Superhero comics usually rely on
familiar character types and formulaic plots of good overcoming evil and
restoring the status quo. Such stories
are comforting to us as children, and one of the challenges of growing up is
coming to terms with the reality that the world and superheroes are not as
straightforward as in fiction.
A boy
who wanted to be a super hero (2004) is an animated short by Hiromitsu Murakami that charts an
imaginative young boy’s disenchantment with his dream of becoming a superhero. Instead of focusing on a more realistic goal;
however, this young boy, for reasons he himself cannot even discern, instead
dreams of becoming a panda. The imagined
panda becomes the voice inside of the boy that tries to dissuade him from
thoughts of depression and suicide, and seeks to restore the dream of being a
superhero who can save the world.
Kafkaesque flying fish signal a journey to the past in the seaside town
where the boy spent his early childhood.
Donning the guise of the panda himself, the boy witnesses his past self
and must come to terms with the deep-rooted feelings of loneliness and inadequacy. Perhaps the world that needs saving is not an
external act, but an internal one.
Many Japanese independent animators
look outside of Japan, particularly to Europe and North America, for role their
animation role models. Hiromitsu Murakami pursued his
animation studies in England and the influence of both his native culture and
British aesthetics are apparent in his work.
The set design is inspired by real places around Finsbury Park, London
and Folkestone, on the English Channel.
Although the sets are English in character, the central protagonist is distinctly
Japanese, with a wide-eyed anime
look. The toys that he becomes
disenchanted with in the first scene are also inspired by Japanese characters –
in one hand he has a kaiju (a monster
like Godzilla) and in the other an Ultraman-like superhero.
This duality between cultures is
also reflected in the use of both 2D and 3D animation techniques. As Murakami himself describes, “At first, I
took photographs of people and landscapes and transformed images into an anime look. Then I attached images on
flat board and formed along the images. It's a kind of 2.5D cut-out animation
in a 3D space.” It creates a feeling of dislocation in the
spectator that reflects the psychological reality of this boy trying to make
sense of an often senseless world.
Hiromitsu Murakami (村上 寛光, b. 1975) has a BA in Imaging Art from Tokyo
Polytechnic University (1998) and an MA in animation from the Royal College of
Art (2004). He has been an assistant
professor at Tokyo University of the Arts since the inception of its animation
programme in 2008. Follow him on
twitter @kaetama.
Catherine Munroe Hotes 2014
