by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So, I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea with Animation Celebration is to take a look at some underseen gems — so no Toy Story or Frozen here.
Let’s get started.
Welcome to awards season!
It’s the busiest time of year for film fanatics as we scramble to catch up on the best the year has to offer ahead of the Academy Awards. While the winners of the Best Animated Feature category have been dominated by the big boys (and most years you’d be hard-pressed to find even a nominee that doesn’t have a decent following), there are a few that have still managed to go overlooked despite getting a shout from the academy.
Just because I’m a fan of animation doesn’t mean I’m immune to missing out on the occasional nominee. To illustrate my point, let’s go back to Japan for a second month running, but crucially we aren’t talking about another Studio Ghibli film. In fact, Mirai’s claim to fame is the fact that it wasn’t produced by the iconic Japanese animation house, but director Mamuro Hosada’s Studio Chizu. Its nomination in 2018 made it the first Japanese animated film to be put up for the award that was not a product of Ghibli.
Despite that fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a Ghibli film. I mean, just listen to the summary (from IMDb): “A young boy (Kun) encounters a magical garden which enables him to travel through time and meet his relatives from different eras, with guidance by his younger sister from the future.” It certainly sounds like it could be.
This was my introduction to Hosada as a director, who seems to have another Oscar contender with Belle,if the early reviews are to be believed. As both writer and director, much of how well this film works has to be a credit to him. The story is unique, and it’s brought to life with some creatively animated sequences. Tears become an ocean and man’s best friend becomes personified. The ending sequence is absolutely spectacular. Even outside the fantastical elements, I enjoyed how things in the “real world” were animated, too. With both a baby and a toddler, there’s a lot of crying happening in this film and those moments always seem to burst off the screen. The film’s title doubles not only as the baby’s name, but the word for future, which takes on some double meaning as our main character runs into the future version of his sister in the garden, as just another example of the clever writing on display.
What really stands out about Mirai is the charm. The entire 98 minutes is just bursting with it, and it’s hard not to smile pretty much all the way through. Case in point: we are slowly introduced to the members of Kun’s family in his magic garden portal, one of the really smart things the film does is start us off with the family dog. It’s impossible not to love a personified version of a dog, and he became my favorite character in the film. I even enjoyed watching the dog in its normal state after we have their spirit adventures for background. In fact, I enjoyed each of our meetings with Kun’s family, both past, present, and future. Those moments were my favorite parts, and I really enjoy how the story tied each of the visits into the narrative moving forward.
The biggest hurdle with this one is our lead. With our main character being a four-year old, he can be annoying. You know, because he’s four. He acts like a spoiled toddler at times, which can make him a little hard to root for, but you definitely sympathize with the other exasperated characters — either from our plane or the spirit world.
If you’re interested in checking out Mirai for yourself, it’s available to stream on Netflix. If you can get past a protagonist that can be a little frustrating at time, there are so many things to enjoy about Mirai that make it worth the time of any animation fan, particularly given that this director has certainly cemented himself as one to watch when it comes to the awards race.
I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch. Next month, I’ll have another first watch from the short list of underseen Academy nominees. Thanks for reading, and see you at next month’s celebration.
You can follow Jake Bourgeois on Twitter and Letterboxd