"Where do all your childhood treasures go when you grow up?"

Production I.G and Fuji Television Network present a new computer graphic animation feature film entitled Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror (original title: Hottarake no Shima - Haruka to Maho no Kagami)

Today, American-made 3DCG animation feature films have become a well established and recognized global reality in the entertainment industry. However, budget restrictions and lack of know-how prevented similar productions to become prevalent in Japan so far.

Tokyo-based Production I.G was one of the first animation studios in Japan to recognize the potentials of the upcoming digital era, and has been dedicating time and resources to the establishment of a fully equipped production environment and a 200 people strong creative and technical team that could support the realization of 3DCG feature-length animated films.

Four years in the making, the first project presented by Production I.G's 3D team is a fresh departure from 3DCG animation as we know it today. Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror inherits the unique expressive style that has made Japanese animation massively popular around the globe, and at the same time it pursues a completely different texture from Western style 3DCG animation. While making full use of the state-of-the-art in digital techniques, I.G aims to entertain with heartwarming visuals and pioneer a new course of Japanese-made 3DCG animation appealing to the international audience.

Recognitions
- Prize of Excellence, 33rd Japan Academy Prizes (2010)
- Visual Technology Award, 9th annual Video Technology Awards (2010)
- Nippon Cinema Award, 10th Nippon Connection Film Festival (2010)
- Jury Prize for Best Animation - Special Mention, 14th Fantasia Film Festival (2010)
- Special Jury Prize, 14th SICAF (2010)
- Jury Recommended Work, 13th Japan Media Arts Festival (2010)
- Jury's First Mention, 4th Expotoons (2010)
- DCAJ Chairman Prize, 25th Digital Content Grand Prix (2010)
- Best Animated Feature Film Nominee, Asia Pacific Screen Awards (2010)
- Jury’s Special Mention, 18th Stuttgard Festival of Animated Films (2011)
- Gold Kite, Best Feature Animation Film for Young People, 10th Nueva Mirada Film Festival (2011)
- Signis Argentina Jury's Special Mention, 10th Nueva Mirada Film Festival (2011)

What the World Said
The creators of Ghost in the Shell mix exquisitely detailed 2D backgrounds with modern 3D character designs in a dazzling animated adventure that plays like Alice's fall through the rabbit hole into a world of topsy-turvy, anime dream logic. (New York International Children's Film Festival 2010)

Warm and intimate, the first animated feature from Japanese filmmaker Shinsuke Sato is a three dimensional feast that appeals to both children and grownups alike where adventures succeed each other at a dizzy pace. (Sitges 2009)

An absolutely astounding feast for the eyes with a sweet, worthwhile point to make about holding on to one's memories, for they are what make us who we are. (Rupert Bottenberg, Fantasia Film Festival 2010)

Stunningly rich and imaginative CGI anime [...] Haruka's quest to recover her mirror is filled with excitement, fantasy and friendship in this dazzlingly animated adventure. (Traverse City Film Festival)

Overview
Your favourite teddy bear. That model kit that took so long to complete. The picture book you used to read over and over again. The shining stone you found that day in the park. Where do all your childhood's treasures go when you grow up? In this story, we meet fantastic creatures that gather all these little objects that fall into oblivion as they are forgotten by their owners when they step into adulthood. These creatures sneak into our world from a different dimension, and unseen by humans, they take all the ditched and forgotten "treasures" into their world. Here, they use their booty to build their own city, a fairy tale-like place called... Oblivion Island!

Story
Haruka is an ordinary teenager. Her mother passed away when she was only a little child, and her father has been looking after her ever since. But now that she's 16, communication with her ever-absent workaholic father is not at its best, and "home" has become synonymous of solitude. One day, in a shrine yard, Haruka spots a strange creature resembling a fox, carrying a toy plane. But as she goes after the funny animal, she finds herself on... Oblivion Island! This is an amazing place entirely made of memorabilia coming from the human world. And here, Haruka will encounter the memories of her childhood. But humans are not supposed to be on Oblivion Island, and the Baron, who rules that world, has put his eye on that unexpected intruder.
And from here, the story bends dramatically into an unpredictable direction at increasing and uncontrolled speed...
Will Haruka find her long lost memories and make it up with them?

About the Staff
Screenplay: Hirotaka Adachi and Shinsuke Sato
Probably better known by his alias Otsuichi, Hirotaka Adachi is a hugely popular novelist whose works have often been transposed into comics and live action movies, for which he personally wrote the screenplays, such as Goth (2002, 3rd Mystery Grand Prize winner), Waiting in the Darkness (2002) and Zoo (2003). Born in Fukuoka in 1978, he made his professional debut when he was only 17. He's reportedly a big fan of Studio Ghibli's movies.

Director: Shinsuke Sato
Born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1970, Sato is a film director and scriptwriter. He graduated from the Musashino Art University, like Satoshi Kon and Ryu Murakami. His directorial debut, a self-produced 16mm short film entitled Ryonai Genshuku (Dorm Austerity) was awarded with the Grand Prix at the Pia Film Festival 1994. Later, he worked as scriptwriter for directors such as Jun Ichikawa and Isao Yukisada, and accomplished his feature film directorial debut in 2001 with Love Song. Notable works include, Princess Blade (2001), Gantz (2011), I am a Hero (2016), Death Note: Light up the New World (2016), Inuyashiki
(2018), Bleach (2018), Kingdom (2019) and Alice in Borderland (2020), all of them live-action. Although Sato has directed several opening movies for video games, Oblivion Island marked his highly anticipated debut in animation.

Animation Director: Naoyoshi Shiotani
Born in 1977, Shiotani is one of Japan's most promising young animation creators. After being mesmerized by anime classics such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, he was blown away by Wings of Oneamis and started feeling frustrated at the idea of not being on the creative side of animation. Thus, he enrolled in an anime school, and after graduation, he joined Production I.G in the animation department. His directorial debut, Tokyo Marble Chocolate (2007) was awarded with the Grand Prize in the Feature Films Section of SICAF 200. He then joined the staff of Production I.G's first 3DCG animated feature film, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror as storyboard artist and animation director. For the same movie he designed the character of Cotton, the sheep-shaped plush doll that belongs to the protagonist, Haruka. In 2012, Blood-C: The Last Dark marked his directorial debut in a full-lenght feature film, which screened at Annecy and was greeted with the Ecran Fantastic Prize at the 16th Fantasia Film Festival. Since 2012 he's been working on the highly praised dystopian SF series Psycho-Pass. He is a soft-spoken nice boy with a naughty boy inside.

Release in Japan: August 22, 2009
Format: 99 minutes

© 2009 FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK / Production I.G / DENTSU / PONY CANYON