Poster for The Future of the Future.
Directed by Mori Hosoda, the Japanese animated film "Future of the Future", which was released nationwide on November 6, tells the story of a four-year-old boy who meets his sister "Mirai" from the future and grows into a real brother after a magical adventure. The film was nominated for the 71st Cannes Directors Biwealth in 2018, the 91st Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and the 46th Annie Awards for Best Independent Animation.
Many people refer to Hosoda as Miyazaki's successor, and the fate between the two is quite delicate. Hosoda wanted to join Studio Ghibli after graduation, but was rejected by Miyazaki. But his relationship with Studio Ghibli is not over. After 8 years at Toei, Hosoda became a director and began to make a name for himself. Studio Ghib called Hosoda to be the film director of Hal's Moving Castle, and he threw himself into his work with enthusiasm, but when the film was almost finished, Studio Ghib replaced it. Hosoda Mori has had a difficult few years, but he has never given up on animated films, and finally turned around with 2006's "Girl Who Traveled Through Time", followed by "Summer Battle", "Wolf's Child Rain and Snow", and "Son of the Monster" to establish his own animation brand. In 2011, he co-founded map studio with royal producer Yuichiro Saito, and in the current era of computer graphics, he still adheres to the method of hand-drawn animation.
"Future future" continues the fantasy style of the director's previous works, and the imagination is wild. The story gets a lot of material from his own pair of children, the sister "future" is the name of the director's daughter, and through the perspective of a little boy to observe the family, influenced by Yang Dechang's classic film "Yiyi". The Beijing News interviewed director Xio Morita via email to listen to him tell the behind-the-scenes story of the creation of this animated film.
【Story】
Tell the story of family relationships with a traversal setting
The story takes place in a family of three in Tokyo, the four-year-old male protagonist Xiaojun and his parents live very happily, but suddenly one day, ushered in the newborn sister "future", Xiaojun felt that the sister took away all the love of his parents. While material life is abundant, the emotions between brothers and sisters have faded.
As an only son, Hosoda Mori, the "war" between the brothers and sisters is very interesting, and the director also borrowed the traversal setting, so that the four-year-old Xiaojun one day met his sister from the future who was older than himself. Every time Xiaojun loses his temper because he loses his parents' favor, he will enter another magical world in the courtyard and meet a girl dressed in a sailor suit, which is what his sister will grow up in the future.
"Future Future" Stills: Xiaojun one day met his sister from the future who was older than himself.
Hosomori Hosoda's youngest daughter had just been born when he was making this anime, and his son had just turned 4 years old, and the inspiration for the setting was Hosomori's 4-year-old son, who one day told Hosomori that he had dreamed of his grown sister.
The details of life and family warmth expressed in "Future in the Future" are the true feelings from the heart of director Hosoda Mori, which can be said to be a "love letter" dedicated to children.
【Interview】Bring your own children to the studio and let everyone learn to draw children
Beijing News: In real life, you also have a pair of children, and they have provided a lot of material for this animated movie, right?
Hosoda Mori: Because I felt that in order to draw the feelings of children, I still needed to actually observe the children, so I took my own children to the studio to make the scene, so that everyone could observe and learn how to draw children.
Stills from the film "One by One": The little boy calmly observes life from the camera angle.
Beijing News: It is said that the creative inspiration of this film was also inspired by Yang Dechang's "Yiyi", is there such a thing?
Hosoda Mori: Although there is no reference example of a 4-year-old boy with a protagonist, there are works featuring a 5-year-old girl, such as "Ghost of the Hive" and "Totoro". From the perspective of a young boy, the family and family are influenced by "One By One".
Beijing News: In the film, the brother often loses his temper because his parents ignore him, and he doesn't like his sister, in real life, will your two children also have this situation?
Hosoda Mori: When my son was born, he had always been the only son, and for the first time in his life, he experienced the feeling of love being taken away, and he also rolled on the ground.
Stills of the subway station shown in The Future of the Future.
Beijing News: Some of the shots in tokyo subway stations are very scary, why is it designed like this?
Hosoda Mori: When you are a child, you should have experienced the moment of getting lost and lost, which is especially scary for children. And the protagonist Xiaojun, in this situation of being forced into a difficult situation, how to recognize the future existence of himself and his sister. I designed this Tokyo subway station to present this horror and despair.
Beijing News: How long is the production cycle of this animated film? What is the hardest part of the director?
Hosoda Mori: The film was about 3 years old. A lot of effort has been made in the scene where there are babies or children, especially in the opening scene, where a small baby is born at home, and even if you have experienced it in daily life, it still feels very fresh and feels very important. So I hope that all the audiences who watch this movie can also appreciate it.
Directed by HosoMorida.
Beijing News: Map Studio is known overseas as studio Ghibli of the new generation, and it is said that it will become an original animation studio going global.
Hosoda: I'm very happy that people have so many expectations for us, and we will continue to work hard. It can be said that the potential of animated films has not yet been fully explored, and it can be done a lot by making movies through the technique of making animated films. The history of realistic films is very long, and many famous works have appeared; the number of animated films created is small, and it is not easy to make each one, but it is possible to create a good film by using its advantages. You can look forward to the birth of new films, films that have not been seen so far, and I hope that my work will achieve one of them.
Beijing News reporter Teng Chao
Edited by Huang Jialing Proofreader Liu Jun