Mamoru Hosoda's Belle English Language Dub Cast Announced

Date: 2021 December 16 20:46

Posted by Joe

The good folks from anime company Anime Limited have just sent us details of the dub cast for Belle. The English language dub features the voice talents of Chace Crawford (The Boys, Gossip Girl), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers, The Good Place), and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria). In her first lead role Kylie McNeill is cast as Suzu and her digital alter-ego Belle.

Not only have they got a variety of voice talent for the dub they've who also recorded English-language versions of the film's soundtrack under the supervision from the film's original music team including Taisei Iwasaki, Takayuki Chiyo, and Ludvig Forssell. As singing is a key part of the movie this makes sense. It's great to see that the dub production team are going to these lengths.

Mamoru Hosoda's latest cinematic outing tells the story of country girl Belle, who becomes an online singing sensation in the virtual world of "U". It's a reinterpretation of Beauty and the Beast, with it's own modern digital take. We've been lucky enough to see it, and can only describe it as "perfection".

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Press release as follows:



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ANIME LIMITED ANNOUNCES ENGLISH-LANGUAGE VOICE CAST FOR MAMORU HOSODA'S "BELLE"

Find yourself in a virtual world from the Oscar®-nominated director, releasing exclusively in cinemas in early 2022

★★★★★ Robbie Collin, The Daily Telegraph

★★★★★ Phil de Semlyen, Time Out

★★★★★ James Perkins, Starburst

★★★★★ Gavin Spoors, Filmhounds

★★★★★ Jade King, The Gamer

★★★★★ Guy Lambert, The Upcoming

London, UK, Thursday, 16th December - Anime Limited are proud to announce the distinguished cast for the English-language version of BELLE, the latest animated feature film from the Oscar® nominated director Mamoru Hosoda produced by GKIDS and NYAV Post.

The film will feature the voices of Chace Crawford (The Boys, Gossip Girl), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers, The Good Place), and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria). In her first lead role playing both the country girl Suzu and the titular virtual singer Belle is Kylie McNeill, who also recorded English-language versions of the film's soundtrack under supervision from the film's original music team including Taisei Iwasaki, Takayuki Chiyo, and Ludvig Forssell, in collaboration with GKIDS and NYAV Post. The English version of the soundtrack will be released on 14th January, 2022 by Milan Records.

An original story inspired by the realisation that his own children will grow up in an increasingly online age, Hosoda's BELLE is the story of Suzu, a country girl who becomes a music sensation in the virtual world of "U" with the mesmerising avatar Belle. When her fame attracts the attention of a fearsome yet mysterious user known only as "Dragon", Suzu will discover where the line between the online and offline self really lies. Critics have called the film "spellbinding" (Robbie Collin, The Telegraph), "set to be a modern animated classic" (Gavin Spoors, Filmhounds), and "a visual and aural feast that absolutely must be seen on the biggest screen possible" (Josh Slater-Williams, AnOther).

BELLE is a truly international achievement that gathers top talent from across the globe under the helm of Mamoru Hosoda (MIRAI, Wolf Children), who is widely regarded as "one of the finest directors working in animation today" (Jade King, TheGamer). Animated by Japan's Studio Chizu, the film features character designs from Jin Kim (Disney's Frozen, Moana), gorgeous artwork from the Oscar®-nominated team of Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart (Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea) , and the feature film debut of acclaimed video game composer Ludvig Forssell (Kojima Productions' Death Stranding), crafting "a soundtrack that will stir your soul" (SciFiNow).

BELLE was released in cinemas including IMAX screens in Japan starting July 16, 2021. Despite ongoing limited seating capacities and nationwide curfews, the film topped the box office for three consecutive weekends with over 4.69m admissions. The film marks Hosoda's first title to have IMAX screenings, and played in 38 IMAX theatres throughout Japan. BELLE has crossed over 6.53 billion yen in box office to date, and has become Hosoda's highest-grossing film ever, beating the lifetime gross of Boy and the Beast.

Anime Limited will be releasing BELLE exclusively in cinemas across the United Kingdom and Ireland in early 2022. The film will be available with the English-language dub, as well as the original Japanese with subtitles.

Watch the English-language trailer HERE


The full English-language cast is as follows:

Justin - Chace Crawford

Shinobu - Manny Jacinto

Suzu/Belle - Kylie McNeill

Ruka - Hunter Schafer


Dragon - Paul Castro Jr.

Gogo Doggo - David Chen

Hiro - Jessica DiCicco

Kamishin - Brandon Engman

Hatanaka - Martha Harms

Kita - Jessica Gee George

Yoshitani - Barbara Goodson

Angel - Bentley Griffin

Jellinek - Andrew Kishino

Nakai - Wendee Lee

Suzu's Father - Ben Lepley

Swan - Noelle McGrath

Suzu's Mother - Julie Nathanson

Fox - Aaron Phillips

Okumoto - Ellyn Stern

Reggsination - Frank Todaro

Kei and Tomo's Father - Kiff VandenHeuvel

Peggie Sue - Cristina Vee Valenzuela



Additional Voices

Tom Bromhead

John Bentley

Tiana Camacho

SungWon Cho

Courtney Chu

Larissa Gallagher

Heather Gonzalez

Xanthe Huynh

Anjali Kunapaneni

LilyPichu

Kyle McCarley

Julie Nathanson

Zeno Robinson

Stephanie Sheh

Michael Sinterniklaas

Rachel Slotky

Laura Stahl


Crawford is represented by Podwall Entertainment, CAA, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman and Rush. Jacinto is represented by Alchemy Entertainment, CAA, Principals Talent & McKuin Frankel. McNeill is represented by Carson Adler. Schafer is represented by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, Viewpoint and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

Synopsis:
From the celebrated Oscar®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, creator of Mirai, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and more, comes a fantastical, yet beautiful and contemporary thematic story of one girl's growth in the age of social media.

Suzu is a 17-year-old high school student living in a rural village with her father. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. One day, she enters "U," a virtual world of 5 billion members on the Internet. There, she is not Suzu anymore but Belle, a world-famous singer. She soon meets with a mysterious creature. Together, they embark on a journey of adventures, challenges and love, in their quest to become who they truly are.


About Anime Limited:
Based out of Glasgow, Anime Limited is Europe's premiere distributor for Japanese animation, renowned for bespoke collector's editions of fan-favorite anime and soundtracks, connecting Western audiences with creators across languages and oceans, and helping to bring anime front and center in cinemas. Anime Limited proudly produces releases from the biggest franchises in anime including Cowboy Bebop, Attack on Titan, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, Mobile Suit Gundam, Tokyo Ghoul, Your Name, Weathering With You, Mirai and JUJUTSU KAISEN.

About STUDIO CHIZU:
STUDIO CHIZU was established in April 2011 by director Mamoru Hosoda and producer Yuichiro Saito as a new base for filmmaking. Studio Chizu is a studio specializing in the planning and production of animated films, and the name of the studio reflects the spirit of filmmaking: "to challenge new motifs, themes, and expressions, and to create a new map in the land of animated films, where there are still infinite possibilities. For children and their families around the world, we want to continue to be a "challenger" to create new values and a future for this era. Find out more about Studio Chizu at www.studiochizu.com