Miyazaki

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Catching the Miyazaki Classics (BONUS) – Whisper of the Heart

Amazon.com: Whisper of the Heart (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo): Yoshifumi Kondo, Screenplay And Storyboard By Hayao Miyazaki: Movies & TV

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 few months, I’ve watched and reviewed the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

And, as I discussed at the end of my CtMC series recap last year, this will be the first of three bonus posts to review the three films that Miyazaki wrote but didn’t direct. They are: Whisper of the Heart (1995); The Secret World of Arrietty (2010); and From Up On Poppy Hill (2011).

Now, after a year, I’m finally finishing these bonus posts with Whisper of the Heart (1995).

Synopsis: Based on a late-80s manga, the film follows junior high student Shizuku (voiced by Brittany Snow) as she’s on the cusp of young adulthood. She’s preparing to go to high school, but seemingly doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life beyond reading. After forming a connection with a boy at her school, she’s inspired to start writing and draws on her love of fairy tales and some memorable scenes at a local antique store to craft her very own fantasy story, “Whisper of the Heart.”

Spoiler-free review: So, the reason it took me so long to finally write this is because I watched the film a year ago, meant to write this review, didn’t, and then by the time I finally could, I was too far removed to do it justice. So, I finally decided to rent it again last week and now I can give you the review you’ve all been waiting for. This is ultimately a very dull movie. That’s not to say it doesn’t have its moments — the animation and music are both of the typical Studio Ghibli quality — but it’s slow, uneventful, and hollow. Granted, I think I liked it better when I watched it a year ago, but I think this was a bad one to end the bonus series on.

Letter grade: C-

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

I think the root of the problem is that there’s no real conflict in this movie.

The only thing we have that resembles conflict is Shizuku figuring out what she wants to do with her life, because that does have a few stakes involved given that she starts devoting more time to writing and her grades drop. However, that comes in the last 20-30 minutes of the film.

Additionally, so much of the runtime is spent on Shizuku walking or running or people playing or singing a rendition of John Denver’s “County Roads” (it’s like a whole thing in the movie), and ultimately nothing happens. I have no problem with “slice of life” movies, like “Ladybird,” but there have to be more compelling elements than what we have here.

The few sequences where we see inside Shizuku’s imagination as she’s writing her book and imaging scenes from it would make for a much better movie than what we have here. The scenes we get building up the relationship between Shizuku and her love interest are also pretty good, but he leaves two-thirds of the way through the film and only returns at the very end. And the first scene in the antique shop is also well-done, and I wish the whole movie would’ve been of a similar quality.

Overall, I think tweens and teens might like this film best, as it might speak more to their insecurities, the transitions and decisions they face, and their need to discover what they can accomplish when they set their mind to it.

Again, I don’t think the film is worthless, just boring and a bit padded. I honestly think it would’ve worked best as a short film.

Personally, I think Miyazaki and his colleagues at Studio Ghibli do best when adapting or creating more fantasy-based stories. So it makes sense that something more grounded and everyday is going to be one of the lesser (although still not bad) movies in their filmographies.

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (BONUS) – The Secret World of Arrietty

The Secret World of Arrietty is a 2010 film co-written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi

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 few months, I’ve watched and reviewed the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

And now, as I discussed at the end of my CtMC series recap, this will be the first of three bonus posts to review the three films that Miyazaki wrote but didn’t direct. They are: Secrets of the Heart (1995); The Secret World of Arrietty (2010); and From Up On Poppy Hill (2011).

This time, I’ll be discussing The Secret World of Arrietty (2010).

Synopsis: Based on the book The Borrowers, Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mendler) and her parents are a family of tiny people who ‘borrow’ what they need from the “beans” (human beings) in whose house they live. Arrietty is a young teenager looking to learn the ways of the Borrowers, but her family’s way of life and their very existence is threatened when a new “bean” comes to live in the house and sees Arrietty.

Spoiler-free review: Granted, it’s been a week from when I watched the movie to now (as I’m writing this review), but it stands in my mind as a competently made film. There’s nothing about it that I felt was spectacular, but there’s nothing that was onerous, either. It feels very much like a standard Studio Ghibli film, which isn’t a bad thing. It means that you’ll have an enjoyable experience, and your kids will probably like it too. The voice cast is talented. I didn’t even recognize Will Arnett as Arrietty’s dad until about two-thirds of the way through the film, simply because his performance matches the tone so well. As Batman in the Lego movies, he’s over-the-top because that’s what’s demanded of the character; but here, he’s far less bombastic and much quieter and calmer, which is what’s required of this character. Amy Poehler and Carol Burnett also do a wonderful job, as do the two actors who play Arrietty and Shawn, who have to carry the bulk of the film. The characters are all charming; the animation is well-executed; and the music — even though it’s not Joe Hisaishi composing — is beautiful and catchy. I guess the one downside that I can recall is the pacing. It seems like the film slows down considerably in the second act, and even the first third has some scenes that go on a little too long. But, of course, the third act has high stakes and good conflict that keeps you engaged. But, again, it’s a good little movie, on the whole.

Letter grade: B

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

Ultimately, this movie is about continuation and survival, both on a larger species level and on an individual level.

Arrietty and her family continually discuss whether they are the last Borrowers in existence, and — as we find out halfway through — they’re not. But, then the question becomes, can they survive long enough to get away from the house where they are threatened, find a new home, and continue to live and thrive. We get to see Arrietty meet another Borrower for the first time, who is a young man who seems to be interested in her. So, there’s the possibility that Spiller and Arrietty could get together when they’re older and have a family of their own. The film certainly gives you that impression. So, for the tiny people of the movie, the story focuses on not only Arrietty’s family and their survival, but the idea of whether the Borrower race will continue as a whole.

On the “bean” side, the story is about Shawn’s survival, as he’s preparing for a risky surgery. As we learn, Shawn’s entire reason to be at the house is to convalesce before his surgery. He’s very weak and sickly, and has trouble jogging for a little bit because of the strain on his heart. Obviously, he survives the surgery and goes on to live a happy life, and the film tells us that he gained strength and courage to undergo his surgery from his brief friendship with Arrietty. He saw how they fought to survive and live on their own terms, so he is inspired to do the same.

The film also touches on the concepts of independence and capability. Because of Shawn’s sickly disposition, his family tend to treat him like he’s a fragile doll that can’t be expected to do much beside lie in bed (that was bought accordingly as stated in this mattress buyers guide) all day. But, Shawn wants to help, and pushes himself to ensure that Arrietty and her family are safe. Likewise, Arrietty is coming into her own, learning to be a Borrower. She wants to prove to her parents and herself that she’s capable of successfully ‘borrowing,’ and of course, her plans hit a snag when Shawn sees her.

One more detail I want to highlight, briefly, is the two main times Shawn and Arrietty make physical contact. The first time — when he’s rescuing her after the crow flies into his window — he grabs her and continues to hold her in his hand. Yes, there are mitigating factors, but I believe that, at this point in the film, Shawn still has the childlike fascination with the Borrowers. He sees them as something more akin to toys or dolls. He believes he can interfere in their lives and treat them as he wills so long as he believes he’s doing it for their own good — like finding their house and giving them the dollhouse kitchen. Shawn eventually learns that the Borrowers are their own people, and not playthings. Thus, when he and Arrietty team up to help rescue her mom, Arrietty stands on his shoulder. She is no longer his inferior — his plaything — to be held in his hand. She is his equal — his partner.

I realize that Shawn has good intentions throughout the entire film, and given that he’s a boy who doesn’t have much else to occupy his time, it’s understandable that he would be fascinated with the Borrowers, just as his older relatives were before him. I don’t think he intentionally meant to disrupt the Borrowers’ lives or cause them distress, but he does. And that fact that he sees Arrietty prompts the family into finding a new place to live, which is only furthered after other things happen in the film’s second and third acts. But, his arc centers on seeing Arrietty as her own individual, who — though far smaller than him — is equally capable. And the two work together to form a lovely friendship that culminates in that scene where they say goodbye. And, as the narration tells us, Shawn certainly discovered the house where Arrietty and her family had moved to. But rather than trying to find them again, he apparently leaves them alone because his narration tells us that he never saw Arrietty after their goodbye at the fence. And, as meme says:

Image result for you know what that is growth meme

Overall, I think both adults and kids alike would enjoy this film. As I said, it’s a competent and well-made Studio Ghibli movie. Maybe it didn’t strike me as much, because it’s a more familiar story for Western audiences than something like From Up on Poppy Hill or Spirited Away. Hell, even Howl’s Moving Castle is a book by a British author, and so should feel fairly familiar to us Western audiences. But, I’d say Howl’s Moving Castle (the book) is relatively obscure. I’d never even heard about it until I saw the movie. Meanwhile, The Borrowers is fairly well-known book series, was adapted a few other times before Arrietty came out, and the whole ‘tiny people living alongside regular people’ thing is fairly common thanks to tales like Thumbelina. So, perhaps it didn’t strike me because it wasn’t a unique story in the way that Princess Mononoke is, or even a fairly creative and unique adaptation in the way that Ponyo is an adaptation of The Little Mermaid. But, still, it’s an enjoyable watch.

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (BONUS) – From Up On Poppy Hill

“From Up On Poppy Hill” is a 2011 film from Studio Ghibli that Hayao Miyazaki co-wrote and his son, Goro Miyazaki, directed

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 few months, I’ve watched and reviewed the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

And now, as I discussed at the end of my CtMC series recap, this will be the first of three bonus posts to review the three films that Miyazaki wrote but didn’t direct. They are: Secrets of the Heart (1995); The Secret World of Arrietty (2010); and From Up On Poppy Hill (2011).

This time, I’ll be discussing From Up On Poppy Hill (2011).

Synopsis: High school student Umi Matsuzaki (voiced by Sarah Bolger) lives comfortably with her family running a boarding home in Yokohama. But, her life starts to change after she meets fellow student Shun Kazama (voiced by Anton Yelchin), who — along with several other male students — is in uproar that their clubhouse might be torn down. Together, they work to rally the students to clean up and ultimately save the clubhouse, all the while grower closer and closer to each other — until a family secret threatens to keep them apart!

Spoiler-free review: Much like The Cat Returns (2002), which I mentioned briefly at the end of the series recap, I can only summarize my thoughts about this movie as: “Enjoyable but weird.” The English voice cast does a good job, although I think there were a few weird choices. The animation is pretty standard, but not in a bad way. It’s well-done, but there aren’t any sequences that really stand out in my mind. The story is well-paced, despite not sounding like an interesting setup. Unlike most of the 11 Miyazaki-directed films, this one doesn’t really have any adventure elements to it, so there’s not a ton of conflict in the movie. Still, the themes are executed well, and the characters all win you over — particularly Umi and Shun. Overall, it’s a cute little story. Weird. But cute. It’s definitely more on the older-kid side (maybe like 9-12 year olds), but no doubt adults will like it as well.

Letter grade: B

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

If you don’t want to be spoiled, turn back now! Seriously. I’m about to discuss the weird crux of this movie, so if you want to watch it for yourself first, don’t read any further.

So, if you’re reading this now, it means you’ve either already seen the movie or you don’t care about spoilers. Good. Because, holy crap! I cannot believe I just watched a movie where the main conflict between the two leads is that they can’t be together because they might be half-siblings???? What is this movie?!

Obviously, it ties into the whole ‘anti-war/pacifism as a recurring theme’ thing that I wrote about in the CtMC series recap post. And, it looks like it’s not just Hayao Miyazaki’s films, but Studio Ghibli’s entire catalog. Maybe I’ll have to watch all of them to find out. But, the idea that war creates chaos and also leaves children orphaned or fatherless — wondering about who they are and what families they belong to — definitely happens in the real world whenever there’s a violent conflict.

But, I can’t believe that Umi’s dad didn’t tell Shun’s adoptive parents that Shun wasn’t his son. All it would’ve taken was a “Hey, he’s actually Tachibana’s kid.” But, for some reason he neglected to tell Shun’s adoptive parents that because ~drama~. I normally don’t really care about plot holes, but this one is pretty glaring. Did he just hand them the baby and then run out the door? Also, thank goodness Umi’s mom came back from America when she did, or she wouldn’t have been able to explain what really happened.

So, when Shun saw the photo of Umi’s dad at her house, I wondered whether he knew something about him. Then, of course, we find out that he believes Yuichiro is his father. At first, I believed it, and thought this was going to be a story about estranged half-siblings reconnecting, in the vein of One Tree Hill, albeit in a kinda weird way. But, as time went on and neither Umi nor Shun really addressed it, and their feelings for each other kept deepening, I started to realize: “Oh, this isn’t that kind of movie. We’re going to find out that they aren’t related, and then they’re going to end up together.” And, of course, that’s exactly what happens, because this is a family movie after all.

All that being said, it’s not a bad movie. It’s just… weird, as I said. It’ll be forever burned in my brain as “the one where the two leads think they’re related so they can’t be together.” Then again, The Blacklist has strayed into and back out of that territory, so I guess it’s not too bizarre. But, it is weird to see it in something like a Studio Ghibli film.

There are some great things that this movie brings to the table. The themes are well-composed and fluid without really hitting you over the head with them. The idea of old vs. new — tradition vs. modernization — I can get behind that. Why tear something down when all it really needs is people who can take care of it? It’s only in disarray because the previous generations have neglected it, not because it was poorly built or it’s too old.

One more thing I’ll say, which I touched on above, is the voice cast. I thought both Sarah Bolger and Anton Yelchin did a fantastic job. There were a few people who I thought were weird choices, like Ron Howard, who voices a very tall and muscular high school student. I thought Aubrey Plaza was a good choice, but then her voice kinda took me out of the movie every time she spoke. She just didn’t seem to fit quite right. I didn’t even recognize Gillian Anderson’s voice as one of the boarders; the only person I really did recognize was Jamie Lee Curtis. I also thought she was a weird choice, as her voice is so distinct and recognizable, but she did a good job getting into character and toning it down.

So, overall, go watch it if you want. I’d watch it again over The Wind Rises, but not something like Howl’s Moving Castle or Porco Rosso. As I said: “It’s enjoyable but weird.”

And your next bonus CtMC post will be about The Secret World of Arrietty (2010).

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics – SERIES RECAP

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!

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 10) – Howl’s Moving Castle

Howl’s Moving Castle is the ninth film by Miyazaki as writer/director

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. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Princess Mononoke (1997).

This week is our last one of the series: Howl’s Moving Castle (2004).

Synopsis: One day, Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer) has a chance meeting with the wizard Howl (voiced by Christian Bale). Even though their meeting is brief and Sophie has no prospect of seeing him again, Howl’s rival, the Witch of the Waste (voiced by Lauren Bacall), curses Sophie by transforming her into an old woman as a way of taking revenge on Howl. Old Sophie (voiced by Jean Simmons) leaves her family to find a way to break the curse, and ends up running into Howl’s moving castle!

Spoiler-free review: Even though I’ve now seen all of Miyazaki’s movies at least once, this one still remains my favorite, which is why I waited to watch it last for the series. I wanted to see if my feelings toward it would change. They didn’t, but other people’s feelings about it being lackluster did come into perspective. (I’ll talk about that more below.) While the story suffers from things not being explained and the animation is a bit so-so sometimes, but I still think the movie’s best quality is the overall charm of the characters and the absolutely perfect voice cast. Unlike most of Miyazaki’s movies, this is one that I have watched with the Japanese audio; and when I did, I missed the English voice cast terribly. There’s something about their performances that really brings their characters and this entire world to life. Overall, I think it’s one you should watch, but I understand why people might not like it as much as Miyazaki’s other films.

Letter grade: B

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

As I said, this movie still remains my favorite among Miyazaki’s filmography, but I now understand now why people don’t like this movie as much as some of his other films. As I said on the podcast episode, this had to follow a great back-to-back outing by Miyazaki — Princess Mononoke in 1997 and then Spirited Away in 2001. And, on the heels of its very successful predecessors, this movie seems lackluster, by comparison. The animation is good, but doesn’t have the overall consistency or style that Spirited Away does. The world and creatures aren’t as imaginative; the characters aren’t as complex; and the writing isn’t nearly as tight.

Even so, by no means is it a bad movie when you look at it on its own. It doesn’t take long for the plot to really kick in, and once it does, I think you’re immediately won over by all the characters. Sophie is quiet and unassuming initially, but once she’s cursed, she takes on a lot more vocal personality, thanks in large part to Simmons’ amazing performance.

Really, there’s not a single weak link in the cast, but Bacall, Bale and Simmons are the standouts for me. Rounding out the cast is Josh Hutcherson, who plays Howl’s apprentice Markl (who’s like 10 years old). Unlike some of the child voice-actors in other Miyazaki films, neither Hutcherson nor his character is annoying at all. He gets just the right amount of screentime, but even then, I feel like if they spent 10 more minutes with him, it wouldn’t be grating or anything. Surprisingly, Billy Crystal, who plays the fire demon Calcifer, doesn’t get on my nerves either. I’m not a huge fan of Crystal’s voice acting, as I think his performance in Monsters, Inc. is a bit much sometimes; but here, I think his voice adds a little flavor to his character (probably because he’s confined to a set script and can’t riff or improv like he did on Monsters, Inc.) When I watch the movie with the Japanese voice cast, his counterpart does a great job, but there’s definitely something missing that Crystal just seems to add. And, I forgot to mention that Mortimer also does a fantastic job, despite not being in the movie very much until the third act and having to share a character with Simmons; and Blythe Danner also shines in her brief appearance as Madame Sulliman, Howl’s former master.

Another stand-out for me, which I didn’t mention in the podcast, is the music. Joe frickin’ Hisaishi brings it once again with this movie’s score, and the various musical themes are now burned into my brain to the point where just hearing them makes me want to watch this movie.

If I have one more criticism of the film that I didn’t describe above, it’s the pacing. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen it so many times, but the film seems to lose something after the sequence where Howl and Old Sophie confront Madame Sulliman and Sophie flies away with the Witch of the Waste and Heen. I think it might be because, up to this point, the movie has been very focused on Sophie and her personal journey. She gets cursed; she stumbles upon the castle; she figures out her role there; she and Howl come to a kind of understanding; and she goes to talk to Madame Sulliman for him.

After this point, though, the film tries to pack a lot into the final act, including an entire war. Yes, the war has been set up a lot in the previous two-thirds, but I think the movie tries to do too much in the little time it has remaining at this point. We have to build up more of a romance between Sophie and Howl, so he gives her the garden. We have to explain how Sulliman found Howl & co., so we get a scene with Sophie reuniting with her mom. We have to complete Howl’s arc, so he spends time protecting the hatter’s shop. We have to see that Sophie has fallen in love with Howl, so she has to uncouple the castle from the shop… but then she also wants Calcifer to take the castle back to Howl??? (That decision always confused me. You’re just putting everyone in harm’s way again, Sophie!) And despite getting several hints earlier in the film, we have to see just how Howl and Calcifer were cursed, so Sophie has to have the flashback / maybe-time travel scene. etc. It’s just a lot to get through.

We spent like 10 minutes on Sophie cleaning the castle during the second act, but then we have to cram all this into the movie in like 45 minutes or so. It’s too much. Even when I was rewatching after calling in for the podcast episode, but before I wrote this post, I stopped right before Howl and Sophie confront Madame Sulliman. Granted, I was also distracted quite a bit, but I think it speaks to the weird pacing this movie has. The first two-thirds are an absolute breeze — right up there with Porco Rosso. But the final third is a lot. Maybe someone who hasn’t seen it before or who’s only seen it once would feel differently, but I’ve probably seen this movie a dozen times now, and this is a major weak spot for me.

As I said, Howl’s Moving Castle is a movie that’s totally in my wheelhouse, because it has a great mix of action/adventure, romance and fantasy elements. And, unlike many romance subplots in Miyazaki films, this one is between two adults, so it’s more compelling than the ones between kids or tweens.

So, overall, while the animation isn’t as great as Spirited Away or Ponyo, and the story isn’t as great as Princess Mononoke, the characters are endearing, thanks in part to the great voice performances, and you’re drawn in enough to follow their journey to its end. I would say it’s worth your time, but then again, I’m biased.

Next week: I will be posting a recap of the entire Catching the Miyazaki Classics series.

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 9) – Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke is the seventh film by Miyazaki as writer/director

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. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989).

This week: Princess Mononoke (1997)

Synopsis: While trying to protect his village from a demon, Prince Ashitaka (voiced by Billy Crudup) is cursed by the demon and subsequently banished from his village. He journeys to the west and eventually gets caught up in ongoing conflict between the people of a settlement called Iron Town and the nearby gods and spirits of the forest.

Spoiler-free review: As I said on the podcast episode, I think this is Miyazaki’s best film to date. For me, it’s right up there with Spirited Away in terms of overall quality, and I really think it’s a matter of personal preference on which is the better of the two. While Spirited Away is more family friendly and has a more intimate scale to its story (Chihiro and her personal struggle), Princess Mononoke is darker and more brutal and feels like a grand and epic tale, like Journey to the West or something similar. There are so many aspects that this movie packs into it — environmental, political and spiritual — much like how Nausicaä does, and it can be a heavy movie to get through. Something I didn’t mention in my review on the podcast is the film’s length, which is 2 hours, 15 minutes. At times, it does feel kind of long, and it seems like more of a chore to watch it than Miyazaki’s lighter films like Porco Rosso, Howl’s Moving Castle or Kiki’s Delivery Service. But, of course, that’s looking at it on the Miyazaki curve. Anyway, the voice cast is talented for the most part. There are one or two actors/character that I have a problem with. (cough, Billy Bob Thornton, cough). But, overall, the animation is stunning; the character designs are memorable and sometimes haunting (in a good way); the music is tremendous; and the story and characters are engaging. It’s just such an experience, and I really enjoyed seeing it on the big screen last year during Studio Ghibli Fest. (So much so that I bought it on BluRay.) Really, while I have a few small issues with the movie, they pale in comparison to what Princess Mononoke brings to the table as an entry in Miyazaki’s and Studio Ghibli’s filmography, as an animated movie, and as a film in general. If you haven’t seen it, you NEED to check it out. And don’t read the section below, because it will get into major spoilers!!

Letter grade: A

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

Since I went into so much detail about the music, the character designs and other aspects of the film on the podcast episode, I want to focus a little more on the story and how it conveys the characters’ perspectives in such a unique and compelling way.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! DON’T READ UNLESS YOU’VE SEEN THE MOVIE!

One thing that absolutely blows me away about this film is how well it balances the conflict of man versus nature. It could so easily have gone the route of Ferngully or Avatar, where it comes across as “man, bad; nature, good.” But, that’s not the case here. And, I think the reason is because of the first perspective we’re given (Ashitaka’s) and how he comes to meet everyone else over the course of the story.

For the most part, Ashitaka is an independent observer. Yes, he gets involved. Yes, he has feelings for San. But, he only gets involved because he wants the two sides to live in peace; and while he definitely cares for San, he also cares about the people of Iron Town.

Remember, he was specifically sent on this mission “to see with eyes unclouded by hate.” He has every right to be angry with either or both sides, as each is partially responsible for the curse on his arm. The Iron Town people shot the boar god, but the boar god’s own choices turned him into a demon and made him attack Ashitaka’s village. But, despite having reason to hate the people AND the gods, Ashitaka is respectful toward and helps both sides.

Even when Lady Eboshi and Jigo conspire to and actually cut off the head of the Great Forest Spirit, Ashitaka doesn’t let them get away with it, but he also doesn’t condemn them for it either. He simply wants it to be restored to the Nightwalker’s body, so that Nature is not thrown out of balance, which would hurt both the humans and the spirits. And, Ashitaka, even after seeing all the destruction that this greedy act has done, also sees its good (the lepers being healed, etc.); and rather than deciding to live with San and the gods in the forest, he goes off to live in Iron Town.

Similarly, the actions of both Moro’s group and Lady Eboshi’s are given complexity, again not fully demonizing or celebrating either.

Moro is simply trying to protect the forest, which is her literal reason for existence. As a god of the forest, she is responsible for all that happens to it. So, of course, when humans disrespect and abuse the land, she’s going to fight back. And, it’s not that she’s without pity or compassion. The fact that she adopted San and raised her as her own daughter shows that she cares for all life, even humans, albeit to a lesser degree. Or, at the very least, she was able to recognize San’s innocence of her parent’s crimes. Her parents paid for their selfishness and disrespect, leaving San orphaned. Moro could’ve taken a kind of twisted pity on San by deciding that it would be better for her to die quickly than try to survive without parents and probably starve. Or I suppose she also could’ve tried to leave her with a human village, a la The Jungle Book. But, instead Moro decides to do the right but much more difficult thing of raising San as her own.

But, on the other hand, Moro very easily could’ve been written as some benevolent forest god who simply didn’t understand why humans had to be so greedy and destructive, like so many other “man-versus-nature” movies before it. No, Moro is very harsh, abrupt and almost vindictive. Despite Ashitaka specifically NOT being from Iron Town or participating in the conflict against the forest gods — in fact, he’s very respectful of them — Moro still threatens Ashitaka. This could be for a number of reasons. Maybe she doesn’t like how much he cares about San and San cares about him; maybe she used to be more neutral toward humans when she chose to raise San, but grew more hateful toward the entire species once the conflict with Iron Town started; or maybe it’s some combination of multiple things. But, in any case, Moro is by no means a saintly figure, and that’s good.

Likewise, her counterpart, Lady Eboshi, is also given a great deal of time so that the audience understands her motivations and complex personality. While Moro cares only about the forest and not at all about the humans, Eboshi is the exact opposite where she seems to care mostly about her people and not at all about the forest. Yes, she definitely has an ambitious side to her, but I think it’s an ambitious side with a motive. She wants to help the people in her care. She recognizes the dignity of the lepers and wants to ensure they feel respected and have a purpose, despite their ailment. She wants to give the women in the area something better to do with their lives than be prostitutes – a goal, a purpose. And, certainly, those purposes meet her end of producing more and better iron and weapons, but she’s still doing it.

And yet, Eboshi is ambitious and disrespectful. While many of Jigo’s men are hesitant to kill the Great Forest Spirit, for fear of spiritual and/or physical retribution, Eboshi doesn’t care. Despite being a great leader, she can also be very selfish. Even when Ashitaka tells her about Iron Town being attacked by the samurai, she doesn’t seem to care what happens to her people. Despite knowing how much faith all of them have in her, she leaves them to their fate because going back would interfere with her own ambitions.

At their cores, both Moro and Eboshi are mothers, in a sense, each looking out for their own family, their own pack, their own community. And, unfortunately, that has put them into competition with each other.

Now, while Moro can’t help defending the forest, because again it’s literally in her nature to do so, Eboshi absolutely can lead a life that doesn’t hurt the forest. But, Eboshi and her group make it clear to Ashitaka and the audience that their settlement and production has given them a quality of life that they likely wouldn’t have had otherwise. The women are able to work in Iron Town rather than the brothels, and even lepers have some work that they can do. It’s also given them good quality weapons for when the samurai attack. Eboshi asks that the weapons be light enough that even the women can fire them and take care of themselves. In a way, the settlement has empowered all these people who — in that era — would’ve been powerless or considered culturally ‘weak’ otherwise. Iron Town gives them a fighting chance, so to speak.

I think that, perhaps, what the film is addressing here is the conflict between technological advancement and environmental impacts. This is an issue that I hear about a great deal in my professional life. So much of our every lives depend on infrastructure, amenities and utilities that depend on and impact our natural resources. The computer I’m writing this blog post on didn’t just appear out of thin air. The plastic, the wires, the computer chips… all of those components came from somewhere — mined, refined, manufactured, or whatever. The roads I used to drive to and from work today were all built along major wildlife corridors. The water I’m drinking right now probably came from a river or lake that was dammed for that purpose, disrupting the natural flow. Almost everything we do in our modern day has some sort of environmental impact. It would be hard to find something that doesn’t. Even farming has an effect on the flora, fauna, the soil, etc.

But, of course, we have to eat. We have to drink. We have to have shelter. Even the internet is now becoming a basic amenity that all people are expected to have access to, in the same way that everyone is expected to have electricity or running water. And, of course, all of that has to come from somewhere.

Still, that doesn’t mean that we humans can ride roughshod over everything (although some people would argue we’re doing that already). We should be conscientious about how our infrastructure, amenities and so forth impacts the environment; and, for the most part, I think we are. I hear all the time about projects having to complete an environmental report or analysis to ensure that the impacts are as minimal as possible, or are mitigated as best as can be. No highway, housing subdivision, or water treatment plant can be built in this country without something like that being done.

Anyway, this is all a VERY long way of saying that improving our quality of life, particularly through technological advancement, likely will always be coupled with some kind of impact on nature. When, how and to what degree, though, is a discussion that we need to have at every level government. But, the point is, I think it’s fair that Ashitaka doesn’t condemn the people of Iron Town, but simply wants them to find a way for them to do it in balance with nature.

And, I think that’s our real takeaway from this movie: to see both sides; to be as objective as possible; to not rush to accept or condemn anything or anyone new; and to do things in a way that all — or as many as possible — can prosper.

Next week: Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) — our last one of the series!

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 8) – My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro is the fourth of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

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. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Ponyo (2008).

This week: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989).

Synopsis: While their mom is in the hospital, sisters Satsuki and Mei (voiced by Dakota and Elle Fanning, respectively) move with their dad (voiced by Tim Daly) into a old house in the country. The sisters soon discover and befriend the nearby forest spirits, one of whom is named Totoro (voiced by Frank Welker). Together, they have all sorts of adventures — some fun, some dramatic.

Spoiler-free review: This is another Miyazaki film I’d seen before, and while it was only once several years ago, I feel like I enjoyed it more the first time around. Maybe getting older has turned me into a curmudgeon, but the film didn’t hold as much charm for me as it did the first time. Or maybe it was because I watched it so close to Kiki’s, which does similar things but — in my opinion — does them better. (I’ll talk about that more below.) Anyway, the movie doesn’t really have a through plot, but it’s really more episodic. Like Ponyo, a lot of time is spent with tiny children, which can be a bit much sometimes. And, like The Wind Rises, some of the movie is dedicated to the everyday tasks of these characters; but unlike that movie, there’s more fantasy elements to draw you back into the narrative. I love the character designs for all the forest spirits, and I think the voice cast is solid even though it’s small. (There’s like six human characters in the movie, and two of them don’t talk very much.) Really what bolsters this movie is the charm of its fantastical elements. I think younger kids would enjoy it, although adults might get a bit bored. Overall, it’s not not worth watching, but I’d recommend other Miyazaki movies before suggesting you watch this one.

Letter grade: B-

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

So, as stated, I think that everything this movie does, Kiki’s does better.

Both of them have more episodic than through plot lines, but I think the setup for Kiki’s draws you more into the story and keeps up a more engaging and more consistent pace. In Totoro, the movie only seems to get interesting when the forest spirits and soot sprites are running around. (Which, by the way, it looks like Studio Ghibli reused the soot sprite design for Spirited Away.) I think what really hurts this movie is the lack of actual conflict and drama. I understand that it’s a kid’s movie, but Kiki’s episodic plots had conflict. “Would she get the package delivered on time? Would she make it back through the rain to go on her date? Would she find a way to get her powers back? etc.” Here, though, the most dramatic thing that happens in the first two-thirds of the movie is whether Mei was making up Totoro or whether Satsuki would be able to see him, too.

The movie picks up dramatically in the final act when Satsuki and Mei find out their mom can’t come home from the hospital, they get into a fight and Mei runs off. Satsuki runs all over the freakin’ countryside looking for her sister, and there’s some drama as to whether Mei fell into a pond and drowned. She didn’t, but jeez, what a dark turn that takes, pretty much out of nowhere! Asking Totoro for help finding her is set up well; and the payoff to using the Cat Bus to find her and then clandestinely visiting their mom at the hospital works. The whole third act is much better than the initial two-thirds, although I will acknowledge there’s some important setup and atmosphere-building that happens earlier in the movie.

Looking at its positives, though, as I said, the character designs for the forest spirits are really cool and the voice cast is solid. Additionally, I also think that — out of all of Miyazaki’s filmography — this is the movie that tackles environmentalism the best. I know that’s a bit weird to say. But hear me out:

Environmentalism is a huge recurring theme among Miyazaki’s films. Several of his films touch on living in harmony with nature, not polluting the environment, and being good stewards of the earth. I’ll certainly say that none of his films stray into Ferngully territory where it gets reduced down to “humans bad, nature good.” Still, there are a few times where it’s dealt with a bit awkwardly. Spirited Away is maybe my foremost example of this, where it’s shoe-horned in that Haku is the spirit of a river that has been destroyed and/or polluted because of human development.

Here, though, rather than coming across as preachy or judgmental, Totoro takes a different approach by instead getting kids excited about growing and stewarding the land. The scene where the sisters wake up and see Totoro and his friends outside trying to help the seeds grow is such a well-done scene; and overall, I feel like the movie helps kids understand that it’s important to preserve the forest because the creatures that live there — be they spirits or actual animals — are our neighbors. And we want to be good neighbors. I wonder whether, after younger kids saw this movie, they wanted to go out and plant seeds and see their gardens grow, just like Satsuki and Mei did. And, again, this angle is a major part of the movie but it doesn’t feel like some kind of grand opus about the greed of man destroying the nature around him (in the way that Princess Mononoke does). It’s integral but never feels cliche to me, and I really appreciate that.

Thus, My Neighbor Totoro is definitely more worth your time than Ferngully or some piece of mediocrity like Ice Age is. But still, I would say it’s in the lower half of Miyazaki’s filmography as writer/director.

Next week: Princess Mononoke (1997).

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 8) – Kiki’s Delivery Service

Kiki’s Delivery Service is the fifth of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

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. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Ponyo (2008).

This week: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989).

Synopsis: Kiki, a 13-year-old witch, (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) must spend a customary year away from home to learn how to make it on her own with only her magic. Even though she’s not very good at any magic aside from flying on her broom — and even that she sometimes struggles with — Kiki and her black cat Jiji (voiced by Phil Hartman) travel to a far-away town by the sea. While she initially struggles, Kiki eventually starts a delivery service where she flies packages around the town on her broomstick. And even though she learns to make plenty of friends along the way, Kiki still faces the ups and downs of a teenage girl AND those of a witch.

Spoiler-free review: Not only had I seen this movie before doing this Miyazaki series, but this was the first and only Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film that I watched as a kid. I didn’t see Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke or the others until I was in college or later. This wasn’t a movie that we owned, but I’d definitely seen it at some point… maybe it was at summer camp. Anyway, I actually submitted it as part of my 1989 Filmsplosion list, putting it at #4 behind (in descending order) The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. While the animation is on the older side, the characters absolutely win you over, particularly Kiki. And, like My Neighbor Totoro, the plot is a bit slower and more episodic, but it keeps you engaged. It’s a simply story, but it allows for plenty of time getting to know the characters and seeing them interact with each other. Overall, it’s definitely one that the whole family would enjoy!

Letter grade: B+ / A-

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

In case you missed it, here’s what I wrote about the movie for the 1989 Filmsplosion episode:

Rewatching this movie last night, I really loved the stellar animation, which isn’t as good as later Studio Ghibli films, but is really well-done for 1989.

I also really appreciated the character of Kiki and the great messages this movie has. Kiki has a fantastic work ethic — leaving home at 13 and very quickly starting her own business. She’s polite, kind, hard-working, and thorough, and many of her customers see and appreciate that. But, she’s not without her struggles, and I loved how the film addressed her losing her powers. Yes, she gets them back in a time of crisis, but everyone around her was telling her to take time for herself and reach out to her support system. It actually kind of struck me as a good parallel to what we need to teach young people to do when they have mental health problems. It’s unhealthy to sit in your room and mope about it; you have to get out, be around people you love and who love you, and talk to them about what you’re facing.

I also really loved all of the people who come into Kiki’s life and how they help and respect her. They don’t give her a pass because she’s a kid. They allow her to learn the value of earning things through hard work, but when she goes above and beyond, they reward her in kind. And, when she’s sick or struggling with her powers, they don’t hesitate to help her. Plus, Osono is the best, and I love her! Anyway, along with the stellar animation and great characters that come with all Studio Ghibli films, this movie also likewise boasts some compelling music courtesy of Joe Hisaishi. If you’ve never listened to his stuff, you absolutely should. Even without the visuals, it gives you such a sense for the world and the characters of these movies. So, yeah. Kiki’s Delivery Service — if you don’t like it, then you can go ride on a dirigible for all I care!

To expand on that a bit more, I’ll say that I really appreciate how the film is very vague about how and why Kiki loses her powers, because sometimes things just happen, and instead of beating yourself up about it, you have to roll with it and work with the people around you to figure out how to address it. Of course the ‘losing her powers’ storyline made me think of Spider-Man 2, and then I thought ‘Hey, Kiki is almost like a superhero; she’s the town’s friendly, neighborhood delivery witch!’ and then I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could get an Avengers movie of all the Miyazaki main characters? I think my brain would explode from overexposure to pure awesomeness!’

But, all kidding aside, this really is a great movie. As I’ll talk about more in the My Neighbor Totoro post, this film really makes the episodic plot lines work (while the other movie doesn’t, IMO). The voice cast is also incredibly talented; the animation itself is well done, especially for that era, although the colors don’t pop quite the way newer movies do; and overall the characters, the story and the atmosphere of this quaint little town by the sea are all very charming and pull you into the film so that it seems to … fly by.

Maybe I’m a little biased, but I think it’s a must-watch among Miyazaki’s filmography, because of how well it endears you to Kiki and her story in such a short amount of time.

Next week: Princess Mononoke (1997).

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 7) – Ponyo

Ponyo is the 10th of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

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. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

This week: Ponyo (2008).

Synopsis: The film follows Ponyo (voiced by Noah Cyrus), a part-human/part-fish creature, as she journeys to the surface world and meets Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas). Even after her father, the wizard Fujimoto (voiced by Liam Neeson), brings Ponyo back to the ocean, she’s not content to remain under the waves. With the help of her sisters and her father’s magic elixirs, she turns herself human and reunites with Sosuke. But… she may have thrown the world out of balance in the process.

Spoiler-free review: Outside of Spirited Away, this might be the quintessential Miyazaki movie. Not that it’s his best; not that it’s his second-best, even; but it beautifully blends all of the elements that Miyazaki and his team have become known for. The story is endearing and succinct; the animation is visually stunning; the English-language voice cast is talented; and the characters are well-designed and memorable. I won’t say it’s his most well-rounded movie either, because I do think it has a few flaws. But, it’s family friendly. Even very young children (4-6yo) would probably enjoy it. The movie also features a very immersive atmosphere, and Joe Hisaishi’s score draws you into this underwater world full of magic and wonder. I know that one of the Nerds (*cough* Brad *cough*) likes to say that this movie’s “for babies,” but I don’t see it that way. Yes, the story is very simple, and the main characters are 5-year-olds; but I think, as long as you know what you’re in for, it’s hard not to enjoy yourself.

Letter grade: B+

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

As I said on this week’s podcast episode, I’ve seen Nostalgia Critic’s review of Ponyo far more than I’ve seen the actual movie. Thus, when I was rewatching Ponyo for this Miyazaki series, many of his jokes and comments came to mind. Overall, while I agree with some of his points, I think that this movie has a lot of offer that he either glosses over or doesn’t mention at all.

For instance, the scene where Ponyo uses her sisters and her father’s elixirs to get back to the surface world and inadvertently cause a massive storm — which I like to call the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ scene — is perhaps the best animated sequence in all of Miyazaki’s filmography. The colors, the art style and designs, the movement of the fish, the music, the cinematography, the narrative buildup … it’s such a memorable and well-done sequence.

The voice cast is phenomenal, and there’s not a weak link in the bunch. While, yes, Ponyo and Sosuke do get on my nerves a bit once once they reunite in the second half, the actual actors do a fine job of getting across Ponyo’s wonder at the human world and Sosuke’s amazement with her. The adults are equally talented. Nostalgia Critic accuses Neeson’s Fujimoto of being flat, but I honestly felt like his delivery was appropriate. He’s emotional when he needs to be, but otherwise, Fujimoto goes about his business in a straightforward way. I’ve listened to a bit of the Japanese version, and that voice actor does a similar job; so I imagine a lot of it was the direction. After all, they picked Neeson for a reason. I do agree with Nostalgia Critic, though, that Sosuke’s mom, Lisa, is not a very good parent for much of the movie, although I don’t put that on Tina Fey’s performance but more the way her character was written. (Personally, I wonder if that’s what the Goddess of Mercy was talking about with Lisa at the end … like, “Hey, if my daughter is going to be living with you, you’re going to have to be a better parent.”)

Anyway, as I said on the podcast, Miyazaki was inspired to write Ponyo after watching Disney’s The Little Mermaid. While there are some similarities and moments of homage, it feels like a distinct story. You could probably describe it as an adaptation of the original fairy tale, but it’s a far cry from Disney’s version as there are plenty of differences between the two. I guess a better way of saying it is that Ponyo is Disney’s The Little Mermaid‘s first cousin once-removed. Still related, but not as closely as you might think.

One more thing I’ll point out is that, while Ponyo endangers the world by throwing nature out of balance, she also inadvertently SAVES the world not once but twice. Before the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ sequence, Fujimoto explains that he intends to use his elixirs to cause an explosion of sea life and rid the earth of humans. Yikes! Well, of course, Ponyo breaks into the elixirs and does cause the tsunami, which definitely causes damage to Sosuke’s town and probably many others. However, by doing so, she prevented her father from building up more elixir to later use it to destroy humanity. AND, because she’s living among humans at the end, I’d be willing to bet that Fujimoto won’t revisit his plan now that his daughter (and possibly her descendants, later on) is living on the surface world. Fujimoto might be an asshole — think King Triton, but less angry and more scheming — but he does care about Ponyo and wants her to be safe. Thus, I imagine that, with Ponyo living as a human, he won’t be plotting mankind’s destruction anymore.

So, take that, Brad! Your irrational hatred of this movie has prevented you from realizing how secretly brilliant it is. 😛

All in all, it’s definitely worth a watch. Or, if you’re like Brad, you should consider rewatching it, because you might’ve been too harsh on it the first time around.

Next week: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989).

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 6) – The Castle of Cagliostro

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is the first of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

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. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled The Wind Rises (2013).

This week: Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

Synopsis: After robbing a casino, criminal mastermind Lupin (called Wolf) gets the bright idea to take over a very successful counterfeiting operation, which he discovers is in the tiny European country of Cagliostro. Once there, Wolf and his partners-in-crime stumble upon the Count of Cagliostro’s plot to marry the country’s princess and unite the two branches of their family to reveal a long-hidden treasure. Wolf decides to do whatever it takes to help the princess escape the count… and maybe stumble into the treasure along the way.

Spoiler-free review: This was the last movie in this Miyazaki series that I hadn’t watched previously, and — now that I’ve seen his all his films — I can say that this is definitely his worst one. The animation is rough and looks very dated. Plus, unlike his other films, this one is the most ‘anime,’ as everything feels exaggerated and people constantly defy the laws of physics. I was so disappointed with the movie on the first go-around, but felt like it wasn’t fair to condemn it on a single outing, and so watched it again. (It’s on Netflix, so it’s very accessible for me.) Once I realized I was holding this movie to too high of a standard — as it is from 1979 and it’s Miyazaki’s directorial debut — it was a little more fun to watch. The plot has some good heist elements to it, and I thought the final confrontation in the film was set up well. But, compared to what Disney and Don Bluth were doing at this time, or shortly thereafter, this movie doesn’t stand out. Ultimately, this is one Miyazaki movie you can skip.

Letter grade: C or C-

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

So, something that I believe holds this movie back from being better is that it’s a standalone movie within the Lupin III franchise. The anime TV show Lupin III had various iterations of TV shows and movies throughout the ’70s and early ’80s, with Miyazaki directly 15 episodes of the initial TV series. When The Castle of Cagliostro premiered while the second iteration of the TV series was in its full swing, many people at the time felt that this movie’s version of Wolf was much more chivalrous and less nefarious than his TV counterpart.

Because I’ve never seen anything else within the Lupin III franchise, I can only approach it as a standalone movie. But, from my knowledge of other anime franchises, I can clearly see how — like other anime movies — nothing in this has any real bearing on the franchise going forward. Yes, in most anime franchises, the movies are usually considered ‘canon’; but the writers typically make the movies a standalone adventure. That way, if you only watched the TV show and skipped the movie, you won’t be missing out on anything.

The Dragonball Z movies are good examples of this. The villains are almost always standalone villains that have never been seen before and will never be mentioned again. Even though Broly has been seen in several movies, he’s never been seen or mentioned in the show. And, when TV shows do want to use elements from the movies, as was the case with Dragonball Super and Boruto, they simply re-do the entire movie as episodes of the show. Anime movies also use convenient plot points, such as erased memories, to make sure the movie remains a standalone adventure within the franchise. One instance that stands out in my mind is the fourth Naruto: Shippuden movie, where Naruto travels back in time and meets his dad (who died the day Naruto was born). But, of course, since having Naruto meet his dad like this would definitely impact the series going forward, the movie hand-waves some amnesia, so that Naruto will forget what happened and the story can remain self-contained within the movie.

Anyway, the point is that if this weren’t an anime movie with a standalone adventure for Wolf and his gang, it might be a better movie. But, Wolf has to leave Cagliostro; his temporary team-up with Inspector Zenigata has to come to an end; and Wolf has to run off, leaving Zenigata to chase after him once again. If Wolf stayed in Cagliostro or married the princess or stayed friends with Zenigata or even was imprisoned, it would make the movie more compelling. But, instead, the last 5-10 minutes are spent neatly putting everything right back where it was — at least for the franchise’s main characters. Just like in the Naruto: Shippuden movie, Wolf — despite being so determined to rescue the princess throughout the film and describing himself as her ‘knight in shining armor’ — all of a sudden decides that he’s not in love with her and only looks on her as a big brother. That way, he can still look heroic to the audience while also not looking too bad for leaving her behind and going off to commit crimes once again. If Wolf really had only felt toward her like an older brother would, it should’ve been clearer earlier in the film, instead of being slapdashed onto the very end of the film.

So, while there was a lot about this movie that I believe deserves criticism, there are some things to enjoy.

There a couple of funny scenes and gags; I appreciated that the film gives you a good idea of who everyone is and what their shared histories are without it feeling clunky or shoehorned in; and I liked the set up for the wedding and the reveal of Wolf’s plan and how he infiltrated everything. One the second viewing, I appreciated the little pieces of foreshadowing as to the treasure’s location/reveal mechanism; and overall, the voice cast does a fine job, and the plot in itself isn’t bad. It’s just that — without any real stakes — I’m not invested in it like I should be. I don’t follow the franchise, so I don’t already care about the characters like many viewing this back in 1979 probably would’ve. Thus, the movie doesn’t really need to try to get people like me to care because most of the audience  already does.

In any case, I enjoyed the crime/heist elements of it, along with tastes of other genres and archetypes (like the samurai) and some other smaller aspects of the film. But, on the whole, it’s really a giant letdown compared to the reputation Miyazaki has earned in writing and producing quality animated films. Still, it is interesting to see how he get his start.

Next week: Ponyo (2008).

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