---
title: 'Making Naruto the Movie 1 [Inside the Animation Studio]'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=MdzjqOuO_Ig'
video_id: 'MdzjqOuO_Ig'
date: 2026-07-01
duration_sec: 439
---

# Making Naruto the Movie 1 [Inside the Animation Studio]

> Source: [Making Naruto the Movie 1 (Inside the Animation Studio)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=MdzjqOuO_Ig)

## Summary

Voice actor Dave Wittenberg (Kakashi) takes viewers inside Studio Puro's animation process for a Naruto movie. The video breaks down the 10-step pipeline from story structure to final rendering, highlighting the craftsmanship behind over 80,000 frames.

### Key Points

- **Narrator Introduction** [00:00] — Dave Wittenberg, voice of Kakashi, introduces the inside look at the animation process for Naruto the movie.
- **Studio Puro & Initial Steps** [00:42] — Studio Puro is the production company. Process begins with story structure and animation look, then screenplay and design refinement.
- **Storyboards & Layout** [01:37] — Storyboards are drawn based on screenplay, showing action and camera moves. Layout positions characters and movements on backgrounds.
- **Key Animation & Timing** [02:24] — Key animation is drawn, then time sheets are made to time each shot and plan camera movements.
- **In-Betweening & Checking** [03:01] — In-between images smooth out movements. Drawings are checked for smoothness and adherence to time sheets.
- **Coloring & Scanning** [04:09] — Color schemes are created per character and setting. Animation is scanned page by page and digitally colored.
- **Backgrounds & Compositing** [05:01] — Backgrounds are hand-drawn and painted, then scanned. Compositing brings animation, backgrounds, and graphics together.
- **Rendering & Final Check** [06:04] — Computer renders each composited image (over 80,000 for Naruto). Final check by animation team completes the movie.

### Conclusion

The video demystifies the labor-intensive anime production pipeline, from initial concept to the final rendered film, emphasizing the collaborative effort behind every frame.

## Transcript

Hey, I'm Dave Wittenberg and I play Kakashi. I love my job. Greatest job on the planet, but I wouldn't have my job.
If it weren't for all the other people that had to put a lot of hard work into bringing you Naruto the movie. So come along with me as we take an inside look at the animation process for this amazing film.
I know what you're thinking. My goodness, who created this incredible film?
The answer is a lovely Japanese production company called Studio Puro. The production process for creating an anime movie is very simple. It begins with creating the story structure and the look of the animation and then you go from there.
Once the initial artwork is created and the story structure has been decided upon, then you sit down and you write yourself a screenplay. And the design work is refined.
Storyboards are drawn based on the screenplay. They are very similar to manga. They show the film's action and camera moves.
Based on the storyboards, the recording script is written. Layout is critical. All of the character arrangements, positions and movements are placed on the background.
Once the layout is complete, the key animation is drawn.
In order to get the correct timing of the key animation, the time sheet is made. It shows the length of each shot and the necessary camera movement as well as plan out the rest of the production process.
After the key drawings are timed and completed, their checked and the finished art is sent off for the in-between process. In-between images are drawn to smooth out the character's movements.
Once the drawings are done, they are checked to make sure the movements are smooth and everything is done in accordance with the time sheets, which is critical.
The next step is the color process.
Color schemes are created for each character and depending on the setting, they may change whether it's day or night. Then we go to the scanner where the finished animation is scanned in page by page and then digitally colored.
Next, come the backgrounds and these things are amazing. They're hand drawn and hand painted. Look at this.
Then the finished background art, amazing as it is, is scanned into the old computer and reviewed.
Because of the limitations of 2D animation, they use three-dimensional and retouching software, which I'm not even sure how it works, I'm just glad that it does.
Then a process called compositing brings it all together, animation, backgrounds and graphics.
Then the computer goes to work rendering each of the composited images for the film and for Naruto, there were over 80,000 of them. The animation team does a final check and Naruto of the movie is ready to go.