| The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Yūgo Serikawa |
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| Edited by | Ikuzō Inaba |
| Music by | Akira Ifukube |
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Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon (Japanese:わんぱく王子の大蛇退治,Hepburn:Wanpaku Ōji no Orochi Taiji;lit. 'The Naughty Prince's Slaying of Orochi') is a 1963Japanese animatedfantasyadventure film directed by Yūgo Serikawa and scripted by Ichirō Ikeda and Takashi Iijima. It is the sixth feature produced byToei Animation (then Tōei Dōga), and was released in Japan on March 24, 1963.
Multiple notable individuals worked on the film, includingsupervising animatorYasuji Mori,animatorsYasuo Ōtsuka andYōichi Kotabe (who made his debut as akey animator on the film, though he is inaccurately credited on screen anin between artist)[1] andassistant directorsIsao Takahata andKimio Yabuki. Thescore was composed byAkira Ifukube.[2] It features distinctivelymodernist,[3]abstractedcharacter,background and color design.
The film was well received and is considered one of the very best of the early Tōei Animation features, with praise for its music and visuals. It placed 10th in the list of the 150 best animated films and series of all time compiled byTokyo's Laputa Animation Festival from an international survey of animation staff and critics in 2003.[4]
The film tells the story of the deitySusanoo (as a cute boy), whose mother,Izanami, has died. He is deeply hurt by the loss of his mother but his father,Izanagi, tells him that his mother is now in heaven. Despite Izanagi's warnings, Susanoo eventually sets off to find her.
Along with his companions, Akahana (a little talkingrabbit) and Titanbō (a strong but friendly giant from the Land of Fire), Susanoo overcomes all obstacles in his long voyage. He eventually comes to theIzumo Province, where he meets PrincessKushinada, a little girl whom he becomes friends with (he also thinks that she is so beautiful that she looks like his mother). Kushinada's family tells Susanoo that their other seven daughters were sacrificed to the fearsome eight-headed serpent, theYamata no Orochi. Susanoo is so infatuated with Kushinada that he decides to help her family protect her and slay the Orochi once and for all and he, Akahana, and Bō prepare for the showdown.
This film eschewed the soft, rounded look of previous Toei animated features for a more stylized one. It is also one of the few animated films to have music by famed composerAkira Ifukube (the other being the posthumously releasedTetsujin 28 filmHakuchū no Zangetsu).
A symphonic suite of five movements based on the score's cues was created by Ifukube in 2003, the first recording of which was performed by theJapan Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Tetsuji Honna and released onCompact Disc byKing Records within the same year. Some of the film's music was also reused in the 1st and 32nd episodes,[5] first broadcast in 1972 and 1973 respectively, of the Toei Animation television seriesMazinger Z.
The film's theme song, "Haha no Nai Ko no Komoriuta" (母のない子の子守歌;lit. "lullaby for a motherless child"), is also composed by Ifukube, with lyrics by Takashi Morishima, and is sung by Setsuko Watanabe.
The original,monaural soundtrack recording has been released three times onCompact Disc. The first was a two disc set released by Futureland in 1992, which paired it with a disc of alternate takes and Ifukube's score forMitsubishi'sExpo '70 exhibit.[6] The second release was part of a ten-disc collection of Toei Animation soundtracks released byNippon Columbia in 1996; it featured better audio quality but lacked the alternate takes.[7] On May 23, 2018, Japanese record label Cinema-kan released the score for a third time as a remastered, two-disc set, titled The Naughty Prince's Orochi Slaying Original Soundtrack (CINK-51-52). The first disc contains the complete score while the second disc contains alternate takes, sound effects, and trailer music.[8]
The film was distributed in theUnited States, under the titleThe Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon, as a matinee feature byColumbia Pictures, opening January 1, 1964.[9] Its Japanese origin was downplayed, as was standard practice at the time,[10] withWilliam Ross, the director of the English dubbing, credited as director andFujifilm and Toei's color and widescreen processes rebranded as "MagiColor" and "WonderScope" respectively.[5] The English-dubbed version was also released under several other titles, includingPrince in Wonderland andRainbow Bridge.[11] The film's plot is based on theShintō myth of the storm godSusanoo's battle with theYamata no Orochi.
Though still highly regarded in animation circles, the film is now little-known outside of them. The film was released onDVD in Japan in 2002 and reissued in limited quantity in 2008. In 2019, a cropped transfer of the English-dubbed version was released in the United States by Mill Creek Entertainment (under licensed fromSony) as part of the "Pop Culture Bento Box" compilation set, though early copies of the set accidentally omitted the film. On February 5, 2020, Toei released the film onBlu-ray Disc in Japan.[12]
Accolades received byThe Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon at the time of its release including being honoured with a Bronze Osella at theVenice Film Festival and the Ōfuji Noburō Award at the 1963Mainichi Film Awards[13] and making it into the official recommendations of the JapaneseMinistry of Education and theMinistry of Health's Central Child Welfare Council.
Genndy Tartakovsky watched the film and identifies it as a primary influence on the direction and design of his TV seriesSamurai Jack.[5]
Tomm Moore, the director of the Oscar-nominated filmsThe Secret of Kells,Song of the Sea, andWolfwalkers, has identified the film as a major influence.[14]
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