Still in Sales | Second Wave of Animations in Panorama

Animated movies are an integral part of the Shanghai International Film Festival Competition and Panorama, attracting numerous adults and children to a picturesque and colorful film banquet every year. This year, five productions have been selected to compete for the Golden Goblet Awards; except for the hit Loving Vincent, the tickets of which have been sold out once put on sale, the other films still have tickets left! With diversified themes and intriguing characters, these films all worth a trip to cinemas.

Besides that, a number of animations in the panorama program are also recommendable, some of which were hard to find tickets when released overseas, while some are edutainment to both parents and children.

Competition Films for Golden Goblet Awards

In The Forest of Huckybucky /  Loving Vincent
Lu Over The Wall /  Richard The Stork
Tea Pets

● Film Profile ●

In The Forest of Huckybucky

Country of production: Norway
Directed by: Rasmus A. Sivertsen
Running time: 76 min

In The Forest of Huckybucky is directed by Norwegian director Rasmus A. Sivertsen and based on the fairy tale written by the renowned Norwegian children’s literature writer Thorbjørn Egner. The story takes place in a forest called Huckybucky, where dwell a group of mice. However, the tiny animals always have to watch out for some of the bigger ones, such as Marvin the Fox, who has a tendency to try to devour all the mice. As Horace Hedgehog attempts to eat Morten\'s grandma, he tries to pass a law for all the animals to agree to be friends and stop eating each other.
 
Highlights: A rare animation feature produced in Norway; in delicate stop-motion and with refined production, the film is sending off a mysterious breath that belongs to the Nordic forest.

Loving Vincent

Country of production: Great Britain/ Poland
Directed by: Hugh Welchman/ Dorota Kobiela
Running time: 95 min

2015 is the 125th birthday of Vincent van Gogh. The animated film Loving Vincent centers on Van Gogh’s good friend – the Postman Roulin in Arles and his son Armand Roulin. To investigate on the reason of Van Gogh’s unexpected death after he left Arles, the two visit several people who were close to him and have been appeared in his work. Through over 120 paintings of Van Gogh and 800 personal letters, the animation depicts the life and dramatic death of Van Gogh, and represents the incidents occurring before his death in a marvelous way, trying to find out the clues concealed behind.

As the first fully painted biographical animated film, each of its 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, using the same technique as Van Gogh, created by a team of 115 painters
 
Highlights: Wish the lucky fans who got the tickets have a good time!

Lu Over The Wall

Country of production: Japan
Directed by: Masaaki Yuasa
Running time: 112 min

The middle school student Kai moves from Tokyo to his hometown – a small fishing village after his parents’ divorce. The huge change makes him feel lost, but he has no idea how to pour out his loneliness and worries to his families, and even loses hope for the school life. His only sustenance is to post songs written by himself to the internet. One day, his classmate invites him to join the band, where he meets the mermaid Lu with both wonderful voice and graceful dancing posture. The two gradually get familiar and Kai starts to confide to her. However, in this small town, everyone believes mermaid is an ominous creature. Some mishap then falls on them…

Highlights: Masaaki Yuasa has brought two new works to SIFF this year, one of which even enters the competition of Golden Goblet Awards. An online celebrity also appears in the film in an unusual way. Come to the cinema to find out! Apart from that, Masaaki Yuasa will also show up at the fan meeting!

Richard The Stork

Country of production: Germany/ Belgium/ Luxembourg/ Norway
Directed by: Toby Genkel/ Reza Memari/
Running time: 84 min

 
The little sparrow Richard loses his parents soon after he is born, and is then adopted by a stork family. Growing up happily under the attentive cares of his foster parents and brother, Richard never realizes that he actually is not a stork. One day when the whole family plans to fly to the warm Africa, Richard has to face the reality: a sparrow cannot finish a long-distance migration, so his families have to leave him alone. However, he decides to start his own journey to Africa to prove to others that he is a real stork! The lucky Richard is helped by an owl Olga and her imagined friend Aurora on the way, during which time they also save a parrot Kiki together. An exciting adventure thus begins!
 
Highlights: The little birds in the film are so adorable and funny, especially the pigeons possessing the nature of social software. A film suitable for the entire family.

Tea Pets

Country of production: China
Directed by: Wang Wei
Running time: 100 min

 
Directed by Wang Wei, the story takes place in a tea store in a busy southern city, where live a group of tea pets. They are watered by tea every day, so have brilliant colors; except Tang, who is always laughed at by other pets. One day, a robot coming from the future accidentally falls into the tea store. To make his color as nice as others’, Tang decides to go with the robot and sets on an adventure to the future…
 
Highlights: As the only Chinese animated film selected for the competition, the film represents the highest production level of domestic animations.

Films for Panorama

The Oddsockeaters / Saving Sally
The Shonku Diaries – A Unicorn Adventure / The Snow Queen 3
Fishtronaut – The Movie (3D) / Knight Rusty 2 – Full Metal Racket

● Film Profile ●

The Oddsockeaters

Country of production: Czech Republic
Directed by: Galina Miklínová
Running time: 86 min

The Oddsockeaters are small creatures, who live alongside us humans. They eat socks, but only one from each pair. The film is about the adventure of a Oddsockeater called Hihlík finding his family.

Hihlík’s grandfather wants to see his child before he dies, so Hihlík, who has been raised by him, has to overcome the fear, leave their house and find his uncle, although he has never heard of him before. He has been thinking about grandfather all the way along: grandfather teaches him to be courageous; grandfather values family affection a lot; grandfather asks him to be courteous… But he always meets troubles because of these principles.
 
Highlights: Highest-grossing animated feature of Czech Republic in 2016.

Saving Sally

Country of production: Philippine
Directed by: Avid Liongoren
Running time: 94 min
 

Saving Sally is a romantic & science fictional film directed by Avid Liongoren. Marty, an ambitious comic book artist who falls for Sally, a gadget inventor. But love is always tested by various challenges: because of the over-protection by her parents, Sally is not allowed to make friends, and is also forced to marry an obnoxious man Nick. Though Marty knows nothing else other than comics, he tries hard to save Sally.
 
Highlights: The ingenious combination of live-action and animation will bring a thrilling watching experience.

The Shonku Diaries – A Unicorn Adventure

Country of production: India
Directed by: Kamal Bansal
Running time: 92 min

The Shonku Diaries – A Unicorn Adventure is an animation directed by Kamal Bansal, as well as his first work, which was also awarded Best Animation by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. The 10-year-old Mo and 13-year-old Melody enlist the aid of their father’s best friend, the Indian scientist and inventor, Professor Shonku to find their father who goes missing when tracking down the unicorn. To follow the only clue they have, they go deep into the Himalayan valley and embark on a fantastic journey.

Highlights: An edutainment animation about science and the known.

The Snow Queen 3

Country of production: Russia
Directed by: Aleksey Tsitsilin
Running time: 89 min

After defeating the Snow Queen who freezes the entire world, Kai and Gerda become famous, but the reputation cannot help them find the parents who have been abducted by the North Wind. To make a living, they start to perform in schools and kindergartens, but reputation and wealth don’t come together. Soon, they find themselves unable to make ends meet. Gerda don’t take it seriously, while Kai is always very worried. Till once they are almost torn up by the audience who are snapping up the souvenirs during the performance, they decide to make some change. They plan to move to a strange place and start from the very beginning…

Highlights: Superior production, cute characters and tense-plotted.
 

 
Fishtronaut – The Movie (3D)

Country of production: Brazil
Directed by: Celia Catunda
Running time: 83 min

 The film takes place where Fishtronaut and his friends leave Smiling Trees Park and enter a city while on an investigation to find Dr. Green along with Billy and Mac who have disappeared. But the surprise is that no one is living in the city, because of the rubbish scattered throughout the city. During the journey, the children will know how important it is to protect the environment! 
 
Highlights: It’s an animation for children, which has only been publicly released in Brazil for the time being.
 

Knight Rusty 2 – Full Metal Racket

Country of production: Germany
Directed by: Thomas Bodenstein
Running time: 87 min

 
Knight Rusty 2 is an animation co-directed by Marcus Hamann & Thomas Bodenstein. In the film, the Scrapland is going broke. As over half the country’s budget pays for the upkeep of King Leadfoot and his Knights, the downsizing options are limited and obvious. Forced into early retirement, Knight Rusty is looking for a new job. In the basement of his Castle he meets a ghost who shows him the unfinished work of his father, an inventor in Scrapland’s former days. When power crazed police chiefs take over the country, Rusty finally accepts that he must do what he was created for: to protect Scrapland and his father’s vision.
 
Highlights: Featuring cutie “full metal racket”, this is the right animation for children.