Welcome to the Space Show, whose story "surpasses Star Wars in its scale" according to its producers, tells of the four adventures of five schoolmates and an alien dog in space during summer vacation. The plot revolves around five elementary school kids on their "school trip". In the process of looking for their missing class pet, the children rescue a dog they find injured in a corn field. The dog turns out to be an alien called Pochi Rickman, and he invites them to visit the moon as a reward for helping him. However, through a series of strange events, they become stranded and must make their way across the galaxy to get to Pochi's homeworld, Wan, so that they may return to Earth. Along the way they are pursued by the aliens responsible for Pochi being injured in the first place. The aliens work for the host of the universe's most popular entertainment, "The Space Show", which appears to be a variety act broadcast from a mysterious moving spaceship. Neppo is bent on using the power of the ship, called the Pet Star, to become a god. However, the ship requires a particular power source to run; namely a substance called Zughan, which turns out to be a close relative of the wasabi root. As Natsuki is carrying some of the root with them in her bag, Neppo has thus targeted the group. When his thugs fail to retrieve the bag, Neppo goes himself; arriving just as the children and Pochi reach Wan. The Pet Star's tractor beams steal the bag, but they also take Amane as well. This leads to a show down at an interstellar festival, where with the help of friends they've made along the way, the children manage not only to defeat Neppo and rescue Amane but also save the entire universe. The children are then able to return home and arrive at the school just before their parents show up to retrieve them.
The production staff of Welcome to the Space Show was announced in the February 2008 issue of Newtype magazine, and the film was originally given the working title The Space Show. The film reunites the production staff of R.O.D the TV, including director Koji Masunari, writer Hideyuki Kurata, and character designer Masashi Ishihama. It was animated by Japanese studio A-1 Pictures. Masunari decided to cast child voice actors for the film's main characters through a series of auditions. The film was conceived with the themes of entertainment and friendship among children. Scottish singer Susan Boyle, who became famous after her television performance in Britain's Got Talent, contributed the song "Who I Was Born to Be" as the film's theme song. Prior to the announcement, the film had been screened without a theme song.
Release
Welcome to the Space Show made its world premiere at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2010. It was screened alongside Summer Wars as part of the festival's Generation program. They were the two anime films out of a total of 28 screened at the festival. The film was also screened at the 57th Sydney Film Festival in June 2010 as part of the Kids Flicks program. It premiered in the United States at Otakon on July 31, 2010. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan by Aniplex on February 9, 2011 in regular and limited edition pressings. Manga Entertainment acquired home video rights in the UK and released the film in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on July 2, 2012. Manga UK also produced the English dub, which was recorded at NYAV Post in the US. GKIDS has acquired theatrical and home video rights to the film in North America. The film was released in North America on DVD and Blu-ray, November 11, 2014.
Reception
A review by the Yomiuri Shimbun encouraged families to watch the children's adventure film. While praising the artwork in village and lunar scenes, the reviewer also called the film an "explosive sense of moe". The film was criticized for its lack of originality, primarily because A-1 Pictures appears to draw too much material from the works of Hayao Miyazaki. Unlike Miyazaki's films, however, Welcome to the Space Show "has a much edgier attitude" and is more humorous. Anime World Order reviewed the show at the Otakon 2010 premier and praised it for its imagination, but also echoed the issues such other reviewers as Tim Maughan have stated primarily about the length of the movie. Tim Maughan did comment on the similarities to works by Hayao Miyazaki, stating that the film has a "much edgier attitude than any of Miyazaki's works".
