GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced it has acquired North American distribution rights for the animated feature Weathering With You, the new film from director Makoto Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura, whose previous film Your Name set box office records in Japan and around the world ($360 […]

In America, animation is rarely used for action or adventure films. Because it’s still largely regarded as children’s entertainment here, studios are usually reluctant to tell stories where the danger is real and the hero can be killed. In contrast, Masahiro Ando’s Sword of the Stranger (2007) is an action-filled samurai adventure that echoes the […]

A gentle melancholy hangs over the anime feature Penguin Highway (2018), setting it apart from similar fantasy-adventures. Fourth-grader Aoyama (voice by Kana Kita) is almost too precocious and self-possessed. Never at a loss for a reply to a bully or an interfering adult, he says what viewers may wish they’d thought to say in school. […]

GKIDS and Beijing Film Panorama have partnered to present ANIMATION IS FILM BEIJING, a special animation section within the upcoming Beijing Int’l Film Festival (BJIFF), which runs April 13-20, 2019. The ANIMATION IS FILM BEIJING lineup will be the largest slate of non-Chinese feature film animation ever to be presented in China and will highlight […]

One of the biggest anime hits of recent years, the broadcast series My Hero Academia (2016) blends the popular genres of the superhero adventure and the high school comedy-drama. The first feature, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, earned a 100% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and a respectable $28 million in its US theatrical release […]

Although Pokémon is no longer the craze bordering on mania it was 20 years ago, the property remains extremely popular. The TV series, which runs to more than 800 episodes, enjoys a worldwide audience on TV, streaming services and discs; YouTube lists more than 100,000,000 Pokémon films. Pokémon merchandise is ubiquitous, and on a typical […]