Cinefantastique Online

Hollywood Reporter has an interview with Danish-born animator Jakob Jensen, who is working on the computer-animated big-screen version of the classic anime series ASTRO BOY. The film is being produced at Hon Kong’s Imagi Animation Studio, which previously did TMNT and also has GATCHAMAN in production. ASTRO BOY is scheduled for a 2009 release.

Jensen sings the praises of Hong Kong animators when it comes to action and fight choreography, but he thinks he helped them learn the value of character animation that focuses on giving the equivalent of an “acting” performance. Although unfamiliar with the subject before being approached to work on the film, he was attracted to the story of a father who creates a robot in the image of his dead son:

“I was intrigued with the possibility of the project. I’m in the process of educating myself about the ‘Astro Boy’ universe, and I love what I see. ‘Astro Boy’ utilizes very classical story principles of the hero’s journey that we see in all good storytelling around the world, Jensen said. “Astro Boy has the moral underpinning and strong emotional resonance that a lot of animation today is lacking.”