Yōichi Kotabe

Yōichi Kotabe (小田部 羊一), is a Japanese manga artist and animator who has worked with Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. He is a lecturer at Tokyo Designer Academy in their cartoon film course.

His was married to Reiko Okuyama, who is an animator and engraver, and they jointly founded the studio Atelier Rei (アトリエ玲). Kotabe sometimes works with his wife under the nom de plume Antelope (あんていろーぷ). They worked together on Hols: Prince of the Sun and Panda! Go, Panda!. He was character designer for Heidi, Girl of the Alps and 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, both of which are part of the World Masterpiece Theater series.

He works for Nintendo designing, supervising, and illustrating for the Super Mario series since the original Super Mario Bros.. He has also done design work for BS Zelda no Densetsu and Mole Mania. He also did finish design work on the Pokémon animated series—he refined the design of Pikachu—and other video games as a design and animation supervisor.

In 2003, he participated in the collaborative project Winter Days.

Biography
Kotabe became interested in animation after watching the short film Momotarō no Umiwashi as a child. He was fascinated with how the fighter moved in the film. His father, who was an oil painter, also influenced his decision to work as an artist. Kotabe found oil painting to be difficult, so he instead worked in watercolor painting.

In order to continue working in watercolors, he adopted the nihonga, or Japanese‐style, of painting, and began studying at the Tokyo University of the Arts where they had a Japanese‐style painting department. While attending the university, he was impressed by the film The Tale of the White Serpent, and immediately applied to work at Toei Animation.

His first project there was Hols: Prince of the Sun where he met Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. He left Toei along with Miyazaki and Takahata in order to work at A Pro, and they began work on an adaptation of Pippi Longstocking. That project was eventually cancelled, and work began on the two-film series Panda! Go, Panda!.

Kotabe then worked as character designer on two television anime series from Nippon Animation: Heidi, Girl of the Alps and 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, with Miyazaki working on scene design and layout and Takahata working as series director and storyboard artist.

In 1985, he was scouted by Nintendo and assumed the position of the game development adviser where he created package illustrations for Super Mario Bros.. Until that time, he was not familiar with video games.

Works

 * 1959 [movie] 少年猿飛佐助 (Shōnen Sarutobi Sasuke) / Magic Boy
 * storyboard animator
 * 1960 [movie] 西遊記 (Sai Yu Ki) / Hsi Yu Chi
 * storyboard animator
 * 1961 [movie] The Littlest Warrior (安寿と厨子王丸, Anju to Zushiōmaru）/ Anju and Zushiōmaru
 * assistant animator
 * 1962 [movie] アラビアンナイト シンドバッドの冒険 (Arabian-Naito Shindobaddo-no-Boken) / The Arabian Nights Adventures of Sinbad
 * assistant animator
 * 1962 [movie] The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon (わんぱく王子の大蛇退治, Wanpaku Ōji no Orochi Taiji) / Big snake extermination of the naughty royal prince
 * assistant animator
 * 1963 [movie] Doggie March / わんわん忠臣蔵 (Wan Wan Chūshingura)
 * animator
 * 1963-65 [TV] 狼少年ケン (okami-shonen Ken) / Ken, the wolf-boy
 * animator, chief animator
 * 1964－65 [movie] Ninja Fujimaru / 少年忍者 風のフジ丸 (Syonen-Ninja Kaze-no Fujimaru)
 * animator, chief animator
 * 1965 [TV] ハッスルパンチ (Hassuru Panti) / Hustle Punch
 * animator, chief animator
 * 1966 [TV] Robin, Rainbow Troops / レインボー戦隊ロビン (Rainbow Sentai Robin)
 * chief animator (episode34, 44)
 * 1966－68 [TV] Sally, The Witch / 魔法使いサリー (Mahoutsukai Sally)
 * animator (episode77)
 * 1968 [movie] Hols: Prince of the Sun (太陽の王子 ホルスの大冒険, Taiyō no Ōji - Horusu no Daibouken) / The great adventure of Hols: Prince of the Sun
 * animator, character design of a Botom, Dorago, Rusan, Ciro, and Toto
 * 1969 [movie] Puss 'n Boots / 長靴をはいた猫 (Nagagutsu wo Haita Neko)
 * animator
 * 1969 [movie] Flying Phantom Ship / 空飛ぶゆうれい船 (Sora Tobu Yureisen)
 * chief animator
 * 1969-70 [TV] ひみつのアッコちゃん (Himitsu no Akko-chan) / Secrets of Akkochan, Secret Little Akko
 * animator (with Hayao Miyazaki 宮崎駿, episode45, 57)
 * 1971 [movie] Animal Treasure Island / どうぶつ宝島 (Dobutsu takarajima)
 * animator
 * 1971 [movie] Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Alibaba's Revenge / アリババと40匹の盗賊
 * animator
 * 1971-72 [TV] さるとびエッちゃん (Sarutobi Ecchan) / Sarutobi Ecchan
 * animator （No. 6, A/B part）
 * 1971 [TV] 長靴下のピッピ 世界一強い女の子 (Nagakutsushita no Pippi/sekai-ichi tsuyoi on-na-no-ko) / Pippi Longstocking, The strongest girl in world （temporary title）
 * his post was undecided. (only as for the production dead work, this plan did not realize)
 * 1972-73 [TV] 赤胴鈴之助 (Akadō Suzunosuke) / Red-cuirass Suzu-no-suke
 * animation supervisor assistance, animator, chief animator （all 52 episodes）
 * 1972 [movie] Panda! Go, Panda! (パンダ・コパンダ, Panda Kopanda) / Panda and child panda
 * animator, chief animator （with Yasuo Otsuka 大塚康生）
 * 1973 [movie] Panda! Go, Panda! Volume of Rainy Circus (パンダ・コパンダ 雨降りサーカスの巻, Panda Kopanda Amefuri-Saakasu no Maki)
 * animator, chief animator （with Yasuo Otsuka）
 * 1973-74 [TV] 荒野の少年イサム (Kouya no Shounen Isamu) / Isamu, Boy in the wilderness
 * animator （with Yasuo Otsuka）
 * 1973-74 [TV] 侍ジャイアンツ (Samurai Jaianth) / Samurai Giants
 * animator (episode 1, with Hayao Miyazaki)
 * 1974 [TV] Heidi, Girl of the Alps / (アルプスの少女ハイジ, Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji)
 * character design, chief animator (All stories)
 * 1975 [TV] A Dog of Flanders / (フランダースの犬, Furandaasu no Inu)
 * animator (episode 15)
 * 1976 [TV] 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother / (母をたずねて三千里, Haha wo Tazunete Sanzen-ri)
 * character design, chief animator (all episodes)
 * 1977 [TV] Raccoon Rascal, Rascal the Raccoon / あらいぐまラスカル (Araiguma Rascal)
 * animator (episode 12-22), based on the novel of Sterling North’s Rascal, a Memoir of a Better Era
 * 1977 [movie] 草原の子テングリ (Sougen no Ko Tenguri) / Tenguri, Boy of the grassy plain
 * This work was a publicity movie for theater of Snow Brand Milk Products Co., Ltd..
 * animator, (draft: Osamu Tezuka 手塚治虫, director, chief animator: Yasuo Otsuka, layout: Yasuo Otsuka, Hayao Miyazaki)
 * 1977-78 [TV] まんが日本絵巻 (Manga Nihon Emaki) / Manga(=Anime) Japan Picture scroll
 * 1978/01/11 (No. 14 A/B part "横綱 谷風梶之助, Yokozuna Tanikaze Kajinosuke"), character design
 * 1978/01/18 (No. 15 B part "狂乱の炎 八百屋お七, Flame of The Madness Yaoya Oshichi"), character design, storyboard, animator （"あんていろーぷ" name）
 * 1978/01/25 (No. 16 A/B part "この子らに愛を 聖母細川ガラシャ, Please give these children love, Holy Mother Hosokawa Gracia"), character design, animator ("あんていろーぷ" name)
 * 1979 [movie] 龍の子太郎 (Tatsu no Ko Taro) / Taro the Dragon Boy
 * character design, storyboard, chief animator （with Reiko Okuyama, 奥山玲子）
 * 1981 [movie] じゃりん子チエ (Jarinko Chie) (Chie the Brat)
 * character design, chief animator (with Yasuo Otsuka, 大塚康生)
 * 1981－82 [TV] Belle et Sébastien / 名犬ジョリィ (Meiken Jolie)
 * animator
 * 1981-83 [TV] じゃりン子チエ (Jarinko Chie) / Chie the Brat
 * character design (with Yasuo Otsuka), chief animator (episode 6)
 * 1983 [TV] Serendipity the Pink Dragon / セレンディピティ物語 ピュア島の仲間たち (Serendipiti Monogatari Pyua-tou no Nakama-tachi)
 * character design, (all 26 episodes)
 * 1983－85 [TV] The Yearling / 子鹿物語 (Kojika Monogatari)
 * animator, chief animator (episode 19)
 * 1984 [movie] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, Kaze no Tani no Naushika)
 * animator, (he took charge of the scene to which Nausicaa was revived and the scene of the ending that old men laughed at a feast.)
 * 1984 [animated picture book] パパママバイバイ (Papa Mama Bai Bai) / Daddy Mom by-by
 * animator
 * 1985 [movie] ペンギンズ・メモリー 幸福物語 (Penginzu Memori Koufuku Monogatari) / Penguins memory happiness story
 * animator
 * 1986 [TV special program] サンゴ礁伝説 青い海のエルフィ (Sango-sho Densetsu: Aoi Umi no Erufii) / Coral Reef Legend: Elfie of the Blue Sea
 * character design
 * 1986－87 [TV] The Wonderful Wizard of Oz / オズの魔法使い (Oz no Mahōtsukai)
 * animator
 * 1997- (to date) [TV] Pokémon / ポケットモンスター
 * animation supervisor
 * 1998 [movie] Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back / 劇場版ポケットモンスター ミュウツーの逆襲
 * animation supervisor
 * 1998 [short film] Pikachu's Vacation / PIKACHU THE MOVIE “ピカチュウ”のなつやすみ
 * animation supervisor
 * 1999 [remake movie] MARCO, 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother / (母をたずねて三千里, Haha wo Tazunete Sanzen-ri)
 * original character (it was only used as the base of a new character design)
 * 1999 [movie] Pokémon: The Movie 2000 - The Power of One / 劇場版ポケットモンスター 幻のポケモン ルギア爆誕
 * animation supervisor
 * 1999 [short film] Pikachu's Rescue Adventure / PIKACHU THE MOVIE ピカチュウたんけんたい
 * animation supervisor
 * 2000 [movie] Pokémon 3: The Movie Spell of the Unown / 劇場版ポケットモンスター 結晶塔の帝王 ENTEI
 * animation supervisor
 * 2000 [short film] Pikachu and Pichu / PIKACHU THE MOVIE 2000 ピチューとピカチュウ
 * animation supervisor
 * 2001-03 [TV] Kirby: Right Back at Ya! / 星のカービィ
 * animation supervisor
 * 2001 [movie] Pokémon 4Ever: Celebi: Voice of the Forest / 劇場版ポケットモンスター セレビィ 時を超えた遭遇 (であい)
 * animation supervisor
 * 2001 [short film] Pikachu's PikaBoo / PIKACHU THE MOVIE 2001 ピカチュウのどきどきかくれんぼ
 * animation supervisor
 * 2002 [movie] Pokémon Heroes / 劇場版ポケットモンスター 水の都の護神ラティアスとラティオス
 * animation supervisor
 * 2002 [short film] Camp Pikachu / PIKACHU THE MOVIE ピカ☆ピカ星空キャンプ
 * animation supervisor
 * 2003 [movie] Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker / 劇場版ポケットモンスター アドバンスジェネレーション 七夜の願い星
 * animation supervisor
 * 2003 [short film] Gotta Dance!! / PIKACHU THE MOVIE おどるポケモンひみつ基地
 * animation supervisor
 * 2003 [movie] Winter Days / 冬の日 (Fuyu no Hi)
 * animator, storyboard animator, he participated in this movie with 35 animation creators in the world. (with Reiko Okuyama, 奥山玲子)
 * 2004 [movie] Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys / 劇場版ポケットモンスター アドバンスジェネレーション 裂空の訪問者 デオキシス
 * animation supervisor
 * 2005 [movie] Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew / 劇場版ポケットモンスター アドバンスジェネレーション ミュウと波導の勇者ルカリ
 * animation supervisor
 * 2005 [3D mini-movie] Pokémon 3D Adventure: Find Mew! / ポケモン３Ｄアドベンチャー ミュウを探せ！
 * animation supervisor
 * 2006 [movie] Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea / 劇場版ポケットモンスター アドバンスジェネレーション ポケモンレンジャーと蒼海の王子マナフィ
 * animation supervisor
 * 2006 [3D mini-movie] Pokémon 3D Adventure 2: Pikachu's Big Undersea Adventure / ポケモン3Dアドベンチャー2 ピカチュウの海底大冒険
 * animation supervisor
 * 2006 [short film] ピカチュウのわんぱくアイランド (Pikachu no Wanpaku Airando)
 * animation supervisor, (it was shown only in ANA airplane)
 * 2007 [movie] 劇場版ポケットモンスター ダイヤモンド・パール ディアルガVSパルキアVSダークライ (Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai)
 * animation supervisor