Into the Unknown

The Legend of Ochi, now in theaters, begins in a small village on a remote island where people have been raised in fear of a species of creatures called the ochi. A girl, Yuri, finds a wounded baby ochi. She decides to do the right thing and take it back to its family.

The filmmakers used puppets rather than computer-generated images to portray the baby ochi. According to 16-year-old Helena Zengel, who plays Yuri, this made scenes challenging but interesting to coordinate. “The ochi had around six puppeteers, so it was a lot of people involved on one character,” Helena told TIME for Kids. “That meant that the scene had to be done over and over again,” to get it just right.

Director Isaiah Saxon (inset) says the movie demonstrates that people tend to fear what they don’t know. Instead of fear, The Legend of Ochi promotes “curiosity for the unknown, curiosity for things we don’t really understand,” he told TFK. “Having an open mind allows you to perceive the world more accurately.”