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His prolific output and his pioneering techniques and genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the god of manga." The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation was invented by Tezuka, who based it on cartoons of the time such as Betty Boop by Max Fleischer and Mickey Mouse by Walt Disney. As an indication of his productivity, the Complete Manga Works of Tezuka Osamu (手塚治虫漫画全集, published in Japan) comprises some 400 volumes, over 80,000 pages; even so, it is not quite comprehensive.
He was formally trained as a physician, but devoted his life to the production of an enormous body of manga work, the vast majority of which has never been translated from the original Japanese and is thus inaccessible to Western audiences. He began his career as a manga creator while a university student. His medical and scientific knowledge enriched his sci-fi manga, especially the Blackjack series.
Famous creations include Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom in Japan), Black JackAnime Manga : For other uses of the word Blackjack see Blackjack (disambiguation). Black Jack is a manga written by Osamu Tezuka in the 1970s, dealing with the medical adventures of a doctor named Black Jack. Black Jack consists of hundreds of short, self, Princess KnightPrincess Knight also known as Choppy and the Princess was a 1967 Japanese children's animated series called Ribbon No Kishi that was dubbed into English and brought over to Western audiences in 1970. The original Japanese animation was created by Osamu Te, PhoenixPhoenix originally Hi no Tori in Japan, is a manga series made by Osamu Tezuka. Phoenix is published in English by Viz Communications. Four volumes have been translated as of October 2004. The story, Tezuka's "life's work", is a collection of short to mod (Hi no Tori in Japan), and Kimba the White LionKimba the White Lion or Janguru Taitei ("Jungle Emperor, the Great") is a animated series from the 1960s, created by Osamu Tezuka, the creator of another beloved anime star, "Atomu" ( Astro Boy). Under his original name Leo, the lion Kimba was the star of (upon which DisneyAlternate meanings: Disney (disambiguation The Walt Disney Company (also known as Disney Enterprises, Inc. or simply Disney was founded in 1923 by Walt Disney and is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. It is the number tw's The Lion KingThe Lion King is the Walt Disney Company's 32nd animated film, and one of its most successful. It was originally released on June 15, 1994 and later re-released in IMAX format in 2003. The movie is about a young lion cub named Simba who learns about his p was probably based). His "life's work" was Phoenix - a story of life and death, concerning an eponymousAn eponym is a person (real or fictitious) whose name has become identified with a particular object or activity. One of the first cases was in second millennium BC, when the Assyrians named each year after a high official limmu . Also, the eponym archon phoenix whose blood endows those who drink it with immortality.
He headed the animation production studio Mushi Pro ('Bug Production'), which pioneered TV animation in Japan. The name of the studio derives from one of the kanji used to write his name.
It is well-known that many of the yet-to-flourish young manga artists once lived in the apartment where Tezuka lived, Tokiwa-so. (As the suffix -so indicates, this was probably a small, inexpensive apartment.) The residents included Shotaro Ishimori, Fujio Akatsuka , and Fujiko Fujio (both of the duo).
In 1994 the city of Takarazuka opened a museum in his memory. In 1997 stamps were issued in his honor.
See also: Osamu Tezuka Culture Award