Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Satoshi Kon
Shôgo Furuya (co-director)

Writers:

Satoshi Kon (screenplay)
Satoshi Kon (story)

Release Date:

8 November 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Animation | Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Meet the ultimate dysfunctional family.

Plot:

Christmas in Tokyo, Japan. Three homeless friends: a young girl, a transvestite, and a middle-aged bum...

Plot Keywords:

Transvestite | Christmas | Tokyo Japan | Tokyo | Baby

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Toru Emori	...	Gin (voice)
Aya Okamoto	...	Miyuki (voice)
Yoshiaki Umegaki	...	Hana (voice)
Shôzô Îzuka	...	Oota (voice)
Seizô Katô	...	Mother (voice)
Hiroya Ishimaru	...	Yasuo (voice)
Ryûji Saikachi	...	Aged Man (voice)
Yûsaku Yara	...	Miyuki's Father (voice)
Kyôko Terase	...	Sachiko (voice)
Mamiko Noto	...	Kiyoko, Gin's Daughter (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Doctor (voice)
Rikiya Koyama	...	Bridegroom (voice)
Satomi Koorogi	...	Kiyoko, the Gangster's Daughter (voice)
Mitsuru Ogata	...	Hidenari Ugaki (voice)
Chiyako Shibahara	...	Eriko Kawasaki (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violent images, language and some sexual material.

Runtime:

USA:92 min | Argentina:93 min | UK:88 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Spanish | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Sweden:7 | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | UK:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Spain:13 | Singapore:PG

Company:

Mad House

Trivia:

The film is full of "12-25" (Christmas) references, including: The number on the key; the cab fare; the address in the newspaper ad; the cab license plate.

Quotes:

Hana: If you like the police so much, get THEM to adopt you!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Paprika (2006)

Thwarted families, homelessness in Tokyo and strange twists of fate...

Director Satoshi Kon has concocted a little wonder of an animated film, a character based ensemble action comedy about thwarted families, homelessness in Tokyo and strange twists of fate. A loose knit trio of homeless companions (an alcoholic ex-bike rider, a teenage fugitive runaway and a castoff drag queen) find a baby on top of a trash heap at Christmas, and find themselves caring for the child while hunting down her parents. Warm, funny and as action-packed as many an anime (with hilarious action set pieces), this one's a charmer. Sure, it's always possible to do these kind of things in live action (more or less) but thank God we have a filmmaker of Kon's vision applying his ample animation skills to stories like this. It ain't all cardfighters, bounty hunters and grim vampire killers. Sometimes, it's people, too. (not that there are anything wrong with cardfighters, bounty hunters and grim vampire killers... well, o.k., maybe cardfighters)