On this date in 1928, Osamu Tezuka was born in Osaka, Japan. A large part of the credit (or blame dependant on your point of view) for the proliferation of Manga and Anime in America and other parts of the Western world can be placed securely at the feet of Dr. Tezuka. Known as “the Japanese Walt Disney,” “the God of Manga” and “the godfather of Anime,” it was Tezuka whose 1960′s TV cartoons ASTRO BOY (now a major motion picture) and KIMBA THE WHITE LION (previously…ahem…a major motion picture as Disney’s LION KING) introduced Japanese animation and later comics to foreign shores.

His earliest Post-war comics in Japan sparked that country’s Golden Age of Comics. Tezuka is credited with affecting the concept of the giant, rounded eyes for his characters inspired by US cartoons. He was a prolific and sometimes controversial cartoonist and animator and, according to Wikipedia, a massive 400 volume collection of his manga in Japan is still nowhere near comprehensive. Tezuka died in 1989.

Seen here is a scene from his 1970 experimental full-length adult pop art anime production of Kureopatora (AKA CLEOPATRA or CLEOPATRA, QUEEN OF SEX).