News
Santa Company Anime to Premiere in Tokyo on October 25
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The Kickstarter campaign site for Kenji Itoso's Santa Company anime film announced on Thursday that the anime will premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 25.
The film will star Yūki Kaji as Crystal Bell, Ayumi Fujimura as Noel White, Haruka Tomatsu as Mint Rondo, Takahiro Sakurai as Pedro Rondo, Rie Kugimiya as Thomas Dow, Hiroki Touchi as Nicholas White, Minoru Inaba as Shopkeeper, Masamichi Kitada as Santa Claus, Ryuichi Karasuma as Rudolph III, and Shiho Kokido as children. ChouCho will perform the film's theme song.
The film met its Kickstarter goal of US$50,000 in December. The studio has a current Kickstarter campaign to fund an English curriculum to teach others how to make animation by using the production materials for Santa Company.
The story revolves around Noel, a 12-year-old girl who despises Christmas. She has lived with her father ever since her parents divorced three years ago, but her father ends up busy at work every Christmas and she cannot play with her friends from school.
On a lonely Christmas Eve, Noel takes her usual apartment complex elevator ride to her home, but when the doors open, she finds herself lost in a humongous factory — owned by Santa Claus. Santa Claus has gone corporate as Santa Company with the motto "Fast, Reliable and Secret Delivery." The outfit takes orders and delivers top-notch presents to children in the utmost secrecy. Noel meets some new friends, and together, they take off in a sled to deliver presents.
Naohiro Fukushima (Eden of the East, Eureka 7: Astral Ocean) is writing the script, and artist Hidari (Fractale, Natsu-iro Kiseki) drew the original character design illustrations. Itoso's own KENJI STUDIO (Kotonakare Hero Gingerman) is animating the film. Itoso is serving as producer and executive director, while Yumi Kamakura (episode director for Eureka Seven, Blood+, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet) is serving as director. Hiroka Harada (Romeo × Juliet, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal) is adapting Hidari's character designs for animation.
KENJI STUDIO plans to host a special screening of the film for families in Fukushima who were affected by the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake disaster. The studio also plans to screen the film at film festivals worldwide, and to host screenings for children using projection-mapping.
The Tokyo International Film Festival is also screening the world premieres of the Parasyte live-action film, Mamoru Oshii's GARM WARS The Last Druid, Attack on Titan -the first part-, Disney's Big Hero 6, and THE NEXT GENERATION -PATLABOR- episode10.
