7.1/10
1,591
31 user 7 critic

Kenji Miyazawa's Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)

Ginga-tetsudô no yoru (original title)
Unrated | | Animation, Adventure, Drama | 7 February 1986 (USA)
Kenji Miyazawa's Night on the Galactic Railroad Poster
Two kittens go on a metaphysical journey on a magical railroad train.

Directors:

Gisaburô Sugii, Arlen Tarlofsky

Writers:

Kenji Miyazawa (novel), Hiroshi Masumura (idea) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Mayumi Tanaka, Chika Sakamoto, Junko Hori | See full cast & crew »
Reviews
1 win. See more awards »

Photos

See all 10 photos »
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mayumi Tanaka ... Giovanni (voice)
Chika Sakamoto Chika Sakamoto ... Campanella (voice)
Junko Hori Junko Hori ... Zanelli (voice)
Ayumi Ishijo Ayumi Ishijo ... (voice)
Kaori Nakahara Kaori Nakahara ... Kaoru (voice)
Yoshie Shimamura Yoshie Shimamura ... Givoanni no haha (voice)
Shun Yashiro Shun Yashiro ... (voice)
Reiko Niimura Reiko Niimura ... Old Woman (voice)
Chikao Ohtsuka ... Birdcatcher (voice)
Hidehiro Kikuchi Hidehiro Kikuchi ... Young Man (voice)
Yuriko Fuchizaki Yuriko Fuchizaki ... (voice)
Tetsuya Kaji Tetsuya Kaji ... Train Conductor Shashou (voice)
Takeshi Aono ... Wireless operator (voice)
Seiji Kurasaki Seiji Kurasaki ... Milkman (voice)
Gorô Naya ... Dr. Bulganillo, Campanella's Father (voice)
See full cast »
Learn more

More Like This 













◄ Prev 6 Next 6 ►

Next »
Stormy Night (2005)
Animation | Adventure | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

After meeting on a stormy night, a goat Mei and a wolf Gabu become sworn friends. However, trouble sets afoot among the two unlikely friends after their secret gets out, putting them in a perilous yet amazing adventure.

Director: Gisaburô Sugii
Stars: Eiji Bandô, Kaba Chan, Shôzô Hayashiya
Next »
The Life of Budori Gusuko (2012)
Animation | Adventure | Family
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.3/10 X  

Budori Gusukô lives happily with his little sister, father, and mother. When the cold hits the Ihatov Forest they are invaded and, with his family killed, he is left alone. He begins ... See full summary »

Director: Gisaburô Sugii
Stars: Shioli Kutsuna, Brando Austin, Lowell Bartholomee
Next »
Princess Arete (2001)
Animation | Adventure | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

Confined in the castle tower by her father, Princess Arete spends her days watching the world outside her window. Sometimes she sneaks out. Prospective suitors are sent on quests to collect magic treasures to win her hand in marriage.

Director: Sunao Katabuchi
Stars: Houko Kuwashima, Tsuyoshi Koyama, Minami Takayama
Next »
The Story of the Fox (1937)
Animation | Adventure | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

When Renard the Fox's mischievous pranks go too far, King Lion is forced to attempt to bring the trickster to justice.

Directors: Irene Starewicz, Wladyslaw Starewicz
Stars: Claude Dauphin, Romain Bouquet, Sylvain Itkine
Next »
A Letter to Momo (2011)
Animation | Adventure | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

Clinging to an unfinished letter written by her recently deceased father, young Momo moves with her mother from bustling Tokyo to the remote Japanese island of Shio. Upon their arrival, she... See full summary »

Director: Hiroyuki Okiura
Stars: Karen Miyama, Yuka, Daizaburo Arakawa
Next »
Sea Prince and the Fire Child (1981)
Animation | Drama | Family
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A prince of the sea and a child of fire engage in a tragic forbidden romance.

Director: Masami Hata
Stars: Tôru Furuya, Mami Koyama, Keiko Han
Next »
Ringing Bell (1978)
Animation | Drama | Family
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

An innocent lamb learns about life and death when he seeks revenge upon the wolf who slaughtered his mother.

Director: Masami Hata
Stars: Hitoshi Takagi, Minori Matsushima, Akira Kamiya
Next »
The Adventure of Panda and Friends: The Circus in the Rain (1973)
Animation | Short | Family
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

This is the sequel history of "Panda. Go, Panda. (1972)". The trio (the young girl orphan, a panda cub and his father) are joined by a tiger cub who has escaped from a circus.

Director: Isao Takahata
Stars: Kazuko Sugiyama, Kazuo Kumakura, Yûko Maruyama
Next »
The Adventure of Panda and Friends: Panda Family! (1972)
Animation | Short | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

When her grandmother goes away on a trip, 7-year-old Mimiko stays at home by herself in her small, friendly village, unafraid of burglars. When she arrives back home from the train station ... See full summary »

Director: Isao Takahata
Stars: Kazuko Sugiyama, Kazuo Kumakura, Yoshiko Ohta
Next »
The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981)
Animation | Adventure | Family
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A story about how joy and happiness can be the most powerful weapon ever. A young unicorn is ordered to be taken from his home by the gods. They are envious of little Unico's power to bring... See full summary »

Directors: Toshio Hirata, Osamu Tezuka
Stars: Katsue Miwa, Ryouko Kitamiya, Kazuko Sugiyama
Next »
Panda and the Magic Serpent (1958)
Animation | Family | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

The adventures of a cute little panda, a dragon god and an evil serpent.

Director: Taiji Yabushita
Stars: Hisaya Morishige, Mariko Miyagi, Virginia Blackman
Next »
The House of Small Cubes (2008)
Animation | Short | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X  

To save his house from rising flood waters, an old man uses bricks to build it higher, then he relives events from his past while searching for his dropped pipe.

Director: Kunio Kato
Stars: Masami Nagasawa
Edit

Storyline

On the night of a cat village's Festival of the Stars, a kitten and his friend go on an celestial journey on a magical space locomotive. On that trip, they have various stops where they meet strange sights, even more unusual fellow passengers and learn some lessons of life on their trip to the terminus of the Galactic Railroad. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

train | cat | outer space | space travel | anthropomorphism | See All (18) »

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Mystery

Certificate:

Unrated | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The main characters are depicted as cats, with some humans serving in supporting roles. According to director 'Gisaburô Sugii', this was a necessary move learned from experience - having adapted most of Kenji Miyazawa's stories into manga, he saw that making the characters human made the stories more tangible, but less unreal and magical and thus limited their appeal. Making the characters anthropomorphic animals, on the other hand, maintained the epic and surreal scale of the story. See more »

Quotes

Campanella: I don't know how to explain it; but I think that people are happiest when they do something truly good. That's why I believe my mother will forgive me for what I've done.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Life of Budori Gusuko (2012) See more »

Soundtracks

Hallelujah Chorus
from "Messiah"
by George Frideric Handel (as Georg Friedrich Händel)
See more »

User Reviews

 
Night on the Galactic Railroad is amazing piece of mind bending cinematic work.
15 January 2002 | by has_no_pseudonym – See all my reviews

This by far is the best anime I have ever seen. With its slow moving and oft disturbing plot this is not a movie for everyone, especial the adolescent/short attention span types who have only seen slasher/action examples of anime.

This movie is so slow yet it sucks you in and you can't stop watching. I have never heard or seen anything like it and I don't think I ever will again. No movie I have ever seen has affected me half as much. Its amazing visuals, sounds and eerie plot make this fascinating movie hard to describe and do justice to it.

This movie definitely deserves a 10 out of 10.

P.S. If you are the crying type have tissues handy.
17 of 19 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 31 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
Edit

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Esperanto | English

Release Date:

7 February 1986 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Night on the Galactic Railroad See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asahi Shimbun, TV Asahi, Nippon Herald Films See more »
Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1
See full technical specs »
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »

Contribute to This Page



Clear your history

Recently Viewed