Reddit

**Reddit** is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Film director Mamoru Hosoda hosted an open thread on January 14, 2022, where he responded to questions for one hour, using the.GKIDS account.

## Posts

**Q: How have you successfully managed to release a new movie every three years in the summer since 2006?**

Three years seems like a long time, but in film production it's not too long. The first year is spent on pre-production, the second year mostly on storyboards, and the third year the actual creation of the film takes place. Afterwards, promoting the film and then beginning production for the next film is the typical cycle.

**Q: I've been thinking for years about what all the clouds symbolize in your films, whether they're meant to be shorthand for the same emotion or not. What do clouds mean to you?**

There's this particular cloud that appears a lot in my films. In Japan, thunder clouds come out a lot in the summertime. I see this type of cloud often that comes out and gradually grows in size. To me, that parallels the character's growth.

In general, I like summer as a season. That's the season that we humans, along with animals and plants, grow the most internally and externally. I think the clouds definitely portray the growth in characters.

**Q: What was the process for working with Jin Kim? What point of the process did he come in? Did you have specific princesses like *Beauty and the Beast*'s Belle or the *Little Mermaid*'s Ariel in mind while designing Belle?**

When I started work on BELLE, I met with Glen Keane who was the character animator for Belle on Disney's *Beauty and the Beast*. From there I got to meet Jin Kim and asked if he wanted to work with me on BELLE.

At that point, the scenario for the film was already complete. At first the design was more of a virtual pop star, but we thought we should probably show the character's strength and personality and create a look based on that. Suzu has freckles so I asked Jin to add them to Belle too, that's how the face paint design came about.

You mention Ariel from *The Little Mermaid* in your question. Glen Keane also animated Ariel. When I first met Glen Keane, I was surprised to discover that his wife looked very similar to Ariel! I have a feeling that Belle from our film is a woman that Jin Kim met somewhere in real life too.

**Q: What's your explanation on the whales that you use for your many films?**

Yes, I am well aware that there is no explanation about whales in any of these films! And of course in BELLE, whales once again make an appearance. It just shows that U is a place where something like whales can be leisurely drifting around. It make it seem like U is a wide and wonderful world.

Whales to me are very special animals. It is an animal that has been preyed upon by humans and taken advantage of. If you read *Moby Dick*, they are portrayed as evil. But in reality they are something that needs to be preserved and protected.

I think the same thing is true for wolves. They were not seen as good animals in medieval times because they preyed on farm animals. I made a film with wolves in it, *Wolf Children*, and I personally want to take the side of these animals that have been taken advantage of.

Aside from that, I also simply like whales and wolves as animals, so that's how they make it into so many of my films.

**Q: What I'd like to know is have you watched the English dub of your new film Belle and what did you think of it? And were you directly involved with any part of the English production?**

I actually have not yet watched the English dub of BELLE, but I have watched the French version. I always enjoy watching films in different dub versions.

For the music on this film, the original musicians actually traveled to New York and oversaw the recording. In that sense we were more involved with the English version of the music than usual. But I enjoy watching foreign films in both Japanese and in the original language.

When I watch films on Netflix for example, I may watch something in the original language and have Japanese subtitles on. I want the audience to enjoy my films in a similar way.

**Q: In an increasingly digital, remote, and online world, how would you describe the importance of physical human connection?**

Some say that virtual connection is good and modern—it's positive. On the other hand, some say that actual physical connection is more important and human. There's a lot of discussion of which is better.

When it comes to virtual worlds, some think of it as a dystopia that takes our humanity away from us, but I think we need both. Both are important to our lives today.

I do make virtual world films, but at the same time I would like to depict real life in films as well. I think the virtual world and reality are back-to-back. I don't know why people want to put things in order of what is better. It's not really the point. There are different elements to the different worlds. They are all important to us in different ways.

**What is the process for gathering your inspiration for these day to day scenes? Do you scout out these areas and sit to draw from them?**

So this kind of echoes the question I answered about the virtual world versus the real world. Fantasy and day-to-day life—they are not polar opposites. Through the fantasy, you may realize the actual value of reality, and through reality you may find something valuable in the world of fantasy. You need both.

For the location that I use in my film, as a Japanese filmmaker it's kind of my job to pick an area in Japan that will well-represent the country of Japan. Filmmakers around the world make films in the settings of their country and try to present them to viewers and ask "What do you think about my country? It's great because of this and that reason." It's important to depict your surroundings and your daily lives in your film in that sense.

So films are a very attractive medium. If you can depict your local lives really well, then it tends to lead to success. In Japan, we will watch films of other countries and we can still relate to characters of other countries. You see yourself in the characters even though they live in another country. In that sense i think that film is a very interesting medium.

**Q: What are Kei's feelings for Suzu - was that I love you romantic, platonic, or a little bit of both?**

When they first meet in real life, he calls her "Belle" not Suzu. Even in the real world, he looks at her as Belle, and she looks at him as the Beast. So their feelings that they have for each other are the same as they are in U. Obviously, Suzu doesn't look like Belle in real life. They met in a different world, but still understand each others' souls. That's the main message with my film BELLE, and this is true in real life as well.

## References

1. ↑ @GKIDSofficial: "I am Mamoru Hosoda...". *Reddit*. January 14, 2022.