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Vic the Viking CG Animated Film Opens in Japan on October 2 With Sairi Itō
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
French animation studio Studio 100 Animation announced on Monday that Vic the Viking and the Magic Sword, its 3D CG animated film based on the Vicke Viking children's book series by the Swedish author Runer Jonsson, will open in Japan on October 2. Sairi Itō (Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!'s Midori Asakusa) stars as the Japanese dub voice of the titular protagonist Vicke.
The 77-minute film, which opened in France last December, has an original story centering on Vic, his pirate father Halvar, and friends going on a journey to save Vic's mother Ylva, and unravel the secret of a magic sword that turns everything into gold. Éric Cazes wrote and directed the film after directing Vic the Viking, a 2013 CG television remake of the 1974-1975 Vicky the Viking animated series. Studio 100 Media, Studio 100 Animation, and Belvision produced the film in cooperation with SND – M6 Group, ZDF and BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance. Studio 100 Film distributes the film internationally.
Zuiyo Eizō animated that 1974-1975 series, also based on Jonsson's books, under the Japanese title Chiisana Viking Vicke. Zuiyo Eizō would eventually become Nippon Animation, the studio that could continue the tradition of adapting Western children's books from Heidi (Alps no Shōjo Heidi) and Anne of Green Gables to Peter Pan (Peter Pan no Bōken) and Les Orphelins de Simitra (Porphy no Nagai Tabi). Chiisana Viking Vicke's story revolves around a plucky Viking boy who gets his father out of tight situations during their voyages. Manga creator Eiichiro Oda has said that Chiisana Viking Vicke asserted a strong influence on his One Piece pirate manga and anime.
The series most recently inspired two German live-action films in 2009 and 2011.
Sources: PR Times, The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
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