was a Japanese-American-Irish

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

with a long career working in numerous countries. Among his best-known works are the animated adaptations of the

Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

books '' When the Wind Blows'' and ''

The Snowman ''The Snowman'' is a 1982 British animated television film based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book '' The Snowman.'' It was directed by Dianne Jackson for Channel 4. It was first shown on 26 December 1982, and was an immediate success. It w ...

''. He was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year 1 ...

for
The Magic Pear Tree
' (1968).

Early life

On June 5, 1933, Murakami was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. At age 9, following the signing of

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...

, Murakami was interned with his

Japanese-American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

family at the

Tule Lake War Relocation Center The Tule Lake National Monument in Modoc and Siskiyou counties in California, consists primarily of the site of the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, one of ten concentration camps constructed in 1942 by the United States government to incarce ...

, a concentration camp in northern California. After the end of World War II, Murakami and his family settled in Los Angeles, California.

Education

Murakami attended

Chouinard Art Institute The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art I ...

in Los Angeles.

Career

In 1955, Murakami was an animator at UPA in Burbank. Murakami worked on the Boing Boing Show. Following a short stint with

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

in Tokyo, Murakami joined TVC in London in 1960. He returned to Los Angeles in 1965, and established Murakami Wolf Productions. Murakami then moved to Ireland in 1971 and established Quarteru Films. Murakami formed Murakami-Wolf Films with Fred Wolf. He also directed the music video for " King of the Mountain", the single from

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

's album '' Aerial''. In 1989, with his former partner Fred Wolf, he established Murakami Wolf Dublin to produce the hit animation series ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

''. He also worked on 3 films for

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

in the 70s-80s, including directing ''

Battle Beyond The Stars ''Battle Beyond the Stars'' is a 1980 American space opera film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, and starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Sybil Danning and Darlanne Fluegel. Intended as ...

'', as well as ''Les pêcheurs de perles'' for Pascavision in 1993. Murakami was the subject of a 2010 feature documentary film made by Irish director Sé Merry Doyle and produced by Martina Durac and Vanessa Gildea of Loopline Films called ''Jimmy Murakami - Non Alien'' which premiered in Dublin at the 2010 IFI Stranger than Fiction Film Festival.

Personal life

Murakami died at the age of 80 on February 16, 2014 in Dublin, Ireland. He was survived by his wife, Ethna and their two daughters.

Filmography

Lynn Garrison crew Richthofen & Brown, 1970

References

External links

*
Murakami's filmography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murakami, Jimmy American animated film directors 1933 births 2014 deaths Animators from California American film directors of Japanese descent Artists from San Jose, California Film directors from California Japanese-American internees