Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo find a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

Directors:

Satoshi Kon, Shôgo Furuya (co-director)

Writers:

Satoshi Kon (screenplay), Satoshi Kon (story)

Stars:

Tôru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto

8 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tôru 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 Kôrogi	...	Kiyoko, the Gangster's Daughter (voice)
Mitsuru Ogata	...	Hidenari Ugaki (voice)
Chiyako Shibahara	...	Eriko Kawasaki (voice)

Storyline

Christmas in Tokyo, Japan. Three homeless friends: a young girl, a transvestite, and a middle-aged bum. While foraging through some trash, they find an abandoned newborn. Hana, the transvestite with delusions of being a mother, convinces the others to keep it overnight. The next day, using a key found with the baby, they start tracking down the parents, with many adventures along the way.

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Plot Keywords:

family relationships | bare breasts | nipple | nipples | homeless | 

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Taglines:

Meet the ultimate dysfunctional family.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Mad House Ltd. / Sony Pictures Online [Japan] Sony [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Spanish English

Release Date:

8 November 2003 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Tokyo Godfathers

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$37,127, 18 January 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$128,985, 4 April 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Madhouse

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the Tokyo Godfathers DVD there is a bonus "making of" featurette. ANN founder, Justin Sevakis can be spotted at the beginning of the featurette which shows the American premiere of Tokyo Godfathers at BAAF (Big Apple Anime Fest).

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Quotes

Hana: Being able to speak freely is the lifeblood of love. Maybe l'm naive.

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Crazy Credits

End credits: The skyscrapers dance to Beethoven's 9th done with synthesizers and Japanese lyrics.

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

User Reviews

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)