LaMB
Encyclopedia
LaMB is an animated film produced by Animax
, which is a Japanese satellite television network and subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment
, based in Tokyo, Japan. The network focuses primarily on broadcasting anime
programming. The film has also been developed into four different episodes for Mobile
and PSP
users.
The original script for the film was written by Carmelo S. J. Juinio, one of the finalists of the 2007 Animax Awards
Pan-Asia Animation competition. In 2009, the competition was broadcast in high definition
across several countries. The film was illustrated by Yasufumi Soejima
and directed by Ryosuke Tei
. It was the first Animax original production that provided two different songs for the opening and ending themes of the movie, featuring the music of Simple Plan
and The Click Five
.
The film tells the story of a futuristic inhabited planet that has seemingly perfected a system of justice and imprisonment, called "Lamination". Individuals convicted of serious crimes are encased in laminated suits, which results in virtual slavery. The criminals are referred to as "LaMBs". The protagonists struggle with the political and ethical system of laminated imprisonment, leading to the eventual development of a romantic relationship between a free citizen and a LaMB.
The lamination process and system of virtual slavery has made both jails and the death penalty obsolete in a world where human ingenuity, creativity, and labor continue to be precious commodities that cannot be replaced by robots or any form of artificial intelligence. The system also sparks off philosophical debates among citizens presenting pros and cons of the ethical feasibility of "Lamination".
The story follows protagonists Sara Integra and Jack Griswold's struggle against Cerra's system of imprisonment. Major Sara Integra is a former weapons specialist in bio-weapons division. While she was on a military assignment, innocent lives were lost during an experiment gone wrong. She was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 200 years encased in a laminated suit. Sara forever became known as Eve, or Eve1135.
When she became a LaMB, Eve was assigned a Shepherd. Shepherds control the actions and movement of the LaMBs. Included among the laws of society are that LaMBs must only act upon instructions of their Shepherds. While LaMBs can hear others, they cannot speak, nor can they touch another human being unless ordered by their Shepherd. Dr. Jack Griswold was assigned to be Eve's Shepherd.
Griswold is a scientist from another planet, specializing in advanced botanical engineering. He has been assigned the task to restore vegetation to the dry, desert planet. Among Griswold's superiors is Keiko Suzuki, Chief Scientific Advisor specializing in biophysics. She has been deeply affected by the death of her parents and has made revenge her ultimate goal in life.
Griswold tends to display workaholic traits, presumably in order to forget the recent loss of his wife. His curiosity and soul-searching thirst to understand the complexities of the universe drives his research. He tends to spend more time in the lab than anywhere else and his intense focus on his research makes him appear awkward when in comes to social interaction. Griswold inadvertently gets pulled into the politics and ethics behind the system of "Lamination", as well as a romance with Eve.
Keiko's anti-LaMB organization and conspiracy is discovered, and she is put into a lamb suit. Due to recent developments in technology her suit is part plant possibly. She goes on reign of terror and mayhem and tries to destroy Eve1135, she is immobilized by touching Griswold while she attacked him. She loses her balance and falls off the building. Eve1135 is eventually released from prison (possibly hundreds of years later) and she is just Sara Integra and she kisses Griswold after they put flowers on his wife's grave.
. The film has been dubbed into several languages for several different regions: English for the Southeast Asian region, Mandarin for China
, Cantonese for Hong Kong
, and Japanese
for Animax Japan. The film has been shown on Animax channels throughout the world.
The film is Animax's first original production presented in high definition (HD), and encompasses a series of multi-platform, multidisciplinary, and multimedia activities that revolve around the launch of the movie. The goal of the film producers included the desire to redefine the entertainment experience for consumers from premiere to post-premiere of the film.
provided the voice for protagonist Dr. Jack Griswold. LaMB represents Wu's first venture into voice acting for animation, providing dubs in both English and Mandarin. His only previous voice acting experience was in the Mandarin version of Disney/Pixar's animated feature, Cars.
Petrina Kow provides the voice of protagonist Sara Integra, known as Eve. Kow, based in Singapore, is a nationally-known Animation Voice Director and radio host. She has directed and voiced pre-school shows, which include Taoshu: The Warrior Boy, Shapes and Olive and The Rhyme Rescue Crew. She was a presenter
on the Class 95FM morning radio show with The Flying Dutchman
from 2000-2002, and co-hosted the Radio 91.3
morning show with Joe Augustin from 2006-2007.
The voice of Keiko Suzuki was provided by award-winning Hong Kong actress Josie Ho
. Dubs were made in English and Cantonese. In 2004, she was honored with the Hong Kong Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work on the film, Naked Ambition. Tanaka Chie, a Japanese-born, Taiwan-based actress provided Keiko with her voice in the Mandarin dub.
's "I Can Wait Forever" is used as the title track for LaMB. The song "Summertime", by American band The Click Five
is also featured in the film. Animax Asia
and Peach Blossom Media produced music videos for both songs that premiered on Animax across Asia and online on December 2008.
, a New York
based Fashion designer, designed the dresses used by LaMB characters. The designs have been made into real dresses for LaMB based events held across Asia
.
has developed a LaMB online game, broken into four, unique chapters. There is also a meta game that offers each user the opportunity to select a side in the battle. User options include pro– or anti–lamination. Individual scores earned are additionally compiled and contributed to each side for an overall competition of "LaMBs vs. Shepherds".
Animax
is a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
, which is a Japanese satellite television network and subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
, based in Tokyo, Japan. The network focuses primarily on broadcasting anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
programming. The film has also been developed into four different episodes for Mobile
Mobile computing
Mobile computing is a form of human–computer interaction by which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage. Mobile computing has three aspects: mobile communication, mobile hardware, and mobile software...
and PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
users.
The original script for the film was written by Carmelo S. J. Juinio, one of the finalists of the 2007 Animax Awards
Animax Taisho
, also known as Animax Awards, is a Japanese anime scriptwriting competition organized by the Japanese anime satellite television network, Animax, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment.-History and broadcasts:...
Pan-Asia Animation competition. In 2009, the competition was broadcast in high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
across several countries. The film was illustrated by Yasufumi Soejima
Yasufumi Soejima
Formerly with Japanese anime studio Gonzo, Yasufumi Soejima served from 1999–2007 as its Production Director and 3D CGI Director.Soejima is best known for his animation work on The Second Renaissance - part 2 of the Animatrix anime series spun off from the Wachowski brothers’ The Matrix trilogy...
and directed by Ryosuke Tei
Ryosuke Tei
, born 1965, is a Japanese animator, director and founder of graphic and creative design studio Furi Furi. In 2009, he directed the anime movie LaMB, where he collaborated with Yasufumi Soejima.-Career:...
. It was the first Animax original production that provided two different songs for the opening and ending themes of the movie, featuring the music of Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
and The Click Five
The Click Five
The Click Five is an American power pop band from Boston, Massachusetts. The original members, most of them students at Berklee College of Music, started on January 1, 2003 and played in various local venues. They then quickly got the attention of talent scout Wayne Sharp...
.
The film tells the story of a futuristic inhabited planet that has seemingly perfected a system of justice and imprisonment, called "Lamination". Individuals convicted of serious crimes are encased in laminated suits, which results in virtual slavery. The criminals are referred to as "LaMBs". The protagonists struggle with the political and ethical system of laminated imprisonment, leading to the eventual development of a romantic relationship between a free citizen and a LaMB.
Plot summary
LaMB takes place in the distant future on a desert planet called Cerra. The story features a prison system, in which prisoners are sealed in personal containment systems known as "laminated suits" and used for labor. Prisoners go through a "Lamination" process, where they are fitted with cybernetic, laminated skin-tight suits. In these suits, they can move around and completed work assignments that cannot be done by machine or robots. Law-abiding citizens are protected, while the criminals become members of society in a futuristic prison system. This process ensures that convicted criminals remain productive members in a system of virtual slavery. The story encompasses the dichotomy between the theory and practice of a futuristic society's justice system.The lamination process and system of virtual slavery has made both jails and the death penalty obsolete in a world where human ingenuity, creativity, and labor continue to be precious commodities that cannot be replaced by robots or any form of artificial intelligence. The system also sparks off philosophical debates among citizens presenting pros and cons of the ethical feasibility of "Lamination".
The story follows protagonists Sara Integra and Jack Griswold's struggle against Cerra's system of imprisonment. Major Sara Integra is a former weapons specialist in bio-weapons division. While she was on a military assignment, innocent lives were lost during an experiment gone wrong. She was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 200 years encased in a laminated suit. Sara forever became known as Eve, or Eve1135.
When she became a LaMB, Eve was assigned a Shepherd. Shepherds control the actions and movement of the LaMBs. Included among the laws of society are that LaMBs must only act upon instructions of their Shepherds. While LaMBs can hear others, they cannot speak, nor can they touch another human being unless ordered by their Shepherd. Dr. Jack Griswold was assigned to be Eve's Shepherd.
Griswold is a scientist from another planet, specializing in advanced botanical engineering. He has been assigned the task to restore vegetation to the dry, desert planet. Among Griswold's superiors is Keiko Suzuki, Chief Scientific Advisor specializing in biophysics. She has been deeply affected by the death of her parents and has made revenge her ultimate goal in life.
Griswold tends to display workaholic traits, presumably in order to forget the recent loss of his wife. His curiosity and soul-searching thirst to understand the complexities of the universe drives his research. He tends to spend more time in the lab than anywhere else and his intense focus on his research makes him appear awkward when in comes to social interaction. Griswold inadvertently gets pulled into the politics and ethics behind the system of "Lamination", as well as a romance with Eve.
Keiko's anti-LaMB organization and conspiracy is discovered, and she is put into a lamb suit. Due to recent developments in technology her suit is part plant possibly. She goes on reign of terror and mayhem and tries to destroy Eve1135, she is immobilized by touching Griswold while she attacked him. She loses her balance and falls off the building. Eve1135 is eventually released from prison (possibly hundreds of years later) and she is just Sara Integra and she kisses Griswold after they put flowers on his wife's grave.
Production development
LaMB is based on a screenplay originally entitled Laminated Woman: To the Sand Planet Cerra, written by Carmelo S. J. Juinio. Its release is considered by Animax, to be an example of the industry potential of user-generated contentUser-generated content
User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...
. The film has been dubbed into several languages for several different regions: English for the Southeast Asian region, Mandarin for China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Cantonese for Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
for Animax Japan. The film has been shown on Animax channels throughout the world.
The film is Animax's first original production presented in high definition (HD), and encompasses a series of multi-platform, multidisciplinary, and multimedia activities that revolve around the launch of the movie. The goal of the film producers included the desire to redefine the entertainment experience for consumers from premiere to post-premiere of the film.
Voice actors
American Taiwan-based singer and actor Vanness WuVanness Wu
Van Ness Wu is a American actor, singer, director, producer based in Asia. He was born on August 7, 1978 in Santa Monica, California and worked as a telemarketer before moving to Taiwan...
provided the voice for protagonist Dr. Jack Griswold. LaMB represents Wu's first venture into voice acting for animation, providing dubs in both English and Mandarin. His only previous voice acting experience was in the Mandarin version of Disney/Pixar's animated feature, Cars.
Petrina Kow provides the voice of protagonist Sara Integra, known as Eve. Kow, based in Singapore, is a nationally-known Animation Voice Director and radio host. She has directed and voiced pre-school shows, which include Taoshu: The Warrior Boy, Shapes and Olive and The Rhyme Rescue Crew. She was a presenter
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
on the Class 95FM morning radio show with The Flying Dutchman
Mark Van Cuylenberg
Mark Van Cuylenberg, also known as The Flying Dutchman, is a disc jockey.-References:...
from 2000-2002, and co-hosted the Radio 91.3
Radio 91.3
Radio 91.3 is an English-language radio station based in Singapore. It is a radio station of SPH UnionWorks, a joint venture between Singapore Press Holdings and NTUC Media, which also owns Radio 1003....
morning show with Joe Augustin from 2006-2007.
The voice of Keiko Suzuki was provided by award-winning Hong Kong actress Josie Ho
Josie Ho
Josephine "Josie" Ho Chiu-Yi is a daughter of Macao casino magnate Stanley Ho, and a singer and actress from Hong Kong.-Movie career:She was involved in numerous movies, TV commercials, TV dramas, and singing performances....
. Dubs were made in English and Cantonese. In 2004, she was honored with the Hong Kong Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work on the film, Naked Ambition. Tanaka Chie, a Japanese-born, Taiwan-based actress provided Keiko with her voice in the Mandarin dub.
Soundtrack
Canadian band Simple PlanSimple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
's "I Can Wait Forever" is used as the title track for LaMB. The song "Summertime", by American band The Click Five
The Click Five
The Click Five is an American power pop band from Boston, Massachusetts. The original members, most of them students at Berklee College of Music, started on January 1, 2003 and played in various local venues. They then quickly got the attention of talent scout Wayne Sharp...
is also featured in the film. Animax Asia
Animax Asia
Animax Asia is the Japanese anime TV network Animaxs English language feeds in Southeast Asia and South Asia, as well as its feeds across other regions of mainland Asia, including Hong Kong and Taiwan...
and Peach Blossom Media produced music videos for both songs that premiered on Animax across Asia and online on December 2008.
Fashion design
Vivienne TamVivienne Tam
Vivienne Tam is a fashion designer based in New York City. She was born in Guangzhou, China and moved to Hong Kong at the age of three. She attended Hong Kong Polytechnic University....
, a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
based Fashion designer, designed the dresses used by LaMB characters. The designs have been made into real dresses for LaMB based events held across Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
Online game
Sony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
has developed a LaMB online game, broken into four, unique chapters. There is also a meta game that offers each user the opportunity to select a side in the battle. User options include pro– or anti–lamination. Individual scores earned are additionally compiled and contributed to each side for an overall competition of "LaMBs vs. Shepherds".