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Yona Yona Penguin's U.S Premiere in NYC on April 17
posted on by Egan Loo
The American Museum of Natural History will be hosting the U.S. premiere of Rintarō and Madhouse's computer-animated Yona Yona Penguin film on April 17 in New York City. The English-subtitled screening is part of the weekend-long "Bollywood and Anime in America" event, which is free with museum admission. In the film's adventure story, a penguin-cosplaying girl named Coco gets sucked into a fantasy world — which is populated by goblins who believe that their saviour will be a penguin.
This joint project between Thailand's Imagimax, Japan's Dynamo Pictures, and France's Def2Shoot opened in Japan in December. Among other films, Rintarō had previously directed Metropolis, X, and Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Comic book writer Warren Ellis reported last July that Rintarō also directed a Wolverine anime teaser. Yona Yona Penguin ran during the 66th Venice International Film Festival, and it won the Audience Award for Best Children's Animated Feature at Belgium's Brussels Animation Film Festival last month.
The museum will also host an English-dubbed screening of Tomoki Kyoda and Bones' Eureka Seven - good night, sleep tight, young lovers - film on April 18. That same day, film critic Aseem Chhabra, Queens College's Dr. Madhulika Khandelwal, New York-Tokyo president Taeko Baba, and Japanamerica author Roland Kelts will host a talk on the "Re/Making of American Pop Culture." Shing02, the rapper who performed Samurai Champloo's opening theme song "Battlecry," will also hold a live concert.
Image © 2009 Rintarō + Madhouse, "Yona Yona, Penguin" Film Partners + DFP
