For nearly eight decades Toei Animation, the legendary Japanese studio behind iconic franchises like Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon has been a powerhouse in the world of animation. Now, the acclaimed studio has reached a new historic milestone with its first-ever Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film – joining the exclusive list of five alongside Yuck!, Beautiful Men, In the Shadow of the Cypress and Wander to Wonder. The film in question, Magic Candies, is a stunning adaptation of Heena Baek’s beloved Korean picture books, brought to life by producer Takashi Washio and veteran director Daisuke Nishio. Known for his work on Dragon Ball Z, Pretty Cure and Interstella 5555, Daisuke and his team have used their considerable talents to create a visually rich and emotionally resonant short. Magic Candies’ textured, lifelike animation style blurs the line between CGI and traditional claymation, creating a world that feels both magical and full of the possibilities which come from being willing to take that first step. In our interview, we speak to Daisuke about the four year process of adapting Heena Baek’s picture books into a 3D animated film, the importance of paying close attention to cultural authenticity and the symbolism behind the film’s breathtaking falling leaves finale.
[The following interview is also available to watch at the end of this article.]
Before we dive into Magic Candies I wanted to ask about your career in the industry and how you came to join Toei Animation.
Actually, it’s a long story. I was never an art student and did not major in any courses related to art. I was an ordinary college student with no connection to art. I studied economics and that’s it so I have never received formal education in art, including drawing, animation or sculpture. During my senior year, I had a difficult time deciding which job to pursue. I wasn’t even looking for a job at that time. I thought I could stay at my college for one to two years and look for jobs. I think it was right at the end of the year when I discovered that Toei Doga, the former name of Toei Animation, had a sudden job opening. Not for full-time employees but for staff. At that time, Toei had not recruited new employees for twenty years and it was also the first time in two decades that they held a test to hire staff members. When I heard that news from my friend, I thought I should give this a try since I’m not looking for another job anyway. That’s how it all started.
I studied economics and that’s it so I have never received formal education in art, including drawing, animation or sculpture.
Regarding my career in this industry, the first series I directed was Dr. Slump – Arale-Chan. Then, I joined the direction team of Dragon Ball. Since then, I continued to work on TV series for a long time. After Dragon Ball I worked on Blue Legend Shoot, a soccer show that ran for a year, followed by the TV series of GeGeGe no Kitarō for a year. Then I directed a mystery detective story, Young Kindaichi’s Case Book, a show about a high school boy detective. After that, I spent some time supporting other production teams. Not as a director but I worked on Interstella 5555, an omnibus feature produced by Daft Punk. In the meantime, Pretty Cure got approved and I worked on it for two years. Then I paused working on TV series and began helping with the development of experimental shorts.
How did you a Japanese animator working at a Japanese animation studio come to be adapting a Korean picture book?
Perhaps this question would be better answered by our producer, Washio. As far as I know, when Washio encountered the original picture book he was deeply inspired and motivated to create a film adaptation. Then he introduced me to the book. When I first read it, I was as impressed as he was. No matter if this book was from Japan, Korea, Europe, or North America, I was motivated to make it work with the craftsmanship our team had. I believe that was our initial motivation.
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Was the decision to include the prequel book I Am a Dog part of the initial plan or did it come later?
Before I joined this project, the producers were refining the plot to create the actual script. Washio took the lead and also contributed by writing himself. Rather than writing a story solely based on the original book of Magic Candies, Washio mostly took care of it in the end and I think he decided that the backstory behind Magic Candies, a fleeting moment or even a single memory scene would add depth to the world of this film.
How closely did you collaborate with Heena Baek throughout the production of Magic Candies?
Washio spent almost two full years preparing the production of Magic Candies before I joined the project while continuously discussing it with Ms. Heena Baek. Once I decided to join, I started to organize my thoughts while reverse-engineering the script into a plot and reconstructing the dialogue. I drew some rough sketches before beginning the storyboarding process and even drew some pre-storyboard images while proposing revised dialogue. Including all the preliminary processes, I spent nearly three years working on this film.
For two years before I joined Washio was constantly speaking with Ms. Baek. After I joined, we regularly shared ideas and proposals with Ms. Baek that came out during the plot stage. We also had many questions about the Korean lifestyle so we constantly sought her feedback through Washio. While I was working on the storyboard, I wanted to ensure that my understanding of the behaviours of middle-class families living in mass housing complexes was accurate so I asked for her opinions through Washio. We consistently communicated with her during production to ask for feedback through Washio and our team in Korea and Ms. Baek always responded to us with her thoughts.
Whenever I adopt a worldview that I’m not familiar with I try my best to ensure that those familiar with it will not feel strange.
Am I correct that you and your team travelled to Korea to fully absorb the environment and atmosphere so to better convey that into Dong-Dong’s world in the film?
Yes, you are mostly correct or perhaps it’s better to say that you are partially correct. We travelled after the storyboard was nearly completed. We were scouting locations but our main focus was to enhance the details and realism of the world in this film. Each member of our team took a significant number of photos to deepen their understanding and gather precise data, which is reflected in their meticulous work. Ms. Baek’s team provided us with a large collection of photos of Seoul, a city we had never visited. Whenever I adopt a worldview that I’m not familiar with, I try my best to ensure that those familiar with it will not feel strange. Using my imagination while looking at references. Once I gained confidence that the gap between our understandings had been almost filled, I was finally able to visit Seoul.
From my experience – and it might be an unusual reference – but we can never visit Planet Namek or anywhere in space. I’ve done a lot of that kind of work. As I draft the storyboard, I must strive on my own to create worlds generally accepted by the audience. Once our understanding reaches a certain point and gains confidence we can finally go location scouting and fill in the remaining gaps by researching the details in real life. At the same time, we were asking some questions to the team in Korea, including Ms. Baek, about details of behaviours such as which door to open first and which room you would go through to get to your room. I tried to make everything look more natural, realistic and keep the sense of immersion as much as possible.
The textured look of the world in the film is beautiful, from the characters’ skin to the tiny details like the fraying on the bottom of the sofa.
That is exactly the part that the entire staff agonized over until the very last moment. My trusted team worked for this film – every section including animation, modelling, textures and lighting, contributed to maintaining the realism of the world. I don’t specialize in CGI so I cannot explain which tools were specifically used or arranged but our crews in every section did a great job. They created something beyond the expected capabilities of technical tools.
The relationship between clay dolls and CGI animation is interesting. If someone had been bold enough, they might have wanted to visualize the original book in claymation, no matter how hard it was. In my case, I began my career in 2D animation and have worked in the field of drawing-based animation for a long time. I’m not familiar with the world of claymation, handling three-dimensional objects frame by frame. I had more experience with computer graphics, where I could direct each cut or scene. I’ve also known the animation producer Kazuhiro Nishikawa from the time we worked together on full CGI OBI produced by Toei: OBI refers to a 5-minute short series that airs every day. Although it wasn’t easy, we still shared a moment of joy while completing the work. I don’t know if that was a coincidence or Washio’s intention but he did mention Nishikawa initially so I guess it wasn’t really a coincidence.
Every section including animation, modelling, textures and lighting, contributed to maintaining the realism of the world.
We went through tough productions together yet we all thought those were wonderful experiences. There aren’t many people with whom we can talk like this but this time, they were right in front of me. I believe this feeling was conveyed to all the crews, to every animator, lighting artist and modelling artist, and that’s how they were able to achieve something beyond mechanical performances. I believe this ultimately improved our picture and texture appearance. If we simply attempt to create something that resembles claymation in CGI, we will end up being a fake. I was wary of that part. In the beginning, I struggled a lot with whether to pursue a claymation style or a more conventional CGI approach. It took time to decide but then I thought our advantage wasn’t in graphic quality or smoothness of actions but in the sense of realism. I wanted to bring Ms. Baek’s characters to life with lively acting, even in CGI animation. That’s how I made up my mind.
Given the book is obviously a different medium to the short, were there any elements of the story that didn’t make sense to appear in the film in a three-dimensional world as opposed to the two-dimensional world of the source material?
I typically avoid eliminating any possibilities or judging ideas as useless when I’m brainstorming. Every possibility is on the table and then eventually I decide which ideas to extract or merge. I think that is how I make decisions. My ultimate goal was to vividly animate the characters created by Ms. Baek. That goal didn’t change from the beginning to the end. While I was organizing items on the table, I wanted to ensure that our work accurately represented Ms. Baek’s creation, as if those characters are acting next to you in real life. This mindset remained consistent from the beginning to the end.
My ultimate goal was to vividly animate the characters created by Ms. Baek. That goal didn’t change from the beginning to the end.
The falling leaves scene at the end of the film is breathtaking. What is the symbolism for you of that final scene when Dong-Dong takes a first step?
As you say, the scene symbolizes Dong-Dong taking a first step. It symbolizes a slight feeling of unreality, an overflow of emotions and a sense of wonder. There are moments in life when we find fallen leaves to be beautiful. To portray the environment surrounding Dong-Dong, a slight hint of wonder was added to that scene and of course, it is more exaggerated. This is the climax of the 20-minute short so I tried to create an appropriate background for Dong-Dong.
Magic Candies has been nominated for an Oscar, which is the first Oscar nomination for Toei. What does that nomination mean to you and the studio?
I never intended to create something that would be considered the ‘first’ for Toei. My motivation for this film was – I don’t know if I should say this publicly – not tied to a solid commercial scheme, such as a theatrical release or broadcasting. The primary goal of the staff gathered here was to create this work itself. At that time, our film did not have a clear goal for achieving commercial value or a commercial release such as awards, broadcasting, or theatre screenings. The commercial goal had not been established and the future remained uncertain. However, our team felt that creating this work would prove our existence, which increased everyone’s motivation. We have had people from all over the world see our film, starting with New York and in Europe, including Cambridge and London, as well as the Czech Republic, Amsterdam and other cities. Each region may perhaps have slightly different impressions but everyone accepted this work in the same way. The whole family was moved in the same way. Looking at these reactions has renewed our appreciation for the work we do.
If the magic candies existed in reality whose voice would you most want to hear and what would you want to say to them?
I was asked the same question before. I had not decided whose it would be in particular, I would rather give magic candies to someone who wants to hear someone or something. I think everyone has a desire to hear the voices of someone or something, perhaps there are people who need that ability more than I do. That thought is always somewhere in my head so I would answer that way.
