20 Films Compete for "Best Animated Feature Film" Oscar Nominations to Be Announced January 15, 2015

20 Animated Features Submitted for 2014 Oscar Race

LOS ANGELES, CA – Twenty features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 87th Academy Awards.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

“Big Hero 6”
“The Book of Life”
“The Boxtrolls”
“Cheatin’”
“Giovanni’s Island”
“Henry & Me”
“The Hero of Color City”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart”
“Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return”
“The Lego Movie”
“Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants”
“Mr. Peabody & Sherman”
“Penguins of Madagascar”
“The Pirate Fairy”
“Planes: Fire & Rescue”
“Rio 2”
“Rocks in My Pockets”
“Song of the Sea”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”

Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process.  At least eight eligible animated features must be theatrically released in Los Angeles County within the calendar year for this category to be activated.

Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories.

The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites for July 13 to July 19, 2014 - Update #14

MOVIE NEWS:

From Variety:  Paramount Pictures has picked F. Javier Gutierrez to direct "The Ring 3."  No word on the return of Naomi Watts, the star of the The Ring and The Ring Part 2.

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From EW's InsideMovies:  An oral history of The Terminator, 30 years after its release.  Gwynne Watkins at Yahoo takes a look at that oral history.

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From THR:  What the critics are saying about Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel's Sex Tape.

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From CSMonitor:  Hit-Girl a/k/a Chloe Grace Moretz will provide the voice in the English-language version of the Japanese animated film, "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya."  Due in October of this year, the film is a production of Studio Ghibli and is directed by the studio's co-founder, Isao Takahata.

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From YahooFinance:  Rupert Mudoch wants HBO so badly that he's willing to buy TimeWarner to get it.  And it's also a bid to destroy Netflix.

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From Variety:  More on the Travis McGee movie with James Mangold directing and maybe with Christian Bale.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  Once upon a time, maybe 20 years ago, I read on of late author, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee novels.  I loved it.  So I am somewhat exited to hear that 20th Century Fox is looking to bring the character to the big screen.  I am not that crazy about Christian Bale as McGee, as the actor is in early talks to play the character.  James Mangold as director?  He could do something good with this.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  ABC is extending its deal with Oscar-winning screenwriter, John Ridley (12 Years a Slave).

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From TheWrap:  Legendary will be at Comic-Con International 2014 to tease Guillermo del Toro's 2015 film, "Crimson Peak" about that "breathes, bleeds...and remembers."

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From TheWrap:  Did not know that the 1995 film, 12 Monkeys, is being adapted/re-imagined into a TV series for the Syfy channel.  I'm semi-interested.

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From CNBC:  Disney could rake in the cash for Guardians of the Galaxy.  I think that if this movie is a big hit, the people who were the decision makers at Sony, rumored to be interested in buying Marvel before Disney did, should be beaten by the stockholders.

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From eonline:  Yeah, she probably is a bitch and her mama, too!

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From WebProNews:  This leaked photo of a muzzled raptor from "Jurassic World" is making the rounds.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (20th Century Fox) wins the July 11-13, 2014 box office with an estimated domestic box office take of $73 million.  That is nearly $20 million better than 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes (which I loved).  I'm surprised because I wondered if larger number of people would want more Planet of the Apes this soon, if at all.

Meanwhile, North American box office was down from the same weekend in 2013, and is down as a whole from last year.

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From the BBC:  Lindsay Lohan promises to show up for work on time at the West End in London.

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COMIC BOOKS and COMIC BOOK MOVIE NEWS:

From EW's InsideMovies:  Wentworth Miller of "Prison Break" is the villain "Captain Cold" in The CW's Fall series, "The Flash."

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From EW Popwatch:  News on changes for the Avengers in Marvel Comics' "Avengers NOW" event.

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From EW Popwatch:  Marvel Comics is killing Wolverine, beginning this September.

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From Wall Street CheatSheet:  Six DC characters headed to the big screen.

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From Variety:  Deborah Ann Woll of "True Blood" will play Karen Page on Marvel/Netflix's "Daredevil" series.

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From TheBeat:  Heidi on the secret history of girls reading comics.

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From TheWrap:  New writers to polish "Ant-Man" screenplay.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  I was watching "The View" this morning when Whoopi Goldberg broke the news that Marvel's Thor, a male character, will become a female character.  THR has more details.

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From ComicBookMovie:  Kate Mara, who will play Sue Storm a/k/a Invisible Woman, says that Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot will not be based on any existing Fantastic Four comic book story.

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From Hitfix:  Oh, and no "Hellboy 3."


TV NEWS:
Review of "The Strain" - TheHollywoodReporter (apparently the first few episodes).


OBITS:

From Variety:  Tony Award and Emmy Award-winning actress, Elaine Stritch, has died at the age of 89.


MISC:

From Yahoo:  The Hollywood Reporter magazine did a feature on the first former NFL star to come out as gay, David Kopay.  There are apparently plans to rerelease his best-selling memoir, The David Kopay Story (1977) .

From TheVillageVoice: an alternate history of rap and Hip-Hop.

Also from TheVillageVoice:  How Bob Marley became a "Legend."

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From TheHill:  President Obama stresses out the Secret Service

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From ThinkProgress via ReaderSupportedNews: How Deputy Erick Gelhaus got away with killing a child named Andy Lopez.  We knew this would happen, but Nick Flatow talks about how it happened.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  Radiohead to begin work on 9th album in September.  Last album was "The King of Limbs" in 2011.

New VIZ Media Books Reveals "The Art of The Wind Rises"

VIZ MEDIA’S STUDIO GHIBLI IMPRINT RELEASES THE ART OF THE WIND RISES

New Hardcover Release Presents The Captivating Artwork And Evolution Of Famed Director Hayao Miyazaki’s Acclaimed Film That Celebrates The Wonder Of Flight



VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, invites animation fans to savor the stunning artwork of The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki’s widely acclaimed fictional biopic of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of Japan’s Zero fighter plane, with the release of THE ART OF THE WIND RISES on April 8th, 2014. The brand new hardcover edition from the Studio Ghibli imprint will carry an MSRP of $34.99 U.S. / $39.99 CAN.

The Wind Rises is Miyazaki’s cinematic love letter to the power of flight and the imagination, an examination of the rise of Japan’s military might in the years leading up to the Second World War, and a call for worldwide peace and harmony in the face of destruction. The film has won numerous awards including Best Animated Film from The National Board of Review and The New York Film Critics Circle as well as Best Animated Feature from The Toronto Film Critics Association and The San Francisco Film Critics Circle, among others. THE ART OF THE WIND RISES captures the art of the film, from conception to production, and features in-depth interviews with the filmmakers.

“The Wind Rises is an epic story set during an important era in Japan’s history, and we very excited to complement Miyazaki’s landmark film with the release of this wonderfully illustrated new hardcover art book,” says Masumi Washington, Senior Editorial Director. “THE ART OF WIND RISES captures the evolution of the designs and characters that brought this captivating story to life. Join us to celebrate the work of one of the world’s most visionary animation directors with this new release from our Studio Ghibli imprint.”

THE ART OF THE WIND RISES is the newest title in VIZ Media’s acclaimed collection of full-color, hardcover Art Books based on Studio Ghibli films. Fans can also enjoy THE ART OF SPIRITED AWAY, THE ART OF HOWL’s MOVING CASTLE, THE ART OF MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, THE ART OF NAUSICAÄ, THE ART OF PORCO ROSSO and more. VIZ Media also publishes two notable biographical memoirs of Hayao Miyazaki that feature an insightful collection of essays, interviews, memoirs, and illustrations from legendary animation director – STARTING POINT: 1979-1996, which charts Miyazaki’s early days, and TURNING POINT: 1997-2008, which examines the critical stage in the director’s career when his animated films such as Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Ponyo began to garner a significant international audience.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's most beloved animation directors. His first feature, The Castle of Cagliostro, was released in 1979. His film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, based on his own manga (published domestically by VIZ Media, Rated ‘T’), was released in 1984. In 1985 Miyazaki cofounded Studio Ghibli, through which he directed the box-office smashes Princess Mononoke (1997) and Spirited Away (2001), which won the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature Film in 2003. Howl's Moving Castle (2004) received the Osella Award for technical achievement at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival. In 2005 VIFF awarded Miyazaki the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement. His other acclaimed films include My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Ponyo. Miyazaki's essays, interviews, and memoirs have been collected in Starting Point: 1979-1996 and Turning Point: 1997-2008. His final film, The Wind Rises, was nominated for both a Golden Globe and Academy Award®.

For more information on Hayao Miyazaki titles published by VIZ Media, please visit: www.VIZ.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.  Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages.  VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products.

"Frozen" Wins 2014 "Best Animated Feature" Oscar

Best animated feature film of the year:

“Frozen” Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho WINNER

“The Croods” Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson
“Despicable Me 2” Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri
“Ernest & Celestine” Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner
“The Wind Rises” Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki

2013 Online Film Critics Society Awards Nominations - Complete List

Founded in 1997, the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) describes itself as “the largest, most respected organization for critics whose work appears primarily on the Internet.”  The OFCS says that it has been the key force in establishing and raising the standards for Internet-based film journalism.  Its membership consists of film reviewers, journalists and scholars based in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Asia/Pacific Rim region.

The nominations for the 17th Annual Online Film Critics Society Awards were recently announced.  The winners will be announced Monday, December 16, 2013.

17th Annual Online Film Critics Society Awards (2013) nominations:

Best Picture:
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Before Midnight
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Drug War
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Short Term 12
The Wind Rises

Best Director:
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Spike Jonze – Her
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
Hayao Miyazaki – The Wind Rises

Best Actor:
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis
Mads Mikkelsen – The Hunt
Joaquin Phoenix – Her

Best Actress:
Amy Adams – American Hustle
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Adèle Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color
Brie Larsen – Short Term 12

Best Supporting Actor:
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew McConaughey – Mud
Sam Rockwell – The Way, Way Back

Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Scarlett Johansson – Her
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Léa Seydoux – Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Animated Feature:
Despicable Me 2
From Up on Poppy Hill
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

Best Film Not in the English Language:
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Drug War
Museum Hours
Wadjda
The Wind Rises

Best Documentary:
56 Up
The Act of Killing
At Berkeley
Blackfish
Stories We Tell

Best Original Screenplay:
American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Museum Hours

Best Adapted Screenplay:
12 Years a Slave
Before Midnight
In the House
Short Term 12
The Wind Rises

Best Editing:
12 Years a Slave
Drug War
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Cinematography:
12 Years a Slave
The Grandmaster
Gravity
The Great Beauty
Inside Llewyn Davis

http://www.ofcs.org/

END

VIZ Media Celebrates "My Neighbor Totoro" the 25th Anniversary

VIZ MEDIA’S STUDIO GHIBLI LIBRARY IMPRINT RELEASES NEW MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO NOVEL AND FULL COLOR PICTURE BOOK

Commemorate The 25th Anniversary Of Hayao Miyazaki’s Landmark Film With MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO: THE NOVEL And An Updated Edition Of The Official Film Picture Book Featuring A Special New Cover Design

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, marks the 25th Anniversary of famed director Hayao Miyazaki’s whimsical animated family fantasy, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, with the release on October 1st of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO: THE NOVEL and a brand new edition of the MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO Picture Book.

Published under VIZ Media’s Studio Ghibli Library imprint, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO: THE NOVEL carries an MSRP of $17.99 U.S. / $21.00 CAN, and the MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO Picture Book features an MSRP of $19.99 U.S. / $22.99 CAN.

In Hayao Miyazaki’s charming animated classic, eleven-year-old Satsuki and her sassy little sister Mei have moved to the country to be closer to their ailing mother. While their father is working, the girls explore their sprawling old house and the forest and fields that surround it. Soon, Satsuki and Mei discover Totoro, a magical forest spirit who takes them on fantastic adventures through the trees and the clouds – and teaches them a lesson about trusting one another.

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO: THE NOVEL
MSRP: $17.99 U.S. / $21.00 CAN • Available October 1st
The superbly animated classic by legendary Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki is now retold in a novel written by Tsugiko Kubo. This prestigious hardcover edition also features original watercolor illustrations by Miyazaki himself, accompanying a story written by veteran children's book author Tsugiko Kubo. Sure to delight both existing fans and new readers!

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO PICTURE BOOK New Edition • Rated “A” for All Ages • MSRP: $19.99 U.S. / $22.99 CAN • Available October 1st
This companion, full-color book to MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO features artwork taken directly from the movie. The updated edition also features new cover design and allows parents and children to relive Totoro's magical adventures with scene-by-scene illustrations and character dialogue.

“MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO is Hayao Miyazki’s timeless fairy tale for all ages and one of the most internationally acclaimed films to ever come out of Japan,” says Masumi Washington, Sr. Editorial Director. “MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO: THE NOVEL and the new edition of the MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO PICTURE BOOK capture the poignancy and emotion of the story of Satsuki, Mei and their loveable fuzzy forest friends and will be wonderful additions to any Miyazaki fan’s personal library.”

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO was released in 1988 by Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, which also produced SPIRITED AWAY, PRINCESS MONONOKE, HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE and PONYO. TOTORO is an internationally popular property that has spawned a colorful array of adorable plush characters, toys, collectables and other memorabilia. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the DVD/Blu-ray Edition of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO earlier this year.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's most celebrated anime directors. His newest film, The Wind Rises (2013), recounts the early days of aviation and the formative years of Japan's famed World War II Zero fighter plane designer, Jiro Horikoshi. In 2005 Hayao Miyazaki was awarded the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement. Miyazaki’s other notable films include Spirited Away, which won the 2002 Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, and Ponyo, all of which have received great international acclaim. Miyazaki's other achievements include creating the highly regarded manga series Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Starting Point: 1979-1996, a collection of essays, interviews, and memoirs that chronicle his early career and the development of his theories of animation. Both are published in English by VIZ Media.

More information on VIZ Media’s Studio Ghibli titles is available at www.VIZ.com.

Review: "My Neighbor Totoro" is Pure Magic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 35 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Tonari no Totoro – original title
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – G
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki
PRODUCERS: Toru Hara with Ned Lott (2005 Disney version)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mark Henley (Disney version)
EDITOR: Takeshi Seyama
COMPOSER: Joe Hisaishi

ANIMATION/FANTASY

Starring: (voices) Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daly, Lea Salonga, Frank Welker, Pat Carroll, and Paul Butcher; (original Japanese): Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi, Sumi Shimamoto, Hitoshi Takagi, Tanie Kitabayashi, Toshiyuki Amagasa, and Naoki Tatsuta

The subject of this movie review is My Neighbor Totoro, a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film from writer-director, Hayao Miyazaki, and produced by Studio Ghibli. Originally titled, Tonari no Totoro, the film focuses on two sisters who move to the country where they encounter the forest spirits who live nearby.

My Neighbor Totoro was released in English in the United States beginning in 1990s. After acquiring the rights, Walt Disney Pictures released their English dub of the film in 2005, featuring the voices of Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daly, and Lea Salonga. The subject of this review is the Disney version of My Neighbor Totoro, which has just been released on Blu-ray for the first time (as of this writing).

My Neighbor Totoro opens in Japan, 1958. Professor Tatsuo Kusakabe (Tim Daly) and his daughters, the elder Satsuki (Dakota Fanning) and four-year-old Mei (Elle Fanning), move into an old house in Matsugo. There, Kusakabe will be closer to his wife and his daughters’ mother, Yasuko (Lea Salonga), who is recovering from a long-term illness.

Not long after moving into their new home, the girls soon encounter small, dark, dust-like spirits called soot gremlins (or soot sprites), moving from light to dark places in the house. That’s just the sisters’ first encounter with the fantastic. One day, Mei spies a small magical creature and follows it to a large camphor tree near the old house, where she enters a world of magic and adventure. That leads to both Satsuki and Mei discovering a wondrous creature they call “Totoro” (Frank Welker).

In 1989, the release of Walt Disney’s animated musical film, Little Mermaid, was (and still is) seen as a renaissance for Disney animated feature films. A year before that, Japanese animation (or “anime”) did not need a renaissance thanks to films like Studio Ghibli’s 1988 release, My Neighbor Totoro.

As with other Miyazaki films, My Neighbor Totoro looks like it was lovingly crafted by the hands of human artists and animators. They drew and painted until they created a beautiful animated film that really has the illusion of life. Like many films from Studio Ghibli, My Neighbor Totoro loves people and nature equally. Thus, the film is about the Kusakabe sisters exploring nature and the magic found within it, rather than being about a conflict with nature and the girls being threatened by the magic they find there.

The Matsuga countryside, as depicted by this film’s artists, is a pastoral ideal, with verdant forests and fields. There is so much fertility and the water is so crystal clear and cool-seeming that you might believe that magic could not help but exist here. In fact, a sense of wonder about nature and their resourceful imaginations are what help the Kusakabe girls discover magic in a strong breeze or in the music they hear at night.

My Neighbor Totoro is blessed with a few truly great characters. Satsuki and Mei are remarkably convincing as little girls. It is said that there is magic in a child’s laughter and heartbreak in a child’s cries. Dakota Fanning as Satsuki and her sister, Elle Fanning, as Mei personify that by giving life-like performances. I believed in the Kusakabe girls because everything about them – their actions, conversations, desires, etc. – ring with authenticity – thanks to the Fanning sisters.

Of course, the film’s signature character is Totoro, one of the finest characters ever to appear in an animated film. He is a force of nature, doing more by communicating through growls, roars, and facial expressions than many actors do even with dialogue composed by the best writers. He’s pure enchantment; you can’t take your eyes off Totoro. After seeing Totoro when he first appears in the film, I felt that I never saw enough of him afterwards. Then, there is Catbus – that crazy mind-bending Catbus. The first time I saw him in this movie, I felt something that I only experience while watching the best of the best movies, something I can’t put into words.

I have previously seen four films by Hayao Miyazaki, including the superb Spirited Away. I think My Neighbor Totoro is the one that has wowed me the most… so far.

10 of 10

Monday, May 20, 2013

Review: "The Secret World of Arrietty" is a Beautiful World

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 46 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Secret World of Arrietty (2012)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
Original title: Arrietty or Kari-gurashi no Arietti (2010)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – G
DIRECTOR: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
WRITERS: Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa (based on the novel, The Borrowers, by Mary Norton
PRODUCER: Toshio Suzuki
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Atsushi Okui (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Rie Matsubara
COMPOSER: Cécile Corbel
ANIMATION STUDIO: Studio Ghibli

ANIMATION/FANTASY

Starring: (English dub voices – U.S. release) Bridgit Mendler, David Henrie, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Moises Arias, and Carol Burnett

Arrietty (or Kari-gurashi no Arietti) is a 2010 Japanese animated fantasy film produced by Studio Ghibli, best known for the animated films of director Hayao Miyazaki, who co-wrote Arrietty. Walt Disney Pictures released Arrietty earlier this year in the United States as The Secret World of Arrietty. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Arrietty is an adaptation of the 1952 children’s fantasy novel, The Borrowers, by Mary Norton. The film focuses on a tiny girl and how her interaction with a human threatens her family’s existence.

The Secret World of Arrietty is set in a rural home that is surrounded by a lush garden and a verdant forest. Under the floorboards of the house lives a family of four-inch-tall people, the Clock Family (although that surname is never used in the film). They are “Borrowers,” tiny people who survive by “borrowing” simple items from the houses in which they live. They avoid humans, whom they call “beans” (a mispronunciation of “human beings”).

The Clocks are the father, Pod (Will Arnett); the mother, Homily (Amy Poehler), and their spirited daughter, Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler). Their lives change when a young man named Shawn (David Henrie) spots Arrietty in the garden. The house in which the Clocks live is the childhood home of Shawn’s mother, and the 18-year-old Shawn is visiting the home where he will rest before having a delicate surgery. Arrietty and Shawn are curious about each other, although Arrietty’s father is adamant that she avoid him. Their mutual fascination becomes dangerous when the house’s caretaker, Haru (Carol Burnett), also becomes curious about the mysterious “little people.”

The art of hand-drawn animation or, as its now known, 2D animation, is really an art in the hands of the highly talented and skilled animators working for Walt Disney Pictures. Over the better part of eight decades, Walt Disney’s 2D animated films proved that. The same can be said about Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki is a master and his studio is filled with talented illustrators, designers, painters, etc. who are museum-worthy artists.

In the setting that is The Secret World of Arrietty, Ghibli creates the illusion of space, depth, and presence as well as any 3D computer-animated film. Pixar and DreamWorks Animation don’t have anything over Ghibli in terms of creating layered and textured environments. Such elements as drops of rainwater or tea, thriving and animated plant life, and the everyday-items that fill the Clocks’ home seem solid and real. The paintings used to create the film’s backgrounds recall the paintings of Monet. I could spend all day praising the animation of Studio Ghibli, because hand-drawn animation doesn’t get much better than The Secret World of Arrietty.

The story is the part of The Secret World of Arrietty that doesn’t live up to the quality of the animation. The film is charming and imaginative, but is also surprisingly melancholy, even cynical. Being that the film takes the viewer into an alien world and successfully presents it from the perspective of the aliens (the Borrowers), one would think The Secret World of Arrietty would be about discovery, yet it doesn’t do much discovering. It is an uncomplicated tale of friendship that pales in comparison to its extraordinary setting.

The film only brushes the characters, choosing to emphasize their actions, rather than delve into their personalities and even the mysteries of their pasts. Who are they? What are their wishes and desires? Still, Bridgit Mendler and Will Arnett are excellent in their voice performances and make their characters stand out. Even with my complaints, you’d be surprised that I really think a lot of this film. The Secret World of Arrietty is visual splendor and that makes up for the film’s tepid pace, indifferent drama, and lack of characterization. It must be the magic of Studio Ghibli that always seems to cast a spell on me. I actually want to visit The Secret World of Arrietty again.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Review: "Tales from Earthsea" is Pretty

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tales from Earthsea (2006)
Gedo senki – Original Japanese title
(U.S. theatrical release: August 2010)
Running time: 116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some violent images
DIRECTOR: Goro Miyazaki
WRITERS: Goro Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa; from a concept by Hayao Miyazaki (based upon the Earthsea novels by Ursula K. Le Guin)
PRODUCERS: Toshio Suzuki and Steve Alpert and Javier Ponton
COMPOSER: Tamiya Terashima
ANIMATION STUDIO: Studio Ghibli

ANIMATION/FANTASY

Starring: (English dub voices) Timothy Dalton, Matt Levin, Blaire Restaneo, Mariska Hargitay, Willem Dafoe, Cheech Marin, Susanne Blakeslee, Terrence Stone, Liam O’Brien, and Kevin Michael Richardson

Tales from Earthsea is a 2006 Japanese animated fantasy film produced by the Studio Ghibli, best known for the animated films of director Hayao Miyazaki (Ponyo). Tales from Earthsea is directed by Miyazaki’s son, Goro Miyazaki and is based upon the first four books in the Earthsea series by author, Ursula K. Le Guin. This movie is also inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s manga/illustrated story, The Journey of Shuna (1983).

The film is set in the world of Earthsea and focuses on Prince Arren of Enlad (Matt Levin). Enlad, like the rest of Earthsea, is troubled by drought and pestilence. After killing his father, Arren takes his father’s sword and goes on the run. He is later rescued by Sparrowhawk the Archmage (Timothy Dalton). Sparrowhawk and Arren travel to the farm of an old friend of Sparrowhawks’s, a woman named Tenar (Mariska Hargitay). There, Arren is also reunited with Therru (Blaire Restaneo), a young woman he’d recently protected from slave traders.

Therru is hostile to Arren, but he and Sparrowhawk remain on the farm, plowing and planting the fields for Tenar. However, the quartet’s agrarian lifestyle is interrupted by Lord Cob (Willem Dafoe), a sinister wizard who plans to shatter the barrier between life and death so that he can live forever. Cob needs Arren for his plans and wants revenge against Sparrowhawk.

Apparently, there was some hullabaloo and controversy around the production of Tales from Earthsea, including author Ursula K. Le Guin’s mixed feelings about how the film adapted the source material of her original novels. I like this movie, but I can understand how some would be put off by the film’s staid manner. The characters are way too laid back, and the dialogue is delivered at such an easy pace as to suggest that this film lacks conflict. In fact, Goro Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa (co-writer) have put together something that lacks dramatic punch. Tales from Earthsea is the most easy-going battle between good and evil on film that I can remember experiencing. The film’s most energetic element is Cheech Marin’s voice performance as the lackey, Hare, which is not only funny, but also scene-stealing when this movie really needs someone to steal a scene in order to save a scene.

Still, Tales from Earthsea sure is pretty. The film’s color is a symphony of shimmering reds and glowing pinks, and green is used almost entirely to suggest pastoral, verdant splendor. The film’s central theme is the need for balance, especially the balance of life and death. I think that in Tales from Earthsea, color is meant to celebrate not just life, but also living. This is unusual thematic material for an animated feature film, but Tales from Earthsea is characteristic of Studio Ghibli’s manner of doing things in animated films that are different and unique.

7 of 10
B+

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Studio Ghibli's "Nausicaa" and "Earthsea" Anime Due on DVD in March

On March 8th, Studio Ghibli's TALES FROM EARTHSEA (DVD only) and NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack) will be available to bring home.

Goro Miyazaki's directorial debut, Tales from Earthsea, features exquisite hand-drawn animation and the vocal talents of Timothy Dalton, Willem Dafoe, Cheech Marin, and Mariska Hargitay. Bonus material includes a behind-the-scenes look at the studio and Studio Ghibli Trivia Challenge.

Nausicaa of Valley of the Wind launched the Academy Award-winning career of famed director Hayao Miyazaki! This stunning animated tale features the voices of Uma Thurman, Shia LeBeouf, and Patrick Stewart. Bonus features include a behind-the-scenes look into the recording booth and the birth story of Studio Ghibli.

Nausicca Film Synopsis: For the first time ever, the magic of Blu-ray™ high definition reveals the exquisite details in Hayao Miyazaki’s epic masterpiece, Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind. Experience the film that launched the Academy Award–winning career (2002 for best animated feature, Spirited Away) of one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animation.

After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley Of The Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.

Like Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and Ponyo, Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind will dazzle your senses with its intricately imagined storytelling and stunning animation.

U.S. Release Date: March 8, 2011
(Direct Prebook January 11, 2011/ Distributor Prebook January 25, 2011)
Rating: US-PG; Canada-PG
Feature Run Time: Approximately 118-minutes
Release Format: Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray Disc™ + DVD)
Suggested Retail Pricing: 2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (BD+DVD) = $39.99 U.S./$44.99 Canada
Exclusive Blu-ray Bonus World of Ghibli including
Features: Behind the Studio
Enter the Lands
Studio Ghibli Trivia Challenge
Original Japanese storyboards
General Blu-ray & DVD Behind the Microphone
Bonus Features: The Birth Story of Studio Ghibli
Original TV trailers

Talent/Cast: Uma Thurman (Kill Bill: Vol 1, Kill Bill: Vol 2, Pulp Fiction, Gattaca), Shia LeBeouf (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Tranformers, Surf’s Up), and Patrick Stewart (Gnomeo & Juliet, Bambi II, Chicken Little)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki (Ponyo, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke)
Producers: Michio Kondô (Nausiacaä and the Valley of the Wind)
Isao Takahata (Castle in the Sky, Nausiacaä and the Valley of the Wind)
Yasuyoshi Tokuma (Spirited Away, Pulse, Ritual)

Tales from Earthsea:
Film Synopsis: From Disney and Studio Ghibli comes the epic animated adventure Tales From Earthsea, directed by Goro Miyazaki, and featuring the voices of Timothy Dalton, Willem Dafoe, Cheech Marin, and Mariska Hargitay.

Based on the classic “Earthsea” fantasy book series by Ursula Le Guin, Tales from Earthsea is set in a mythical world filled with magic and bewitchment. Journey with Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a master wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, on a tale of redemption and self-discovery as they search for the force behind a mysterious imbalance in the land of Earthsea; crops are dwindling,dragons have reappeared, and humanity is giving way to chaos.

Featuring a timeless story and magnificent hand-drawn animation, Tales From Earthsea is must-have DVD for every film enthusiast’s collection.

U.S. Release Date: March 8, 2011
(Direct Prebook January 11, 2011/Distributor Prebook January 25, 2011)
Feature Run Time: Approximately 115-minutes
Release Format: DVD
Suggested Retail Pricing: 1-Disc DVD = $29.99 U.S./$35.99 Canada
DVD The World of Ghibli including:
Bonus Features: Behind the Studio
Enter The Lands
Studio Ghibli Trivia Challenge

Talent/Cast: Timothy Dalton (Toy Story 3, The Tourist, The Informant), Willem Dafoe (John Carter of Mars, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Spider Man), Cheech Marin (Cars, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Spy Kids), and Mariska Hargitay (TV’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order)

Director: Goro Miyazaki (directorial debut)
Producers: Toshio Suzuki (Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke)

Review: Miyazaki's "Ponyo" is Simply Magical

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Ponyo (2009)
Gake no ue no Ponyo (2008) – COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki
PRODUCERS: Toshio Suzuki, Steve Alpert, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Atsushi Okui (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Hayao Miyazaki and Takeshi Seyama

ANIMATION/FANTASY

Starring: Noah Cyrus, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, Betty White, and Carlos Alazraqui

It is a shame that moviegoers have largely turned away from hand-drawn animation (2D animation), but devour computer-animated or 3D animation. Pixar’s 3D feature-length animated films are extremely well written, and DreamWorks is usually pushing the technology of 3D with their films. Still, it is hard to believe that Walt Disney’s The Princess and the Frog cannot out gross something like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Bee Movie.

American 2D feature-length animation is largely relegated to straight-to-video releases and television, and much of that is actually produced outside the U.S. The malaise at the box office for American 2D animated films means even more trouble for high-quality, 2D animated features from other countries. This is a shame because that means so many people will miss the chance to see a hand-drawn animated, instant-classic from Hayao Miyazaki on a big screen. Miyazaki is arguably one of the world’s greatest living movie directors – live action or animation. He won an Oscar for his animated film, Spirited Away, but his other films are also highly acclaimed. Last year, Miyazaki’s most recent animated film, Ponyo, arrived in the U.S.

Ponyo centers on a fish-girl, named “Brunhilde,” who lives in an aquarium in her father, Fujimoto’s (Liam Neeson) underwater castle. During a trip in which her father takes her and her numerous siblings on an outing in his four-flippered submarine, Brunhilde decides to see more of the world and swims away, only to end up stranded. On the shore of a small fishing town, a boy named Sōsuke (Frankie Jonas) rescues Brunhilde and names her Ponyo (Noah Cyrus).

In spite of her father and his “wave spirits” efforts to stop her, Ponyo grows legs and turns into a human. To become human, however, Ponyo unleashes huge amounts of her father’s magic. When released into the ocean, this magic causes an imbalance in the world, resulting in a huge storm and later massive flooding. Now, only Sōsuke can save the world, but does he know how?

A full-length animated feature can require its animation staff to draw over 100,000 separate images. Yet when you watch a Miyazaki film, you may doubt that humans rather than super computers produced it, and Ponyo is example of the magic Miyazaki can create through 2D animation. Such scenes as the ocean storms with its seething waves, swelling surfs, and those odd-looking wave spirits are breathtaking in their ability to depict the might and power of the ocean. The night scenes that depict the storms hammering the coast along the small fishing village in which this film is set are simply terrifying. I felt the kind of fear I usually only feel when watching night scenes in horror movies.

To look at Ponyo, one might think the design of the characters and setting look rather simply, like the art and illustrations one might produce for a daily comic strip. That simplicity in design, however, belies the magic that happens when the drawings are connected to form a “moving picture.” The color, the movement, the visual effects, and the sound come together at the behest of the maestro Hayao Miyazaki, and cinematic magic is a real thing. From the majesty of Ponyo’s mother, Granmamare (Cate Blanchett), to the simple enchantment of a low tide full of prehistoric fish, Ponyo is poetic and has the magic to charm adults and children. I will not stop using the word “magic” to describe Miyazaki’s work, and when you see one of his films, you will see why.

9 of 10
A+

Thursday, April 15, 2010

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Review: Oscar-nominated "Howl's Moving Castle" is Quite Imaginative

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 56 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004) – animation
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki
WRITER: Hayao Miyazaki (based upon the book by Diana Wynne Jones)
PRODUCER: Toshio Suzuki
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Atsushi Okui
EDITOR: Takeshi Seyama

Howl’s Moving Castle (2005) – USA version
Opening date: June 10, 2005
Running time: 119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)

MPAA – PG for frightening images and brief mild language
DIRECTORS: Pete Docter and Rick Dempsey
WRITERS: Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt – adapters; Jim Hubbert – translator
PRODUCERS: Rick Dempsey and Ned Lott
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/SCI-FI/ACTION/ADVENTURE/ROMANCE with elements of war

Starring: (English voices) Emily Mortimer, Sofie Gråbøl, Christian Bale, Josh Hutcherson, Blythe Danner, Lauren Bacall, and Billy Crystal

Eighteen-year old Sophie (Emily Mortimer) lives a humdrum existence working in her late father’s hat shop in a dull town when powerful magic enters her life. She encounters the mysterious, handsome, and self-indulgent young wizard, Howl (Christian Bale, who delivers an embarrassingly stiff voice performance). However, the evil Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall, sly and droll) is looking for Howl, and since Sophie won’t cooperate, the witch casts a spell on Sophie that turns the unconfident young woman into an elderly woman, Grandma Sophie (Sofie Gråbøl). Determined to get the spell reversed, Sophie seeks out Howl again, and with the help of a scarecrow who moves by bouncing up and down on his pole (Sophie calls him “Turnip”), she finds Howl’s moving castle, an amazing contraption that walks across the landscape on spindly mechanical legs. Inside the castle lives Calcifer (Billy Crystal, who mixes comedy, mock menace, and a touch poignancy for a fine vocal performance), a fire demon (in the form of a ball of fire) that gives the moving castle the power to travel through time and space. However, Howl’s life is very complicated, and he fights for one side in an on-going war that leaves a terrible wake of destruction. It’s up to Sophie to free Howl of the curse that haunts him, while he plots to end the war.

The animated film, Hauru no ugoku shiro, or Howl’s Moving Castle, is another masterwork from revered Japanese animated filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki. Howl received a 2006 Oscar nomination for “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year,” an award Miyazaki won in 2003 for Spirited Away. While Howl doesn’t reach the heights of Spirited Away, it is a brilliant film, and in many ways surpasses most American films of the last two years in terms of narrative and use of technical achievement in a creative way.

Miyazaki and his collaborators have once again created enormous panoramas of images – awe-inspiring, extravagant, spectacular visuals that coalesce into a narrative that is almost too big even for a Miyazaki film. His movies usually have a novel’s worth of sub-plots and enough characters for an ensemble film, which is the case with Howl’s Moving Castle, although the film really focuses on Sophie and Howl.

Howl’s Moving Castle is a quiet anti-war film. It may be hard to imagine that an animated film could capture the astounding devastation that war can bring to a city, (especially through aerial bombing) as well as a live action film does. However, watching the marvelous flying contraptions of war drop bombs on the countryside and in cities and towns in this film is breathtaking. Miyazaki even takes it up a notch. Magical creatures and monstrosities launch from the incredible flying battle warships and engage Howl in grand aerial battles. Strangely, this art (some of it computer generated) makes war seem cool instead of scary.

For all that this film is about war, Howl is at its heart a romance with war almost as a backdrop, and Sophie and Howl are superb star-crossed lovers. Miyazaki’s script (a loose adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ novel of the same title) deftly mixes romance with a magic-drenched fantasy of competing wizards and enchanted machinations. It all rings true, except for Christian Bale’s horrid voice acting as Howl. Howl’s Moving Castle is a visual assault on the senses, and it captures the imagination with magic and engages the heart with a love that overcomes all.

9 of 10
A+

Monday, March 27, 2005

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Hayao Miyazaki)

Review: "Spirited Away" is Pure Magic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

 

Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) – animation

Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki

PRODUCER: Toshio Suzuki

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Atsushi Okui

EDITOR: Takeshi Seyama

 

Spirited Away (2002) – USA English dub

MPAA – PG for some scary moments

WRITERS: Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt – English script

PRODUCER: Donald W. Ernst

Academy Award winner

 

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE 

 

Starring: (voices) Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Jason Marsden, Susan Egan, David Ogden Stiers, Lauren Holly, Michael Chiklis, and Tara Strong

 

The world’s best director of animated films is Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke), and even the masters at Disney represent with Miyazaki. In 2001, his film Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi became the all-time highest grossing film in Japan, and in 2003, Spirited Away, the English language version of the film, won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

 

While moving to their new home, a ten-year girl named Chihiro (voice of Daveigh Chase) and her parents get lost on an overgrown stretch of road. At the end of the road, they find a lonely building that her father surmises was part of an abandoned theme park. Continuing to track through their discovery, the parents wander into the park where they catch the smell of cooking food. The parents begin to chow down on a veritable feast that they find in an empty restaurant. They don’t know that the food is enchanted and meant for the spirits. Within minutes, the magic transforms Chihiro’s parents into pigs.

 

Chihiro meets a boy named Haku (Jason Marsden) who tells her than the theme park is actually a rest haven for spirits. Haku tells her that he will help her and her parents, but she must wait. Meanwhile, Chihiro indentures herself to Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), a greedy and devious she-creature who runs the bathhouse that is the centerpiece of this magical world. Yubaba changes Chihiro’s name to Sen and forces her to work in the bathhouse while the girl struggles to find a way to free herself from slavery and her parents from the spell.

 

Whereas Miyazaki’s previous film Princess Mononoke was an epic tale of magic versus modern with the threat of a great war as the backdrop, Spirited Away is a magical fantasy in which the level of magic reaches epic proportions. From beginning to end, Miyazaki fills every frame of the film with an eldritch charm that defies comparisons to any other movies, including his own work. It’s a dazzling display of the supernatural that held me spellbound. Witches, monsters, phantasms, spirits, creatures, mythical beasts, and wondrous landscapes populate the world of Spirited Away. It’s part Alice in Wonderland, part faerie tale, and part Japanese myth. Every frame is pure wonder and fantasy.

 

All of the magical creatures seem so real and so much real part of their environment. Miyazaki has a variety of fantastical beings for almost every scene, and it never seems like too much or too phony. So many filmmakers cheat now because of computer-generated imagery and throw anything on the screen just because they it pops into their heads. The wondrous people and things of Spirited Away seem natural and purposeful, a part of a divine order, not forced, but correct and part of a circle.

 

The film’s story and script, also by Miyazaki, isn’t so much about plot as they are about the imagination, the magic of the film’s world, and, in the end, about growing up and losing the magical corners of youth where ethereal, unreal, and surreal things exist and happen. Chihiro/Sen’s adventure is a wonderful one, and Miyazaki so draws you into Spirited Away that you feel the presence of the supernatural as much as Chihiro does, and like her, you hurt from the loses that come with growing up and getting older.

 

This is more than just a great animated film; this is simply a great film. There are times when it did seem a bit long, and Miyazaki’s craft seemed too polished, too perfect, but a master like Miyazaki can’t help but be overbearing at times. He’s a filmmaker and a magician. Spirited Away has to be seen on the big screen; it’s the only way to truly feel the awe-inspiring enchantment of the most fantastical film since Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

 

There are a lot of fantasy films and films about magic, but only once in a generation is one so resonant with the mysterious of power miracles, magic, and fantastic beings that the film itself feels other worldly. Spirited Away is the supra fantasy of this time.

 

9 of 10

 A+ 

 

NOTES: 2003 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Animated Feature” (Hayao Miyazaki) 

 

2004 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki)

 

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Review: "Princess Mononoke" is Simply Great

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 43 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux 

 

Mononoke Hime (1997) – animated

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki

PRODUCER: Toshio Suzuki

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Atsushi Okui

EDITORS: Takeshi Seyama and Hayao Miyazaki

 

Princess Mononoke (1999) USA release – English dub

Running time: 134 minutes (2 hours, 14 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for images of violence and gore

WRITER: Neil Gaiman – English screenplay

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/WAR/ACTION

 

Starring: (English voices) Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Keith David, John DeMita, John Di Maggio, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Billy Bob Thornton

 

Many consider Hayao Miyazaki to be Japan’s greatest animator and one of that country’s finest directors. He has several films to his credit, including Majo no takkyubin (released in the U.S. as Kiki’s Delivery Service) and Tenku no shiro Rapyuta (Castle in the Sky). In 2003, he won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film for Spirited Away, the 2002 English language version of his film Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi. However, his first real shot at mass appeal in the United States was the film known in America as Princess Mononoke.

 

The story centers on Prince Ashitaka (voice of Billy Crudup) who finds himself in the middle of a war between the elemental and spiritual forces of the forest and Tataraba, a human iron-mining colony. The town’s leader , Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver) has conspired with a sly assassin named Jigo, sublimely voiced by Billy Bob Thorton, to kill the great forest spirit. Ashitaka meets San, the Princess Mononoke (Claire Danes), a girl raised by the Wolf God. San leads the animal gods of the forest against Lady Eboshi, who has also made her colony a haven for outcasts. Ashitaka walks a razor’s edge, trying to save both the humans and the forest before the two destroy each other, and, although he it not the title character, he is the story’s focus.

 

Although the drawing is not as polished and as classical as a Disney film, the animation in Mononoke is nothing short of breathtaking and fantastic. While so many Western animators use computers to augment their films, Miyazaki used traditional hand drawn cels, reportedly correcting by his own hand 80,000 of the films 144,000 cels. The animation takes on a scope of epic proportions while simultaneously being romantic.

 

Miyazaki and his animators created a film that manages to be encompass the film genres of action, adventure, and war, while being a dramatic film of beautiful and poetic touches. The depth of the storytelling is novelistic in its approach. It has so much going on that the audience cannot help but be captivated and enthralled even if the references to Japanese mythology goes over their heads. The voice acting for the English dubbing is excellent, which includes not only those actors mentioned prior, but also Jada Pinkett-Smith, Gillian Anderson, and Keith David. They did have a good script with which to work. Fantasy novelist and comic book scribe Neil Gaiman, creator of the Sandman comic book, wrote the film’s dialogue in a friendly American vernacular Mononoke.

 

Fans of anime and animated films cannot miss Princess Mononoke. For people who loved epics like The Lord of the Rings, this film fits right in that vein. It stands, not only as an accomplishment in animation, but a special achievement in movie making.

 

9 of 10 

A+ 

 

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