On Thursday, October 6, this year’s Animation Is Film (AIF) festival announced that it would screen the World Premiere of the English-language dub of Crunchyroll’sOne Piece Film Redas the centerpiece of the festival on Saturday, October 22, ahead of the film’s North American theatrical release on November 4. The same day, AIF also announced its Closing Night film would be Guillermo del Toro’sPinocchio, which is being shown ahead of its Netflix premiere inDecember 2022.
Animation Is Film, produced by GKIDS in collaboration with Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Variety, is on a mission to champion animation as a cinematic art form on par with live action. Every Fall, the event occurs at the historic TCL Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood, with this year’s closing night being held on Saturday, October 29, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills. Closing night will be hosted byPinocchioscreenwriter and multi-award-winning co-director Guillermo del Toro (also directing is Mark Gustafson).
Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi’s classic tale of the wooden marionette, Carlo, a.k.a. Pinocchio, played by relative newcomer Gregory Mann, who is magically brought to life to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto, played by David Bradley (Game of Thrones). This whimsical stop-motion film follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.
“Bringing Pinocchio to life has been the filmmaker’s passion and labor for over 20 years. We are honored and humbled beyond words that he has chosen to unveil it to U.S. audiences at Animation Is Film. Thank you, Guillermo!!!!” stated Festival’s founder Eric Beckman. Watch the AIF trailerhere.
One Piece Film Red Celebrates 25th Anniversary Eiichiro Oda’s Manga Series
One Piece Film Red, produced by Toei Animation, directed by Goro Taniguchi (One Piece – Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack) and written by Tsutomo Kuroiwa (One Piece Film: Gold), commemorates the 25th anniversary of creator Eiichiro Oda’s Guinness World Record setting manga series,One Piece, whichset the recordfor “the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author” with 500 million copies in circulation worldwide. The 15th feature film installment of the global hit franchise,One Piece Film Red, delves deep into the legendary pirate Shanks and introduces a new character, Uta, his daughter and the childhood friend of the main character Monkey D. Luffy.
The film is described by Crunchyroll as such:
Uta—the most beloved singer in the world whose voice has been described as “otherworldly”—is renowned for concealing her own identity when performing. Now, for the first time ever, she will reveal herself to the world at a live concert.
With the Navy watching closely, the venue fills with Uta’s fans—including excited pirates and the Straw Hats led by Luffy, who simply came to enjoy her sonorous performance—all eagerly awaiting the voice that the whole world has been waiting for to resound. The story begins with the shocking revelation that she is the enigmatic Shanks' daughter.
