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On Nov. 27, the short animated film Traveling Daru, the story of a stuffed animal who goes on a journey to find an owner, was released in 17 Asian countries on iTunes. The film was the first of any Japanese film to be included in iTunes’ movie category in 17 Asian countries. The film was originally made for the cafe Starry Cafe, a first of its kind airport planetarium inside the Haneda Airport International Terminal, where it is still screened today. Its characteristic is its ties to airports, traveling, and going abroad.
The company that produced the film is CoMix Wave Films, well known for 5 Centimeters Per Second and The Garden of Words. Just like other works by CoMix Wave Films, Traveling Daru is an entertaining film that can be enjoyed by anyone.
The director of Traveling Daru is Ushio Tazawa who has worked as the character designer and chief animation director on the short anime Senyu. The art director is Akiko Majima who is known from the works The Place Promised in Our Early Days and Children Who Chase Lost Voices. The short film was created from a group of staff who have worked on films by director Makoto Shinkai. The film has also been highly praised. It has won the First Audience Award in the short animation category at the 15th Italy Future Film Festival, and it is now screening overseas.
This year, the DVD of the film also released, and there have also been special screenings held in dome theaters at which the movie was projected on the interior of the dome’s round surface. The film is also screening on All Nippon Airways’ international flights.
Adding to this list is now iTunes. Beginning in Japan, the film has spread to Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Micronesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Taking into consideration its overseas viewers, the film hurdles the language barrier by not including any dialogue. In the near future, the goal is to spread the film to countries all over the world. The film costs roughly $2 to download, meaning it’s very reasonably priced.
Source:animeanime
Source article written by Yushi Makari
