Jimmy Murakami

"Jimmy Murakami was a director of animated films, known especially for his adaptations of The Snowman, a charming and magical children’s story, and When the Wind Blows, a dark satire on nuclear war, from the books originally written by Raymond Briggs. The Snowman continues to be a favourite, being shown every year since its release in 1982, to enthrall and delight Christmas television audiences.



Murakami was born in 1933 in San Jose, California. When he was eight years old, he and his family were among the 110,000 Japanese Americans who were rounded up following the attack on Pearl Harbour. They were interned at the Tule Lake concentration camp in the California desert, where they remained for four years and where his elder sister, Sumiko, died of leukaemia."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jimmy-murakami-director-best-known-for-his-adaptations-of-two-raymond-briggs-books-the-snowman-and-where-the-wind-blows-9297282.html