Once Upon a Time in Japan

Once Upon a Time in Japan (Japanese: グレイソン, Hepburn: Gureison) is a 1994 animated comedy-drama film directed by Hisayuki Toriumi and written by Tomoko Konparu, Yoshio Urasawa and William Goldman. Produced by Anime International Company, Hakuhodo, Longfellow Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment and distributed by Toei Company, it is a co-production between Japan and the United States. The film follows an American teenager named Grayson Hale who moves to Japan following the death of his parents, and the film chronicles various events in his life as well as some of the other characters in the film.
Production began in 1991 and concluded in 1993. The film had it's theatrical premiere in Japan on May 7, 1994, with an English release in the United States on August 26, 1994. The English version features the voices of Alex Winter, Billy Crystal, Kristy Swanson, Chris O'Donnell, Michael Keaton, Mary Steenburgen and Richard Farnsworth. It was a box office success and received positive reviews from Japanese and American critics.
== Plot==
Coming soon!
==Cast ==
Character 	Seiyū 	English Voice Actor
Grayson Hale 	Kappei Yamaguchi 	Alex Winter
Grayson Hale 	Yoshiko Kamei (young)	Brianne Siddall (young)
Russell Castro 	Ginzō Matsuo 	Billy Crystal
Hitomi Ikeda 	Minami Takayama 	Kristy Swanson
Hitomi Ikeda 	Minami Takayama 	Sherry Lynn (young)
Katsuro Nishihara	Kōichi Yamadera 	Chris O'Donnell
Isamu Fujino 	Kazuhiko Inoue 	Richard Epcar
Jurou Kubo 	Yasunori Masutani 	Michael Keaton
Tomoko Miyoshi 	Yukana Nogami 	Patricia Ja Lee
Kimi Okamura 	Junko Iwao 	Julie Maddalena
Shou Takeshita 	Takeshi Kusao 	Matthew Kermit Miller
Seiichi Koyanagi 	Kaneto Shiozawa 	Simon Prescott
Gina Fujimori 	Mami Koyama 	Mary Steenburgen
Arata Tamura 	Nozomu Sasaki 	Jan Rabson
Masa Kono 	Rokurō Naya 	Bryan Cranston
Izanagi Kiyabu 	Ichirō Nagai 	William Frederick Knight
Shinju Kuwahara 	Rica Matsumoto 	Lara Cody
Rika Ikeda 	Chiharu Kataishi 	Melanie MacQueen
Daisuke Ikeda 	Kaneto Shiozawa 	Dave Mallow
Eiji Ikeda 	Masaharu Satō 	Richard Farnsworth
Hideo Sonoda 	Hirotaka Suzuoki 	Michael McConnohie
Masaki Enomoto 	Akio Ōtsuka 	Steve Bulen
Grayson's Mother 	Emi Shinohara 	Wendee Lee
Grayson's Father 	Kazuhiko Inoue 	Skip Stellrecht
===Additional Voices===
*Stephen Apostolina
*Arlene Banas
*Steve Blum
*Hank Crowell, Jr.
*Mari Devon
*Dyanne DiRosario
*Gary Dubin
*Dorothy Elias-Fahn
*Richard Epcar
*Jonathan Fahn
*Tom Fahn
*Jeff Frayer
*Wendee Lee
*Dan Lorge
*Jill Lyons
*Joe Montane
*Tony Pope
*Simon Prescott
*Joe Romersa
*Anthony Santacrose
*Kevin Seymour
*John Snyder
*Ellyn Stern
*Doug Stone
*Thomas White
*Mimi Woods
*Daniel Woren
==Release==
The film was first screened at the Tokyo Square Cinema on April 9, 1994, followed by a theatrical release in Japan on May 7, 1994. Columbia Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment released an English dubbed version of the film in theaters on August 26, 1994. It was the first animated film Columbia released since Astro Boy in 1988 and the last one they would release until Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in 2001.
===Home media===
In Japan, the film was released on VHS and Laserdisc by Pony Canyon on March 10, 1995, followed by a DVD release in 2002. It was later released by Blu-ray on April 9, 2010. 
In the United States, it was released on VHS and Laserdisc by Columbia/Tristar Home Video and Turner Home Entertainment in on February 14, 1995, followed by an additional VHS release from Warner Home Video in 1998 and a DVD release in 2000. The film was rereleased on DVD in 2005 to promote it's sequel, Once Upon a Time in Japan: The Second Chapter. A double pack Blu-ray with it's sequel was released by Warner Home Video on November 10, 2009.
== Sequel ==
See: Once Upon a Time in Japan: The Second Chapter
Category:1994
Category:Anime films
Category:Japanese
Category:Japanese-American
Category:Japanese-American Anime
Category:Japanese-American films
Category:Toei
Category:Toei Company
Category:Toei Company films
Category:1994 animated films
Category:Slice of Life
Category:Comedy-Drama
Category:Comedy-Drama films
Category:Carl Andy Timeline
Category:Columbia Pictures
Category:Columbia Pictures animated films
Category:Columbia Pictures films
Category:Castle Rock Entertainment
Category:Castle Rock Entertainment films
Category:Anime International Company
Category:AIC