Robot Carnival

Robotto kânibaru

Japan

1987

90 Min

Color

Silent, Japanese

Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
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DIR Atsuko Fukushima, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Mao Lamdao, Kôji Morimoto, Takashi Nakamura, Hidetoshi Omori, Katsuhiro Ôtomo, Yasuomi Umetsu

PROD Kazufumi Nomura

MUSIC Isaku Fujita, Joe Hisaishi

Synopsis

Nine of Japan’s leading animators were asked to create a short segment that followed the theme of “robots” for their inclusion in this film. Essentially, this “movie” is nine short films, all independent of one another. The common element is human interaction with robots, namely the consequences of creating life with one’s own hands, played in nine very different ways. —Anime News Network

Director

Kôji Morimoto

Koji Morimoto (森本晃司 Morimoto Kōji?), born December 26, 1959) is an animator and one of Japan’s premier anime directors.

Born in Wakayama, Japan, he graduated from the Osaka School of Design in 1979 and a couple years later joined the studio Annapuru as an animator for the TV series “Tomorrow’s Joe”. While working there, he saw some animation by Takashi Nakamura in ‘Gold Lightan’, an otherwise standard mecha TV series by a rival studio. He was impressed, and it inspired him to quit his job and become a freelance animator.

Morimoto often collaborated with Nakamura, most notably in Katsuhiro Otomo’s ’The Order to Stop Construction’ segment of the anthology film ‘Neo-Tokyo’. This opened many doors for him, from working as animation director on Otomo’s landmark feature ‘Akira’ and a chance to direct a short for the ‘Robot Carnival’ anthology. Around this time he founded Studio 4°C with producer Eiko Tanaka and fellow animator Yoshiharu Sato.

Since then, Morimoto has… read more

Katsuhiro Ôtomo

Born in Miyagi, Japan, Katsuhiro Otomo grew up with a passion for American and European comics, and for watching American movies. In 1973 he moved to Tokyo to become a comic book artist, making his debut with “A Gun Report,” published in Action magazine. He continued to write for Action, with a regular comic strip and a series of short stories.

A 1977 trip to New York City inspired Otomo to create “Nippon Sayonara,” about a Japanese martial arts professor living in Manhattan. In 1979, Otomo made his first foray into science fiction with the serial “Fireball.” This was followed by another series, “Domu,” which became his first mainstream success.

Otomo eventually turned his sights to film, directing and writing the screenplay for Give Me a Gun Give Me Freedom (1982). He enjoyed much success with Akira (1988), winning a Silver Scream Award at the 1992 Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival for the film which was based on his highly popular comic series of the same name. For Memories… read more