The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will screen the restored edition of the 1944 anime film Momotaro, Sacred Sailors (Momotaro – Umi no Shinpei) on April 24.
A crew of 70 staff members created Momotaro, Sacred Sailors using 50,000 animation cels on a budget of 270,000 yen (equivalent to about 600 million yen or US$5.5 million today).
The film was produced as World War II propaganda, and is often considered the first feature-length animated film produced in Japan.
In this version, Momotaro is running a Japanese naval base and fighting the Allied Powers.