The upcoming Street Fighter movie will feature a significant amount of traditional 2D animation, director Kitao Sakurai revealed. This stylistic choice is employed for flashback sequences, aiming to evoke the spirit of '90s anime and the franchise's own animated past.
The film, set in 1993, the same year Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers was released, uses animation to explore the emotional backstories of main characters Ken and Ryu and their training under Master Gouken. The opening of the movie itself includes an animated sequence detailing the first World Warrior tournament and significant rivalries.
Sakurai explained that the decision to use animation for these narrative elements avoided the need for de-aging actors or casting child performers, which he felt would not suit the film's tone. "We were just thinking, OK, well, Street Fighter has this incredible connection to anime... so why don't we go for a weird, bold choice to animate these backstory sequences and make them these incredible pops of energy rather than something that might be cheesy or take you out of the movie," he stated.
For the animation work, the production enlisted the services of Los Angeles-based studio Titmouse, known for its work on projects like The Legend of Vox Machina and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Titmouse also has prior experience with the Street Fighter franchise, having animated content for its collaboration with Overwatch.
Sakurai cited influences such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and the 1994 Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie. "I wanted to do it in that same style and with the same techniques," he said. "Titmouse they're very gung-ho on traditional hand-drawn animation. So I'm very proud of the fact that every single frame of animation in this movie is drawn by hand by a person. It's completely organic and real and it just makes it special. You can tell the extraordinary amount of work that went into it." Sakurai also hinted that fans of the original animated adaptation may find subtle references in the new film.
The new Street Fighter movie is scheduled to be released on October 16.