"We believed in the details": animating the world of The Imaginary

The Imaginary anime
The Imaginary elegantly combines 2D animation with subtly realised 3D shadow and texturing to bring realism to even the most fanciful scenarios. (Image credit: Netflix/Studio Ponoc)

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.

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James Clarke
VFX journalist

James has written about movies and popular culture since 2001. His books include Blue Eyed Cool: Paul Newman, Bodies in Heroic Motion: The Cinema of James Cameron, The Virgin Film Guide: Animated Films and The Year of the Geek. In addition to his books, James has written for magazines including 3D World and Imagine FX.

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