Penguin Highway

“Penguin Highway” is the coming-of-age story of three youths. The main focus is on 10-year-old Aoyama who, as one of the smartest kids in his class, has made scientific discoveries his hobby. When penguins suddenly appear in his village, he takes on the challenge and wants to get to the bottom of the phenomenon, together with his friends Hamamoto and Uchida. The narrative gains an additional layer in the form of a story involving two adults: on the one hand, Hamamoto’s father, who is a researcher himself, and, on the other hand, the buxom “lady” who works as an assistant in a dental practice. Because she seems to be the only person who can create penguins, she soon becomes the main focus of the children’s investigations. The adventures of Aoyama, Hamamoto and Uchida are told with humour and absurdity and conveyed by means of magnificent images. “Penguin Highway” is devoted to nothing less than exploring the greatest mystery of all: the world as such. The film applauds science, curiosity and children’s imagination, managing effortlessly to captivate the audience right to the very end.
“Penguin Highway” is based on the novel of the same name, published in 2010. Praised by readers and critics alike, it won the most coveted award for science-fiction literature in Japan. Director Hiroyasu Ishida (“Rain Town”, 2011), who became famous with his short animes, continues this success with his first feature film: just a few weeks after the film was released, it ranked among the top ten box-office hits in Japan. At the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, “Penguin Highway” won the Satoshi Kon Award for Best Animated Feature.