Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (インターステラ5555, Intāsutera Fō Faibu, "Four Five") is a 2003 animated musical science fiction film. The film serves as a visual companion to Discovery, the second studio album by Daft Punk. Interstella 5555 tells the story of the abduction and rescue of an interstellar pop band. The film was produced by Toei Animation, directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and supervised by Leiji Matsumoto. The film has no dialogue and minimal sound effects.
Storyline
The main points of the story coincide with the Daft Punk tracks on their Discovery album. On a humanoid-alien planet, a band is playing to a packed audience; keyboardist Octave, guitarist Arpegius, drummer Baryl, and bass player Stella ("One More Time"). A military force from Earth invades the planet and kidnaps the band ("Aerodynamic").
A space pilot called Shep is seen working outside his guitar-shaped ship, then goes inside. He is interrupted from his daydream about Stella by a distress call about the kidnapping, and pursues the kidnappers through a wormhole, where he crash lands on Earth ("Digital Love").
The band is taken to an underground facility, where their memories are removed to disks and their blue skin changed to make them resemble humans. They are fitted with mind-control devices hidden inside sunglasses ("Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"). Their captor, Earl de Darkwood, poses as their manager and presents them as a new band called The Crescendolls, who take the world by storm ("Crescendolls"). The fame has its disadvantages as the exhausted members of the band are forced to sign large amounts of marketing material. Meanwhile, Shep finds his way to the city and discovers what has happened to the band ("Nightvision").
During a stadium concert, Shep flies in with a jet pack and fires a beam at each band member, freeing all of them from the mind control except for Stella. In the escape, Shep is mortally wounded, and Darkwood's bodyguards are revealed to be androids ("Superheroes").
Still under Darkwood's control, Stella finds a card with the address of Darkwood's home, Darkwood Manor, which she hides in her dress. She is taken to a "Gold Record Award" ceremony, where the Crescendolls win the Gold Record. Baryl is concealed in the audience and frees Stella with the beam, and they make their escape with Octave's help ("High Life"). The band returns to Shep, who reveals their true identities before he dies ("Something About Us"). They bury Shep and his spirit rises into space. While driving away, they use the card Stella took earlier to find their way to Darkwood Manor, and decide to investigate ("Voyager").
While exploring Darkwood's mansion, the band finds their way into a secret room, in which they find a journal revealing Darkwood's plans. He has been kidnapping musicians from various worlds to acquire 5,555 gold records, with which he can rule the universe. Darkwood captures them and attempts to sacrifice Stella to complete the ritual, but Arpegius manages to throw the final gold record into a chasm, and Darkwood follows it into the abyss, which is revealed to be filled with lava, apparently killing him. His foot soldiers follow after him, killing them as well ("Veridis Quo"). The band travels back to the record company to retrieve the memory disks. Octave sneaks in to steal them, but while escaping from the building, he is tased by a guard, and his skin reverts to its blue state ("Short Circuit").
The authorities find Shep's ship and mount an operation to return the Crescendolls to normal, and get the quartet back to their home planet ("Face to Face"). On the way back to the wormhole, Darkwood's spirit appears and attacks the ship. Shep's spirit also appears and fights Darkwood, which frees them. The band returns to their home planet to great acclaim, and a statue of Shep is erected ("Too Long"). At the end, it is implied that the whole story was the dream of a young boy, inspired by the Discovery album and toys in his room.
Release Date
- May 18, 2003 (Cannes)
- May 28, 2003 (Worldwide)
Sound Effects Used
- Hollywoodedge, Bell Tower Single Low PE191001
- Hollywoodedge, Crash Train Car Mix PE111601
- Hollywoodedge, Lincoln Town Car In Sk PE073501
- Sound Ideas, SPACE - FADE OUT, ELECTRONIC