Da Nao Tiangong

Anime either based on, heavily influenced by or drawing key aspects from folklore. Folklore encompasses the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, people or culture passed down through the generations by word of mouth and later often recorded in written form.

While the majority of works listed in this club have their origins in East Asian folklore (for obvious reasons) also included are examples of folklore ranging from portrayals of the mythology of Ancient Greece, stories featuring local spirits, legendary folk heroes, adaptions of Brothers Grimm fairy tales and narratives featuring the Gods of the Norse pantheon as characters. Modernised interpretations and retellings have been largely excluded.

As MAL currently sadly only allows a max of 50 entries on interests stacks this list prioritises the stand out and most high quality examples of folkloric anime. For a more comprehensive list which also includes manga, I direct you to my accompanying folklore club of the same name.

Order by unpopularity.

Every cinema or direct to video anime film that came out between 1960 and 1969.

1940s & 1950s: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34960
1970-1978: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/35053

Missing on MyAnimeList:
- "Shōnen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru: Maboroshi Majutsuban" 少年忍者風のフジ丸・まぼろし魔術団, Japan, 1965.
- "Shōnen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru: Daisaru Taiji" 少年忍者風のフジ丸・大猿退治, Japan, 1965.
- Park Young-il 박영일, "Bomulseom" 보물섬 (Treasure Island), South Korea, 1969.

Disclaimer: There are a few hentai movies, that could be counted as well:
- Leo Nishimura, "(Hi) Gekiga Ukiyoe Senya Ichiya" (秘)劇画 浮世絵千一夜, Japan, 1969.

Co-Produced Western films by Japanese animation studios:
- Larry Roemer (1917-1995), "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Canada, Japan, USA, 1964.
- Arthur Rankin Jr. (1924-2014) & Nagashima Kizo, "Willy McBean and His Magic Machine", Canada, Japan, USA, 1965.
- Jules Brass (1935-2022), "The Daydreamer", Japan, USA, 1966.
- Larry Roemer & Nagashima Kizo, "The Ballad of Smokey the Bear", Japan, USA, 1966.
- Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Brass, "Cricket on the Hearth", Japan, USA, 1967.
- Jules Brass, "Mad Monster Party?", Japan, USA, 1967.
- Jules Brass & Nagashima Kizo, "The Wacky World of Mother Goose", Japan, USA, 1967.
- Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Brass, "The Mouse on the Mayflower", Japan, USA, 1968.

* = i had to use the advanced search to find these, possibly not the most accurate result
2001-2050: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/45933
Manga 1951-2000: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/45935
Manga 2001-2050: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/48905

Anime list inspired from the Chinese Buddist Book "Journey to The West", who thews the stories of adventures of the Monkey King Son Wukong (Son Goku, on Japan).