Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka (3 November 1928 to 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator, widely called the Father of Manga and often compared to Walt Disney, who inspired him from childhood. Born in Toyonaka, Osaka, he began what became known as the manga revolution with New Treasure Island in 1947, and his output includes Astro Boy, Princess Knight, Kimba the White Lion, Black Jack, Phoenix and Buddha. He turned to animation as a business as well as an art, heading the studio Mushi Production, which pioneered television animation in Japan, and later founding Tezuka Productions after leaving Mushi in 1968. He died of stomach cancer in 1989, and a museum in Takarazuka is dedicated to his life and work.