Dr. Slump

AKIRA TORIYAMA (Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 1955–2024).
Dr. Slump. “Dodongadon”.
Anime cel + background.
Measurements: 24 x 25 cm.
Creator of “Dragon Ball” and “Dr. Slump,” Akira Toriyama is considered one of the artists who changed the history of manga. His rise to fame came with Dr. Slump, a series published between 1980 and 1984. Thanks to it, he received the Manga Award from Shogakukan in 1981. The manga was a massive hit. In total, 18 manga volumes were compiled (40 in Spain, published by Planeta de Agostini), and the television series ran for over 240 episodes. Dr. Slump chronicles the ironic and zany adventures of Professor Senbei Norimaki and his creation, a robot in the form of a 10-year-old girl, along with the other inhabitants of a strange place called Penguin Village. Torishima suggested that, since Toriyama liked kung fu movies, he should create a shōnen kung fu manga. This led to the two-part Dragon Boy, published in the August and October 1983 issues of Fresh Jump. Dragon Boy was well received and evolved into the Dragon Ball series in 1984. Regarding his style, it is worth noting that Toriyama admired Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians, which he remembered for its high-quality animation. He was a fan of Hong Kong martial arts films, especially those starring Bruce Lee, such as Enter the Dragon (1973), and those starring Jackie Chan, such as Drunken Master (1978), which greatly influenced his later work. He also cited the science fiction films *Alien* (1979) and *Galaxy Quest* (1999) as influences. Toriyama stated that he was influenced by animator Toyoo Ashida and the anime television series adaptation of his own Dragon Ball, from which he learned that separating colors rather than mixing them makes the art cleaner and coloring the illustrations easier.