''Nahuel and the Magic Book'' ( es, Nahuel y el Libro Mágico) is a 2020 Chilean-Brazilian

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

film produced by Carburadores, co-produced by Chilean Punkrobot Studios and Brazilian Levante Films and directed by Germán Acuña Delgadillo. This is the first animated feature that was made in Chile in collaboration with Brazil and this is the first Chilean-Brazilian 2D animated film that entered the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

in Annecy, France on June 15, 2020 and in Chile on January 20, 2022.

Premise

Nahuel lives with his father in a fishing town, yet he has a deep fear of the sea. One day, he finds a magical book that seems to be the solution to this problem, but a dark wizard is after it and captures Nahuel’s father. This is where his fantastic adventure begins: to rescue his father while overcoming his deepest fears.

Cast

* Consuelo Pizarro as Nahuel, a young, curious, shy and introvert 12-year-old titular protagonist who got bullied by Calfunao and Rorro, very afraid of the sea, and he's the one who stole the Levisterio to solves his fears, but then his father got kidnapped by Kalku and the quest begins to rescue his father and overcome his fears. * Muriel Benavides as Fresia, a young

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

an machi who shelters and helps Nahuel to find his father and possibly his love interest. * Marcelo Liapiz as

Kalku Kalku or Calcu, in Mapuche mythology, is a sorcerer or witch who works with black magic and negative powers or forces. The essentially benevolent shamans are more often referred to as '' machi'', to avoid confusion with the malevolent kalku. Its ...

, the main antagonist of the film a sorcerer who controls all crows and kidnapped Nahuel's father.. *Jorge Lillo as Antonio, he's Nahuel's dad who's a fisherman and suffered emotionally after his wife's died at the beginning of the film. And he got kidnapped by Kalku after a storm destroy their ship. **

Chon Chon The Chonchon ( es, chonchón from arn, chonchon) is a mythical bird from Mapuche religion also present in Chilean and southern Argentine folk myth. Legend The Chonchon is the magical transformation of a kalku (Mapuche sorcerer). It is said onl ...

, the goblin-like dealer from the Tavern who makes a deal with Nahuel with a riddle. **Guardián, an old sorcerer who lives in the abandoned house. **Rorro, Nahuel's other bully and the friend of Calfunao. **and Don Simón, the man who buys the egg at the market. * Sandro Larenas as Elzaino, the tavern owner. * Sebastián Dupont Gallardo as Ruende, a talking wolf who wanted revenge on Kalku. He was also voiced as: **Calfunao, Nahuel's bully. * Vanesa Silva as Consuelo, Nahuel's late mom and wife of Elzaino who dies at the beginning of the film and minutes later when Nahuel was about to drown, she saves him and encourage him to be brave. **Raiquen, Ruende's wife who got cursed by Kalku ** Huenchur, one of the Mapuche recoverers that save Nahuel **Sra Hilda, the old woman at the marketplace. * Sergio Schmied as

Trauco In the traditional Chilote mythology of Chiloé, Chile, the Trauco is a humanoid creature of small stature—similar to a dwarf or goblin—who lives deep in the forest. It has an ugly face, and legs without feet. Legend The Trauco is a myt ...

, an old creature who needs Nahuel's help to find Kalku.

Production

The film production starts back in 2015 with the help of the Brazilian animation studio Levante Filmes and the other Chilean animation studios later on for the next few years like Punkrobot Studio, which they created and produced the Oscar award-winning short film

Bear Story ''Bear Story'' (Spanish: ''Historia de un oso'') is a 2014 Chilean animated short film directed by Gabriel Osorio Vargas. The screenplay was co-written with Daniel Castro and the film was produced by Pato Escala Pierart. The story is inspired by th ...

, Red Animation Studios, Dragao Animation Studios, LMS Animation Studios and Draftoons Studios The CEOs of Punkrobot and Levante Films, Patricio Escala and Sabrina Bogado, manage to help Acuña and his team to make the film as soon as possible due to their fundings. The co-founder of Carburadores and the executive director from Levante Films, Sebastian Ruz and Livia Pagano, were the producers of the film to hiring animators, sound producers, editors, financers, and sales agents. The writer of the script in the film were Germán Acuña and Juan Pablo Sepúlveda who they wrote together after his research back in 2012, when he was on the island of Chiloé. The music composers were Acuña, Felicia Morales, and Christopher Carvajal and the sound designers like Marcelo Vidal and Leonardo Guimaraes use the software device called Alcateia Digital to create sounds for the scenes, Marcelo Jara would be the editor of the film. The animation director was Enrique Ocampo and the general animation supervisor was Rosamari Martínez, to help the crew of animators across the studios. The art director of the film is also Director Acuña and Coni Adonis, The background artists such as Acuña, Coni Adonis, Javier Navarro, Francisco Vasquez, Luna Vargas and Luisa Adonis, the character design Cristobal Macaya makes the film cartoonish. The animators of the movie were credited from the other animation studios from Chile, Brazil and Peru like Punkrobot, Levante, Red, Dragao, LMS, Draftoons and many freelance animators all over Latin America.

Release

''Nahuel and the Magic Book'' had its first premiere virtually in

from June 15 to June 30, 2020, in

Annecy, France Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nickname ...

, followed by other festivals like: The

SCHLINGEL International Film Festival Schlingel (Usually written: SCHLINGEL) is an international film festival for children and young audiences. The festival began in 1996, and has taken place annually in Chemnitz ever since in the week before the Saxon Fall Break. The festival giv ...

Chemnitz, Germany Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

on October 10–17, 2020, The Chilemonos Festival in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

on October 5–24, 2020,

American Film Market The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more than ...

Santa Monica, California, USA Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

on November 9–12, 2020, and The

Tokyo Anime Award Festival The Tokyo Anime Awards started in 2002, but was named in 2005. The first, second and third award ceremonies were simply named 'Competition'. The award ceremonies were held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) until 2013. In 2014, after the ...

would premiere this film in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

on March 12–15, 2021 followed by the North American release in The

New York International Children's Film Festival New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...

in New York City, New York, United States of America on March 6, The Toronto Animation Arts Festival International in Toronto on March 25, The Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival in

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

on March 28, The

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

in Seattle, Oregon, USA on April 8, Stockholm Film Festival in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

on April 19, The Premios Quirino in La Laguna, Spain on May 27–29, 2021, The

Marché du Film The ''Marché du Film'' (french for "Film Market") is one of the largest film markets in the world.Marc ...

Cannes, France Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

from July 6–15, 2021, The

Transylvania International Film Festival The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF; ro, Festivalul internațional de film Transilvania) is the first international feature film festival in Romania, which is held annually in the historic capital of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca. Found ...

in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania Romania on July 25–26, Cinemagic in

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

from July 30-August 12, 2021, Zlin Film Festival in Zlin, Czech Republic on September 9–15, 2021, The Viborg Animation Festival in

Viborg, Denmark Viborg (), a city in central Jutland, Denmark, is the capital of both Viborg municipality and Region Midtjylland. Viborg is also the seat of the Western High Court, the Courts of Denmark, High Court for the Jutland peninsula. Viborg Municipality ...

on September 27, 2021 – October 3, 2021, The Cinemarteket on October 7 to 10 2021 on Denmark, The Latin America Film Festival in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on October 8–10, 2021, The Animation Is Film Festival on October 23 also release in Los Angeles, The Rolan International Film Festival on Rolan, Armenia on November 1–5, 2021 and the Film Frasnor in

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of i ...

on November 11–21, 2021. The film made its US premiere at the

NYICFF New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...

on March 5, 2021. In June, "Nahuel" sold to HBO in Eastern Europe, according to Variety. The film's worldwide release date was expected to be on late 2021 and it would premiere on

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On December 1,

El Mercurio ''El Mercurio'' (known online as ''El Mercurio On-Line'', ''EMOL'') is a Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. Its Santiago edition is considered the country's newspaper of record and it is considered the oldest daily in t ...

reported the official release date on the film in Chile was January 20, 2022 and months later, on September 23, Disney Plus Latin America acquired the rights to distribute the film all across Latin America.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 9881630 Animated feature films 2020 films 2020 animated films 2020s children's adventure films 2020s Spanish-language films Chilean animated films Brazilian animated films Animated adventure films Animated fantasy films Animated drama films Animated coming-of-age films Films about father–son relationships Films set in Chile Anime-influenced Western animation Films set on islands Films set in forests Animated films about revenge Films about magic Films about fear Films about curses Films about witchcraft Animated films about friendship Animated buddy films Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2020s Chilean films Chilean adventure films Chilean fantasy films