Kaguya-hime (1961)

Another take on the Kaguya-hime (The tale of the Bamboo Cutter) this time using paper puppets and stop motion. I've been wanting to watch this adoption for quite a few years now - see as it is probably one of the first animated adaptations of this story.

The animation itself has a rustic feel to it, thanks to the use of the paper puppets and layout. I think this gave a nice aura to the story and felt visually pleasing while at the same time it felt like being thrown into a time machine viewing such, what would now be considered, a simple method of animation. ... Though when thinking about it, an anime of this quality being made back then would have taken up a lot of work and time. So if anything it adds to the value of this short movie.

The characters were all there, from the Bamboo cutter to the three princes...? (not too sure what to call them) and they all played their part well, staying true to the story. So I had no fault there. The voice acting fit very well for each of the characters as well.

The music used was very "classical". Only a few moments went without music. Majority of the adoption contained ongoing music piece which would change in tune and tempo to help set the mood.

The only "fault" that I could find is my lack in knowledge of the Japanese language. Thankfully, I know the tale quite well, so I knew what was going on. But it wouldn't hurt to find a version with subtitles - maybe in a couple of years one will pop up.

Overall I enjoyed this short little movie. I'm glad after so many years it is up for viewing. You'll really feel like you're back in your childhood watching really old school Disney shorts that would play before the actual movie. With a vibe of a children's puppet show. If you have 26 minutes to spare I suggest giving this a watch, it's an enjoyable view even with the lack of subtitles. Though I do suggest to watch one of the other adaptions first so you can grasp what is going on.