Anime has provided various fascinating instances of British children’s books being adapted for retelling on the screen. Among the most recent, Japanese animators Studio Ponoc looked to The Imaginary, written by A.F. Harrold and illustrated by Emily Gravett, as the starting point for a feature film that released last December. The animated adventure’s story moves back and forth between the real world and a dazzling range of fantasy environments, following the journey of a group of imaginary friends.
In bringing the known and unknown worlds together, a key point of the movie’s aesthetic resides in its integration of 2D and 3D elements. The production worked with France-based Les Films du Poisson Rouge, an animation studio that has developed lighting and shading softwares. Those toolsets have been applied to The Imaginary, bringing a distinctive visual detail in terms of digitally rendered shadow and texture elements that enhance the beautiful animation and artwork.
