By KHT Staff. Image via Deep Sky Object Co., Ltd.
KAOHSIUNG — Taiwanese animated feature Welcome to Dolly’s House, which incorporates Kaohsiung Music Center (高雄流行音樂中心) into a fantasy version of Taiwan, is scheduled to open nationwide on Oct. 30, 2026, TVBS News reported on Sept. 17.
Rotoscoping is an animation technique where animators trace over live-action film footage frame by frame to produce highly realistic and fluid character movements.
The film was also named the opening title for the Contrechamp feature competition at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, according to the festival’s official program.
Kaohsiung Music Center is a harborside performance complex in Love River Bay and a center for popular music in southern Taiwan, according to the official Kaohsiung Travel website.
Performances traced into animation
Central News Agency reported that the production is Taiwan’s first animated feature to combine rotoscoping with fully 2D hand-drawn animation.
Rotoscoping uses filmed performances as the basis for animating characters and their movements. Famous examples include A Scanner Darkly (2006) and Waking Life (2001), both directed by Richard Linklater.
Yao Ai-ning (姚愛寗) plays Princess Maria, a rising YouTuber whose pursuit of fame and romance descends into a nightmare after a proposal stunt leads her to a reclusive doll maker and a mansion tied to secrets about her identity, according to Annecy’s film synopsis.
Yao said the rotoscoping process required controlled, stable movements without small unintended gestures. She also said spending time with the doll character Ya-ya during production helped ease a childhood fear that began when she imagined a porcelain doll moving near her bed, according to TVBS News.
Taiwan landmarks shape the fantasy world
Along with Kaohsiung Music Center, the film draws on Jukuiju Historical Site (聚奎居) in Taichung, South Airport Night Market (南機場夜市) and Nishi Honganji Square (西本願寺廣場) in Taipei. Jukuiju, a historic residence combining Taiwanese and Western architectural elements, provided a reference for Madame Dolly’s home.
Producer Richard Chou (周益弘) said viewers asked whether the locations were real after the film was shown in France and Germany. Animation director Yushu Liu (劉育樹) said the filmmakers hoped to use animation to connect Taiwan’s traditional culture with international audiences, TVBS News reported.
The Annecy listing gives the film a running time of 87 minutes and classifies it as an adventure, drama and fantasy production using rotoscope and 2D computer-animation techniques. The film’s official trailer promotes its Oct. 30 release ahead of Halloween.
