Oldest Surviving Anime TV Production Recovered

A film print of the nearly nine-minute-long color anime TV special Mogura no Aventure (Mole’s Adventure) was discovered last February in a warehouse in NTV’s Ikuta Studio in Kawasaki City. The short anime was originally broadcast on the NTV network on October 15, 1958. The first ever color anime feature film, Toei’s Hakujaden, also premiered in Japanese theaters that same month. The first regularly-scheduled ongoing weekly anime TV series, Otogi Manga Calendar, didn’t premiere until June 1962. Prior to this year’s discovery of the Mogura no Adventure print, Japanese historians knew of the TV special, but no remaining print was known to exist. The BS Animax satellite TV network will re-broadcast the special as part of the TV Anime 50-nen no Kinjito special on July 21.

Source: Anime News Network