The animated conversation this year has been dominated by the medium’s biggest grosser yet (“Inside Out 2”) and one of the most acclaimed big-studio entries in years (“The Wild Robot”). But don’t sleep on the many other noteworthy contenders that deserve consideration in the animation race this season, among them: the latest entry in the beloved Wallace and Gromit franchise; an adult-oriented, handmade clay-animated fantasy-drama from Australia; a Transformers origin movie that makes the bold move of imbuing its giant bots with personalities and relationships; and a strange, unique, hilarious and sneakily touching story of a human-size cat and an angsty teen. “Ghost Cat Anzu” The deceptively simple-looking “Ghost Cat Anzu” is actually idiosyncratically drawn from live-action frames in a rotoscoping process.
The Japanese film boasts memorable, wacky characters who make real emotional connections; you have no idea where the story is going. A teen, Karin, is left by her ne’er-do-well widowed father in the care of her grandfather at a temple. There, she meets a human-size cat, Anzu, who rides a moped and works part-time as a masseur.
Karin is not your typical sweet anime girl, and the narrative is bizarre, unexpected and hilarious. Nobuhiro Yamashita first directed the scenes in live-action, with the actors sometimes outfitted in the outlandish costumes of the remarkably designed, magical characters. Yōko Kuno then directed the animation process.
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