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NY Int'l Children's Film Fest to Show Rudolf the Black Cat CG Anime FIlm
posted on by Karen Ressler
The New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) will screen the North American premiere of TOHO's 3D CG animated film Rudolf the Black Cat (Rudolph to Ippaiattena) on February 25 at 12:30 p.m. EST. The film will also screen on March 4, March 5, and March 19. All screenings will be in Japanese with English subtitles.
The film opened in Japan last August and had both 2D and 3D screenings.
Kunihiko Yuyama (Pokémon films) and Motonori Sakakibara (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Pac-World) co-directed the film using a script by Yoichi Kato (Yōkai Watch, Aikatsu!). OLM Digital and Sprite Animation Studios animated the film. Mao Inoue and Ryōhei Suzuki starred as Rudolph and Ippaiattena, respectively. Other voices include Akio Ohtsuka, Nana Mizuki, Yuka Terasaki, Rio Sasaki, Norito Yashima, and Arata Furuta.
The film adapts Hiroshi Saitō's original 1986 children's book of the same name. NYICFF describes the story:
Rudolf enjoys a life of comfort and care in Gifu, Japan. Yet true to the adage, curiosity gets the best of the kitten, and he decides to explore beyond the four walls of his home. When he's inadvertently whisked into the back of a cargo truck and lands in Tokyo, he befriends Gottalot, a seasoned street cat who possesses a crucial and unusual skill that will help him find his way home: the ability to read the human language. Rudolf's journey is rich with Japanese culture, and his story celebrates the wonder of discovery—that magical moment when you realize you have the key to unlock the world.
Saitō followed up the first book with Rudolph to Tomodachi Hitoridachi and Rudolph to Ikuneko Kuroneko in 1988 and 2002, respectively. He published the fourth and latest book in the series, Rudolph to Snow White, in 2012.
NYICFF is also screening the Ancien and the Magic Tablet, your name., and Panda! Go, Panda! anime films.
