Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am thrilled to announce we are returning to the venerable archives of Toei Doga, this time exploring the 1969 feature Flying Phantom Ship. By the end of the ‘60s, the methods of film production had already changed significantly within the young animation studio; from the humble beginnings of Hakujaden being key animated largely by two artists, the Toei team had expanded to the point where they were generally producing two animated films at the same time.
This means we sadly won’t see Yasuji Mori’s hand on Flying Phantom Ship, but never fear – we’ve got Hayao Miyazaki here to console us, who was apparently responsible for designing and animating this film’s giant robot. Miyazaki is here accompanied by a battery of Toei mainstays, from original veterans like Reiko Okuyama to key Puss ‘n Boots collaborators like Sadao Kikuchi. Additionally, animation director Yoichi Kotabe is a legend even setting aside his Toei Doga work; he’d follow Miyazaki from Toei to first Heidi, where he’d serve as character designer and animation director, and then onward to Nausicaa, before “settling down” to become the animation supervisor of decades worth of Pokémon cartoons. The further we travel through Toei Doga’s catalog, the more obvious its creators’ various post-Toei adventures become – but for now, let’s savor the pleasure of seeing all of them in one place, as we journey through one more classic!