在这部桃太郎 海之神兵动画/冒险/家庭片中,《海之神兵》是日本历史上第一部动画长片，制作于1943年，45年公映，片长74分钟，黑白。尽管正如许多人都知道的，时代背景决定了它必然是一部宣扬军国主义号召日本青年加入海军的宣传片，但抛开影片主题不谈，单从动画制作技术上看它依然有着那个时代日本动画的最高水平，画风上也与 咱们的《铁扇公主》很相像，而且作为影响知名动画大师手冢治虫的两部作品之一（另一部正是《铁扇公主》），它在日本动漫史上的经典位置勿用质疑。用现代人的眼光再次观看这部半个世纪以前的动画作品，更多还应该是带着一种铭记和警示的态度吧。
This animated film--Japan's first--was a propaganda piece made to show the Japanese public how the Japanese military had achieved such decisive victories in the South Pacific. It tells the story of young Japanese boys from their school days to their joining the army and fighting against Japan's "enemies" and shows how the animals in the jungle--meant to symbolize the residents of the Asian countries the Japanese conquered--welcomed the Japanese army's "liberating" them from their western masters.
