Director Ayumu Watanabe made a serious splash with Children of the Sea. The film about young kids and the mystery of something odd happening to the fish did well when released in Japan last summer. Now it’s arriving on home video from GKIDS and Shout! Factory. There will be plenty of bonus features that should explain how they get the animators made the underwater action look so good. Here’s the press release from Shout! Factory:
Children of the Sea
Breathtaking Adventure Available on Digital, Blu-ray™ and DVD
September 1, 2020
From Japan’s cutting-edge STUDIO4°C (Tekkonkinkreet, MFKZ, Mind Game) and director Ayumu Watanabe comes Children of the Sea, a stunningly beautiful adaptation of the prize-winning manga. Featuring a score from legendary composer and long-time Studio Ghibli collaborator Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro), this critically-acclaimed film will be available digitally, as a Blu-ray™ and DVD combo pack, and on DVD September 1, 2020 from GKIDS and Shout! Factory. Children of the Sea is scheduled for a nationwide theatrical release in select cinemas via Fathom Events on August 11 and 12, in subtitled and English dubbed versions, with more details to be revealed soon.
All editions of the release will include a number of bonus features, including an interview with director Ayumu Watanabe and CGI director Kenichiro Akimoto, an interview with composer Joe Hisaishi, a behind the scenes featurette, animatic sequences, and more! The Blu-ray™ and DVD Combo pack will also include the exclusive “Turep – Looking for Children of the Sea”, a feature-length pseudo-documentary from the creators of Children of the Sea that explores the legends that inspired the film and engages with its larger themes. Framed as a search for a lost brother with an affinity for the sea, this journey takes a young woman through old videotapes, conversations with marine and anthropological experts, and eventually, a small island nation far from Japan. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com
When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad worked. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora, who were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does. As the kids get caught up in the mystery behind the sudden worldwide disappearance of the ocean’s fish, they uncover cosmic connections that will change them forever.
Children of the Sea Blu-ray™ and DVD Combo Bonus Features
Exclusive feature-length documentary “Turep – Looking for Children of the Sea”
Interview with director Ayumu Watanabe
Interview with composer Joe Hisaishi
Animatic Sequences
Behind the Scenes featurette
Theatrical Trailers
Children of the Sea Digital and DVD Bonus Features
Interview with director Ayumu Watanabe
Interview with composer Joe Hisaishi
Animatic Sequences
Behind the Scenes featurette
Theatrical Trailers
About GKIDS
GKIDS is a producer and distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since 2010, the company has scored an astounding eleven Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations with The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, and Mirai in 2019. GKIDS also handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others. GKIDS also produces the annual LA-based film festival, ANIMATION IS FILM, which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of their work to the fullest range of expression that the medium is capable of.
About Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory, LLC is a diversified multi-platform media company devoted to producing, uncovering, preserving and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their entire careers sharing their music, television and film favorites with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s entertainment offerings serve up feature films, classic and contemporary TV series, animation, live music and comedy specials. In addition, Shout! Factory maintains a vast entertainment distribution network which delivers culturally relevant programming, movie and audio content to all the leading digital service providers in North America and across multiple platforms. Shout! Factory owns and operates Shout! Studios, Scream Factory, Shout! Factory Kids, Shout! Factory Films, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Timeless Media Group and Shout! Factory TV. These riches are the result of a creative acquisition mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. Shout! Factory is based in Los Angeles, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com.
