Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. Over the past several weeks, I watched and reviewed the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.
So, in case you missed any or all of the reviews:
Part 1: Porco Rosso (1992)
Part 2: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Part 3: Castle in the Sky (1986)
Part 4: Spirited Away (2001)
Part 5: The Wind Rises (2013)
Part 6: Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
Part 7: Ponyo (2008)
Part 8: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Part 9: Princess Mononoke (1997)
Part 10: Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
And, if you forgot what letter grade I awarded to each of them, I put together this handy little tier chart:
If you read it from left to right, top to bottom, that’s the order I would rank all of Miyazaki’s movies in, with Mononoke being #1 and Cagliostro being #11.
Also, I’m not sure if anyone picked up on it, but in addition to the overall grade, I was judging each movie in at least four categories: plot/story; characters; animation; and voice cast. Below is a chart showing my grade for each of the 11 movies in those categories, their overall grade, and an award of some kind. The award is just something to recognize the movie for — what it accomplished in comparison to its fellow Miyazaki films, what it brought to the table, etc. In this way, even Cagliostro has something it did well and should be recognized for.
Another way to look at the quality of each of these movies is by asking myself the question: “Would I own it?” Answers:
I already own it: Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle
I’ll probably buying it: Spirited Away
I don’t know whether I’d buy it myself, but I would DEFINITELY keep it if someone gave it to me: Kiki’s Delivery Service, Porco Rosso
I wouldn’t buy it but I MIGHT keep it if someone gave it to me*: My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, The Wind Rises, Nausicaä
I wouldn’t buy it, and I’d probably re-gift it if someone gave it to me*: The Castle of Cagliostro, Castle in the Sky
*= with the exception of keeping it to be a completist
Okay. So even with all that out of the way, we still have a lot of things we need to discuss. First, I want to briefly go over some recurring themes in Miyazaki’s work. I realize I won’t be the first to discuss them, but I just want to give my thoughts.
Then, I’ll touch on what aspects of these Miyazaki-directed films consistently work, and whether there’s anything that doesn’t.
And then, lastly, I was considering writing a faux script for an Honest Trailer for Every Miyazaki Movie, similar to what actual Honest Trailers on YouTube has done for Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson. But, I don’t quite feel up to the task, so instead, I’ll write up a plot synopsis for what a Miyazaki-crossover movie would look like. (Think The Avengers, but with the characters from these 11 Miyazaki movies.)
I also had an entire section comparing Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli to their counterparts in the West (mostly Disney), but then I wrote ~1,500 words about it, so that will be its own post, coming soon!
RECURRING THEMES
The Environment: This is perhaps the most common theme among Miyazaki’s works. It’s in almost every one of his films to some degree, ranging from ‘integral to the plot’ in Mononoke and Totoro to ‘discussed in passing’ in Ponyo and Spirited Away. As I said in the Totoro review, I think this subject is best tackled in that film, because it not only conveyed that kids should be excited about interacting with nature, but how and why to do it in a respectful way. And, as I talked about with Mononoke, it could’ve easily slid into Ferngully territory of ‘humans bad, nature good’ but it was much more nuanced and showed that humans can and should live alongside nature peacefully. It appears that Miyazaki is trying to convey that human development isn’t an absolute evil, but it can be damaging when it doesn’t take environmental impacts into consideration. At least, that’s what I got out of it.
Anti-war & pacifism: It’s unsurprising that this is another common theme given that Miyazaki grew up in post-WWII Japan. It makes sense why violence is often portrayed as an evil, or at the very least, a necessary evil, in his films, when it is portrayed at all. Overall, his filmography tends to be more family friendly and whimsical, but when it does stray into darker territory — like in Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky and Mononoke — the films’ protagonists make it very clear that there is alternative to conflict and that violence has too high of a cost. Additionally, the incredible cost of real-life wars is conveyed in a brief but powerful way in Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises, with the former being about a fictional WWI pilot and the latter being about a real-life WWII aerospace engineer. Both movies contain at least one scene that tells the audience exactly what the wars have cost these characters personally, and — in The Wind Rises — what it has cost an entire nation. For myself, I’m totally on board with Miyazaki’s overall message here. I feel like there are too many movies among our ranks these days that glorify violence, and it’s a good change of pace when a family movie can sit down and explain to children (and adults) why violence is bad, but in a very mature way.
Flying: While this isn’t really a ‘theme’ per se, it is certainly a recurring motif and image among Miyazaki’s works. Almost all of these films have some kind of flying mechanism involved. In fact, I think the only ones that don’t are Mononoke and Ponyo. Overall, in addition to being a quick means of transportation, flying tends to be associated with freedom and capability. Kiki loses her flying powers, and no longer feels like a witch and can no longer run her delivery service. Porco’s plane gets shot down, and he’s lost his livelihood and only source of pride. When the curse is broken on Howl and Calcifer, the entire crew can fly away in their new winged castle. Jiro feels a little bit inadequate when he’s unable to fly because of his eyesight, so he does the next best thing and designs planes; all the while, though, his dreams are primarily about flying. Plus, visually, seeing someone flying around gives the audience the overwhelming sense of adventure and excitement, like in Totoro or Nausicaa. So, it’s clear to see why so many of Miyazaki’s movies incorporate this image/motif.
Technology: Unlike the environment or war, Miyazaki’s stance on technology isn’t super clear, in my opinion. On the one hand, you have things like the God Warriors in Nausicaa, the dirigible in Kiki’s, and Laputa and its various components in Castle in the Sky — all of which are portrayed as being destructive, or at least, being dangerous under certain circumstances. I guess if there is a stance, it’s that technology can be destructive and dangerous when either 1) it’s in the hands of wrong-doers and/or 2) it’s in the hands of someone unprepared for the responsibilities of handling it. The pilots of the dirigible should’ve been aware of the possibility of high winds and taken safety measures to ensure Tombo and others weren’t endangered by the dirigible taking off unexpectedly. Laputa is seen as a technological marvel, but both the robots and Laputa itself are destructive when Muska is in control. The God Warriors were never going to be used for good. And, hell, even in Cagliostro, the Count uses a high-tech printing press to run his huge counterfeiting scheme. But, that doesn’t mean technology can NEVER be used for good. Jiro keeps reworking his designs until he makes a successful plane (although we see the overall cost of that at the end of the movie); Howl’s castle is also seen as a wonder (although I guess it’s powered by magic, not necessarily technology); and the radios and other equipment allow Sosuke’s family members to communicate with each other across vast distances. And, while Iron Town’s weapons have been used to cause great harm, we do see that making them has allowed the residents to live a productive and meaningful life. (And, as stated above, the problem was that their settlement wasn’t taking too much of a toll on the environment.)
Feminism & chivalry: I could probably write an entire article about this, and I might have to at a later date. To be determined.
But the TL;DR of it all is that Miyazaki makes sure that, if his movie has a female protagonist, she’s given a good amount of agency, she’s active in the story (rather than being passive), and she has her own story on however small or large of scale that might be. Not all of Miyazaki’s female protagonists have to be ‘the Chosen One,’ and even in Nausicaa’s case, she was a great character without the whole ‘fulfilling prophecy’ nonsense. They don’t all have to be these big action heroes or ‘strong, independent princesses.’ They can go on little adventures, whatever they might be — whether it’s learning to start a business or befriending the neighboring spirits. And, they can have grand adventures, too — like bridging the gap between land and sea, surviving in a hostile realm, breaking a curse, or preventing a technological marvel from falling into the wrong hands. They have such a great range in personalities, goals, abilities, and responses to whatever they’re facing; and I greatly appreciate that diversity among Miyazaki’s female lead protagonists. (And that’s not even touching on any of the female side characters or antagonists.)
As for his male lead protagonists — which is only Wolf, Porco, Ashitaka and Jiro — all of them have chivalry/compassion as a defining trait. As discussed before, Miyazaki’s Cagliostro entry in the Lupin III franchise was not well-received because it portrayed Wolf as being too kind and chivalrous, which was apparently out-of-character for the womanizer. And, hell, Porco’s entire arc is about him regaining his honor, which culminates in an honor fight to defend a woman he greatly admires in a courtly-love kind of way.
Again, I have no problem with this. I’m all for media that has a diverse set of female leads setting off on adventures as varied and unique as they are, and a cast of male protagonists who recognize the humanity of all those around them and are willing to lend a helping hand to anyone in need.
(Note: I consider San a kind of female co-lead character, as we’re introduced to Ashitaka first and spend more time with him; and I see Pazu, Howl and Sosuke as male co-leads for similar reasons.)
WHAT WORKS & WHAT DOESN’T
Having seen all of the films Miyazaki has directed, I can say definitively that he is a fantastic director. I appreciate how all of his movies are family friendly, to some degree, while each also has a kind of target demographic. For instance, Ponyo is meant for very young children (4-7yo); Spirited Away is more directed at older kids (8-12); and Princess Mononoke is more for tweens, teens and adults. But, that doesn’t mean that a teenager couldn’t enjoy Kiki’s Delivery Service or that an adult couldn’t enjoy My Neighbor Totoro. It just depends on what appeals to you.
And, as we discussed above, Miyazaki is very good at taking very complex themes and messages, and putting them to film in a way that makes them accessible for people of all ages. These are movies that, while they can be lighthearted, whimsical and a bit cheesy, should never be dismissed because they’re “for kids.” Porco Rosso, which is a very breezy adventure movie that’s seemingly about nothing, has a clear arc for the main character, touches on a deeper theme, and pulls elements from other genres (like romance and noir) to help give it a well-rounded and memorable story.
Miyazaki wants to appeal to a very broad audience, but he realizes that doesn’t mean he has to dumb down his movies to do so. He realizes that a movie that’s just bright colors and a paper-thin plot is only going to do so much. To really capture people’s hearts and imaginations, he wants to give them an array of characters who will stick with them long after they’ve left the theater or turned off the television. That’s why five of his movies are on the IMDB Top 250 list, which is a pretty major accomplishment. (They are, in descending order: Spirited Away at #27; Princess Mononoke at #65; Howl’s Moving Castle at #127; My Neighbor Totoro at #129; and Nausicaa at #214. And I feel like Castle in the Sky was on the list until very recently — something must’ve knocked it off.) I don’t know how many directors have half their filmography on this list, but I’m sure it’s not many. As of Feb. 2016, Miyazaki was #7 on the list of Directors with the Most Films on the IMDb Top 250 List, behind the likes of Alfred Hitchcock (#1), Christopher Nolan (#2), and Steven Spielberg (#3). For a director whose only films are animation, I feel like that’s astounding. How many directors in the world of hand-drawn animation can you name? Miyazaki is pretty much the only one I can think of. While I love the old-school animated Disney movies, I don’t know any of their directors. So, I personally think it’s an amazing accomplishment that Miyazaki’s name is alongside the likes of Stanley Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa when it comes to high-quality directors. But, then again, if you’ve seen Miyazaki’s films, it isn’t surprising.
If it were up to me, I would rank Miyazaki above the likes of Spielberg and Kubrick, because Miyazaki has never made a bad film, in my opinion — other than, arguably, The Castle of Cagliostro. Kubrick’s films are like a genre unto themselves, and they’re not really for everyone. Spielberg has done some great work, but he does so many movies that it’s no surprise he has a few misses among all his hits. Miyazaki, by comparison, seems more deliberate. He takes his time with his projects, because — in the case of all these films — he directed AND wrote them. And, he wrote and/or produced other Studio Ghibli films that aren’t on this list.
So, at the risk of getting off track, is there anything else I can say about Miyazaki’s films that are consistently good? Looking at my grades for all 11 films, it looks like the strongest category is the characters, and I think that’s true. Overall, while Miyazaki’s plots can sometimes be convoluted or have pacing problems, his characters are very lively and memorable. They have clear personalities, goals, fears and actions/reactions.
One more thing I want to highlight among Miyazaki’s filmography is his ongoing collaboration with composer Joe Hisaishi, who was inadvertently the one who started this whole journey. (Read my Porco Rosso review for more info on that.) While Miyazaki’s writing, imagination and style are the ‘brains’ of his movies, I think Hisaishi’s music is the ‘heart.’ Every piece of music is simply perfect and helps bring the world to life, as I said in my Ponyo and Princess Mononoke reviews on the podcast. (Seriously, if you’ve never listened to the Budokan recording celebrating 25 years of Studio Ghibli, you need to. It’s the perfect music to put on in the background while you’re working or doing chores. In fact, I’m listening to it as I’m typing this.)
Okay, okay. So… now we need to talk about what aspects of Miyazaki’s filmography could be… better. There aren’t many, so this will be quick.
Really, my issues are minor, compared to everything that these movies bring to the table, but it boils down to: I think Studio Ghibli’s animation and designs can sometimes be a little repetitive; and two, I think the English-language voice casts can be a little weak on occasion. Granted, the second one is more on the American distributing companies (mostly Disney) than it is Studio Ghibli, but it’s something worth discussing.
As you’ll see on my grading chart above, pretty much all the voice casts were excellent or above-average, with the exception of Castle in the Sky (which I talked about in detail in that review post). But, in a few instances, there is one voice actor who weakens an otherwise strong cast, with Shia LaBeouf in Nausicaa and Billy Bob Thornton in Princess Mononoke being the foremost examples. Again, not something that Studio Ghibli can really control — unless it undertakes all the English-language dubbing itself, which probably won’t happen.
But, as for the animation, this was something that came up during my Spirited Away review. I often feel like Studio Ghibli’s animation in Miyazaki’s movies is a little too one-note. It all looks a little too similar. You could honestly take a background from Kiki’s Delivery Service and put it next to a background from The Wind Rises — and other than maybe the color palette — I don’t know whether I’d be able to tell you which was which. While the creature designs are all very unique, the humans all look very similar. Again, put an isolated background character from My Neighbor Totoro next to an isolated background character from Ponyo, and I don’t know whether I’d be able to say which was which. Compared to other animation studios, particularly Disney, I feel like each movie has a very distinct art sytle. Sure, there are probably some aspects that are the same from movie to movie — the big eyes, the way hair is drawn, etc. — but I bet I’d be able to identify a background character from The Hunchback of Notre Dame versus one from The Princess & The Frog.
This was something that made Spirited Away so striking when I rewatched it for the series. Chihiro/Sen looks so different than Mei and Satsuki do in My Neighbor Totoro or Sophie does in Howl’s Moving Castle.
Again, I’m not saying that Studio Ghibli’s animation hasn’t evolved, because if you look at Castle in the Sky and The Wind Rises side-by-side, it absolutely has. The animation integrates more CGI and different ‘camera’ techniques and cinematography; the linework has become more refined; and the colors pop a lot more and don’t look quite so dull. (Plus, the art style for some of their non-Miyazaki-directed films looks very different, like with The Tale of Princess Kaguya.) But, the basic style of these movies is the same. Sheeta and Pazu look more like Jiro and Nahoko than you’d expect, considering the movies came out 27 years apart and are set in completely different time periods/locations.
In any case, this is really a minor point; because Miyazaki’s filmography really is amazing, and there’s not much to critique when you look at all 11 movies like this.
And now, we finally get to the section of the post that I know you’ve all been waiting for:
THE MIYAZAKI CROSSOVER EVENT!
BASIC PLOT OUTLINE:
After scavenging the wreckage of Laputa — the castle in the sky — a man called Mr. Never (Kesshite-san), a protege of Muska and another lost descendant of Laputa, harnesses its powerful energy to rip holes in space-time. His goal is to take over not only his own world, but all of them!
All across the various universes, our protagonists see a strange hole form in their skies, giving it a putrid color and foul smell. Mr. Never uses his power to tell the citizens of all the various worlds that he intends to enslave them using the powerful technology of Laputa. Sheeta and Pazu, on their own world, see their own sky darken with the same color, and know they have to intervene.
In their world, Howl, Calcifer and Sophie find a cast a very powerful spell that will allow them to travel through all the various worlds until they are able to confront Mr. Never. Unbeknownst to them, however, is the fact that Mr. Never’s world is the farthest from their own, and they must travel through all the subsequent worlds to reach his.
They first travel through Princess Mononoke‘s universe, where San and the wolves and Ashitaka stumble upon them simultaneously. They agree to join, and the group travels to the next world, and the next, until all our protagonists — even if they don’t join in the fight themselves — contribute something to the cause. Wolf gives the group explosives; Ponyo & co., some magical McGuffin; Totoro & co., some magic seeds; etc. Chihiro asks that she and Haku join the fight, and Kiki, Porco and Nausicaa all offer to help fly people around on their broom, plane and glider, respectively. And, considering that Mr. Never has put together an army of flying robots, these tools will come in handy.
In the end, of course, the group defeats Mr. Never with some help from the Pirate Gang & Pazu and Sheeta, who now realize that the legacy of Laputa might be a continual problem for them, but they are willing to take on that responsibility. It also gives San and Ashitaka a chance to reconnect since the events of Princess Mononoke, along with Chihiro and Haku, who haven’t seen each other since Spirited Away.
The film concludes with Howl teaching Sophie (who has discovered she’s a witch over the course of the movie ((which is something that was in the Howl’s Moving Castle novel that wasn’t really addressed in the movie)), and she sends everyone back to their respective realms. Everyone sees their own skies returning to normal (including those who contributed but didn’t join the fight), and Sheeta and Pazu set off to destroy any other remnants of Laputa to ensure this never happens again.
THE END OF ‘CATCHING THE MIYAZAKI CLASSICS’ SERIES… OR IS IT?
So, I mentioned above that Studio Ghibli’s work can be really weird for us Western audiences. (EDIT: I actually didn’t. This was in the section about Studio Ghibli vs. Disney that got cut out to become its own post. Whoops!) On top of all Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director, I also had another Studio Ghibli film in mind — The Cat Returns (2002). I watched it for the first time last week, and had such a blast that I decided I couldn’t end the Miyazaki series here. Even though Miyazaki was only peripherally involved with The Cat Returns, it reminded me that there are three other Studio Ghibli films that Miyazaki wrote but didn’t direct. They are: Secrets of the Heart (1995) — which is a sort of sequel to The Cat Returns even though it came out first; The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) and From Up On Poppy Hill (2011).
So, I’ve decided to do three bonus posts for this Miyzaki series! Hooray!
While I’ll be continuing my regular (non-Miyazaki) ‘Catching the Classics’ segments on the podcast episodes, I will post my reviews of these three Miyazaki-written films on the website. I can’t guarantee they’ll be posted in any regular fashion, as life sometimes gets in the way. I can tell you, though, that From Up On Poppy Hill will be the first to be reviewed of the three, because I already checked it out from the library.
So, stay tuned!
As you can see, I’ve had such a blast diving into Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s work that I’m eager to continue it, and I hope you all are as excited to keep flying the friendly Miyazaki skies as I am!