Copyright 2000 Time Inc.   
Time 


May 1, 2000 

SECTION: INTERNATIONAL EDITION; TIME ASIA; TRAVEL WATCH; Pg. 8[B] 

LENGTH: 292 words 

HEADLINE: Detour 

BYLINE: Tim Larimer 

BODY: 
   Osamu Tezuka is often called the Walt Disney of Japan. That comparison, 
intended as flattery, actually slights the genius of the country's best-known 
cartoonist and the father of anime, or Japanese animated films. Tezuka's life 
story is charmingly put on display at a museum in his hometown of Takarazuka, 
near Osaka. The museum itself promotes the Disney comparison with a 15-minute 
animated film about Tezuka that looks as if it came out of the same factory that 
produced such icons of cuteness as Snow White and Bambi. The depiction is 
interesting, since one of Disney's recent hits, The Lion King, bears more than a 
passing resemblance to Tezuka's earlier work about Kimba the lion and provoked 
protests of plagiarism in Japan. Disney denied the charge. 

Tezuka is best known for the loveable robot boy Tetsuwan Atom, who appeared in 
print in 1951 and enjoyed a long run in manga--comic books--and on TV cartoons. 
The character was renamed Astro Boy and exported to the U.S. in the 1960s. Astro 
Boy motivated a generation of robot-obsessed cartoonists and scientists. What's 
stunning is how many other characters Tezuka created--more than 700, according 
to the museum. His innate insecurity, and an early money-losing venture into 
animation, motivated him to work prodigiously. Tezuka also drew adult erotica; 
several samples are on display. It's difficult to imagine the Disney folks 
admitting such a thing about Uncle Walt. 

The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum is an eight-minute walk from the Takarazuka train 
station, which can be reached by regular train service from Osaka. It is open 
from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Wednesdays). Admission is $ 4.50 for adults, $ 
2.85 for students. 

--By Tim Larimer 

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GRAPHIC: COLOR PHOTO: SHUZO OGUSHI FOR TIME, ASTRO LAND: Tracing steps of the 
master