Watch HDToday. The Story of Panda – Taotao, directed by Shuichi Nakahara and Tatsuo Shimamura, was the first animation produced as a Chinese-Japanese joint venture. Released in December, 1981, the film is about Taotao, a small panda from Sichuan, who was captured and sold to a European zoo, where he got into adventures with his animal friends. The series includes a film in 1981 and a 52-episode series in 1983.