Studio Ghibli is now back at the 89th Academy Awards when the Academy Motion Picture Arts and Science has officially nominated "The Red Turtle" for the Animated Feature Film Category. The Academy award winning director, Michael Duk de Wit will be competing for his second Oscars against "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Moana", "My Life as a Zucchini", and "Zootopia".
The film is the first feature film of the Dutch animator and director who previously won an Oscars back in 2001 for his short film "Father & Daughter". The legendary Japanese animation house, Studio Ghibli collaborated with the French film production and distribution company, Wild Bunch in producing the film.
According to Anime News Network, Director de Wit visited and stayed in Studio Ghibli's headquarters in Koganei, Tokyo to work on the film. He finished the storyboard and the scenario for the film during his stay while his work was checked by Studio Ghibli director Isao Takahata. Takahata also worked as the artistic producer for the film while the movies script was made by Pascale Ferran.
De Wit's survivalist story revolves around a nameless shipwrecked hero who endures crashing waves, hunger, loneliness and other man versus nature challenges. The main character will be drifted into rock island in the middle of the ocean covered by a bamboo rainforest. The first part of the film is utterly quite with only the protagonist's grunts and sighs serving as dialogues.
The 80 minute fable, "The Red Turtle" will come to a different turn when the protagonist met the titular turtle as reported by Observer. The film gracefully went into Hans Christian Andersen's fantasy as the shelled reptile turned into a beautiful red haired woman. From there the movie showed the iconic family and love in de Wit's works.
Numerous films have been eligible for the Animated Feature Film category including the world phenomenon "Your Name" by Makoto Shinkai. Unfortunately, Shinkai's work, Takeshi Nozue's CG-animated film, "Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV" and Keiichi Hara's "Miss Hokusai" didn't receive any nominations.
"The Red Turtle" truly belongs to the amazing roster of films sponsored by Studio Ghibli. Its beauty in its simplicity and unique yet heart warming story telling is what set this movie apart from the others. No doubt, this movie has a huge chance of winning the Oscars which will be held on February 26.
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