Shihori Kanjiya, a popular actress in Japan, said Wednesday she was excited to be doing a voice-over for a Czech-made stop-motion film using real dolls and toys as it was a new experience for her at a time when computer-aided animation films are in full swing.
     ''I was very lucky as it was a fabulous and heart-warming film,'' Kanjiya, 23, said during an event in Tokyo to promote the animated film ''In the Attic'' directed by Jiri Barta.
     ''I found it a great thing to make this kind of film requiring long periods of work at a time when there are many films using computer graphics,'' Kanjiya said.
     The film depicts an imaginary world in which a doll girl called Pomnenka, dubbed by Kanjiya, who is left in an attic, is abducted by a villain and then her friends -- other discarded dolls and toys -- rise up to rescue her.
     Barta, 60, expressed his hope that his work will prompt many viewers in Japan to have second thoughts about modern ''throwaway'' society during a promotional event held on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Anime Fair.
     ''Toys in an attic are not things that have been thrown away. You can play with them again if you breathe new life into them,'' Barta said.
     The Japanese distributor plans to start screening the 75-minute movie at Tokyo's cinemas in the summer.
==Kyodo