IMDb RATING
6.6/10
3.1K
YOUR RATING
An anthology of three original shorts written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuki Momose and Akihiko Yamashita.An anthology of three original shorts written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuki Momose and Akihiko Yamashita.An anthology of three original shorts written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuki Momose and Akihiko Yamashita.
Todd Haberkorn
- Dad
- (English version)
- (voice)
- …
Henry Kaufman
- Shun (segment "Life Ain't Gonna Lose")
- (English version)
- (voice)
Yuri Lowenthal
- Sato (segment "Invisible")
- (English version)
- (voice)
Liam O'Brien
- The Invisible Man (segment "Invisible")
- (English version)
- (voice)
Joe Odagiri
- Tômei ningen (segment "Tômei ningen")
- (voice)
- (as Jô Odagiri)
Maggie Q
- Mom (segment "Life Ain't Gonna Lose")
- (English version)
- (voice)
- Directors
- Yoshiyuki Momose(segment Samurai eggu)
- Akihiko Yamashita(segment Tômei ningen)
- Hiromasa Yonebayashi(segment Kanîni to Kanîno)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- Trivia"Invisible" is the sophomore directorial work of veteran animator and supervising animator Akihiko Yamashita, the first being the Ghibli Museum-exclusive short film A Sumo Wrestler's Tail (2010), premiered eight years prior, and his debut as a writer.
- SoundtracksChiisana eiyû
("Modest Heroes")
Performed by Kaela Kimura (as Kaera Kimura)
(ELA/Victor Entertainment)
[Ending theme]
Featured review
Bitesize animation segments to go
Studio Ponoc's second animation film ended up being a collection of three shorter films, each focusing on unlikely heroes that don't set out to do great deeds, but who achieve a small degree of greatness even still.
The first short film, Kanini & Kanino, was directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and resembles his directorial debut, The Secret World of Arrietty, a lot. Some would argue it resembles that film a bit too much. It's also the segment most resembling what you would call Studio Ghibli style, which makes sense because Yonebayashi worked for them when he directed Arrietty. It's a visually pleasing little story about shrimp-sized kids going on an adventure to find their lost father, but it doesn't really soar as far as plot goes.
The second film, Life Ain't Gonna Lose, was directed by Yoshiyuki Momose and tells of a young boy with a severe egg allergy. Even a hint of eggs in his food will cause him to go into shock and as thus he must live his entire life walking on eggshells, if you'll pardon my terrible pun. This is the segment that I liked the most, mainly because its characters have the most personality and you quickly come to care for their struggles. It's also the most grounded story. People like this most certainly exist and it must not be easy for them. Which makes the boy's upbeat energy all the more endearing.
The third and last film, Invisible, was directed by Akihiko Yamashita and tells of a man so alone and ignored that he's in danger of becoming so impermanent that he'll literally float away. But even those ignored can have their moment if they're in the right place at the right time. Visually the most interesting of the three segments and with a poignant message.
All in all I liked the collection. It's nothing groundbreaking, but each of the segments was at least animated well, the music was nice and I was positively reminded of those short story films Disney did in the 1940s.
The first short film, Kanini & Kanino, was directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and resembles his directorial debut, The Secret World of Arrietty, a lot. Some would argue it resembles that film a bit too much. It's also the segment most resembling what you would call Studio Ghibli style, which makes sense because Yonebayashi worked for them when he directed Arrietty. It's a visually pleasing little story about shrimp-sized kids going on an adventure to find their lost father, but it doesn't really soar as far as plot goes.
The second film, Life Ain't Gonna Lose, was directed by Yoshiyuki Momose and tells of a young boy with a severe egg allergy. Even a hint of eggs in his food will cause him to go into shock and as thus he must live his entire life walking on eggshells, if you'll pardon my terrible pun. This is the segment that I liked the most, mainly because its characters have the most personality and you quickly come to care for their struggles. It's also the most grounded story. People like this most certainly exist and it must not be easy for them. Which makes the boy's upbeat energy all the more endearing.
The third and last film, Invisible, was directed by Akihiko Yamashita and tells of a man so alone and ignored that he's in danger of becoming so impermanent that he'll literally float away. But even those ignored can have their moment if they're in the right place at the right time. Visually the most interesting of the three segments and with a poignant message.
All in all I liked the collection. It's nothing groundbreaking, but each of the segments was at least animated well, the music was nice and I was positively reminded of those short story films Disney did in the 1940s.
helpful•01
- Vartiainen
- Jan 28, 2021
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Modest Heroes: Ponoc Short Films Theatre, Volume 1
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $178,027
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $178,027
- Jan 13, 2019
- Gross worldwide
- $178,027
- Runtime53 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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