Kenzō Masaoka

was a Japanese animator and voice actor.

Masaoka was the first to use cel animation and recorded sound in anime. He worked at a number of companies as an animator and actor, and was one of the founders of what became Toei Animation. His work as a special effects artist earned him the title "Japanese Méliès."

He also did work under the pseudonym .

Famous animators who worked under him include Mitsuyo Seo and Yasuji Mori.

Biography Masaoka was born in Osaka in 1898 and initially trained in Japanese-style painting at Kyoto City University of Arts before an ambition to paint in oils took him to Tokyo; he soon returned to Kyoto, however, and found work as a costume designer on Shōzō Makino's film Sun (日輪). His own venture came in 1927 with the founding of Nonbei Production in the Shimogamo district of Kyoto, where he produced the children's film Shell Palace (貝の宮殿) and occasionally performed on screen under the stage name Rurinosuke Segawa.