The concept of imaginary friends is foreign to kids in Japan, but producer and Studio Ponoc founder Yoshiaki Nishimura saw potential in adapting A.F. Harrold’s children’s novel into the hand-drawn fantasy “The Imaginary” (streaming on Netflix ).
Nishimura had no problem relating to the mind-bending adventures of young Amanda (Evie Kiszel) and her imaginary friend, Rudger (Louie Rudge-Buchanan), which he knew had universal appeal. For Rudger, though, there is the worry of eventually slipping from Amanda’s memory and being lost among the forgotten Imaginaries in their isolated town. “When I was writing the script and making the film , I thought how Harrold expressed it in various layers and how we could do that,” Nishimura told IndieWire through his translator.
“ The imaginary friend in this world is like the animated filmmaker. And we don’t want to preach from above like teachers saying this is the way the world is to children. We want to be alongside children, encourage them and have them have fun.
Kids, when they grow up, they might forget the title or the character they saw in the animation , but it will remain with them. What happens to us in life will remain with us, even if we forget. That’s what moves us toward adulthood.
” In “The Imaginary,” Amanda grieves the passing of her father and keeps his memory alive through the imaginary Rudger. But their fun is interrupted by the strange Mr. Bunting (Jeremy Swift), who stalks them for nefarious reaso.
