THE PEAK

In the middle of the night… Sarah wakes up as she wants to go to the bathroom.
As she leaves her room, she finds herself alone in the dark hallway, and it is really creepy.
Even the toys she left out look totally different from how they looked during the day.
Sarah finally pulls herself together and starts to move forward, with her animal doll friend named Steven, who’s got a shiny nose to show her way, but – she trips!
When she picks herself up off the ground, she finds herself in a creepy forest with a tall toilet tower in the distance…
It must be an imaginary world born from her fear.
Can she make it to the bathroom with help from Steven??
This is an adventure story familiar to all of us, to overcome your fear of the dark when nature calls!

  • Satoshi Takahashi
    Directer / CG Supervisor
  • Takeshi Ito
    Creative Producer / story
  • Haruhiro Uchida
    Producer
  • Hideki Okamura
    Executive Producers
  • Akira Sugano
    Executive Producers
  • Brent Forrest
    Water Effects / Editor
  • Hiroyuki Kinoshita
    Head of Story
  • Kazuki Abe
    Art leader
  • Yoh Amano
    Asset Supervisor
  • Kyoko Yonemoto
    Layout Supervisor
  • Yosuke Sakai
    Animation Supervisor
  • Takamasa Matsunari
    Technical Supervisor
  • Ashkan Zanjirian
    Lighting Supervisor
  • Naomi Claire
    Key Cast
    "Sarah"
  • Yuta Odagaki
    Key Cast
    "Steven"
  • Delfi Sound
    Sound
  • Tomoko Sasaki
    Music Composer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Adventure
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 26, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Japan
  • Country of Filming:
    Japan
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography

Satoshi Takahashi – Biography
Born in Tokyo, Japan. He started his career at Polygon Pictures, then joined Marza Animation Planet at its inception era (at the time, it was called the VE Research & Development Department, and was part of Sega) as a 3D Modeler, where he worked on many game cinematics and feature films. More recently, his focus has been on the real time engine integration in movie production, and leads a real time engine production team at Marza since 2017.
Works: “Space Pirate Captain Harlock”(2013), “Happy Forest” (2015), “The Gift” (2016), “Ultimate Bowl” (2017)

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

"THE PEAK" is a short film created with a real time game engine, "Unity".
This is a little bit scary but exciting adventure story based on a situation we have all experienced in our childhood - to be scared to go to the bathroom at night.

We wanted to make this little girl’s imaginary world filled with rich, vibrant colors and a friendly atmosphere, with some delicate expressions.
This is why we made a creative choice to use both a "cartoony" 3D CG, and classic hand-drawn look to the water expressions.
Also, we tried to express their adventure through rich animation instead of using dialogs, so that small children can enjoy.
We used jazzy music, but it fits to this world as it has a pop and cute feel.
I hope all families around the world will enjoy this story. I am rooting for all children who take a courageous step in the middle of the night.