The Tale of the White Serpent

As a boy, Xu-Xian is made to let go of the small snake he keeps. What he does not know is that the snake is Bai-Niang, and that she loves him. Years later she comes back in human form and the two of them meet. But the monk of the town works out that she is not human and drives her off to save Xu-Xian. Bai-Niang has to use her power, and using it means she cannot stay human. Meanwhile Xu-Xian's two animals, the panda Panda and Mimi, set out to find him. Taiji Yabushita directs; seventy-nine minutes, from the Chinese folk tale of the White Snake. It was Japan's first feature-length animation in colour and the first feature made by the Toei studio. Hayao Miyazaki has said that seeing this film is what decided him on animation.