Satoshi Kon’s ‘Tokyo Godfathers’ Receives 4K Restoration, Theatrical Re-Release, and Stage Play Adaptation

GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced it has acquired North American theatrical and home entertainment distribution rights for the critically-acclaimed animated feature Tokyo Godfathers, by director Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Paprika). GKIDS previously re-released a remastered version of Satoshi Kon’s groundbreaking psychological thriller Perfect Blue in 2018, and ASIFA-Hollywood recently announced that Kon would posthumously receive their Winsor McCay Award, the organization’s award for lifetime achievement in animation. GKIDS will release a new 4K restoration of Tokyo Godfathers on Monday, March 9 at 7:00PM (with English-language subtitles) and Wednesday, March 11 at 7:00PM (dubbed in English). Fathom Events will begin the sale of event tickets online at the end of January.

In addition, a new stage play based on Tokyo Godfathers has just been announced by the New National Theatre, Tokyo, to be performed during the theater’s 2020-21 season.

“Satoshi Kon remains one of the animated medium’s most celebrated and visionary storytellers,” said GKIDS’ President David Jesteadt. “With the re-release of Tokyo Godfathers, a timely work of deep humanism and beauty, we are proud to play a part in sharing his legacy with audiences old and new.”

Satoshi Kon, a prominent director of Japanese animation, died on August 24, 2010 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 46. He made an impression as an artist in the mid-90s with the creation of the manga series Opus, which was published in Japan by Tokuma Shoten with an English translation by Dark Horse Comics. It was not until the late 1990’s that Kon made his directorial debut with the psychological thriller Perfect Blue, which was followed by his sophomore debut with Millennium Actress. Following such groundbreaking work in the world of animated films, Kon followed up with two more animated films Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika.

SYNOPSIS, Tokyo Godfathers: In modern-day Tokyo, three homeless people’s lives are changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. As the New Year fast approaches, these three forgotten members of society band together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child and the fate of her parents. Along the way, encounters with seemingly unrelated events and people force them to confront their own haunted pasts, as they learn to face their future, together.