‘Poppy Hill’ Nabs APS Nomination

GKIDS, distributor of the latest award-winning feature effort from Japan’s Studio Ghibli From Up On Poppy Hill has announced the film has been nominated for the 2012 Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film (Toshio Suzuki, Producer). The APS Award winners will be announced November 23 in Brisbane, Australia.

Directed by Goro Miyazaki from a screenplay by anime legend Hayao Miyazaki, the beautifully rendered 2D animated film centers on the budding romance between two teens growing up in 1960s Yokohama, who band together to restore a ramshackle clubhouse and save it from demolition while unfurling the mystery of their shared past. Poppy Hill was the highest grossing Japanese film of 2011 and took home the coveted Japan Academy Prize for Animation.

The English-language version is being directed by Oscar winner Gary Rydstrom from a script adapted by Karey Kirkpatrick. The English language cast will feature Sarah Bolger, Anton Yelchin, Gillian Anderson, Beau Bridges, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bruce Dern, Jeff Dunham, Isabelle Fuhrman, Christina Hendricks, Ron Howard, Chris Noth, Emily Osment, Aubrey Plaza, Charlie Saxton and Alex Wolff. Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy are executive producing. GKIDS holds theatrical, home video, television and VOD rights and will qualify the film for the Best Animate Feature Academy Award category, as well as the 2012 Annie Awards and Golden Globe Awards. The film will see wide release in North America on March 15, 2013.

From Up On Poppy Hill