Be@rbrick Disney x Keiichi Tanaami   Mickey Mouse 400% 100% 2021

A collaboration between Medicom Toy, Disney and Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami, the Keiichi Tanaami Mickey Mouse 400%+100% Bearbrick was released in 2021.

About Keiichi Tnaami:

Born 1936 in Tokyo, Japan, where he lives and works

Keiichi Tanaami’s childhood was marked by the chaos brought about by the Second World War. He was only nine during the Tokyo Air Raid of 1945 and his family relocated from their Tokyo home to Meguro, a suburban residential district, from where he observed over a hundred firebombing attacks on his native city.

Images of roaring American airplanes, searchlights, bombs and fleeing masses were deeply lodged in his memory, later becoming his core iconography – a blur of his nightmares and real memories.

Other childhood influences included kamishibai – children’s picture card shows performed on the streets of war-torn Tokyo – as well as Tanaami’s obsessive daily cinema visits, where he was particularly drawn to popular monster movies starring glamorous actresses, who also later became motifs in his work.

A talented draughtsman, Tanaami graduated in graphic design from the Musashino Art University in 1960. He quickly forged a successful career in design and advertising, illustrating the Japanese releases of record covers for Jefferson Airplane and The Monkees, among other projects.

An encounter with the Japanese neo-dada scene centred around the studio of the artist Ushio Shinohara, as well as Manga-style cartoons, inspired Tanaami’s foray into art. His colourful, overpopulated psychedelic collages, animations and drawings frequently juxtapose war imagery with American and Japanese pop culture, communicating the underlying peace message

Medicom Toy uses Water transfer technology to ensure unique print placement on each Be@rbrick. This means each Be@rbrick will be special and unique.