Doron Coron (ドロンコロン, 2012)

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. 

Order Itō's Knyacki!

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/

La boite à malice (Box of Mischief, 2012)

The French have always been ahead of the game when it comes to taking film and animation seriously as art forms.  Thus it comes as no surprise that Arte, the French/German arts TV channel, would come out with a series of animation DVDs for kids featuring the some of the best of independent world animation.  It's a wonderful alternative for parents looking for quality entertainment for their kids.  

In addition to La boite à malice (Box of Mischief, 2012), a DVD of Kōji Yamamura’s animated shorts for children, the Arte Editions for kids includes DVDs of animation by Břetislav Pojar, Paul Grimot, Rodolfo Pastor (whose darling Capelito shorts I recall seeing on Japanese TV), Xiaonghua Hu (Shanghai Animation Film Studio), Lotta and Uzi Geffenblad (Zig Zag Animation, Sweden), and much, much more.  It is a wonderful selection of films, my only disappointment is that the German branch of Arte did not follow suit with German language editions so that I could order them for my kids and family friends.  

La boite à malice features five Yamamura shorts:  the three Karo and Piyobupt shorts (1993, strangely in reverse order as on the Japanese DVDs), Kipling, Jr. (キップリングJr. , 1995), and What’s Your Choice? (どっちにする？, 1999).  What’s Your Choice? Came out of animation workshops that Yamamura did with children in the States and in Japan. My kids love the Karo and Piyobupt (カロとピヨブプト, 1993) shorts, which originally aired on the NHK and were followed by the spin-off series of short-shorts called Pacusi (パクシ, 1995).  Not only are they aesthetically beautiful with super-cute original characters, but the stories are told with humour.  When my kids were small they were particularly delighted by the use of onomatopoeic words like paku-paku (for eating) and would mimic them.  

Although I already own copies of Yamamura’s kids’ animation, I just had to add this one to my collection to see how the film was packaged.   There is an accompanying booklet with games for kids such as design your own house like Karo and Piyobupt do in A House (おうち),

 

spot the difference using a character from What’s Your Choice?,

 a design-your-own sandwich game inspired by A Sandwich (サンドイッチ),

a “who is who” game using silhouettes of characters from Kipling, Jr.,

an imagination bubble game inspired by my favourite of the shorts Imagination (aka A Rainy Day /あめのひ), and a crossword puzzle using instruments found in Kipling, Jr.  The booklet is really too sweet to consider giving to kids to destroy – I made my daughter colour photocopies instead.

 

Yamamura has made many other animated shorts for kids which could easily have been included, but as the NHK is involved I imagine that doing a complete works would have made the DVD too expensive for parents.  Yamamura has also illustrated many books for children that are well worth collecting.    

La boite à malice can be ordered via the Arte Boutique.

Catherine Munroe Hotes 2013 / photos ©cmmhotes 2012

Nishikata Kids: Anna on Nausicaä

An interview with Anna

Age: almost 7

Film: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, Hayao Miyazaki,  1984)

Tell me about Nausicaä.

Nausicaä is brave.  She wants to save the world.

What does she need to save the world from?

The bad fungus.

Most hysterical moment in the film for Anna. 

What is your favourite part of the anime?

I like Nausicaä’s fox squirrel Teto.  Actually, I like all the animals because they are interesting.

There is a lot of fighting in the movie.  How did you feel about that?

Bad.  They should be normal and nice to each other.

What were the most exciting parts?

For me it was exciting when the Ohmu came up from the water. 

The movie isn’t just serious.  I noticed that you were laughing sometimes. 

What did you find funny?

When the man said “She’s still alive. . . that was a short-lived dream”

[This is the moment when Kushana returns and takes control back from Kurotowa.  Anna thought he was hysterical.  We were watching the German dub, so my quote might not match the English dub/subs.]

What did you think about Kushana, the Princess of Tolmekia?

She was dumb.

If you could be any character in the film, which one would you be?

I would be all the insects and ummmmm. . .  the fox squirrel.

Let’s play Mama Ohmu, Baby Ohmu.

interview abruptly ends ;)

Nishikata Kids: A Child's Perspective on Japanese Culture

Nishikata Kids: Anna on My Neighbour Totoro

An interview with Anna
Age: 6 1/2

What is your favourite anime?
Totoro

What do you like about Totoro?
The cat-bus [nekobasu] and the little dust bunnies [makkuro-kurosuke].

If you could be a character in the film, which one would you be?
The big sister Satsuki because she looks after Mei and tries to cheer her up and Mei gives her hugs.

If you saw a Totoro in real life would you be scared or excited?
Excited because I would be on his belly and go to sleep like this [she curls up like a cat to demonstrate].

Where do Totoro live?
In a tree log where it’s sunny and pretty with beautiful flowers.

What is the funniest moment in the film?
When Mei sees the dust bunnies for the first time.
And when the bus cat is smiling like this [she makes a BIG GRIN].

What do you think will happen in the future for the family?
The Mommy will get better.

Are there any other anime that you like at the moment?
Lizard Planet. I like the big lizard on the planet. The other lizards are cool too.

Nishikata Kids: A Child's Perspective on Japanese Culture