Netflix knocks it out of the animation park once again with THE IMAGINARY. Teaming up with director and acclaimed animator Yoshiyuki Momose (whose star rose while with Studio Ghibli) and Momose’s new company Studio Ponoc, Momose and his team have taken A.F. Harrold’s award-winning novel of the same name and reimagined it for the big screen with eye-popping, heartfelt storytelling that is pure enchantment. From the first frame to the last, your heart explodes with joy as THE IMAGINARY sparks imagination within you.
Meet Amanda Shuffleup. Amanda is a young girl with adventure in her heart and an extraordinary imagination in her mind. She lives in a wonderful little bookstore with her mother Lizzie. Since her father’s passing, who was her best friend, it’s been just the two of them. Or has it?
Three years, three months, and three days ago is when Rudger came into Amanda’s world. Rudger is Amanda’s “Imaginary” or as adults may refer to him, an imaginary friend. And while Lizzie may acknowledge and accept the idea of Rudger for Amanda’s sake, she can’t see him. But for Amanda, nobody else can see Rudger. He is her Imaginary, and very very real. Making a pact to (1) never disappear, (2) protect each other, and (3) never cry, Amanda and Rudger are the best of friends.
Every day is a new adventure for these two; a sleigh drawn by a Musk Ox racing through a snowy winter, soaring through skies that are bluer than blue on the back of a bird looking down on field after field of bright neon-tinged colorful blossoms, diving into the ocean with an ocean whale and floating in the air on water droplets made from ocean bubbles. It’s a wonderful life driven by Amanda’s endless creativity and imagination.
But all of that wonder may end when an evil-looking fellow named Mr. Bunting arrives at the bookshop. And he’s not alone. He has his own Imaginary. An adult with an Imaginary? Suspicious. And the only ones who can see this “Wednesday Addams-ish” ghost girl with Bunting are Amanda and Rudger. It’s rumored that Bunting hunts Imaginaries, that he can smell them with his bulbous over-sized nose, and, that he eats them. And now he’s come for Rudger.
No spoilers, but suffice it to say that something happens to Amanda and Rudger because of Bunting, leaving Rudger alone and on the run from Bunting. But can he survive without Amanda’s imagination to protect him? And can he save Amanda? These twists and turns open up an entirely new world of Imaginary wonder that enchants and charms thanks to the imagination of animation.
Along the way, we meet some wonderful Imaginary characters like Robot, Snowflake, Cruncher-of-Bones, Emily, and more and are introduced to the Town of Imaginaries, a place filled with Imaginaries who have been forgotten. And wouldn’t you know it? The Town of Imaginaries is in a library! The Imaginaries travel to different parts of the world at night and hopefully, have adventures by day. Of course, there’s also Zinzan, a cat who can see Imaginaries and bring them to the safe haven of the town if needed.
With a screenplay written by Yoshiaki Nishimura based on A.F. Harrold’s novel, THE IMAGINARY tackles large issues like love, loss, overcoming fear, friendship, healing, and the power of creativity and imagination, and thanks to engaging animation and characters, breaks them all down so they are accessible and resonate for young and old alike. The unfolding emotions are honest and believable.
The animation for THE IMAGINARY is dazzling starting with the fact that it is hand-drawn. Part of the magic of the hand-drawn animation here is the use of color and saturation which define three distinct worlds – the real world, Amanda and Rudger’s adventure world, and the past. Memories have a soft gauzy haze to them that is comforting, but also has a tinge of sadness as memories fade. There is a delicacy to the pen and ink lines. The real world of Amanda and Lizzie and the bookshop is natural and defining with some eye-popping designs and objects in Amanda’s room. In contrast, Amanda and Rudger’s adventures and the world of Imaginaries are saturated, rich, vibrant, and even employ some new color tones not usually seen in animation. All are palpable and emotionally textured. Standout are some of Amanda’s darker imaginative journeys for her and Rudger which are drawn with harder lines and colored with powerful super-saturated reds, oranges, and blacks. A wonderful visual contrast that also serves to metaphorically speak to the thoughts and emotions each of us has. Not everything is bright and beautiful all the time and those darker moments make the brighter ones all the sweeter.
One of the most stunning aspects of THE IMAGINARY is the visual texture we see with the play of light and shadow. “Shadowing” or “shading” in hand-drawn animation is not something we have seen before but for possibly in rudimentary form, but thanks to the work of Les Films du Poisson Rouge, this adds a new layer to storytelling animation giving three-dimensionality to everything. This makes THE IMAGINARY visually tactile and alive with a depth of character that is full-bodied. It makes imagination come to life as viscerally and emotionally as it is within the mind’s eye.
Over the years we have seen the elements of refraction, reflection, and diffraction make leaps and bounds in computer animation but not hand-drawn. That changes with THE IMAGINARY and the way light is used in creating translucent or semi-transparent objects. Adding to the mastery of this play with light is in viewing specific scenes and images, as not only do we see the wonder of the translucence or transparency, but the background textures and the specificity therein. For example, in the Town of Imaginaries, flooring or sidewalks are book covers or pages of books. Rooftops are the spines of books, hundreds of different books. Translucent or semi-transparent images are meticulously layered on top of that so that neither the foreground objects nor the background are obscured or sacrificed. The artistry is masterful.
Creativity abounds in the Town of Imaginaries with all of the Imaginaries we see and meet. Personalities shine through thanks to the character design and animation. There is follow-through and purpose with character development that is captured in movement and action, leading to a third-act finale that will have you with your heart in your throat and reaching for tissues and your own Imaginary.
Multiple voice casts have been employed for THE IMAGINARY with the English-speaking cast boasting the talents of, among others, Louie Rudge-Buchanan as Rudger, Evie Kiszel as Amanda, Hayley Atwell as Lizzie, LeVar Burton as Fridge, Kal Penn as Zinzan, Sky Katz as Emily, and Jeremy Swift as Mr. Bunting. Each is an absolute delight bringing life to their respective characters.
A beautiful score by Kenji Tamai is the icing on the cake with this world of enchantment.
Oh, the places you will go with THE IMAGINARY! Beautiful, vibrant, alive, and wonderful.
Directed by Yoshiyuki Momose
Written by Yoshiaki Nishimura based on the novel by A. F. Harrold and illustrated by Emily Gravett.
English Voice Cast: Louie Rudge-Buchanan, Evie Kiszel, Hayley Atwell, LeVar Burton, Kal Penn, Sky Katz, Jeremy Swift
by debbie elias, 06/14/2024
THE IMAGINARY releases on Netflix on July 5, 2014
