A new look for the Jesus film: anime!

The Jesus film, the classic evangelistic film that's been translated into approximately 8 bazillion languages, is getting a facelift for the first time since its 1979 creation. The Jesus film is going anime.

The basic rationale appears to be that the film is starting to look pretty dated, but completely re-filming it would require re-translating it into all those languages, which would be a truly epic task. But by giving it an animated treatment, they can still use the film's original dialogue translations, which haven't aged as much as the visuals have.

They've put up a concept video on Youtube and are soliciting comments:

There's a survey about the concept video you can take after watching it. Some good commentary on the project at the Bible Films Blog and at FilmChat. And there's an overview of the Jesus film anime project from earlier this year over at Mission Network News.

What do you think? Is an animated version a good way to update the film without having to redo the entire thing from scratch?

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Comments (24)

This could be really cool.
I'm not sure what is meant by "dated film." For instance, if the story of Jesus were actually filmed of Jesus and the actual events, the film would surely be 'dated.' So? Big deal. If it were redone in 2008, wouldn't that date it and make it dated 20 - 50 years from now? Why keep it 'modern?' The folks in the "3rd world" know no difference. selah

I would prefer to let it get old and 'dated.' More authenticity...

a follower of The Lion of Judah
Good point about it being 'dated' again in 20-50 years, but if it stays the same it's going to look extremely dated in 20-50 years. If a project like this can revitalize what has been a spectacularly effective tool for showing Jesus to those that don't know him, I think any effort to make it more palatable to a contemporary audience (ie something outside the 3rd world) is worthwhile.
I think that it is a great way to reach a group of people who are very interested in Anime, but not so interested in hearing about Jesus. My niece is one of them. She had the idea that the story of Jesus was boring until she heard/saw it in a different way. I think that this adaptation will be a great tool for reaching the 'nations.' Keep up the good work!!!
I think that's great, for as long as anime is usable. I've used the claymation "The Miracle Maker" in similar fashion. Excellent reuse, overcoming many of the old film's shortcomings.

I wonder if they considered rendering it into an animation like "Waking Life" used?
After taking the survey and visiting http://visualtranslation.org I see that the goal of the project is not to "update" the film. It's to reach an audience that is 15-30 years of age. I'm quite sure they do not intend to replace the original film.

I think it's a worthy project and would recommend others to check it out.
Thanks for the clarification, Giuoco! That makes sense.
As a staff member with Campus Crusade - the parent org of the Jesus Film Project - we've used this clip on campus a number of times in the DC area and gotten really good feed back on it. It's great to have them take a look at it and respond to it when they would NEVER (ever) sit through the original.
I wish I could take this with me to rural Africa - where I'm returning in a couple of months. I used to live in West Africa and used the Jesus Film extensively (translated into the local language). I think it's cool but I wonder if they would think the same. Perhaps? It's been a year since I've been there, so perhaps anime is cathcing on in other films.
I worked among neighboring people groups to Randy -- my feeling for Africa is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The animated version may be appropriate for younger, more Westernized audiences, but we don't know how non-westerners might react to the distorted facial expressions and sound effects. I don't think Majority World viewers see the current version as "dated," though I could be mistaken. If there were a need to update, could another live version be produced, and dubbed with existing translations?
That's a good question. It could certainly be done - the clear demonstration of the need and who wants it would be a big part of seeing something like that happen. We have these dialog recordings form the gospel of Luke (as the basis of the JESUS film) in over 1,000 languages now. What other ways could they be used? This might be another great example - the anime version is another. The JESUS film is basically a linear retelling of the story, but using just the dialog recordings and other visual ways of telling the story (that don't need dialog) opens up many more creative ways the story could be retold, especially in shorter stories.
Quite right. The idea is not to update the film, that is to replace the visuals with animation and keep the original soundtrack. It is to translate the story into anime. Anime is not only how the characters are drawn, but the editing, pacing, camera movements and the type of content that anime deals with regularly. Just think of dealing with the crucifixion of Jesus without trying to sanitize it visually...

Yes the visuals of this segment were not anime. It is just a glorified storyboard. We were only trying to communicate the nature of the storytelling and how different it would be compared to the JESUS film. It was just a first step. The first story script, visual designs and getting everything together is still in process. With that said, please continue to promote the link for the survey, pray for the project and stay tuned!

Irv
Excellent, moving! I look forward to seeing more. Is this still in a process of refinement? I thought the facial expressions were really good. I am not familiar with anime, so I wondered if the animation part gets more detailed. But the art work is very good and expresses the story well. Thanks for you hard work.
Actually, we're working on an animatic (storyboard video similar to The Demoniac mentioned above) for a 10-minute film on the crucifixion right now. As you think of it, please pray for this project. Thanks!
I think this is a great idea. :o) Keep it up!

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