Ringing Bell (1978)

Original title

チリンの鈴

Directed by

Masami Hata

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, drama anime and manga

Country

Japan

Runtime

47 min

Rated

PG-13

Rating

6.7 of 10 from 43 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young lamb named Chirin lives a peaceful life in a rural mountain village until a wolf kills his mother. He then pursues a path of vengeance that changes his life in unexpected and harsh ways.

darkviolentemotionalsnowscapelonelysadanimal castrevenge

What happens

Ringing Bell (チリンの鈴, Chirin no Suzu; lit. Chirin's Bell) is a 1978 Japanese animated film adaptation of the storybook of the same name written by Takashi Yanase, the creator of Anpanman. It is most notable by fans and critics as a family film which makes a sharp, sudden turn into a dark and violent story that criticizes and reflects upon the theme of revenge and war. Ringing Bell was produced by Sanrio and originally shown as a double feature alongside the US/Sanrio co-production The Mouse and his Child. It is Sanrio's first anime film to have a dark plot; only two films they co-produced with Sunrise, The Ideon: A Contact and The Ideon: Be Invoked – both of which serve as the conclusion to Yoshiyuki Tomino's Space Runaway Ideon – follow suit. Like the above-mentioned Ideon films, it is among Sanrio's first works to be aimed at young adult audience members in and outside Japan. Sanrio later became its fourth biggest shareholder of IG Port on July 3, 2025. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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