Kensuke's Kingdom (film)
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''Kensuke's Kingdom'' is a 2023
animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...
based on the 1999
children's novel Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
of the same name by
Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as '' War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelli ...
. The film debuted at the
Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...
on 11 June 2023. The UK premiere was at the 67th
BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...
on 14 October 2023. The general release in France was on 7 February 2024, under the title ''Le Royaume de Kensuké''. The film was nominated for the inaugural BAFTA Award for Best Children's & Family Film at the
78th British Academy Film Awards The 78th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTAs, was a ceremony held on 16 February 2025, honouring films of any nationality that were screened in British cinemas in 2024 in film, 2024. The ...
, though it lost to '' Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl''.


Premise

A boy (Aaron MacGregor) swept overboard during a storm on a worldwide sailing trip with his family washes ashore on an island in the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. While there, he realises someone (
Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nominated for the Academy Awa ...
) is nearby, aiding him with his survival.


Cast

* Aaron MacGregor as
Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as '' War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelli ...
*
Sally Hawkins Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress of stage and screen. She began her career on stage and then moved into film, for which she has received several accolades including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominatio ...
as Mum (Mrs. Morpurgo) *
Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy ( ; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. His works encompass both stage and screen, and his accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 pl ...
as Dad (Mr. Morpurgo) *
Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nominated for the Academy Awa ...
as Kensuke *
Raffey Cassidy Raffey Camomile Cassidy (born 12 November 2001) is a British actress. She first appeared as a child actress in the television movie '' Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen'' (2009), adding her first brief film role in ''Dark Shadows'' (2012), her f ...
as Becky * Alfred Kodai Berglund as Michiya (Kensuke's Son)


Production

It was announced in February 2019 that an animated film adaptation of the
children's novel Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
'' Kensuke's Kingdom'' by
Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as '' War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelli ...
was in development, with
Sally Hawkins Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress of stage and screen. She began her career on stage and then moved into film, for which she has received several accolades including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominatio ...
,
Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy ( ; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. His works encompass both stage and screen, and his accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 pl ...
,
Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nominated for the Academy Awa ...
and
Raffey Cassidy Raffey Camomile Cassidy (born 12 November 2001) is a British actress. She first appeared as a child actress in the television movie '' Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen'' (2009), adding her first brief film role in ''Dark Shadows'' (2012), her f ...
set as part of the voice cast, like the novel following a fictionalised version of Morpurgo himself as he is stranded on a desert island as a child. In September 2020, the film entered production after securing new financing. Animation was provided primarily by the
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
-based firm Bumpybox.


Reception

.


Notes


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 5674658
''Kensuke's Kingdom'' official website
2023 animated films 2023 films 2020s English-language films 2020s British films 2020s British animated films British Film Institute films Films about castaways Films based on works by Michael Morpurgo Films set in Oceania Films set on uninhabited islands Films with screenplays by Frank Cottrell-Boyce Animated films based on children's books Animated films set on islands Le Pacte films