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Anpanman Short to Play With Hal's Flute Film by Same Creator
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Yanase Takashi Theater, an omnibus of three anime films inspired by Anpanman creator Takashi Yanase, will open in theaters in Japan on Saturday.
Hal's Flute (Hal no Fue) premiered at 24th Tokyo International Film Festival last year. Based on Yanase's 2009 picture book, the story follows a raccoon-like tanuki creature named Hal who finds an abandoned human baby. Hal names the baby Pal and decides to transform into a human mother to raise him. (Tanuki are known in Japanese folklore for their ability to transform into any object or creature they desire.) Hiroshi Kawamata (Otona Joshi no Anime Time, Disney's Gargoyles) directed the film at TMS, and Michiru Shimada (Shugo Chara!, Before Green Gables) wrote the screenplay.
The new musical short Anpanman ga Umareta Hi (The Day Anpanman Was Born) retells the story of the pastry superhero Anpanman's birth. It takes the story from the first episode of the Anpanman television series and sets it to music. The second short, Robo-kun to Kotori (Robo-kun and the Little Bird), follows the friendship that develops between a robot and a bird during during their journey through a desert.
Hal's Flute is 48 minutes long, and the other shorts are each about 10 minutes long.
Source: Anime! Anime!
Image © Takashi Yanase/TMS
