Gekijōban Dōbutsu no Mori

Dōbutsu no Mori
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jōji Shimura
Written by	Aya Matsui
Produced by	Bunshō Kajiya
Starring	Yui Horie Misato Fukuen Fumiko Orikasa Yū Kobayashi Naoki Tatsuta Kenichi Ogata Shun Oguri Yūichi Kimura
Cinematography	Kōji Yamakoshi
Edited by	Toshio Henmi
Music by	Kazumi Totaka Tomoki Hasegawa (arrangements)
Production companies	Hakuhodo DY Media Partners East Japan Marketing & Communications Nintendo OLM, Inc. ShoPro Shogakukan Toho VAP
Distributed by	Toho (in association with Nintendo)
Release date	December 16, 2006 (2006-12-16) (Japan)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	~¥1.7 billion ($16,216,000)

Dōbutsu no Mori (Japanese: 劇場版 どうぶつの森, Hepburn: Gekijōban Dōbutsu no Mori, lit. "Animal Forest: Theater Version") is a 2006 Japanese animated film directed by Jōji Shimura and based on the Animal Crossing video game series, especially Wild World. It was produced by OLM, Inc. and distributed by Toho in association with Nintendo. The film opened in theaters in Japan on December 16, 2006, where it went on to earn an estimated ¥1.7 billion (approximately $16,216,000) at the box office.

The film retains the theme of the video games, and centers on a 11-year old girl named Ai who moves into a village populated with animals where she works to make new friends and find her own dreams. Dōbutsu no Mori was not released outside Japan, and Nintendo of America has no plans for an English release.

Plot

The film opens with Ai, an 11-year old young girl, moving into the Animal Village during the summer. After being put to work by Tanukichi to deliver goods, Ai befriends four of the village's residents: Bouquet, Sally, Albert, and Yū, participating in several activities. Ai begins to find a series of anonymous messages in bottles that state that a miracle will occur during the upcoming Winter Festival if pine trees are planted in specific points of the village. Ai complies with the messages and begins planting the trees, half-believing that the messages may have been placed by aliens.

During autumn, Bouquet scolds Ai for not attending Sally's farewell party, which comes as a big surprise. Ai becomes heartbroken, learning that Margie has moved away to embark on a career in fashion design. Ai ends up at the museum café, and ends up crying when K.K. Bossa plays, as the song reminds her of Sally. Bianca scolds Ai, and tells her that she should be happy as a friend for Sally. Ai then responds by saying that she is happy, but she is instead sad that Sally never told her anything, and leaves the café. Sally sends a letter of apology to Ai, explaining that a goodbye would have been too upsetting, and encourages her to embark on her own personal journey. Bouquet apologizes to Ai for her harsh reaction.

Winter comes, and all the pine trees that Ai has planted have fully grown and are decorated with Christmas lights. A spaceship crash-lands in the middle of the forest, and Johnny, a seagull, emerges. Johnny, who had planted the bottles in order to make an entrance dressed as an alien, asks the villagers to help locate some of the pieces that broke off his ship during the descent. Ai, Bouquet, Yū, and Albert head towards a cave, where Yū claims to have seen one of the pieces fall. The entrance, though, is blocked up by a large boulder from a recent event. Though the team tries to move the boulder, it eventually turns out it is too heavy for them to move. Sally then appears and helps unseal the cave.

The five retrieve the missing piece and return to Johnny, who they discover had already obtained them all. The missing piece turns out to be an injured UFO, one of a larger group that was attracted to the village due to the pattern formed by Ai's lit-up pine trees. The injured UFO reunites with its group, and as they depart, create a constellation in the night sky resembling Ai. Ai then wins the Winter Festival contest for the best decoration, leaving her feeling for the first time as a true member of the village.

Characters

• Ai (Yui Horie) - The 11-year old female human protagonist of the film who moves into the Animal Village.
• Bouquet (Misato Fukuen) - An 11-year old frank female cat who befriends Ai. She has a tendency to praise her own wares. She discovers a Seismosaurus fossil in the village cave. She is known as Rosie in Japanese releases of the series.
• Sally (Fumiko Orikasa) - A 11-year old female elephant who dreams of becoming a designer. Despite her large and intimidating appearance, she is a kind and gentle person, and befriends Ai along with Bouquet. She is known as Margie in English-language releases of the series.
• Yū (Yū Kobayashi) - A 12-year old human boy who lives in a neighboring village. His hobbies include cosplaying (usually as a pirate or a ninja) and collecting insects and fossils.
• Albert (Takatoshi Kaneko) - A 12-year old mischievous male alligator who is friends with Yū. He is known as Alfonso in English-language releases of the series.
• Apollo (Masaki Terasoma) - A calm male eagle whom Bianca seems to admire.
• Bianca (Yurika Hino) - A lovely female white wolf who seems to admire Apollo. She tries to maintain a ladylike nature. It is heavily implied throughout the movie that she and Apollo were once a couple. She is known as Whitney in English-language releases of the series.
• Saruo (Yasuhiro Takato) - A muscular male monkey who likes to weight-train, and does so throughout the movie. He is known as Champ in English-language releases of the series.
• Alan (Kazuya Tatekabe) - A male gorilla who is skilled in enka. He is good friends with Sakurajima. He is known as Cesar in English-language releases of the series.
• Sakurajima (Yūji Ueda) - A male anteater who is skilled in chanson. He is good friends with Alan. He is known as Cyrano in English-language releases of the series.
• Daruman (Hisao Egawa) - A male rockhopper penguin who likes to fish, always fishing at the same spot. He is known as Hopper in English-language releases of the series.
• Tanukichi (Naoki Tatsuta) - A male tanuki that owns a shop in the Animal Village. He likes to make new villagers work at his store as a part-time job. He is known as Tom Nook in English-language releases of the series.
• Kotobuki (Kenichi Ogata) - An old tortoise, and mayor of the village. In the film, he is worried about his upcoming re-election, even though he is the only candidate. He is known as Tortimer in English-language releases of the series.
• Pelio (Akio Suyama) - A male pelican who delivers letters around the Animal Village. He is known as Pete in English-language releases of the series.
• Peliko (Otoha) - A female pelican who works in the Animal Village City Hall during the daytime hours. She is a tender and kind person, unlike her older sister Pelimi. She is known as Pelly in English-language releases of the series.
• Pelimi (Yūko Mizutani) - A female pelican who works in the Animal Village City Hall during the nighttime hours. Unlike her younger sister Peliko, she is a foul-mouthed and bitter person. She is known as Phyllis in English-language releases of the series.
• Fūta (Kappei Yamaguchi) - A 12-year old male Ural owl who works at the Animal Village Museum. He cannot stop talking about dinosaurs once he starts talking about one. To obtain a Seismosaurus fossil is his dream. He is known as Blathers in English-language releases of the series. Unlike in the games, he is not nocturnal.
• Fūko (Mika Kanai) - A 9-year old female owl who runs the observatory in the museum. She is known as Celeste in English-language releases of the series. Unlike in the games, she is not nocturnal.
• Master (Takaya Hashi) - A male Columbidae who runs the kissaten in the museum's basement. He is known as Brewster in English-language releases of the series.
• Totakeke (Shun Oguri) - A male street musician dog. He is named and modeled after musician Kazumi Totaka. He is known as K.K. Slider in English-language releases of the series. When he sings K.K. Bossa during the fireworks festival, he sings it in Animalese, the animals' oral language from the games.
• Mr. Reset (Yūichi Kimura) - A male mole who is in charge of the illumination in the village. He is known as Mr. Resetti in English-language releases of the series, where he serves a different purpose. He appears if the player resets the game without saving, and lectures them not to.
• Seiichi (Junpei Takiguchi) - A male walrus painter who is frequently hungry and sorrowful. He is known as Wendell in English-language releases of the series.
• Asami (Mari Adachi) - The younger of the two hedgehog sisters, who are the village tailors. She is known as Mable Able in English-language releases of the series.
• Kinuyo (Saori Hattori) - The older of the two hedgehog sisters, who are the village tailors. She is known as Sable Able in English-language releases of the series.
• Tsunekichi (Tetsuo Sakaguchi) - A kitsune who runs a suspicious black market. He is known as Crazy Redd in English-language releases of the series.
• Rakosuke (Takashi Miike) - A male sea otter. He is known as Pascal in English-language releases of the series.
• Johnny (Wataru Takagi) - A male astronaut common gull who flies around the village in a UFO, and also speaks English. He is known as Gulliver in English-language releases of the series. In the original game, he was a sailor that washed up on shore once a week, giving the player a rare piece of furniture. In Wild World, he flies a UFO like he does in the film, which the player can shoot down with a slingshot. Afterwards, the player must gather the pieces of the ship just like in the movie. Gulliver rewards the player with a piece of space-themed furniture with the completion of this task.
• Kappei (Mitsuo Iwata) - A male taxicab-driving kappa. He is known as Kapp'n in the Japanese language release of the video games. In the original game, he operates the ferry that takes the player to Animal Island. In Wild World, he drives the cab that first takes the player to the village, like in the film.

Other characters such as Shishō (Dr. Shrunk), Mr. Honma (Lyle), Maiko (Katie) and her mother (Kaitlin), and Roland (Saharah) make non-speaking appearances.

Production

Dōbutsu no Mori was first announced in a May 2006 issue of the online Japanese magazine Hochi Shimbun, with a theatrical release date set for the following December. The movie entered production due to the success of Animal Crossing: Wild World, released for the Nintendo DS the previous year, which had shipped over 3 million copies in Japan alone. Jōji Shimura was attached to direct, having previously worked on manga-to-film adaptations such Shin Angyo Onshi and Master Keaton. Some of the Animal Crossing series staff assisted with production, and worked to give the movie the same wide audience appeal as the video games themselves.

Those who ordered advance tickets before the film's debut were eligible to receive vouchers which could be redeemed for hard-to-obtain gold tools in Animal Crossing: Wild World. In October 2007, Nintendo of America made a statement that they had "no plans" to bring the film to North America.

Music

Music for Dōbutsu no Mori was contributed by Animal Crossing series composer Kazumi Totaka and arranged by Tomoki Hasegawa, with the film featuring numerous themes from the games. The film's official theme song is "Mori e Ikō" (森へ行こう, Let's Go to the Forest) by Taeko Onuki, which plays over the end credits. An official soundtrack album was released in Japan on December 13, 2006 by VAP containing 46 tracks from the movie along with five bonus songs from Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Home media

Dōbutsu no Mori was released on region 2 DVD in Japan on July 25, 2007 by VAP. First-print copies also included an Animal Crossing-themed carrying pouch.

Reception

Box office

Dōbutsu no Mori debuted in Japanese theaters as the third highest-grossing film of its opening weekend behind Letters from Iwo Jima and Eragon, earning approximately ¥246 million ($2,085,729). By the end of 2006, the movie had a total revenue of ¥1.526 billion ($12,915,432), becoming the 30th highest-grossing film that year in the region. The film had lifetime earnings of approximately ¥1.7 billion ($16,216,731) by the end of its theatrical run in 2007, making it the 17th highest-grossing film of that year when combining it with its December 2006 box office total.

External links

• Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Forest) at IMDb