Goku, celluloid by Akira Toriyama

AKIRA TORIYAMA (Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 1955 - 2024).
Celluloids of "Goku, Dragon Ball".
Three acetates and adhered drawing.
Measurements: 24,5 x 27 cm.

Creator of "Dragon Ball" and "Doctor Slump", Akira Toriyama is considered one of the artists who changed the history of manga. The leap to fame came with Dr. Slump, a saga published between 1980 and 1984. Thanks to it, he received in 1981 the Manga Award granted by the Shgakukan publishing house. The acceptance of the manga was massive. In total, 18 manga volumes were collected (40 in Spain, published by Planeta de Agostini) and the television series surpassed 240 episodes. Dr. Slump narrates the ironic and crazy adventures of Professor Senbei Norimaki and his creation, a robot in the shape of a 10-year-old girl, and the other inhabitants of a strange place called Penguin Village. Torishima suggested that since Toriyama liked kung fu movies, he should create a sh?nen kung fu manga. This resulted in the two-part Dragon Boy, published in the August and October 1983 issues of Fresh Jump. Dragon Boy was well received and evolved into the Dragon Ball series in 1984. In terms of his style, Toriyama admired Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembered for its high quality animation. He was a fan of Hong Kong martial arts films, especially those of Bruce Lee, such as Enter the Dragon (1973), and Jackie Chan, such as Drunken Master (1978), which greatly influenced his later work. He also cited the science fiction films Alien (1979) and Galaxy Quest (1999) as influences. Toriyama stated that he was influenced by animator Toyoo Ashida and the anime television series adaptation of his own Dragon Ball, from which he learned that separating colors rather than mixing them makes art cleaner and coloring illustrations easier.

Celluloids (cels) are unique pieces used in traditional animation, in which each frame is hand-painted on sheets of acetate. This artisanal process, used in the anime industry before digital animation, makes each cels a unique fragment of the original production.
Given their artistic and historical value, these Dragon Ball celluloids represent a unique opportunity for collectors and fans of the series, preserving an authentic moment in the creative process of one of the most influential anime of all time.