Doron Coron (ドロンコロン, 2012) is an amusing 3-minute clay animation that Yūichi Itō
(Harbor
Tale, Knyacki!)
produced for "The Earth and Children of Tomorrow - Pray for
Happiness" campaign by TVK (Television
Kanagawa).
Doron Coron comes to life after a
child angel tinkles off a cloud. This unusual
heavenly elixir rains down onto a dark city street and brings to life the titular boy character
made of dirt who rolls off to explore the city.
He has a pleasant interaction with a worm, and a not so pleasant
interaction with bird excrement, but is cheered by the growth of a plant on his
head. The plant grows and grows and
Doron Coron heads to the countryside where he enjoys pleasant interactions with
the natural world.
This animated short is an imaginative
celebration of the natural world that is sure to delight a preschool
spectator. The animation is accompanied
by a delightful musical soundtrack and a playful voice, who speaks a nonsense
language which seems to express the feelings of Doron Coron. As is typical of Itō, this stop motion animation is very colourful and has
an impressive depth of space, with just as much attention to detail paid to the
background as to the foreground.
Upon winning the FutureCity
Yokohama Award at the Short Shorts Film Festival 2013 for Doron Coron, Itō said of the film, “I
hope viewers experience a difference in their feelings and the way they think
about their everyday life as connected to the future.” Follow Itō on twitter @knyackiii to learn about future
screenings of this charming stop motion animation.
Yūichi Itō (伊藤有壱, b. 1962) was
born in Tokyo and established his own animation studio I.TOON Ltd in 1998. He uses a variety of
animation techniques but favours clay animation. He first came to my attention
in 2005/6 when I saw his Puchi Puchi anime series Knyacki!
(ニャッキ！, 1995) featuring an amusing little caterpillar on the
NHK. He has also made many memorable television commercials and music
videos such as the coffee chain Mister Donut’s Pon de Lion and Ken
Hirai’s Kimi
wa Tomodachi. In addition to his own animation projects, Itō teaches
animation to graduate students at the Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai).
Official
website: http://www.i-toon.org/
