Jimmy Murakami

was an American animator and film director with a long career working in numerous countries. Among his best-known works are the animated adaptations of the Raymond Briggs books When the Wind Blows and The Snowman. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for The Magic Pear Tree (1968). Early life and education On June 5, 1933, Murakami was born in San Jose, California. At age 9, following the signing of Executive Order 9066, Murakami was interned with his Japanese-American family at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, a concentration camp in northern California. After the end of World War II, Murakami and his family settled in Los Angeles, California. Murakami attended Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. Career In 1955, Murakami was an animator at UPA in Burbank. Murakami worked on the Boing Boing Show.