A film by PHILIPPE DUCHENE
Written by
YOHANN GHELLIS, MARIE GODART & PHILIPPE DUCHENE
Concept Art by THOMAS BRISSOT
PITCH
In feudal Japan, Taishō, a samurai, deserts the battlefield to be reunited with his wife, but she dies while giving birth to their daughter, Yumi. Not long after, Taishō - now a simple farmer - acquires a willow tree that makes his land miraculously fertile.
As she grows up, Yumi discovers that the tree holds a secret magic, known only to her, that allows her to conjure the ghost of her mother, and to communicate with the Yamokai, tiny spirits of nature.
But Taishō's former master Zenjiro receives from the Daimyo the order to requisition the willow, Taishō is arrested after trying to oppose it. The 11 years old Yumi, now alone against all, must call on the forces of nature to save her magic willow...
SYNOPSIS
CONCEPT ART
MOODBOARD
THE BRAND VALUES
Inspired by an old Japanese tale, The Samurai's Willow is an animation film in the spirit of The Red Turtle, Summit of the Gods, Princess Mononoke...
Within a realistic feudal Japan setting, and through Yumi and the willow, the characters are thrust into the realm of fantasy.