What was the first successful anime in Japan?

Japan has made animations as early as 1907 but due to reasons, these were lost and even destroyed. Oten Shimokawa’s Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki is said to be the first animated film and was created in 1917. But the first successful and popular anime that was aired in televisions is Astro Boy that was first shown in 1963. It is about Astro Boy who is an android that has emotions.

He was created by Umataro Tenma when his son died. Afterward, he was sold to a circus and fortunately saved by Professor Ochanomizu that helped him to be more human and had many adventures. Not long after, the popularity of the anime reached international televisions.

Anime became very popular in Japan in the 1980s but the history of anime can be found all the way back to the start of the 20th century. The oldest anime films even date back to 1917. The people who made these films are often called the fathers of anime and they include Seitaro Kitayama, Jun'ichi Kōuchi and Ōten Shimokawa.

The first anime films were propaganda films such as Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei which was realeased in during WWII in 1945 and was the first anime feature film and Momotarō no Umiwashi which was released in 1943.