Yōji Kuri’s 1972 Surreal Animation “The Midnight Parasites” Reimagines Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights
In 1972, Yōji Kuri created the animated short “The Midnight Parasites,” which draws inspiration from Hieronymus Bosch’s artwork, The Garden of Earthly Delights. This film illustrates blue figures caught in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. According to Chris Robinson from Animation World Network, Kuri’s creation marked a pivotal moment in Japanese animation, emphasizing graphic innovation while critiquing technology and contemporary society. His viewpoint was shaped by Japan's surrender in World War II and the subsequent rise of materialism. Stanley Meisler, in “The World of Bosch,” suggests that Bosch’s visuals might have appeared commonplace to his audience. Paul Gallagher from Dangerous Minds describes Kuri’s film as hauntingly beautiful, conveying profound moral messages through Bosch-like imagery. An earlier version was featured on Open Culture in 2018.
Key facts
- Yōji Kuri’s “The Midnight Parasites” is a 1972 surrealist animated short set in the world of Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights.
- The film portrays a cycle where blue figures live and die, eat excrement and produce gold, are skewered and devoured, then regurgitated and reborn.
- Chris Robinson of Animation World Network credits Kuri with helping to lift Japanese animation into a new era of graphic and conceptual experimentation.
- Kuri’s films mock and shock, attacking technology, population expansion, and the monotony of modern society.
- Kuri witnessed Japan’s surrender in World War II and the subsequent rise of Western-inspired materialist culture and consumption.
- Stanley Meisler’s “The World of Bosch” argues that Bosch’s bizarre paintings might have looked ordinary to his contemporaries.
- Paul Gallagher of Dangerous Minds describes Kuri’s film as dark, dirty, oddly beautiful, with a groovy soundtrack.
- An earlier version of the Open Culture post appeared in 2018.
Entities
Artists
- Yōji Kuri
- Hieronymus Bosch
- Stanley Meisler
- Paul Gallagher
- Chris Robinson
- Josh Jones
Institutions
- Open Culture
- Dangerous Minds
- Animation World Network
- Vimeo
- Artribune
Locations
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Durham
- North Carolina