Born January 28, 1925; died September 5, 1992.

Yasuji Mori came to animation almost by accident. He'd studied architecture at the National University of Fine Arts in Tokyo, but American animated shorts won him over instead. In 1947, he joined Nippon Douga, the studio that would eventually become Toei Douga after Toei's acquisition in 1956.

At Toei Douga, Mori became a senior animator and shaped what would define the studio's entire visual approach. His fingerprints are all over early anime style—so much so that Isao Takahata, who worked directly under him, called his influence "incalculable." Beyond animation, Mori was also respected as a children's book illustrator.

He's best known for pioneering the animation director role in Japan. The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon officially credited him as animation director, making him the first to receive that title, though The Tale of the White Serpent had someone in that role earlier without the formal credit.

More than anything, Mori was a mentor. The next generation of animation greats came up under him—Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Yasuo Ootsuka, and Yoichi Kotabe among them. Later in his career, he moved to Nippon Animation, but his legacy was already cemented at Toei.