Written by: Nicole Castro
Published on: December 8, 2021 at 10:55 PHT (GMT+8)
A.F. Harrold's 2014 children's novel The Imaginary (illustrated by Emily Gravett) is inspiring an anime film adaptation by Studio Ponoc, the same studio behind the fantasy animated film Mary and the Witch's Flower.
The subtitle of The Imaginary's film adaptation is 『屋根裏のラジャー』(English: Rudger of the Attic) which premieres in Summer 2022.
Below is the key visual for the said film. The film will be directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, who is famous for working on various Ghibli movies such as Whisper of the Heart, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke. He was also the animation director and character designer for the Ni no Kuni series.
Synopsis from The Imaginary official website:
The main character of The Imaginary is Rudger. Born from a young girl’s imagination, Rudger is a boy no one can see who lives in a world where imaginations can live and be eaten by others. The Imaginary is an extraordinarily touching and beautiful hand-drawn fantasy film in which Rudger and his new friends in “The Imaginaries Town” embark on an adventure no one can see at the risk of the futures and fates of those they love.
Staff
Original: A.F. Harrold's "The Imaginary" (Translated by Tomoko Kodama, published by Poplar Publishing, "Before I Disappear")
Director: Yoshiyuki Momose
Producer: Yoshiaki Nishimura
Production: "Rudger of the Attic" Production Committee
Distribution: Toho
About Studio Ponoc
Studio Ponoc is the animation studio founded in 2015 by former Studio Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There). The name "Studio Ponoc" comes from the Croatian word "ponoć" which means "midnight" or the beginning of a new day, reflecting founder Nishimura’s goal of a new start for animation created in Japan.
About A.F. Harrold
A.F. Harrold is an English poet, performer, and children’s author. Born in Sussex in 1975, he began writing poetry in his teenage years. After graduating from Reading University, he became a full-time poet after trying to be a bookseller. He won the Cheltenham Literature Festival All-Stars Poetry Slam in 2007 and was Poet-in-Residence at Glastonbury Festival in 2008. In 2012, Bloomsbury published his first children's novel, Fizzlebert Stump: The Boy Who Ran Away from the Circus (and Joined the Library) followed by five more books in the Fizzlebert Stump series. The Imaginary (2014, illustrated by Emily Gravett) won the UKLA Book Award and his sci-fi comedy novel, Greta Zargo and the Amoeba Monsters from the Middle of the Earth (2018, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton), won the Teach Primary First News Funny Award.
Source: The Imaginary official Twitter, official website, Comic Natalie
