Story perspectives

Keanu Reeves Voices Stop-Motion Film “Hidari” Debuts Soon

5/18/2026

Summary

Keanu Reeves Voices

Masashi Kawamura announced his stop-motion feature “Hidari,” starring Keanu Reeves as the voice of Jingoro Hidari, will open soon.
Masashi Kawamura wrote and directed the film, expanding his 2023 samurai short about character.
After losing his father figure, fiancée, and arm, Jingoro Hidari gains a prosthetic and travels with a wooden Sleeping Cat companion.
Keanu Reeves said the project is extraordinary and has all the makings of an exceptional film.

Summary

Tomonobu Ibe Finances

The co-production joins Dwarf Studios, the Tokyo agency Whatever, and animation house TECARAT for a Japanese feature animation.
Financing is led by veteran entertainment specialist Tomonobu Ibe of Questry Co.
Director Masashi Kawamura, a Cristal prize winner at the 2010 Annecy Festival, also holds an International Emmy nomination.
The 2023 Hidari proof-of-concept short has drawn nearly 5 million YouTube views, giving the project a strong online audience.

History

Historical Context

Hayao Miyazaki’s *Spirited Away* opened in Japan on 20 July 2001, earned ¥30.4 billion worldwide and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003, the first hand-drawn non-English film to do so. Disney secured North-American distribution rights in April 2002, boosting global confidence in Japanese animation and paving the way for new stop-motion projects such as Kawamura’s 2023 short.

1 of 3

Keanu Reeves Voices

Masashi Kawamura announced his stop-motion feature “Hidari,” starring Keanu Reeves as the voice of Jingoro Hidari, will open soon.
Masashi Kawamura wrote and directed the film, expanding his 2023 samurai short about character.
After losing his father figure, fiancée, and arm, Jingoro Hidari gains a prosthetic and travels with a wooden Sleeping Cat companion.
Keanu Reeves said the project is extraordinary and has all the makings of an exceptional film.

1 / 3