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Komaneko Anime From Domo's Tsuneo Goda Gets New Film This Month

The official website for Komaneko no Kaigai Ryokō (Komaneko's Overseas Trip), the latest stop-motion animated film for Tsuneo Gōda's "Komaneko" character, unveiled the long trailer and poster visual for the film on October 3. Gōda's production studio dwarf studios announced the film on August 3.

The film will open on October 25. The film centers on Komaneko's first overseas trip. The film will screen alongside the "Komaneko Hajime no Ippo" (Komaneko: The First Step) , "Koma to Rajibo" (Koma and Rajibō), and "Hontō no Tomodachi" (True Friends) shorts.

Tsuneo Gōda is directing the film and designing the characters. Noriko Matsumoto is serving as executive producer, while Ayano Kinashi is credited as producer. Hirokazu Minegishi, Junko Negishi, and Shūhei Harada are animating.

Tsuneo Gōda, the creator of NHK's famous Domo-kun (Domo) mascot character, conceived Komaneko in a 2003 short "Komaneko Hajime no Ippo" (Komaneko: The First Step) for the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography with his Dwarf production studio. Komaneko's popularity grew after Tokyo's Shibuya Cinema Rise theater screened the first of five annual Komaneko shorts before its feature presentations in 2004. Komaneko has also appeared at film festivals in Locarno and Chicago. The shorts and features have since spawned DVD, character goods, picture books, and even a Nintendo DS game.

Aside from animation projects for Komaneko, dwarf studios also produced Pokémon Concierge, Rilakkuma and Kaoru, and Rilakkuma's Theme Park Adventure.

Sources: Komaneko no Kaigai Ryokō film's website, Anime! Anime! (Kōtarō Nakase)