Taro's Train

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Original Title	太郎さんの汽車
Japanese kana Rendering	Tarosan no kisya
English Title	Taro's Train
Production Date	1929
Author	Yasuji Murata
Duration (minutes)	5
Sound	silent
Color	b/w
Plot	Taro-san is the conductor of a train that transports animals. A family of pigs is occupying the seats, and the old goat has nowhere to sit. Taro-san puts the pigs' luggage onto the luggage rack to give the old goat a seat. A married hippopotamus couple eat bananas and toss the skins onto the walkway. A young lady crane walks by and slips on one of them. Taro-san gives the hippos a warning. While the polar bear is using the washroom, the train goes through a tunnel, covering him with soot that blows through the open window. As the polar bear leaves, the crane enters to wash her face, but the washroom is out of water. A cow drinks heavily while a horse devours his lunch, personifying the Japanese proverb, "Drink like a cow and eat like a horse." The cow finishes his sake and tosses the bottle out the window. The bottle hits a monkey who is working on the railroad and injures him. This infuriates the monkey, prompting him and his friend to chase the train on a mine trolley. The monkeys board the train and begin attacking the cow. Taro-san tries to keep the peace, but is thrown out of the train with the brawlers.
Description	The 37th of the Athena Film Library educational film series produced by Yokohama Cinema Shokai. A 35mm version and a 16mm version were released. The existing print is a 16mm Sakura Graph version released by Konishiroku Honten. The 35mm original version has a length of 303 meters (11 min. at 24fps). According to The History of Japanese Animation (Katsunori Yamaguchi and Yasushi Watanabe, Yubunsha, 1977, pp. 198-199), the story itself is Taro's dream. There is a possibility that there were live-action scenes before and after the dream. In 1926, the Ministry of Education produced an educational film Public Manners: Tokyo Sightseeing Tour (公衆作法東京見物) to show proper train manners. This work seems to be its animated version.
Production Company	Yokohama Cinema Shokai*
Distribution	35mm version: Okamoto ＆Co., Oku Shokai Ltd., 16mm version:Konishiroku Honten
Release Date	Jun 1929
Credits: Director	Animation: Yasuji Murata
Credits: Staff, Cast, etc.	Supervise: Chuzo Aochi, Photography: Yukikiyo Ueno*
Intertitles	T1「太郎さんの汽車 TAROSAN NO KISHA 全一巻」、T2「監輯青地忠三／漫画村田安司」、T3「少しかけさせて貰へますまいか」、T4「駄目だね、こゝは向いあって四人なんだから」、T5「おれもよく飲むがお前もよく喰ふな、……だから世間で牛飲馬食っていふんだ」、T6「ガッタンショガッタンショ」、T7「今の汽車から誰かゞ投げたんだ」、T8「大急ぎであの汽車を追かけてくれ」、T9「よしッ！」、T10「終」。
Censorship - Date and Number	[参考]内務省検閲番号：D7059(1929年6月18日)
References	・「新映畫紹介太郎さんの汽車」『映畫教育』1929年7月号・第17輯、22頁(写真あり)。
Frames per Second	24fps
Source of Digital Copy	The 16mm positive owned by NFC -> The 35mm internegative
Completeness	complete
Additional Notes	simple digital restoration The mark of "*" will provide an additional explanation gained from the bibliographical information.
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