The folks at GKIDS have made a really surprising announcement today with the acquisition of the Future Boy Conan property for release in North America. Listing it as a 780 minute running time on their property page for it, the distributor intends to bring it out in late 2021 in North America for the first time with a 4K restoration and an English dub in addition to the original Japanese language with English subtitles.
The original TV series ran for twenty-six episodes back in 1978 with Hayao Miyazaki as the director working with screenwriters Akira Nanako, Satoshi Kurumi, and Soji Yoshikawa. Yasuo Otsuka worked on the character designs with Miyazaki and it was animated by Nippon Animation.
The Japanese cast includes Mieko Nobusawa as Lana and Noriko Ohara as Conan.
The property has seen French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Portugeuse and Chinese releases over the years, almost of them with localized dubs. Two compilation films were also produced.
Plot Concept: Twenty years ago, a terrible war fought with magnetic weapons caused the earth’s axis to tilt, and earthquakes and tidal waves destroyed civilization. Conan is born into this new world, raised by his adopted grandfather on an isolated island. But his life is forever changed when a mysterious girl named Lana washes ashore, pursued by shadowy operatives who seek to use her in a new scheme to control what’s left of the world.
