Youichi Kotabe

While studying at Tokyo University of the Arts, Kotabe was impressed by the film The Tale of the White Serpent and the animator Yasuji Mori, and immediately applied to work at Toei Animation.

His first project there was Magic Boy, the first ever anime to be released theatrically in North America. At the studio he also met Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, with whom he later left in order to work at A Pro, and they began work on an adaptation of Pippi Longstocking. That project was eventually canceled, and work began on the two-film series Panda! Go Panda!.

Kotabe then worked as character designer on two highly influential series directed by Takahata: Heidi, Girl of the Alps, and 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother. Miyazaki also took part working on scene design and layouts.

In 1985, he was scouted by Nintendo and assumed the position of the game development advisor. He worked at Nintendo for over two decades until leaving in 2007.

(Source: Wikipedia)