GKIDS Releases Official English Music Videos For Mamoru Hosoda's Belle
“A Million Miles Away” | “Lend Me Your Voice” | “U”
Opens in over 1,000 theatres and IMAX screens in both its original Japanese language and all-new English dubbed version today
5x Annie Award-Nominated Film Features the Voices of
Chace Crawford, Manny Jacinto, Kylie McNeill, and Hunter Schafer
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VIEW ENGLISH DUBBED TRAILER HERE
NEW YORK (January 14, 2022) – GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of multiple Academy Award®-nominated animated features, in celebration of today's nationwide theatrical opening, has released official music videos for the English-language songs for Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda's latest feature BELLE. The music videos for the tracks “A Million Miles Away,” “Lend Me Your Voice,” and “U,” feature lyrics and footage from the film, which opens in over 1,000 theatres and IMAX screens nationwide starting today. Also released today and available everywhere now, is the English language edition of the BELLE Original Soundtrack, released by Milan Records.
Earlier this week, GKIDS released the first three minutes of the film, as well as two other select scenes from the all-new English language version (“Suzu Enters U” and ”Meeting the Dragon”), featuring the voices of Chace Crawford (“The Boys,” “Gossip Girl”), Manny Jacinto (“Nine Perfect Strangers,” “The Good Place”), Kylie McNeill, and Hunter Schafer (“Euphoria”).
BELLE is an original story written and helmed by celebrated director Mamoru Hosoda, whose previous films include the Academy Award®-nominated Mirai, The Boy and The Beast, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and others. Hosoda is joined by long time producing partner and Studio Chizu co-founder Yuichiro Saito, as producer on the title. BELLE was released in Japan starting July 16, 2021. Despite ongoing limited screening capacities and nationwide curfews, the film has grossed over 6.53 billion yen at the box office to date, becoming Mamoru Hosoda's highest-grossing film ever, and the third-highest grossing film of the year at the Japanese box office.
BELLE made its critically-acclaimed world debut at the Cannes Film Festival and its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival. The film has also played in competition at the London Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, and Los Angeles' Animation is Film festival, where the film was awarded the Special Jury Prize. BELLE has received honors at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Chicago Film Critics Association, San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle, Austin Film Critics Association, Detroit Film Critics Society, Florida Film Critics Circle, Online Association of Female Film Critics, and Greater Western New York Film Critics Association. Last month, BELLE was also nominated for five Annie Awards, including Best Independent Feature.
On BELLE, the Japanese creative team worked in collaboration with a roster of international talents. Character designer Jin Kim, the artist behind several iconic Disney features including Moana, Tangled, and Frozen, designed the titular BELLE. Cartoon Saloon's Oscar®-nominated Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart (Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells) also join the team, contributing artwork for the various virtual fantasy worlds within the film. Hosoda continues his film collaborations with architects, and is joined by up-and-coming British architect and designer Eric Wong, who designed the virtual world of “U.” Rounding out the team, composer Ludvig Forssell, best known for his collaborations with video game auteur Hideo Kojima (Death Stranding, Metal Gear Solid V), joined the score team for the film.
BELLE Synopsis
From the celebrated Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, creators of Mirai, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and more, comes a fantastical, heartfelt story of growing up in the age of social media.
Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U”, a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as BELLE, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.
www.BelleFilm.com
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About GKIDS
GKIDS is the producer and distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since 2010, the company has scored an astounding 12 Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations with The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and CHiCO & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, Mirai in 2019, and Wolfwalkers in 2021. GKIDS also handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world's most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others; as well as the critically acclaimed television series, Neon Genesis Evangelion. GKIDS also hosts ANIMATION IS FILM (AIF), an annual LA-based film festival which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form, and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of the medium to its fullest range of artistic expressions. www.GKIDS.com
About STUDIO CHIZU
STUDIO CHIZU was established in April 2011 by director Mamoru Hosoda and producer Yuichiro Saito as a new base for filmmaking. Studio Chizu is a studio specializing in the planning and production of animated films, and the name of the studio reflects the spirit of filmmaking: "to challenge new motifs, themes, and expressions, and to create a new map in the land of animated films, where there are still infinite possibilities. For children and their families around the world, we want to continue to be a "challenger" to create new values and a future for this era.
www.studiochizu.com
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