Shopping Guide
As 2012, a year packed with anime films, comes to an end, new films are already being announced as 2013 draws closer; the latest being “Santa Company”.
Kenji Itoso is planning and directing the film. Itoso was a unit director for the late anime director Satoshi Kon's "Dreaming Machine". Besides anime, Itoso’s experience also includes working on "Seikilos and I," a live-action short film produced by film director Nobuhiko Obayashi, and various promotional videos. He also created an original short anime called "Coluboccoro”, produced with the help of Anime Innovation Tokyo Co. In Oct. 2011, the short won the grand prize at Creative Market Tokyo 2011.
At that time, Itoso officially presented his plans for “Santa Company”, and gained great support. According to Itoso, he himself will first finance the film. Nearly an independent work, the work model is one not yet before attempted. A wonderful group of talented staff and voice stars is said to be working on the film.
Tie-ins with the film are already in the works. On Nov. 7, 2012 a children's novel based on the film was released. Limited first editions of the novel included a Santa Company employee ID card as a special gift. With the card, customers will receive a 10% discount at participating Cold Stone Creamery locations. More tie-ins with the film are anticipated for next year.
You may believe that the North Pole is Santa’s home, however many others believe Finland is his home! Surprisingly, the work has even gained recognition and support from the Prime Minister of Finland. The icon of the Twitter account of Embassy of Finland in Japan was even created by Itoso.
The film is planned to release during the holiday season of 2013. Make sure you don’t miss it!
Official site for Santa Company:
http://www.santa-company.net (Japanese)
This article contains translated excerpts from:
http://animeanime.jp/article/2012/11/24/12166.html (Japanese)
