The
characters created by illustrator and animator Norio Hikone (ひこねのりお, b. 1936) are
instantly recognizable to young and old alike in Japan. A graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts, Hikone
got his start working as an animator/inbetweener for Toei Animation (Alakazam the Great, The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon) and Mushi Pro (Kimba the White Lion, Jungle Emperor Leo).
In
1966, he founded Hikone Studios and made a name for himself doing animated
shorts for TV as well as a variety of commercial work. He has done a great deal of animation for the
NHK including the long-running popular programmes Minna no Uta (Everybody’s Song) and Manga Nippon Mukashi-banashi (Manga Nippon Folk Tales). His client list runs quite long, but he is
perhaps best known for his delightful Karl Ojisan (Uncle Karl) TV spots for the
Meiji Seika snack food “Curls”. These
ran from 1986-90 and are a source of much nostalgia for folks who grew up in
Japan in the 1980s. Norio Hikone also
contributed to Kihachirō Kawamoto’s
renku animation Winter
Days (2003). Check out his official website to see more of his
endearing characters in action (JP only).
Here
is the list Hikone contributed to Laputa’s
Top 150 Poll in 2003.. Hikone
himself featured on many lists, including that of the late Masahiro
Katayama.
Le roi et
l’oiseau
(王と鳥 やぶにらみの暴君, Paul
Grimault, France, 1948)
Mr. Bug Goes to
Town (aka Hoppity Goes to Town)
( バッタ君町に行く, Dave
Fleischer, USA, 1941)
Legend of the White Serpent
(白蛇伝, Taiji
Yabushita/Kazuhiko Okabe, Japan, 1958)
Toot, Whistle,
Plunk, and Boom
(プカドン交響楽, Ward
Kimball/Charles A. Nichols, USA, 1953)
Betty Boop in
Snow White
(ベティの白雪姫, Dave
Fleischer, USA, 1933)
Popeye the
Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor
(ポパイと船乗りシンドバッド, Dave
Fleischer, USA, 1936)
The Snow Queen
(雪の女王, Lev Atamov et
al., Russia, 1957)
Around the World
with Willy Fog
(80日間世界一周,
Luis Ballester, Spain/Japan, 1987)
The
Old Mill (Silly Symphonies)
(丘の風車,
Wilfred Jackson, USA, 1937)
The
Spider and the Tulip
(くもとちゅうりっぷ, Kenzō Masaoka,
Japan, 1943)
Blinkity
Blank
(線と色の即興詩,
Norman McLaren, Canada, 1955)
Hedgehog
in the Fog
(霧につつまれたハリネズミ,
Yuri Norstein, Russia, 1975)
The Man Who Planted Trees/L'homme qui plantait des arbres
(木を植えた男, Frédéric Back, Canada,
1987)
Kitty’s
Graffiti
(こねこのらくがき,
Taiji Yabushita/Yasuji Mori, Japan, 1957)
The
Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon
(わんばく王子の大蛇退治,
Yugo Serikawa, Japan, 1963)
Animal
Treasure Island
(どうぶつ宝島,
Hiroshi Ikeda, Japan, 1971)
Nausicaä
of the Valley of the Wind
(風の谷のナウシカ,
Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 1984)
Yellow
Submarine
(イエロー・サプマリン,
George Dunning, 1968)
The
Demon
(鬼,
Kihachirō Kawamoto, Japan, 1972)
