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Anime giant Yasuyoshi Tokuma died Wednesday
Father Geek here with some sad news for Anime fans around the world, Yasuyoshi Tokuma died Wednesday. Now its true that most of us are not familiar with his name, he was a suit in the front office and we usually don't get to know them, but Yasuyoshi Tokuma was different, he inspired the people under him to greatness and more importantly gave them the freedom and cash to accomplish it. If all motion picture exec's were like him we'd have very little to bitch about on these pages. So geeks make a note of this name... Yasuyoshi Tokuma... it deserves to be remembered...
Yasuyoshi Tokuma died Wednesday, at the age of 78.
You may not know the name, but he's the head of Tokuma Shoten, a major
Japanese publishing company, and he's the man that let Miyazaki happen.
Until 1983, Tokuma Shoten produced newspapers and magazines. That year,
Tokuma decided to make a movie based on Miyazaki's phenomenally popular
manga, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. He let Miyazaki direct, despite
Miyazaki's first feature, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro flopping at the box
office.
Since, Tokuma has funded every one of Miyazaki's movies (and every Ghibli
movie but GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, and many others, including SHALL WE DANCE)
and he's famous for letting artists work. (One anecdote involves Miyazaki
going to Tokuma, full of apologies for MONONOKE HIME, which was about to go
over budget, and Tokuma offering on the spot to double the budget. Miyazaki
had to talk him down! "Um... we don't need THAT much money...")
We're going to miss him, Harry, even the wild claims he used to make to the
tabloids ("Miyazaki's next film will be a sci-fi epic budgeted at $40
million!") and I hope whoever takes his place can fill his shoes.
- Charlie Tangora
Here's a some-what incomplete listing of producer credits that IMDB has on him right now...
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) (executive)
Gamera 3: Iris kakusei (1999) (executive)
... aka Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999) (Canada: English title)
... aka Gamera 3: The Awakening of Iris (1999)
Takkyû onsen (1998) (executive)
... aka Ping Pong Bath Station (1998)
Mononoke Hime (1997) (executive)
... aka Princess Mononoke (1999) (USA: US version)
Madadayo (1993)
... aka Not Yet (1993)
Majo no takkyubin (1989) (executive)
... aka Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Tonari no Totoro (1988) (executive)
... aka My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Shuto shoshitsu (1987)
... aka Tokyo Blackout (1987) (Canada: English title)
Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984) (executive)
... aka Kaze no tani no Nausicaa (1984)
... aka Nausicaä (1984)
... aka Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind (1984)
... aka Warriors of the Wind (1984) (USA: US version)
Irezumi (1982)
... aka Irezumi: Spirit of Tattoo (1982)
... aka Sekka Tomurai Zashi (1982)
Uchu kaijû Gamera (1980) (executive)
... aka Gamera Super Monster (1980) (USA)
... aka Space Monster Gamera (1980) (literal English title)
... aka Super Monster (1980) (USA: TV title)
... aka Super Monster Gamera (1980)
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Who let artists work. In our own country, most artistic creativity and risk takes a back seat to the revunue flow of huge conglomerates, often led by MBAs with no interest or love for cinema or even entertainment. In fact, if one of the executives do care, he's often mentioned in sites like this and praised. So here's to the passing of a man who knew the secret of good moviemaking: sometimes you have pay attention to the creative people as well as the accountants.
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A moment of silence for the man...................................................................................................May he rest in peace
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But i had to put in my few words about a man who proved that you dont need the spirit of an artist or the temperment of all those insane creative geniuses out there to give the world a gift of jot and love. He proved that all you need is to be open minded and be willing to contribute in any small way to something so expressive. And to be happy with the part you played in creating a master work of art. I think a lot of the reason that the people in charge in hollywood force creative types out is mainly becouse of jelousy. They see all this beauty that comes out of people like Mayazaki and thay hate that it can never be them. Im sure thay would give up all those fast cars and loose women just to have that gift,and they know it.If they only followed by example they would know the joy they could feel by opening the gates to people with artistic minds and to feel,in a differnt way, what its like to be a part of something that touches people on something other than thier wallets. He was a good man with a good soul who knew himself well. I mournhis passing....... change
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Sep 21, 2000 7:42:49 PM CDT
y2k........yes death is a personal time and it is a very sensiti
by sciyth
"sigh"
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We all know how rare it is to find a producer that's more interested in making a good, quality film than avoiding risks. If only there where more like him.
And, MalwynOY2k, I think you take it the wrong way. AICN is a news site, and not all the news is funny, happy, or even cool. But it's news we should know, or we wouldn't appreciate the people behind the movies we love as much. Sure, some people don't take it all that seriously, or get overly melodramatic, but if even one person learns a little bit more about someone like Yasuyoshi Tokuma, then isn't it worth it? -
Wow, I never knew there was a connection between Miyazaki's great films and one of my most beloved "bad" movies, Gamera Super Monster. That's the one the combines all of the Gamera movies into one story about a little boy and his friends Gamera and the Space Women. I taped it off of TNT when I was in high school and have watched it over and over. Too bad it's not on video or DVD. Anyway, it sounds like he was one of the good ones. Nice to see that he kept working into his late '70s.
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This man is responsible for many of my childhood memories. For that I am very thankful. Rest in peace.
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It's sad that I didn't know who this man was, and probably many people don't. He sounds like the kind of person that would help the American moviemaking process. Trusting and supporting artists is as rare a trait as genius itself. Good night, sir, and thank you.
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Absolutely a huge hit to the old guard in anime. We are starting to see the foundations of probably the biggest thing to hit humanity since the Industrial Revolution erode before us. I hate to be a doom and gloom type, But we have lost the glue that held together many of Miyazaki's (I hope that's how it's spelled) creations. It's sort of like losing a father to him. I'll be flying the missing man for him.
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