Gkids Acquires ‘The Deer King’ After Annecy Premiere; Watch The Teaser

Gkids is bringing The Deer King to North America. The animation producer-distributor has acquired rights to the Japanese-language film directed by Masashi Ando and Masayuki Miyaji after its premiere in competition at the Annecy Film Festival this week. Watch a teaser above.

Gkids will open a subtitled and English-dubbed versions of the toon pic early next year.

Written by Taku Kishimoto, the sweeping fantasy epic marks the directorial debut for Ando, an acclaimed animator whose credits include Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and Oscar-winning Spirited Away. Miyaji directing the 2009 series Xam’d: Lost Memories and worked on Studio Ghibli films including My Neighbors The Yamadas.

Here’s the official Deer King synopsis: In the years following a vicious war, the Empire of Zol now controls the land and citizens of rival Aquafa – except for Aquafa’s Fire Horse Territory, where wild dogs that once carried the deadly Black Wolf Fever continue to roam free. When a pack of dogs race through a Zol-controlled mine, Van, an enslaved former soldier, and a young girl named Yuna are both bitten, but manage to escape as the sole survivors of the attack. Finally free, Van and Yuna seek out a simple, peaceful existence in the countryside. But as the deadly disease once again runs rampant, they find themselves at the crossroads of a struggle much larger than any one nation.

Gkids is coming off an Oscar nom and multiple Annie Award wins for last year’s Wolfwalkers. It was the distributor’s 12th Academy Award nom for Best Animated Feature.

Nippon TV is handling international sales for The Deer King.