Sadao Miyamoto (宮本貞雄 Miyamoto Sadao, May 16, 1937-January 9, 2024) was a Japanese animator and character designer, who also later became associated with Disney productions when he moved to the USA.
Bio[]
Miyamoto's television anime career began in 1964 when he joined Mushi Production. He worked as a key animator and animation director on Mighty Atom, Goku's Great Adventure, Princess Knight, Animal 1, and the feature-length animation One Thousand and One Nights.
He later worked at Tatsunoko Production, getting his start as animation director on Animentary: Decision, before his better-known jobs on Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and Mokku of the Oak Tree (aka Pinocchio). He would continue at Tatsunoko until the early 1980s, when he moved to Toei Animation's overseas planning and production department, where he worked as producer/director on Gegege no Kitaro, the collaborative production The Adventures of the American Rabbit, and original projects. He was also associated with Sanrio's Film Division and worked on titles such as Ringing Bell and The Nutcracker.
In 1991, he moved to the United States and joined BARE-ANIMATION, where he worked as a key animator on the feature-length film of Tom and Jerry as well as Mattel commercials. Two years later, he joined Disney Consumer Products, where he served as the Creative Resources Character Art Manager and Senior Staff Artist, responsible for the art of films such as The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, and Treasure Planet.
In June 2002, he left Disney Consumer Products and had since lived in the United States, where he worked on original characters, planning and production, and organizing projects. He would pass away on January 9, 2024 at the age of 86.
Body of Work[]
Animation Director (Tatsunoko-specific)[]
- Decision
- Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
- Mokku of the Oak Tree
Animation Director (Other)[]
- Princess Knight (Mushi)- also did character design and art direction
- Animal 1 (Mushi)
- One Thousand and One Nights (Mushi)
Animation Supervision (Tatsunoko)[]
- Gatchaman II
- Phantom Thief Lupin: The Mystery of 813
- Gatchaman Fighter
- Muteking the Dashing Warrior
- The Great Undersea War: 20,000 Miles of Love
- Golden Warrior Gold Lightan
- Dash Kappei
- Future Policeman Urashiman
- Earth Story Telepath 2500
Key Animation (Other)[]
- Mighty Atom (Mushi)
- Goku's Great Adventure (Mushi)
- Ringing Bell (Sanrio)
Other Roles[]
- The Nutcracker (Sanrio) - Setting cooperation and puppet design
- Gegege no Kitaro (Toei) - Design cooperation for theatrical animation
- Fairy Florence (Sanrio)- Image Boards