is a Japanese anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 short film produced by Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli

is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...

, released in Japan on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 and Blu-ray disc

Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...

 on July 4, 2007 as part of the "Ghibli ga Ippai Collection." It is directed

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by Naohisa Inoue

Naohisa Inoue

is a fantasy artist influenced by both the Surrealism and Impressionism movements. Most of his paintings are set in the fantastical land of . He created reference and background art for the Studio Ghibli film Whisper of the Heart and also provided a cameo appearance as the voice of Minami...

. The story is set in the imaginary world of Iblard, originally depicted in paintings by Inoue. The paintings of Iblard also inspired the fantasy sequences of Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart

Whisper of the Heart (film)

is a 1995 Japanese animated drama film based on the manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi. It was directed by Yoshifumi Kondō and written by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the first theatrical Studio Ghibli feature to be directed by someone other than Miyazaki or Takahata, and the only film to be directed...

.

Production

The film is 30 minutes long and consists primarily of Naohisa Inoue's fantasy paintings of the Iblard world. Studio Ghibli digitally animated portions of the paintings and integrated original elements into the scenery. There are 8 separate segments, each featuring a different painting or landscape and instrumental musical piece. The film focuses mostly on static shots of "moving" scenery: Inoue's paintings digitally altered, so that grass moves in the wind, people walk, etc. There is no dialogue in the film.

Music

The original soundtrack for the film was composed by Kiyonori Matsuo

Kiyonori Matsuo

is a Japanese singer who was born in Fukuoka prefecture on December 5, 1951. His song, Sunny Shiny Morning was featured as the third opening song of Maison Ikkoku.- Albums :* SIDE EFFECTS - Ai no Fukuchou...

. The release of Iblard Jikan includes a bonus soundtrack CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

with 8 tracks performed by Matsuo.

Critical reception

Chris Beveridge of Anime on DVD noted that the film is quite calming and relaxing, and provides a great showcase of Ghibli "eye candy," but its appeal would likely be restricted to those seeking to complete their collection of Ghibli pieces due to its focus on "looking through the window" rather than telling an overarching story.

External links

• Official website
• The World of Iblard (Naohisa Inoue's official website)