Media: Herb Klynn and the Animated Feature That Might Have Been

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Yesterday, the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Rescue Team made a trip to meet with the family of UPA and Format Films designer, Herb Klynn. Klynn passed away several years ago, and his family was donating some of his artwork to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Included among the material were three intriguing portfolio cases. The cases contained pitch materials from three unproduced Format Films projects. This sort of find is what animation historians are most eager to discover, because it inevitably leads to fascinating "what if?"s.

Today, I'm going to post Klynn's pitch materials for an unproduced animated feature from 1970. The early 70s were a time of change in animation. The Disney features were running out of gas, and Ralph Bakshi had just turned the animation business on its head with "Fritz the Cat". It was a time when all bets were off... Animation was up for grabs. Klynn's concept was to produce an animated erotic film based on Japanese folklore. Sound familiar? But this was 1970, many years before anime began to make its mark in America. Japanese animation at that time meant Astroboy and Kimba the White Lion, not manga and anime.

Here is Format Films' presentation for MANEMON.

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This is a presentation of an erotic, animated feature film. It is designed to be approximately 76 minutes in length. Manemon is based on a classic folk tale from medieval Japan. It was originally illustrated by Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770), the forerunner of Utamaro, Hokusai and other masters of the Ukiyo-e print.

The film will consist of eight episodes, told within the framework of the legend. This presentation contains an outline of the framework, and three of the eight episodes.

Many years ago in what is now the Lie Prefecture, there was once a Shogun who loved duck-- roast duck. And best of all, he loved the ducks which were raised especially for him by Iwao Tanaka. The Tanaka farm had supplied ducks to the Shogunate for two centuries-- the secret of succulence passing from father to son.

Now, Iwao Tanaka had only a daughter, whom he prized above all else. Kumi was beautiful, pure as the bloom of a tsubaki., her lips as fragrant as the wild mountain camellia. She knew that one day her father hoped to marry her to one of the Shogun's sons, but in her heart she secretly loved her father's duck-herd, Manemon.



Manemon was a wild, adventurous young man-- who was as handsome as he was conceited. An orphan, he had made his way through life without any man's help, and now-- at twenty-- he was sure there was little he did not know, and nothing he could not do. Among the things that Manemon knew was that every time he looked at Kumi, she hid her eyes and blushed. But looking was all Manemon could do. Iwao would not allow any young man near his daughter. Kumi was being saved for the Shogun's eldest son-- as soon as the winter rains were over.



As Spring approached, Kumi became more beautiful each day, and her beauty was matched only by Manemon's mounting desire. Manemon was determined, but his determination was matched by Iwao's precautions.

Whenever Iwao left the nojo, he took Kumi with him, and on the farm Kumi was never allowed to leave the house.

On the fifth day of the last rain, Manemon came running to the house. Pounding on the front door, he shouted that all the ducks had been buried in a mudslide. Alarmed, Iwao threw open the door. He saw hundreds of tail feathers sticking out of the mud at the bottom of the hill. Iwao ordered Manemon to fill the black kettle with water and to heat it over the fire in the house. The ducks would have to be washed as soon as Iwao could dig them out. As Manemon began filling the kettle, Iwao grabbed the shovel and ran down the hill to start digging out the ducks.



Long before the water had boiled, Kumi had declared her love for Manemon-- and he had taken it.



Suddenly, there was an angry shout as Iwao came storming back to the house. In one leap Manemon was at the open shoji, ready to leap out. Falling to her knees, Kumi begged Manemon to take her with him. Manemon laughed: he had already taken what he came for.

Covered with mud, Iwao burst through the door, clutching the duck feathers in his hand. The ducks were all safe where Manemon had hidden them. After one look at Kumi, Iwao understood that Manemon had not only plucked and scattered the duck feathers in the mud-- but that he had plucked his daughter as well.

Still laughing, Manemon ran into the bamboo forest-- deeper and deeper-- until he could no longer hear Iwao's angry shouts.



Finally, out of breath, Manemon sat down, leaning against the trunk of a tree. Suddenly, on the wings of an enormous crane, two wood spirits appeared in front of him.



The wood spirits had heard Manemon's laughter. Boastfully, he told them of his conquest. When Manemon finished his story, the wood spirits offered him a cup, and he drank thirstily. Instantly, Manemon felt strange, and in the next moment, he found that he was only ten inches hight.



The wood spirits told Manemon that for laughing at Kumi, he has shown that he understands nothing about love. Until he learns, he will remain this size--

Set adrift in a lacquer rice bowl, Manemon began his travels though Japan-- from the wilds of Hokkaido in the far North to the island of Kyushu in the South.



Almost invisible, Manemon arrived one morning in the town of Kashikojima-- where there was a very beautiful lady married to a wealthy merchant. There was also in the town a young man who desired the merchant's wife above all else. When the young man found an opportunity to state his desire, the merchant's wife answered that she would comply with his wishes-- provided he first gave her 100 gold coins.

The young man was saddened-- not only by his lack of money, but by the lady's greed as well. Manemon, having observed the scene, had an idea-- which he related to the young man.



With Manemon riding on his shoulder, the young man went to see the merchant. The merchant was about to leave on a trip, but the young man persuaded him to wait, then asked for a loan of 100 gold coins. The merchant agreed to the loan and the papers were signed.

The next day, the young man and Manemon went to the merchant's house. The wife answered the door, and the young man gave her the gold coins, saying "This is for your husband." The wife assumed that the young man wanted to hide the true nature of their transaction from Manemon, and she agreed.



That night, the young man enjoyed the merchant's wife and satisfied his every desire. When the merchant returned home, the young man went to the house-- with Manemon on his shoulder.

The wife admitted them and over tea, the young man told the merchant that he did not need the 100 gold coins after all-- and had returned them to the merchant's wife. The merchant turned smiling to his wife. She knew she could not deny that it was true. Manemon was the young man's witness, and she was thus forced to give the 100 gold coins to her husband.

The next morning, Manemon left to continue his search for the meaning of love-- as all he had found in Kashikojima was lust and avarice.

Some time later, Manemon found himself in a small fishing village on the shore of Lake Biwa. There, in one of the larger uchi, lived an old fisherman and his young wife. Though the old fisherman was no longer able to satisfy his young wife, he guarded her jealously. It was many months since he had left her bed, and she confessed to Manemon her gnawing hunger.

It happened that the next day a young peddler came to the uchi while the old fisherman was out on the lake.

One look was enough to tell him that the young wife was in need of more than the needles and cloth he carried in his pack-- and he was more than willing to offer what he had. Outside, Manemon saw the old fisherman's boat return to the beach, running just ahead of a sudden squall. As the old fisherman hurried toward his uchi, Manemon shouted a warning to the young wife. The peddler was frightened and did not know what to do. Manemon told him to climb up on the roof.

The old fisherman reached the uchi, just as the rain began to pelt down. Then he heard the footsteps on the roof and demanded to know who was up there. "The man to fix the roof." Manemon explained. Shouting instructions, the old fisherman tried to lead the peddler to the leaks, but the peddler knew nothing about fixing roofs and the rain continued to drip into the uchi.

Impatiently, the old fisherman ordered the peddler to come down and he climbed up onto the roof himself-- telling the peddler to stay inside the uchi and guide him to the leaks. With the old fisherman on the roof, the peddler and the young wife resumed their love-making-- while Manemon shouted directions to the drenched fisherman overhead.



The next day, Manemon left Lake Biwa behind. He had only found selfishness and stupidity-- and no love at all. After some time, Manemon encountered a group of pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Nara. Among the pilgrims was a blind Samurai and his wife, accompanied by their servant.

Tetsura, the blind Samurai, was very kind to Manemon, offering to share their food and lodging with him. Akiko, the blind man's wife, seemed devoted to her husband, and Yoichi, their handsome servant seemed equally devoted to both his masters.

But Manemon had already learned that things are seldom as they seemed. In Nara, Akiko asked Manemon to guide Testsura to the shrine. While Tetsura prayed at the shrine, asking for a miracle to restore his sight, Manemon went back to the lodgings. There, he saw Akiko and Yoichi performing their own miracles-- in Tetsura's bed.

Tetsura prayed daily at the shrine and continued his prayers each night at the lodgings, for he was truly a good and holy man. Akiko and Yoichi became more and more bold in their love-making. One night they could not wait for Testura to finish his prayers and go to sleep, and they made love silently in front of his sightless eyes.

Manemon wondered what would happen if Tetsura's prayers were answered at this moment-- and added his own prayers to those of the blind man. It so happened that their combined prayers were answered, for suddenly Tetura opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was his naked wife in the arms of his naked servant.

The sight made him forget the miracle and, enraged, Tetsura jumped to his feet and seized his sword. But before he could strike, Akiko began giving thanks to a merciful heaven. A voice had told her that if she gave herself to a humble servant, her husband's sight would be restored. And now the prophecy had come true. Her sacrifice was not in vain.

Husband and wife fell into each other's arms, each of them thankful, one not more than the other. Manemon resumed his quest. There may have been miracles in Nara, Manemon found no love.

Finally, after much travelling and many encounters, Manemon arrived back at the forest where his long journey had begun. The two wood spirits were there-- on the wings of a white crane. They asked Manemon whether he had learned what love truly is. Manemon answered with one word: "Kumi."

Manemon found that he was back to his normal size-- and he hurried to the Tanaka farm. While he had been gone, Iwao Tanaka had died-- but Kumi waited for him faithfully. Manemon and Kumi married and Manemon continued the tradition of raising succulent ducks for the Shogun. Over the years, Manemon had several sons-- and one lovely daughter, whom he prized above all else. The daughter was as pure as the wild mountain tsubaki and Manemon was determined that she should marry one of the Shogun's sons.

One night, while Kumi and her sons were away at the Shogun's palace, the young duck-herd came to Manemon with terrible news. A fox was raiding the ducks! Alarmed, Manemon seized his stick and ran into the woods behind the duck pen.



Manemon searched and searched, but could find no fox. He realized that the fox was in his house.

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This has been a very long post, but I hope you have enjoyed it. Many thanks to Larry Loc's Animation Rescue Team: Linda Lee, Jon Reeves, Angelo di Nallo and Jason Plapp.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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