This delightful 2017 animated feature (the original Japanese title translates to Ancien and the Magic Tablet) serves up a clever and creative mix of magical fantasy, real-world adventure, and family drama. The film opens in fantasy mode with the teenage sorceress Princess Ancien, who is hidden away from the car-obsessed King by a scheming, would-be usurper. But when high school girl Kokone wakes up, it turns out it was all a dream, one that has been continuing like a serial adventure. Over the course of the story the dream world and Kokone’s life with her father mirror one another and then cross over. Set in 2020 before the opening of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the story involves a corporate plot to steal the computer program for a self-driving car developed by Kokone’s father along with the president of the auto company (who looks just like the king in Kokone’s dreams). Director Kenji Kamiyama mixes magic, mecha, fantasy, and technology into a tale sustained by the spirit of a high school girl and her sidekick and protector Morio, as they flee the corporate bad guys. While the ending goes a little too far in action movie excess, this is otherwise a colorful, briskly-paced film that is both an imaginative adventure and a touching and sweet story about family, friends, and loyalty. Presented in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, not rated (but suitable for 10 and up), extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Napping Princess
(2017) 106 min. DVD: $16.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $26.99. Shout! Factory (avail. from most distributors). SDH captioned. Volume 33, Issue 3
Napping Princess
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