Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

Film poster
Japanese 劇場版 NARUTO 大活劇! 雪姫忍法帖だってばよ!!
Hepburn Gekijōban Naruto Daikatsugeki! Yukihime Ninpōchō dattebayo!!
Directed by Tensai Okamura
Screenplay by Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Story by Masashi Kishimoto
Starring Junko Takeuchi
Noriaki Sugiyama
Chie Nakamura
Kazuhiko Inoue
Music by Toshio Masuda
Production
company
Distributed by Toho (Japan)
Viz Media (USA)
Release dates
  • August 21, 2004 (2004-08-21)
Running time
 82 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Box office

¥1.37 billion

(US$11.1 million)

Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow (劇場版 NARUTO 大活劇! 雪姫忍法帖だってばよ!! Gekijōban Naruto Daikatsugeki! Yukihime Ninpōchō dattebayo!!, lit. Great Action Scene! Snow Princess' Book of Ninja Arts) is a 2004 Japanese animated action-adventure fantasy drama film directed by Tensai Okamura and written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa based on the popular anime and manga series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. It was released in Japan on August 21, 2004. The popularity of the series has spawned several sequels, beginning with Naruto the Movie 2. The movie takes place after episode 101. The ending song is called Home Sweet Home and is sung by Yuki. The English adaptation replaced this song with "Never Give Up" by Jeremy Sweet due to licensing restrictions.

An original video animation, Konoha Annual Sports Festival (木ノ葉運動会 Konoha Undōkai), was included with the Japanese release of the film. The ten-minute opening short revolves around Naruto's inability to use the bathroom while participating in a sports tournament. It is notable because virtually every character, living or dead, in the Naruto universe makes an appearance in it (most of them standing in a restroom-queue). Minato Namikaze also makes an appearance in the shot.

Plot

Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno watch a film starring Yukie Fujikaze, in a local cinema. Kakashi Hatake has summoned them to watch it as preparation for their next mission: to prevent Yukie, who plays Princess Gale in the films, from being captured during production of her latest film. Yukie is later revealed to be Koyuki Kazahana, a princess from an island known as the Land of Snow. Doto Kazahana, who is revealed to be Koyuki's uncle, was responsible for the murder of her father Sosetsu in a coup d'etat. During the shooting of the film, Doto's henchmen, wearing Chakra armor, attempt to capture the princess, but Team 7 manages to delay the princess from being captured. Doto eventually captures Koyuki and kills her bodyguards, who reveal themselves in an attempt to protect and restore her rightful place as the ruler of the Land of Snow. Naruto enters the ship to rescue the princess, only to be captured and forced to wear a chakra-draining device. Doto forces Koyuki to hand over a crystal necklace her father had given her when she was young, thinking that this is a key that can unlock the hidden treasure Sosetsu had left behind before detaining both Koyuki and Naruto.

Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi infiltrate the fortress while Naruto and Koyuki escape from captivity. They confront Doto but he manages to capture the crystal necklace and flees with Koyuki. Naruto proceeds to follow Doto while the remaining members of Team 7 confront Doto's henchmen. Kakashi gets his revenge by defeating Doto's henchman Nadare Roga, while Sasuke and Sakura defeat the other two henchmen Fubuki Kakuyoku and Mizore Fuyukuma. Meanwhile, Doto discovers the hidden treasure to transform the island into the Land of Spring using a heat generator. Naruto confronts him in a duel, but gets overpowered while Sasuke uses his Chidori to weaken Doto's armour. Soon after, Naruto releases his energy and uses his new Seven Colored Chakra Rasengan, killing Doto and activating a mirror to transform the land. In the aftermath, Koyuki decides to reclaim her rightful place of royalty and even mentions personally with Team 7 that even in the life of royalty, her acting career will not end.

Cast

Role Japanese actor American actor
Naruto Uzumaki Junko Takeuchi Maile Flanagan
Sasuke Uchiha Noriaki Sugiyama Yuri Lowenthal
Sakura Haruno Chie Nakamura Kate Higgins
Kakashi Hatake Kazuhiko Inoue Dave Wittenberg
Sōsetsu Kazahana Hidehiko Ishizuka Cam Clarke
Koyuki Kazahana/Yukie Fujikaze/Princess Fuun (Princess Gale in the English dub) Yūko Kaida Kari Wahlgren
Nadare Rōga Hirotaka Suzuoki Liam O'Brien
Sandayū Asama Ikuo Nishikawa Daran Norris
Fubuki Kakuyoku Jun Karasawa Cindy Robinson
Mizore Fuyukuma Holly Kaneko Kyle Hebert
Dotō Kazahana Tsutomu Isobe Lex Lang
Director Makino Chikao Ōtsuka Michael McConnohie
Assistant Director Akimitsu Takase Sam Riegel
Kin/Buriken Yutaka Nakano Doug Stone
Hidero Kan Tanaka Jamieson Price

Releases

The film was originally released in Japan on August 21, 2004. It was later released on DVD on April 28, 2005. The film was released in 160 theaters in the United States as a one-day showing on June 6, 2007 courtesy of Fathom Events.[1][2] Fifty threaters in Canada would see a one-day showing on June 23, 2007.[3] Madman Entertainment did a special one-day theater release in Australia on October 14, 2007.[4] In 2007, the film was shown at the Fantasia Festival and in the British Museum.[5][6]

The DVD release debuted at rank 25 on Nielsen Videoscan.[7]

Instead of the OVA included with the Japanese release, the American release included a short featurette entitled World of Naruto, as well as a behind the scenes featurette afterwards with interviews with the main English cast and select members of the main Japanese cast. The OVA will, however, appear in the North American DVD release. The DVD was released on September 4, 2007. The film premiered on Cartoon Network on September 8, 2007. The film also played at Cineplex Odeon and Empire Theatres cinemas in Canada, distributed via Bell TV to play the film at all cinemas at the same time.

On November 13, 2007, a three-disc Deluxe Edition of the film was released. It has many extras and features that the standard DVD, released a few months earlier, did not include. It includes the ten-minute short "Konoha Annual Sports Festival" that was originally shown with the Japanese release of the film, the complete soundtrack to the movie, documentaries of the American voice recording of the movie, movie art postcards, and more.

Reception

Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies calls it "a good introduction to the main themes of the series, with ideas of persistence, determination, believing in yourself, and never giving up", and praises setting and backgrounds, "with the frozen Northern landscapes looking especially good". [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Naruto Movie to Premiere in Theaters". Anime News Network. 21 March 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "Naruto Movie Tickets, Theater List Now Open to Public". Anime News Network. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "First Naruto Movie Adds 17 More Theaters to Canada Run". Anime News Network. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Madman Naruto Ninja". Anime News Network. 10 September 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Montreal Fest Shows Ghost in the Shell, Naruto, Tekkon". Anime News Network. 28 June 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "British Museum Hosts Ghibli, Ghost in the Shell, More". Anime News Network. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  7. ↑ "Naruto Movie Debuted at #25 on Nielsen's VideoScan 100". Anime News Network. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  8. ↑ McCarthy, Helen. 500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide. — Harper Design, 2009. — P. 232. — 528 p. — ISBN 978-0061474507

Further reading

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