The Imaginary tells the thrilling and equally terrifying story of a little boy named Rudger (Louie Rudge-Buchanan). He’s Amanda’s (Evie Kiszel) imaginary best friend but can still be confined by the rules of his existence. Rudger is always left in the place Amanda saw him last. This means he can get stuck. Even worse, Rudger learns that he will disappear forever if Amanda forgets him or something happens to her. The special nature of their relationship attracts a frightening villain. The vile Mr. Bunting (Jeremy Swift) gobbles up imaginary friends as the source of his eternal life.

Revered animator Yoshiaki Nishimura explores human mortality in his superb second animated feature for Studio Ponoc after Mary and the Witch’s Flower. The crux of the film is that Rudger understands he could die and becomes fearful of that fate, something Nishimura relayed with eloquence:

“When I was writing the script, I became Rudger myself. The first words that came to me was, ‘
I’ve never disappeared before, but I am scared of disappearing
.’ When I felt this line and emotion, I realized that this was very similar to something I felt as a child, the mortality of life itself.”

“I think using this original material I could have made a fun fantasy film,” mused Nishimura, “but I got very excited, because I could really depict the life and death of human beings through the metaphor of imaginaries.” The result is a beautiful fantasy film, but also a deeply thoughtful one with powerful themes.

Studio Ponoc’s Yoshiaki Nishimura Makes an Imaginary Friend
The Imaginary (2024) 4.5/5 Studio Ponoc’s The Imaginary portrays the depths of humanity and creativity through the eyes of young Amanda and her imaginary companion, Rudger. Their fantastical adventures launched from her attic, lead them to discover a magical world of creatures and places never before seen until a sinister force threatens to destroy their imaginary world and the friendship within it. Directed by renowned animator Yoshiyuki Momose (Spirited Away), The Imaginary is an unforgettable adventure of love, loss, and the healing power of imagination.Release Date July 4, 2924 Director Yoshiyuki Momose Cast Haley Atwell , Sky Katz , Evie Kiszel , Louie Rudge-Buchanan , Kal Penn , Jeremy Swift , Ruby Barnhill Runtime 1h 48m

Nishimura, a former lead producer at Studio Ghibli, worked on such classic films as Howl’s Moving Castle, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, and When Marnie Was There. He decided to write The Imaginary’s screenplay after becoming enamored with A.F. Harrold’s award-winning children’s novel. What began as a simple exercise to frame the story for director Yoshiyuki Momose and the Studio Ponoc team blossomed into a full-blown script.

“The original story was very interesting to me, explained Nishimura. “It was fun and scary. You can’t really find many films where the main character is a boy that was imagined by a person. If something happened to him, no one in the world would even know, or can see him. His existence is not going to be there.” He continued:

”
In Japan, most people are not aware of this concept of an imaginary friend, maybe 10 to 20%
. So that’s why I thought, in order for me to explain to the director and the creators, then I have to create a treatment that’s maybe about four pages. Then it turned out to be 40 pages. ‘Well, if you like it so much, why don’t you write the script,’ the director said.” That’s how I ended up writing the script.”

“I felt that if people can relate to this boy, who cannot be seen by anyone, then we could create some very special different worlds,” added Nishimura.

Related The Imaginary Review: A Superb Animated Film Explores Mortality and Loss An imaginary friend (Louie Rudge-Buchanan) must escape a despicable villain (Jeremy Swift) to find a beloved little girl (Evie Kiszel).

Casting the Voices in The Imaginary

Meanwhile, The Imaginary’s breathtaking hand-drawn animation is influenced by the voice-over actors who give life to the incredible characters. Fame has nothing to do with how Studio Ponoc casts their films. Nishimura comments:

For many pieces, acting directors are always involved. We actually don’t really call the English version a dubbed version. We are creating both the English version and Japanese version in our studio.

“I’m aware that in many cases, actors are selected by how well known they are,” added Nishimura. “We always try to find an actor who’s the best fit and who does the best work for the role. Because we do hand-painted, hand-drawn animation, that helps us ground our animation to the acting of actors who are doing live-action acting. That’s why we are very serious about who we choose. We might be listening to an entire day of one particular actor’s lines.”

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The Terrifying Mr. Bunting
Studio PonocNetflix

The Imaginary does not pull any punches regarding the existential crisis that Rudger and every imaginary friend face. This is especially harrowing when Mr. Bunting’s awful abilities are shown. He’s easily one of the scariest villains in an animated children’s film. Nishimura respects his audience and wants to be truthful about life’s difficulties:

“It was a very difficult task to make sure that we have the right balance. So when we create this piece, how do we handle the scary part?
I do not want to lie to children in my film. It’s different from when we were children growing up.
Children these days are exposed to many scary things. I wanted to make sure that they have the power to overcome whatever fear, whatever scariness that’s out there.”

“Let’s say Mr. Bunting,” continued Nishimura. “I thought when children are growing up, what is it that turns into an obstacle for them? If I were able to symbolize this, then the character of Mr. Bunting is complete and he will be a success. I felt Jeremy Swift did such amazing work. I only have gratitude towards his acting.”

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Why The Imaginary Went to Netflix and What’s Next for Studio Ponoc

The Imaginary had a theatrical release in Japan, but Nishimura wanted the widest release possible to give everyone a chance to see the film:

“I have strong feelings about making sure our piece is delivered to audiences around the world. For us,
it’s such a happy thing when information spreads so rapidly
. We get to pair up with Netflix to distribute our work. This is the first time, so I’m just excited about what could happen.”

Nishimura is keenly aware of the length of time to produce The Imaginary, and really any hand-drawn animated film. “I feel so bad that it took us so long after Mary [and the Witch’s Flower] to make this new piece. We would like to explore new stories and try out different things,” explained Nishimura. As such, Studio Ponoc has already started work on new feature films. “We are already in the next production of work. And we are preparing for the work after the next one already. Moving forward, I would like to create films more constantly. That’s our hope.” He teased what those films might look like moving forward, and it’s not what you’d expect:

When we create something, I really want to be unpredictable, coming to the audience. That expression, content, everything, something that’s not what you would imagine our studio created.

The Imaginary premieres July 5th exclusively on Netflix in the US. You can watch through the link below.

Watch The Imaginary