New Teaser for Lost Romanian Sci-Fi Animation ‘The Son of the Stars’
by Alex Billington
February 5, 2023
Source: YouTube
This looks rad!! Deaf Crocodile Films & Vinegar Syndrome have announced a restoration Blu-ray re-release of a long lost, rarely seen Romanian animated film called The Son of the Stars. This originally debuted in 1985 and showed up in the US in 1987, but hasn’t been seen since. The film is getting an HD version based on a new 4K scan from the original 35mm negative and sound elements, with a digital restoration by Deaf Crocodile Films. From the same filmmakers as the marvelous Delta Space Mission, The Son of the Stars gets more freakadelic as Dan grows up ala Luke Skywalker, encountering giant disembodied eyeballs, a world of massive decaying Cubist structures, floating purple tentacles, and alien-headed cosmic flowers, and even a sword-wielding medieval Space Knight in armor. Using the voices of Mircea Albulescu, Mihai Cafrita, Ion Caramitru, Mirela Gorea-Chelaru, and Virgil Ogasanu. “His visions of his lost parents and the missing cosmonaut are especially psychedelic, a phantasmagoric blend of Hanna-Barbera and Tarkovsky’s Solaris.” I’m SO in for this!! There’s not much footage in this teaser, but it’s enough for me. I have to watch.
Here’s the re-release teaser (+ poster) for Romanian animation The Son of the Stars, from YouTube:
“The Son of the Stars (Fiul Stelelor / Ultima Misiune) is a truly amazing fusion of different styles and storytelling traditions in animation, from Eastern European mythology with sword-wielding medieval Space Knights, to early 80s Japanese anime, to classic lost-child narratives like Tarzan and The Jungle Book,” says Deaf Crocodile Co-Founder / Head of Acquisitions & Distribution, Dennis Bartok. “Of course, comparisons to George Lucas and the Star Wars universe are very strong as well — but the incredible thing is how unique, psychedelic, and incredibly entertaining Călin Cazan & Mircea Toia’s synthesis of all these elements is in [the movie]. For fans of 1980s animation and sci-fi, it’s a major rediscovery.”
A wild and surreal outer space adventure – coming to Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome. A mid-80s mash-up of The Empire Strikes Back, Alien, and Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan. In the year 6470, a husband and wife team of explorers receive a mysterious distress signal from an astronaut who disappeared decades earlier. They leave their son on board ship to search for the missing astronaut – but fate intervenes, their own ship crashes – leaving their son alone – or is he? The Son of the Stars, also known as Fiul Stelelor in Romanian, is co-directed by the Romanian animation filmmakers Calin Cazan & Mircea Toia, who also directed the 1984 animated film Delta Space Mission before this. Co-directed by Dan Chisovski. Featuring music by synth-rock pioneer Stefan Elefteriu. “The Son of the Stars is another long-lost gem of Romanian animation, newly scanned in 4K by the Romanian Film Archive and the Romanian Film Centre, with digital restoration by Craig Rogers of Deaf Crocodile.” The Blu-ray release of this long lost sci-fi will be available in late February 2023 – pre-order now from Vinegar Syndrome. Has anyone seen this? Who wants to watch?
