posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
1st CG anime film opened in Japan on Friday
The official website for Pui Pui Molcar the Movie: MOLMAX, the all-new film animated with 3D CG (as opposed to the stop-motion animation in Shinei Animation‘s previous Pui Pui Molcar anime series), revealed on Friday the film will get a sequel.
©見里朝希／PUI PUI モルカー製作委員会
Pui Pui Molcar the Movie: MOLMAX opened in Japan on Friday.
Mankyū (Sumikkogurashi – Good to be in the corner, Migi & Dali, The IDOLM@STER Shiny Colors) directed the film, with original Pui Pui Molcar stop-motion series director Tomoki Misato credited as chief supervisor. Yuuko Kakihara (Chihayafuru season 2 and 3, Cells at Work!, Buddy Daddies) wrote the script.
The stop-motion series premiered in January 2021 within TV Tokyo‘s Kinder TV children’s variety program. The series centers on guinea pigs who have become cars (the title word “Molcar” combines “car” with “morumotto,” the Japanese word for “guinea pig” and a variant of the English word “marmot”). Netflix began streaming the series worldwide outside of some Asian territories in March 2021. Tobidase! Narase! Pui Pui Molcar, the series’ compilation film, opened in Japan in July 2021.
The series utilizes stop-motion animated puppets made of wool felt.
This series marked Tomoki Misato‘s directorial debut on an animated television series. Misato also wrote the script, and he worked on the storyboards along with Hana Ono and Kei Sato. The series’ animators included Misato, Ikuko Iwatsuki, Kei Sato, and Makoto Takano. The artists included Misato, Ikuko Iwatsuki, Kei Sato, Harune Satō, and Michiko Kaihatsu. Shōta Kowashi composed the music.
The franchise also inspired the Pui Pui Molcar Mogu Mogu Parking smartphone game, which launched in July 2021.
Sources: Pui Pui Molcar the Movie: MOLMAX anime film’s website, Comic Natalie
