Dreaming Machine

Dreaming Machine
Directed by	Satoshi Kon Yoshimi Itazu
Produced by	Masao Maruyama Ryoichiro Matsuo
Written by	Satoshi Kon
Music by	Susumu Hirasawa
Studio	Madhouse
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Dreaming Machine (夢みる機械, Yume Miru Kikai^?) is an upcoming anime film by Satoshi Kon. When released, it will be the director's fifth and final feature film. After Kon's death on August 24, 2010, production has continued and is still underway at Madhouse, where the team uses Satoshi Kon's directorial tapes and notes to guide them to completing the film, though the main work such as storyboards and script was already complete.

Plot

In an interview with Anime News Network, Kon talked about the film:

The title will be Yume-Miru Kikai. In English, it will be The Dream Machine. On the surface, it's going to be a fantasy-adventure targeted at younger audiences. However, it will also be a film that people who have seen our films up to this point will be able to enjoy. So it will be an adventure that even older audiences can appreciate. There will be no human characters in the film; only robots. It'll be like a "road movie" for robots.

—Satoshi Kon^[1]

Production

During Kon's battle with pancreatic cancer, the director expressed concern about the film being finished to Madhouse head Masao Maruyama. Maruyama assured Kon the film would be completed, no matter what. When Kon passed, production was suspended indefinitely until further plans could be worked out over the film. On Friday November 12, 2010 Madhouse Studios announced production resumed with character designer and chief animation director Yoshimi Itazu taking over as director of the film.^[2] At Otakon 2011, Maruyama revealed that production had been put on hold for financial reasons, but that he was dedicated to eventually be able to finish the film. According to Maruyama, about 600 shots out of 1500 had been animated at that point.^[3]

References

1. ^ Justin Sevakis (2008-08-21). "Interview: Satoshi Kon". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2008-08-21/satoshi-kon. Retrieved 7 July 2009. 
2. ^ Anime News Network (2010-11-11). "Satoshi Kon's Last Film Officially Resumes Production". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-11/satoshi-kon-last-film-to-officially-resume-production. Retrieved 11 November 2010. 
3. ^ Brown, Todd (2011-08-09). "Production Halted On Satoshi Kon's Dreaming Machine". Twitch Film. http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/08/production-halted-on-satoshi-kons-dreaming-machine.php. Retrieved 2011-08-09. 

External references

• Official website (Japanese)
• Dreaming Machine (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Dreaming Machine at the Internet Movie Database