Oten Shimokawa is considered the founder of anime. When he was 26 years old, Shimokawa began working for the Tenkatsu Production Company where he created the first animation feature,"Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki" ("Imokawa Mukuzo, The Janitor"). This 1917, five-minute film is considered the first authentic anime moving picture that was featured in movie theaters.
Junichi Kouchi's first anime film was "Hyoroku No Musha Shugyo" ("Hyoroku's Warrior Training"). The exact date of the film's release is unknown but is believed to be after Shimokawa's film, between 1917 and 1925. Kouchi was the first to create anime by cutting parts of the comic from paper. This method became very popular in the future of anime and gave a superior picture quality.
Seitaro Kitayama was a cartoonist who began working with anime in 1914 and became the most prolific anime creator, producing over 30 films. He not only produced entertaining animation, but also educational anime films for Japanese classrooms. "Taro no Banpei, Senkotei No Maki" ("Taro the Guard, The Submarine") is the only film to survive from his first year of work in 1917. Kitayama became the first anime creator to become world renowned with "Momotaro", a short, silent movie he created in 1918. "Chikara To Onna No Yononka" was released to the public in 1932 as the first talking anime film. Kitayama's greatest claim to fame was the foundation of the Kitayama Eiga Seisaku-sho studio in 1921.
In 1924, another founding father of anime, Sanae Yamamoto, released "Kyoiku Otogi Manga: Usagi To Kame" ("The Hare and the Tortoise"). This was an anime film presenting the well-known Aesop's fable. The film lasted for seven minutes, had no sound and was viewed by children in the classroom. Yamamoto learned much in Kitayama's film studio. He went on to create full-length feature anime films like "Legend of the White Serpent" in 1958, "Journey to the West" in 1960, and "Arabian Night: Sinbad's Adventure" in 1962.
Yasuji Murata's first animation film was "Monkey Crab Battle" (1927), a remake of a film by Kitayama. His next film was an original creation, "Dobutsu Orimpikku Taikai" ("Animal Olympics"), which portrayed animals participating in Amsterdam's ninth Olympic Games. The film was a comedy that ran for six minutes. Much of Murata's work was based upon folk tales, comics and characters from books.
In the decade before World War II, amine's focus was changed as Western culture became more predominant. The Japanese anime creators produced films honoring Japanese military exploits and flagrant with propaganda. In 1939 the Japanese government passed the Film Law and took a more active role in using anime films to instill national zeal in Japanese youth.