IN BRIEF: Case of Hana and Alice (2015) Fantasia 2015

Animated prequel to the 2004 classic HANA AND ALICE is set at the time that the two girls meet. This film has Alice and her mom moving into a new house and going off to school. There Alice comes across the murder case of a student known as Judas. Judas was killed by his four wives also known as Judas. As a result of it all the students have come up with elaborate plans to prevent the ghosts from getting them. (As one character says "no it doesn't make sense"). Alice wants to get to the bottom of it and she discovers that her neighbor, Hana, is the keeper of the secrets needed to solve the mystery. That's the start of the story and a movie friendship.

This is an utterly charming film that has the original actresses reprising their roles and having a grand old time doing it. They appear to be having so much fun that we in the audience also end up having a blast. I was smiling from ear to ear.

The animation is a mix of rotoscoping and traditional animation. It makes for a visually odd moment or two early on as the realistic motion of some characters don't quite fit with the backgrounds. On the other hand it quickly becomes a bonus giving the film not only a unique look, but also allowing a fluidity of motion that we don't usually get in animated films.

Do you need to have seen the first film? Apparently not. I didn't see it (shhh- don't tell anyone) and I had no trouble following what was going on. In reading on the film I  discovered that there is only a few references to the earlier film, basically its a new film with the same characters.

I don't know what else to say. I had a grand old time and as soon as I'm done with Fantasia I'm planning on digging out my DVD of the original film and watching that.

The film plays in two hours at Famtasia and if you hurry you can make the screening.

For tickets and more information go here.