The Sky Crawlers, the New Animation Film by Mamoru Oshii Out in 2008

Mamoru Oshii's New Animation Film

The Sky Crawlers

to be released in 2008!

Mamoru Oshii, the world-famous Japanese filmmaker, whose works include Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Innocence (2004), will direct a new feature animation film, The Sky Crawlers, to be released in Japan in 2008. The film is based on a popular five-part novel by a best-seller writer, Hiroshi Mori, who enjoys enthusiastic support from younger generations and has sold over 8 million copies of his works in total. The story unfolds in another ‘possible’ modern age. The main characters are youngsters called “Kildren”, who are destined to live eternally in their adolescence. The Kildren are conscious that every day could be the last, because they fight a “war as entertainment,” organized and operated by adults. But as they embrace the reality they are faced with, they live their day-to-day lives to the full.

After reading the novel, Oshii praised it as “a work that should be made into a movie for young people now”. Clothing, food and housing are in abundance in our modern society, and yet we carry an unfulfilled vacuum in our hearts. “It is time to face this new perception to our existence through the Kildren, who live indefinitely in eternal adolescence, and this theme should be dealt with now,” claims Oshii earnestly. The author Mori regards his novel, The Sky Crawlers “as the most difficult among all of my works for film adaptation”. However, Mori declared himself “surprised and relieved at the same time to know the director was going to be Mamoru Oshii,” and gave his immediate consent.

Mamoru Oshii is best known worldwide for the epoch-making Ghost in the Shell, that topped the Billboard video chart in the US, and its sequel, Innocence the first Japanese animation film to compete for the Palm d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival. His philosophical speculations and revolutionary visual approach that run throughout his oeuvre had a definitive impact on many film directors, including Luc Besson of The Fifth Element (1997) and the Wachowski brothers of The Matrix (1999).

However, Oshii declares that he is sealing off his method of direction so far. While distancing himself from the original novel “to create a more entertaining work”, he has promoted an up-and-coming scriptwriter, Chihiro Itō, who depicted youngsters' sensitive feelings beautifully in two acclaimed movies, Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World (Sekai no Chushin de Ai wo Sakebu, 2004) and Spring Snow (Haru no Yuki, 2005). The music score will be written by Oshii's most trusted composer, Kenji Kawai. The animation production is by the top animation studio in Japan, Production I.G, which has been underpinning the quality of Oshii films. The Sky Crawlers is going to be a “completely new Oshii film”.

The Sky Crawlers is a collaborative project by Nippon Television Network Corporation and Production I.G, Inc., distributed in Japan by Warner Entertainment Japan Inc., and to be released in theaters nationwide in 2008.

The Sky Crawlers Official Website (Japanese only): www.sky.crawlers.jp

MAIN STAFF Based on the novel by HIROSHI MORI screenplay: CHIHIRO ITO music: KENJI KAWAI
character Design: TETSUYA NISHIO mechanical design: ATSUSHI TAKEUCHI
art director: KAZUO NAGAI visual effects: HISASHI EZURA CGI supervisor: HIROYUKI HAYASHI

Established by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa in 1987, Production I.G is one of the world's leading animation studios. With its cutting-Edge Works, such as Ghost in the Shell (1995), Jin-Roh (2000), Blood: The Last Vampire (2000), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (animation segment, 2003) and Innocence (2004), I.G has gained high reputation around the globe, inspiring Hollywood creators such as James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers.