Satoshi Kon Dream Machine
Paprika Director Makes Children's Anime For Studio Madhouse
Paprika director Satoshi Kon has announced his next project for Studio Madhouse. It's called Yume-Miru Kikai, or Dream Machine.
Acclaimed anime director Satoshi Kon has announced his next anime project, according to Anime News Network. This time Kon, who is best known for more adult fare like Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers, is making a children's movie, which he is calling Yume-Miru Kikai, or Dream Machine.
Studio Madhouse has released an initial painting from the film, which can bee seen in the upper right, or down below.
Satoshi Kon's Dream Machine a "Future Folklore" Story
According to an April 2007 interview Kon did with Tokyopop's Bill Aguiar, he hinted at what form Dream Machine would take.
"It will be an original story scripted by myself, and I have a feeling that two to two-and-half years from now you will see it," Kon said in the interview. "It will not be like Paprika in that it will not have a mature target audience but be one that children could enjoy. That said, it will not be a child-oriented film so it could be viewed with an adult’s perspective differently from how children will watch it."
Kon admitted the new story is "set in the future. In anime we often create a future that is near, that we can imagine but this movie is about the future of the future, a future folklore story. From a child’s perspective it is an adventure film while an adult may view it differently."
It's interesting that Kon is making a "children's film" that adults can get something out of as well. That style of anime has definitively been staked out by a certain Hayao Miyazaki, and it will be fascinating to watch whether or not Kon can establish himself as a legitimate contender in that genre. It's also interesting to see that Kon's obsession with dream images, and blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, are still in full force in this new flick.
There has been no date set for Dream Machine, but it likely won't see a North American release until sometime around 2010.
Is There Another Dream Machine?
Manga site Akadot alleges that fellow anime director Masaaki Yuasa used the same title for a short segment he made for 4ºC's 2007 anime anthology Genius Party.
"Madhouse can hardly have been unaware of that," commented the bulletin.
Oddly enough, Wikipedia translated the Yuasa short's title into "Happy Machine." Will there be a quick name change for Kon's film, or will 4C let it slide since there's no way viewers will confuse the two?
Fun Fact: Some sites are calling Satoshi Kon's new flick Dream Machine, or Dreaming Machine, depending on how they're translating the Japanese title. Hopefully Studio Madhouse will clear up the confusion, and give the flick an official English name.
