Werner Herzog’s First Animation Could Be His Most Shocking Story Yet

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Legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog, renowned for a career over half a century long, is now venturing into the realm of animation. Known primarily for his extensive documentaries such as ‘Grizzly Man’ and films like ‘Nosferatu the Vampyre from 1979’, Herzog has also made appearances in front of the camera, featuring in shows like ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘Jack Reacher’.

In a change of pace, Wallerstein (Herzog) is set to venture into animation for the first time with “The Twilight World,” a feature film adaptation of his critically acclaimed novel bearing the same title. Originally published in German in 2021 and translated into English in 2022, the book serves as the basis for this upcoming project. Sun Creature Studio, renowned for their Academy Award-nominated animated film “Flee,” will be instrumental in bringing “The Twilight World” to fruition, with animation powerhouse Psyop also joining forces as a co-producer on the picture.

In his own narration, The Twilight World recounts the authentic tale of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese intelligence officer who stubbornly held onto the belief that World War II was still ongoing, and persisted in waging a solitary, imagined war within the Philippine jungles for an astonishing thirty years. As stated today, Herzog explained his decision to share this story through literature rather than cinema, commenting: “I felt that Hiroo Onoda’s story, which encompassed nearly three decades of delirium in the jungle, was more fitting for literature than film.

I hadn’t fully appreciated the power of animation as a storytelling medium until the team from Psyop suggested we adapt Onoda’s story into an animated feature. It was then that I understood its capacity for telling captivating and imaginative tales.

More to come…

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2025-03-21 19:01