The North American theatrical premiere of Tomcat's Big Adventure!

 On April 14th, 2025, the North American premiere of a rare anime film happened in the historic Texas Theatre in Dallas, Texas. While this statement might not seem huge at first glance, if you know a bit of anime history, this is indeed quite an important event.

For those not in the know, a little history lesson is in order. Chibineko Tom no Daibouken, better known as Tomcat’s Big Adventure online, is an anime film released in 1992 that had a pretty rough production history. In a nutshell: the story goes that after five years of production, the movie’s theatrical release was canceled due to their distribution company going bankrupt (as this was around the time of Japan’s Bubble Economy finally bursting), leading to only a few scattered showings in small venues and supposedly a handful of regional Japanese TV airings. This was a tragedy, as even though Tomcat’s Big Adventure is a kids movie, it was produced with an incredible A-list of staff & cast: The film was the directorial debut of the late Ryutaro Nakamura, who anime fans probably know better as the director of Serial Experiments Lain. Character designer and Animation director Manabu Ohashi might be better known to some as Mao Lamdo, the creator of the Cloud short in cult-favorite Robot Carnival, not to mention his gorgeous key animation in projects like The Fantastic Adventures of Unico, his work on the Space Adventure Cobra opening, and the second ending theme to Sailor Moon, “Moon Princess”, just to name a few. Music for the film was scored by the great Kenji Kawai of the original Ranma ½ and Ghost in the Shell fame. Key animators included such talents as Koichi Arai (Akira, Macross Plus, Sailor Moon R: The Movie) and Toshiyuki Inoue (Kiki’s Delivery Service, Venus Wars, Memories short Magnetic Rose). The voice cast includes heavy-hitters like the late Toshiko Fujita (Rui in Cat’s Eye, Taichi in Digimon Adventure) as Tom, Masako Nozawa (Son Goku in Dragon Ball, Tetsuro in Galaxy Express 999) as Mark, Minami Takayama (Kiki in Kiki’s Delivery Service, Conan in Great Detective Conan/Case Closed) as Alex, Akio Otsuka (Batou in Ghost in the Shell, the title character of Black Jack) as Leonis…As you can see, almost every person involved, I could write an entire article JUST on them and their career accomplishments. That’s how impressive this movie’s DNA is.

So it’s no surprise that for years, the film was held in high regard as a thing of legend–some folks in the anime industry even wondered if it truly existed at all, given how few people had ever seen the finished film. But fast-forward 20 years later, an individual named Mitsuhiro Akashi discovered one of their friends actually owned the copyright to the fabled long-lost film, through her late father who had invested in the production. The duo decided to promote the film online, not only leading to online interest from anime fans, but to small theater showings in Japan and eventually a successful Japanese crowdfunding to remaster the film back in 2015. As of this writing, the only blurays of the film that exist are the now sold-out ones that Japanese backers to this campaign could get, and the film isn’t streaming online (legally or otherwise). 

And now, you have a better understanding as to just why getting to see Tomcat’s Big Adventure is a pretty big deal!

I was delighted to learn of this event, set up by local group Wamono Nights as part of their monthly Japanese movie series that The Texas Theatre has been hosting. I myself am a big fan of Manabu Ohashi’s work (along with all the other talents involved in making this film, obviously), so I was excited to be within distance of this historic event. This was also my first time visiting The Texas Theatre as well, which is a lovely little theater that specializes in showing cult classics, arthouse pictures, limited showings, and local film festivals. 

Their little bar area was very nice and chill, I got a non-alcoholic cocktail called the Desert Lemonale and it was delicious! 

Wamono Nights went all-out for this event, even working with the rightsholders of the film to make their own special merch just for the showing! I couldn’t resist bringing home one of their beautiful extra-large tote bags. (And YOU could be the lucky person to win this rare piece of merch! Check the end of the article for all the details!)

Before the screening, a selection of clips played for the audience to get us in the mood. The playlist included some really fun stuff; including Japanese toy commercials, openings for some of the anime that Manabu Ohashi and other staff animators of Tomcat’s Big Adventure worked on, and even a few vintage idol performances (It was hard not to sing along to Ribbon’s live performance of “Little Date”, one of my favorite openings from the original Ranma ½!) Before the screening started, we were treated to some trivia (with prizes!), and our hosts gave us a brief chat about the film and thanked us for being there. 

And finally, the film itself! I must say, I adored it. Without spoiling the plot too much (if you want a detailed plot summary, I recommend reading about it on Eli's blog here!) in the event that this beautiful movie ever does finally get an official home video release here, the plot revolves around little cat Tom and his group of friends who decide to go on a day trip up a local mountain to investigate strange lights they’ve been seeing at night. Turns out, it’s a little alien who needs their help to save the Earth, which will take them all on a wild and magical adventure around the globe. Based on a Japanese children’s book, it really does feel like a fantastical storybook come to life. Ohashi’s simple but gorgeous character designs really shine thanks to his years of experience, and the brilliant animation staff’s stylish flair. Nakamura’s directing really sucks us into the world of Tom and his friends, and the film’s dreamlike feel and child’s sense of logic harkens back to 80s anime favorites like the Unico films, A Journey Through Fairyland, or Little Nemo. The voice cast was incredible, and delivered a lot of laughs to the crowd I watched the film with. One thing I will point out, in case anyone reading this gets a chance to see it: since it is a 90s anime, there are many points where there are flashing lights (as sadly, this was way more commonly used back then), so be advised if you’re sensitive to such things. But bottom line, this HD restoration looked incredible on the big screen–the colors popped, the animation was gorgeous, the music sounded fantastic…now more than ever, I hope that someday this film will get a more widespread release, because now that I’ve actually gotten to see it, I want more people to watch it as well! It truly deserves to be enjoyed. The theater lobby was truly buzzing after the showing–I even got into a lively conversation with another audience member about how much fun we had! I can’t remember the last time that happened to me after seeing a movie.

Afterwards, I was lucky enough to get in contact with the event’s organizer, Kyle Gardner of Wamono Nights, to ask some questions about putting together such a showing! 

Can you tell me a bit about Wamono Nights & how it got started? - WAMONO NIGHTS started as a DJ night at local Dallas club called Ladylove Lounge; the concept is all vintage Japanese vinyl. I had initially done a one off version solo. A few days before I performed, I met visual artist Brent Ozaeta at the Dallas Art Book Fair and we seemed to have crazy similar taste. He attended the first one and proposed collaborating. Turns out that, in addition to being a tour de force as a visual artist, he’s also an incredible DJ (and a wonderful friend). We now have a monthly residency at Ladylove (last Sunday of every month). Our visuals are largely handled by Brent: most of our fliers, our logo, etc (with a few of our talented friends lending their skills to our fliers as well).

In addition to our very similar taste in music, Brent and I quickly discovered we love a lot of the same visual media. We also both love the Texas Theatre and their programming (an early Brent and Kyle outing was catching Ghost in the Shell 2 together at The Texas). We approached the Texas Theatre about programming a WAMONO NIGHTS movie series and they fortunately gave us a shot! Our focus is Japanese films of all genres; Tomcat is our third film in the series (next up is Love & Pop on May 19). Each entry in the film series includes a preshow and a DJ set in the Theatre following the movie!

When did you first get interested in Tomcat's Big Adventure? - I  first heard of Tomcat through Twitter in about 2017 (I think). I definitely enjoy older anime and had seen some clips of the 1987 movie The Golden Bird (a movie that also features Manabu Ohashi’s character designs and animation direction). Poking around a bit about that movie lead me to the @animegolem account and shortly after that the @ProjectTomcat account. The concept art and the limited animation that I was able to find via those sources (particularly via ProjectTomcat) just hooked me. The fact that it was more or less impossible to see only made it that much more interesting to me!

Being the North American Premiere Screening of such a rare film is a big deal! How did you manage to get something like this set up? - Setting the premiere up was a surprisingly smooth experience and largely involved asking and some simple negotiations. The rights-holder, Mitsuhiro [Akashi], has actively advertised that the film is available for screenings on the official Tomcat Twitter and the official Tomcat website. English subtitles did not exist, so the biggest hurdle in terms of time was knocking that project out (the rights-holder handled finding a translator and getting the subtitles completed). I can’t imagine that the licensing process is typically this smooth, but I’m grateful that my counterpart on the deal was a total dream to work with. 

You had some really adorable merch available at the event, was it difficult to get permission to make these shirts and totes? - Negotiating the merchandise rights was also very smooth; really can’t say enough kind things about how great Mitsuhiro is. The idea occurred to me because the visual language of the film is so strong. I figured no harm in asking, and after a few emails we worked out terms. I the commissioned a local artist duo called Bestu Friendo Co. to come up with the designs and print the products. They knocked it out of the park and I’m so happy with how it turned out! 

The premiere seemed to be a great success! How did it feel for you, as the organizer? -  It felt like a dream; I’m a lawyer by day, but I got to live out a lot of very cool otaku fantasies through this project. We got coverage from ANN when we announced the film; I grew up in small town called Devine, TX and I had dial up internet—I remember ANN being in my regular (slow loading due to my bandwidth) website line up. That was definitely a crowning achievement because I still read the website nearly daily (and it was also a big win for middle school Kyle). I was also honored that people traveled to see the movie (we had folks from Seattle, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Arkansas in the audience). My favorite part was meeting everyone and talking about the movie—that joy is just absolutely infectious. 

What is your hope for the future of Tomcat's Big Adventure? - I hope more repertory cinemas take chance on Tomcat. It’s a really special movie: lush animation, a great message, and the involvement of a dizzying array of legends from the animators to the voice actors and sound design. It deserves a larger audience! I’d like to think our screening proves that the appetite for this movie and others like it is out there.

Do you have any other classic anime premieres in mind for future Wamono Nights? - Oh gosh, I would love to bring another premiere to the Texas! Part of the issue with these projects is finding who has the rights. There are definitely a few things I’d love to untangle the rights to that I don’t think have had a significant US theatrical presence—Coo of the Far Seas and The Golden Bird both immediately spring to mind as dream/pie in the sky wishlist titles. I’ve admittedly not started looking into who has the rights but I feel encouraged that working on it is a worthwhile endeavor. Would also love to bring a few lesser known Japanese live action things to the series in a similar vein.

Any other parting words you have for my readers? - I think the biggest thing I’ve learned from this movie and the larger WAMONO NIGHTS project is: ask for what you want. If you’re polite, kind, and grateful, very cool things tend to come your way as a result of just making the ask.

If you’re local to the Dallas, Texas area and want to see what Wamono Nights is up to next, be sure to follow them on Instagram! Thanks again, Kyle, for speaking with me!

TOMCAT'S BIG ADVENTURE tote bag giveaway!

And as a special treat: I have one of the limited edition Tomcat’s Big Adventure tote bags from the event to give away this month to one lucky Ko‑fi subscriber! This is to give a big thank you to all who have been supporting me lately on ko-fi: You all are the the biggest help in letting me have the time and funds to go to events like this, to write up articles for the blog, and to work on the podcast. So if you want to win, all you have to do is become one of my subscribers on Ko‑fi at ANY tier–even just the $1 Tip Jar! At the beginning of May, I’ll pick one lucky subscriber to be sent this officially licensed tote that was only sold at the Tomcat screening–making it quite the rare piece of merch! (Please note that the tote has some minor printing errors, but nothing really that noticeable–it’s still a beautiful tote, perfect for hauling all your vintage anime VHS!) 

And yes, this giveaway is open world-wide! 

Here's hoping that Tomcat's Big Adventure will eventually make its way into more theaters around the world!