Development
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie was first announced in September 1999. The majority of the series's staff returned along with Watanabe, including producer Masahiko Minami, character designer/animation director Toshihiro Kawamoto, and writer Keiko Nobumoto. The original Japanese cast also returned.[3][8] After writing was completed, production began in July 2000.[9] It was produced by the studios Sunrise, Bones and Bandai Visual.[3] While Sunrise worked on the original series, Bones was founded in 1998 after the completion of the series by Minami, Kawamoto and Hiroshi Ōsaka.[10] The length of the film's production allowed the team to ensure its high quality.
The idea for a film was an idea Watanabe had during the development of the original Cowboy Bebop series, which he had originally envisioned as a film.[11] Watanabe treated each episode of the series as a miniature film, so to progress onto a feature-length film seemed natural to him. So as not to disappoint fans, the film incorporated as much of the series as possible while making it accessible to newcomers.[12] He had thought up some of the story and the character of Vincent during the production of the series.[11] After the series ended, there was demand for a continuation from both fans and sponsors, leading the crew to make the decision to make a film.[13][14] Watanabe said "When the original 26-episode series concluded, a lot of fans and sponsors wanted me to continue. That's why I made this movie."[14]
Watanabe was aiming towards a live-action look for the film despite its medium, using camera tricks, visual effects and character expression impossible in the series while keeping "the Bebop flavor".[15] According to Kōichi Yamadera, the Japanese voice actor for Spike, the only real changes made by the team in the portrayal were to show off the characters, including Spike, in different ways: Spike, in particular, displayed more of his inner thoughts and showed a gentler side than he did in the series, as there was more time available to express such details.[12] Watanabe personally chose the voice actors for Elektra and Vincent. Vincent was partially intended as a type of villain that could not be done in the series, even though Watanabe felt he was not "particularly unique".[15] The character of Vincent was also inspired by American actor Vincent Gallo.[16]
Because of increased running time, budget and facilities, the team were able to include more cels in animations, as well as longer and more intricate action sequences.[12] The film included difficult sequences that Watanabe could not do along with the rest of the film, so two guest directors were brought in for them: Hiroyuki Okiura, who handled the opening sequence, and Tensai Okamura, who created a cinematic Western shown at a drive-in theater during the film. Watanabe wanted to give the film an Arabic feel, in contrast to the series which often used New York and Hong Kong for inspiration. To this end, Watanabe went on a research trip to Morocco.[15] The character Rashid was based on the guide who had shown the research team round the city visited.[3] Working on the film was different for Watanabe when compared to the series in a positive way: while he had to put the entire story in a twenty-minute episode for the series, the team were able to create a longer, more detailed narrative.[17]
Music
The music for Cowboy Bebop: The Movie was composed by Yoko Kanno, composer for the original series, and performed by her band Seatbelts.[8] She used the same mixture of music genres (western, opera, jazz) as with the TV series, but also added Arabic elements in keeping with the film's thematic feel. She used Arabic and English for song lyrics. Alongside these, the soundtrack made use of a large number of rock instruments.[18][19] Five tracks from the film were featured on the Seatbelts mini-album Ask DNA, released on July 25, 2001.[20] The soundtrack's official release, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door OST Future Blues, was released on August 22, 2001. Both these albums were reissued in December 2012.[21]
