Kunio Kato's Award-Winning Works Now Available to the World through Crunchyroll
Kunio Katō's “The Diary of Tortov Roddle” and Academy Award-Winning “La Maison en Petits Cubes” to Stream on the Number-One Online Destination for Anime and Asian Entertainment
San Francisco, CA (July 3, 2009) — Kunio Katō's 2009 Academy Award-winning animated short film, LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES, as well as his earlier work, THE DIARY OF TORTOV RODDLE are streaming today on Crunchyroll. More information can be found at: http://www.Crunchyroll.com/library/La_Maison_en_Petits_Cubes and http://www.Crunchyroll.com/library/The_Diary_of_Tortov_Roddle .
LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES marks the first Oscar® nomination and win for Mr. Kato, who created and directed the piece. At the awards ceremony, of the award, he stated, “It's so heavy.” He went on to say, “Thank you very much. Thank you, my supporters. Thank you, all my staff. Thank you, my pencil. Thank you, Academy … Thank you, my company ROBOT. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.”
Vince Shortino, president of Crunchyroll's Japan office states, “We, at Crunchyroll, are very proud to host such a masterpiece. Mr. Kato is only the second individual from Japan to ever win the award in an animation category, with the only other being reknowned Mr. Hayao Miyazaki. To be able to bring this visionary artist's work to the world is truly a great honor.”
Both LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES and THE DIARY OF TORTOV RODDLE will be available to Crunchyroll's Anime Members in 480P quality video, and available on Crunchyroll to the world outside of Japan. ROBOT Business Strategy Manager Koji Nakamigawa states, “Mr. Kato's works need to be experienced in only the highest quality viewing, and Crunchyroll's global reach, high quality streaming and Anime Members plan made the most sense for us to maintain the utmost quality needed to view his treasures.”
Synopsis:
La Maison en Petits Cubes: An old man is forced to continuously build on
new levels to his home as the water rises in his town. When he drops his
favorite pipe overboard, he is forced to dive to retrieve it from the
depths. As he visits the submerged levels of his home, he begins to relive
scenes from days gone by.
THE DIARY OF TORTOV RODDLE is a tapestry of whimsical fantasy featuring tatters of everyday life of the eponymous Tortov Roddle. Riding on the back of his pig with legs as long as stilts, what will be the next surreal journey to be written in his diary?
About Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an online video service and community that offers full-length episodes and movies of the very best in Japanese anime and Asian entertainment. Crunchyroll's content is provided by Asian media leaders including TV TOKYO, Shueisha, d-rights, Fuji Creative Corporation, Pony Canyon, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, Toei Animation, Gonzo, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation America, and many others.
Crunchyroll was founded in June 2006 and has offices in San Francisco and Tokyo. Crunchyroll is a pioneer and innovator in the Japanese anime industry and the only video service in the world to offer hit programs like NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, GINTAMA and many others online to its subscribers within one hour of its Japanese broadcast. Crunchyroll is a member of the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) and the Licensing International Merchandisers Association (LIMA) and is funded by leading venture capital firm, Venrock.
About ROBOT Communications Inc.
Founded in 1986, ROBOT Communications Inc. (Head office: Shibuya Ward, Tokyo; President: Shuji Abe). is a production company engaged in a wide range of services, from designing and producing visual contents for various media such as TV commercials, theatrical movies, animations, computer graphics and mobile contents, to character creation/development, graphic design, website creation and management, and more. One of its best-known works is the animation "La Maison en Petits Cubes (The house of small cubes)" a winner of the 81st Academy Awards ® 2009 in the short film (animated) category. And motion picture series, “Always San-chōme no Yūhi” (Always: Sunset on Third Street).
Official website : <http://www.robot.co.jp> (JAPANESE) <http://www.robot.co.jp/en/> (ENGLISH)
