Noburō Ōfuji (大藤 信郎, Ōfuji Noburō, June 1, 1900 – July 28, 1961) was a Japanese
film director and
animator. One of the most notable auteurs of
anime (one of the industry's most prestigious awards, the
Mainichi Film Awards'
Ōfuji Noburō Award, is named after him), he worked primarily with
cutout and
silhouette animation. He also made a number of films in
traditional animation, using then-expensive, imported
cels, while his earliest work known to have survived is a
live-action/animated film. He trained under
Jun'ichi Kōuchi before starting his own company. He is known for his employment of washi, especially the coloured and patterned
Edochiyogami, which gives his films a distinctively Japanese appearance. He was one of the first Japanese animators to earn international recognition for his work.
Filmography
Burglars of "Baghdad" Castle is Ōfuji's "official debut film" and the first animated film made using
chiyogami paper.[1]