Films

Films
The series has also spawned six films; with the first three situated during the first anime series, the remaining from Naruto: Shippūden. The first film, Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, was released on August 21, 2004 in Japan. It tells how Team 7 is dispatched to the Land of Snow to protect the actors during the shooting of the new Princess Fuun movie, to whom Naruto became a fan. As a bonus, the short original video animation Konoha Annual Sports Festival was included with the Japanese release of the film.[70] It premiered on September 6, 2007 in the United States.[71][72]

It was followed by Legend of the Stone of Gelel, which was released in theaters in Japan on August 6, 2005. The The film involves Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura during a ninja mission in which they are involved in a war between the Sunagakure village and a large number of armored warriors.[73] Unlike its predecessor, Legend of the Stone of Gelel did not see a theatrical release in the United States, and was direct-to-video instead. It aired on Cartoon Network on July 26, 2008 and then was released to DVD July 29, 2008.[74]

The third film, Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, was originally released on August 5, 2006. It shows how Naruto, Sakura, Lee, and Kakashi are assigned to protect the future prince of the Land of Moon, Hikaru Tsuki.[75] The English dub of the movie aired on Cartoon Network and was released to DVD on November 11, 2008.[76][77] On July 3, 2008, Sony released a Japanese DVD Box containing the first three movies.[78]

The series' fourth film, Naruto: Shippūden the Movie, was released on August 4, 2007, and chronicles Naruto's assignment to protect the priest Shion who starts having visions of his death.[79] The fifth film, Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds, was released on August 2, 2008. It tells how ninja from the Sky Country attack Konoha and to stop them, Naruto and Sasuke join forces although the latter has already left two years ago.[80] The latest film is Naruto Shippūden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire, which premiered in Japan on August 1, 2009.[81]