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13 Osamu Tezuka Anime Shorts Ship on U.S. DVD on July 28

The film distributor Kino International will release The Astonishing Work of Tezuka Osamu, a collection of 13 anime shorts by the anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka, on an English-subtitled DVD in North America on July 28. The DVD features many of the most experimental shorts of the man better known for his longer anime projects, such as Astro Boy (Mighty Atom), Kimba the White Lion (Jungle Emperor), and Phoenix.

Eight of the shorts are also available on Apple's iTunes Store. Before iTunes and the upcoming DVD release, many of these films were only rarely screened in film festivals in Japan and even more rarely overseas. The DVD includes an 18-minute interview with Tezuka as a special extra.

Tezuka's son, Makoto, is attempting to complete his father's "Legend of the Forest" film. "Legend of the Forest" or "Mori no Densetsu" began production in 1987, but only the first and fourth of its four parts were completed before the elder Tezuka passed away in 1989. America's Right Stuf International and Australia's Madman Entertainment had licensed Legend of the Forest in the past.

1. "Tales of the Street Corner" / 1962 / 16:9 / 39:04 / English Subtitles


2. "Male" / 1962 / 4:3 / 03:09 / English Subtitles


3. "Memory" / 1964 / 4:3 / 05:40 / English Subtitles


4. "Mermaid" / 1964 / 4:3 / 08:17 / No Dialog


5. "The Drop" / 1965 / 4:3 / 04:18 / No Dialog


6. "Pictures at an Exhibition" / 1966 / 16:9 / 32:56 / No dialog


7. "The Genesis" / 1968 / 4:3 / 04:02 / English Subtitles / B&W


8. "Jumping" / 1984 / 4:3 / 06:22 / No Dialog


9. "Broken Down Film" / 1985 / 4:3 / 05:42 / No Dialog / B&W


10. "Push" / 1987 / 4:3 / 04:16 / English Subtitles


11. "MURAMASA" / 1987 / 16:9 / 08:42 / No Dialog


12. "Legend of the Forest" / 1987 / 16:9 / 29:25 / No Dialog


13. "Self Portrait" / 1988 / 0.13 / No Dialog


14. Interview with Tezuka / 1986 / 4:3 / 18:19 / English Subtitles

Source: Ain't It Cool News via AnimeNation