Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Japanese: ), also known in many European editions as Furyo (俘虜, Japanese for "prisoner of war"), is a 1983 British-Japanese wartime drama film directed by Nagisa Oshima, produced by Jeremy Thomas and starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano and Jack Thompson. The screenplay by Oshima with Paul Mayersberg was based on Sir Laurens van der Post's experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II as depicted in his works "The Seed and the Sower" (1963) and "The Night of the New Moon" (1970). Sakamoto also wrote
Mune: Guardian of the Moon Moon. The universe further formed with the contribution of Nicolas Marlet who designed the characters, and Aurelian Prédal, artistic director of the film. The human characters were designed as hybrids between human beings, animals and various materials. Mune is a woodland creature with fur and is related to the night; his shy and taciturn nature is inspired by the main character of Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands" film. Sohone is linked to the Sun and his body is made from amber; his "big mouth" personality is inspired by characters like Buzz Lightyear from Pixar's animated film "Toy Story" or Han Solo