When I asked her what she was doing to achieve that, she just replied, “Oh, nothing special.” It was a mystery to me how her school kept putting out animation based on such mature concepts – something you don’t see much in the things students at Tokyo Zokei make.
*4 Laputa Art Animation School: An animation school in Asagaya, Tokyo, that opened in 2007. Fumiko Magari serves as its Dean. While small-scale, it showcases the creations of its students through unique activities, which include participating in the Inter College Animation Festival.
──In that case, can you explain what you meant by “bringing out Tokyo Zokei’s characteristics”?
I don’t know if that’s the right way to describe it but in terms of making animation, I think the “My Story” course I taught is an example of doing that. In film, presenting one’s own story is called “narratage”. What students do in the class is make their personal experiences into scenarios that they narrate themselves. While an animation class, its theme is that students are required to express what they felt or thought as part of an experience and not just present the facts like a report or case file. While there aren’t many students at Tokyo Zokei who can express something like that in three-dimensional animation, they do make some very good pieces. That’s where Tokyo Zokei differs from Laputa Art Animation and Tama Art’s Department of Graphic Design. I’m also quite conscious of TamaGra*5 because the students there are good at illustration and they put out a lot of animation based on ideas built on what they’ve drawn. I’d describe it as moving graphic art that is colorful and musical and pretty stylish. It’s frustrating for me that Tokyo Zokei isn’t as good as Tama Art when it comes to illustration. [laughs] I heard from Mr. Katayama, when he was teaching at Tama Art, that they would make their freshmen and sophomores practice fundamentals like lettering and drawing until they were sick of it. Then, in their junior year, the professors would be like “Oh, there’s also animation”, and the students would just dig in and start making their own animation like crazy. [laughs] That’s because it wasn’t a big deal for them to have to draw a lot. However, at Tokyo Zokei, we tend to teach students about animation right from the start. We import a single picture into Adobe After Effects and do things like move it around or use CG to flip it over. So, unlike Tama Art, we don’t really expect our students to draw a lot from the beginning. It’s when I thought about other ways Tokyo Zokei could compete that I came up with having students do scenario creation and direction, which is what “My Story” is. That’s where I have put most of my effort in teaching. Even Yusuke Sakamoto, who is currently active as a manga artist under the pen name “Qrais”, spent the 14 weeks of the course finishing his own “My Story” animation while he was studying at Tokyo Zokei. Or rather, he was the only student who completed the assignment during the course. [laughs] I remember when I asked his classmates what they thought of it, they said, “He’s like an alien on a completely different level. Don’t treat us like him!” [laughs]
*5 Abbreviation for Tama Art University’s Department of Graphic Design, which also actively has its students produce animation. Animated pieces from the department’s students are collectively called “TamaGra Animation”. The department participates in the Inter College Animation Festival and continues to produce many up-and-coming animators.
Selected “My Story” Works (from the Tokyo Zokei Animations Archives Library)
──After teaching college students for fifteen years, what do you feel the strongest about?
The thing that I’ve come to believe is important, not in animation studies but in teaching people in general, is praising others. [laughs] If Nobuhiko Obayashi had never applauded my films and shook my hand at that screening back when I was young (see Part 1), I might never have ventured into the world of animation.
For example, at our Semester Critiques, everyone in the Animation program gets together to watch what the animation majors have made. Some students might interpret a piece in a different way to the creator’s intention, and write that as a comment. Receiving praise in ways like this, and giving it too, are something I think today’s students need. Praising someone helps them grow because they’ll never forget the time someone said a good word about something they did.
So, while they might’ve thought I was like an annoying parent, I’ve tried to work alongside my students with the intention of creating animation with them, whether that be for two years or four. When I was teaching, I never told my students to do things a certain way. Instead, I’d try to get them to think about things for themselves and realize there are other perspectives. If all I did was tell them what to do then their work would be mine, not their own.
“Our Animation program’s ‘Semester Critiques’, held twice a year for both first and second semesters, gather together the assignments submitted by all animation majors for that semester. Teachers and students come together to have fun, get an idea of what’s being done in other classes and by students in other years, and prepare for the next semester. It’s a well-known event for animation majors that provides a place for open communication for everyone involved.”
──It’s the teacher’s attitude that is important then? Regarding the students who learned from you during that time, what made the strongest impression on you?
It may be because I’ve gotten older in these fifteen years, but I get the feeling that today’s college students are not as mature as they were in the past. Previously, our relationship was like parent and child, but now, it’s become more like grandparent and grandchild. [laughs] Though that child-like purity is still the same, something I have trouble dealing with is that they aren’t as endearing as students from past years – it’s like their sensibilities are completely different.
To me, the best part of university for students is making friends. With the students in the Animation program, many were probably made fun of for being geeks or freaks, yet still respected for their ability to draw. Students who were treated as weirdos come to Tokyo Zokei and realize everyone here is weird. [laughs] In other words, when kids who thought they were a minority come together, that “weirdness” becomes the norm. It’s a community where you might have really crazy people and others who are surprisingly serious, but the first thing I tell everyone to do is to make some friends. While that’s hard to do now, with the pandemic, college, to me, is an interesting place because you can hang out with like-minded people.
Getting into arguments is a part of friendship, too. Back in my younger days, when I was making Taketori Monogatari for PIA, I was arguing with my friends all the time. When you get close to twenty, you just do it. It’s a time in your life where you see these people as your buddies, but there are also times when you get into disagreements. I think it would be absolutely boring if you lived life always holding back and never getting into an argument.
“This is the band from my seminar, enlivening Tokyo Zokei’s open campus event with curious performances that brought music to an art college! Seminar participants were involved in everything from planning to costumes and preparations, as well as furious practice, and exhausted themselves marching, performing music, and dancing during the two-day event in the blazing summer heat! The theme for the seminar was ‘Self-liberation through self-expression! And teamwork, too!’ While the band received strange looks from people in the beginning, over the years it became a recognized part of the event!”
──Growing up, while getting hurt in the process, is a privilege of youth, isn’t it? In closing, would you please give me your list of the top ten animation films that had an impact on you, and that you’d like Tokyo Zokei’s students to see?
I made a separate list of my top ten, so here’s a quick explanation. I had a lot of trouble paring it down, so I left out films by those animators who I respect, including Kihachiro Kawamoto*6, Yuri Norstein*7, and Isao Takahata (to whom I owe a lot) as well as Satoshi Kon and Mamoru Oshii. [laughs] Sorry! There’s really no need to recommend these films though, because they’re something that Tokyo Zokei’s students will end up watching anyway.
I couldn’t leave out Hayao Miyazaki, though. Although I like Castle in the Sky the most, I included Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind because of the impact it had on me as part of my encounters with his work. The Nightmare Before Christmas is on the list because I enjoy it, no matter how many times I watch it. The reason I included The Red Turtle is that it’s the kind of film you won’t understand unless you watch it after you’ve turned 30 and have gotten divorced. [laughs] I chose Isle of Dogs because Wes Anderson is just wonderful, and he hasn’t forgotten the spirit of stop-motion animation. LAIKA*8 needs to take a few lessons from him. [laughs] Of course, I’m not saying that these are the only films students should watch, but they’re my favorites, and I’d love for anyone reading this to check them out.
1. King Kong (1933)
A landmark special effects film! It has had a tremendous impact historically and enticed many people to work in the film industry. While black and white, it’s a great masterpiece that deserves a place on the altar of stop-motion animation!
2. Cinderella (1950)
A wonderful gem with the most outstanding direction of Disney’s animated films. Mary Blair’s artwork is beautiful, and the blue of the night sky in the garden during the ball remains seared in my memory from when I first saw it as a child.
3. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
A great classic by the stop-motion animation god, Ray Harryhausen. You’ll be bewitched by the amazing special effects, including the sword fight with the skeleton warriors that is so good, you won’t believe it’s stop-motion.
4. Invention for Destruction (1958)
The masterpiece of Czech, Karel Zeman. It’s special effects, trick film-like look, presented in the style of black and white copperplate engravings, together with its steampunk design, leaves viewers spellbound.
5. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
A classic by director, Hayao Miyazaki, who needs no introduction. It showcases his unique worldview in one film. Its unique vision was remarkable, even when it was released, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched it.
6. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
A fantasy land, packed with Tim Burton’s unique worldview! Its appeal lies in its interesting designs and original perspective, all while retaining just the right amount of stop-motion feel!
7. The Wrong Trousers (1993)
A major classic by Aardman Animations’ Nick Park that made clay animation famous worldwide! His short films from this period, when the production staff was still small, are fun because, out of all his work, they embody his unique style the most.
8. Toy Story (1995)
The world’s first CG animation feature film by the brilliant John Lasseter. He incorporated the theme of the setbacks faced by toys to make an astonishing and enthralling movie. Also check out his work after he left Pixar.
9. The Red Turtle (2016)
A gem by director, Isao Takahata, who, charmed by Michaël Dudok de Wit’s genius, asked the Dutch animator, who had no experience making feature films, to come to Japan to produce it. An animated film for adults that only adults will understand!
10. Isle of Dogs (2018)
A puppet animation film packed with Wes Anderson’s aesthetics. The film’s reproduction of a pseudo-Japan as its setting is wonderful, and its unique vision, seen nowhere else, is alluring. The hand-made stop-motion feel is also great!
*6 Kihachiro Kawamoto (1925-2010): A Japanese animator and puppet maker, who was also Honorary President of the Japan Animation Association. He was active as one of Japan’s leading puppet animation creators. Besides leaving behind masterpieces like Kataku (House of Flames) (1979), his production work for Sangokushi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and other NHK TV puppet plays was highly praised.
*7 Yuri Norstein (1941- ) A Russian animator who made a name for himself worldwide with such gems as Hedgehog in the Fog (1975) and Tale of Tales (1979). He is also known for having a close friendship with Kihachiro Kawamoto and Isao Takahata.
*8 LAIKA: An American animation studio. It has won numerous awards for animated feature films, such as Coraline (2007) and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016). Masaaki Mori considers its unique method of combining stop-motion animation with CG to be unorthodox and says the studio, like filmmaker Jan Švankmajer, is on a level that is beyond comprehension.
──I’d like to thank you for participating in this three-part interview. I hope you’ll continue to be an active part of Tokyo Zokei, even after you leave your position as a full-time professor.
