The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

Isao Takahata read The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter as a child and could not sympathise with its heroine; an adaptation he began for Toei Animation in 1960 was abandoned. Returning years later, his aim was narrow: let the audience feel what Kaguya feels. Nippon TV financed the film, its chairman Seiichiro Ujiie putting up 5 billion yen and pressing Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki to let Takahata make one more picture. Ujiie died in March 2011, having seen the script and some storyboards. Osamu Tanabe handled character design and animation and Kazuo Oga painted the watercolour backgrounds, with stray pencil lines and bleeding colour left in on purpose. It was meant to open alongside The Wind Rises; Toho pushed it to November 2013 because the storyboards were unfinished. Takeo Chii, the voice of the bamboo cutter, died before the work was done and Yuji Miyake recorded the missing lines. It was nominated for animated feature at the 87th Academy Awards, where Big Hero 6 won, and took animation prizes from Mainichi and the Los Angeles critics. A good fit if you read the escaping pencil line as a choice rather than a shortfall. Not for anyone expecting a consoling ending; the procession that comes for her descends in bright colour and cheerful music, against the grief left on the ground.