I imagine that most people have heard of Hayao Miyazaki by now, if not by name than by familiarity with his work. This brilliant director and animator has brought us some of the finest animated films ever made, such as Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle, which have both seen widespread theatrical release in the United States along with the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away.
While Studio Ghibli may not have the popularity and recognition of Disney or Pixar, the US is lucky enough to finally have most of its catalog available on DVD, with a few minor exceptions–most notably Isao Takahata’s quiet Only Yesterday. Astonishingly, many American kids now wish that Totoro was their neighbor, people’s hearts break every time they see Grave of the Fireflies, and we can even watch films about raccoon-like creatures with magical testicles. The Museum of Modern Art and the New York International Children’s Film Festival have prominently featured Ghibli’s work in the past, elevating their profile in the public.
And yet, there are some rare gems that may never make it to our Western shores, without the aid of bootleg DVDs and, of course, online video. One of these is a music video titled On Your Mark, scripted and animated by Miyazaki and set to music by Japanese pop stars Chage & Aska. It’s both touching and confusing, following two men (modeled after the singers) who try to rescue a winged girl from the military in a dystopian future. The narrative is non-linear and branching, open to some interpretation. And while the lyrics are as nonsensical as most Japanese songs, the melody and animation are beautiful. I can never watch this thing enough, and now I hope you can enjoy it too.
Miyazaki has also made some comments on the meaning and interpretation of the images in the film here.
So what’s your favorite Ghibli animation? I love most of them, but my favorites are Mononoke and Castle in the Sky. I also highly recommend Whisper of the Heart, which is perhaps lesser known than some of their films. It was written by Miyazaki but directed by Yoshifumi Kondo.
Miyazaki is an all-time favorite. One of his best, in my opinion, is Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. I saw the American dub in 1985. HBO played it as “Warriors of the Wind.” Fanboys/girls loathe this movie. I’ve watched it, the original Japanese “Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa”, and the Disney/Ghibli release of Nausicaa using Patrick Stewart and Allison Lohman. You know what, sure, the original Japanese is great, but I don’t hate “Warriors of the Wind.” Except for a couple of things it’s the same movie. Some folks complain that the environmental issue isn’t present. It’s there. It’s just subtle. Nausicaa still has empathy towards the ohmu (giant gorgons).
Plus, they call the one creature a “Fire Demon”, which is right up there with the manga of “God-Warrior”. Ominous, threatening, and certainly dripping with religiosity. Things Disney can’t dabble in lest they inflict the wrath of the Moral Majority and other wackjobs who love to hold Little Mermaid burning demonstrations. The forboding “God Warrior” got to become a simple “giant warrior.” Buena Vista is the distributor in the US, owned by Disney.
Weird thing about this movie is that it was based on Miyazaki’s overall plan for the story. He’d written one set of comics, they made the movie. Then he went on to finish the story in the late 90′s. By then, the God Warrior had a bigger place in the story other than being scary and just falling apart at the crucial moment. Nausicaa went on to even greater heights than getting run over in a stampede.
I love the movie(s) (anime, whatever) but read the comic too if you are a fan. I wish they could make a series of the Nausicaa comics for the small screen, just to share such a great story with a larger audience. Excellent stuff.
My father came home from Taiwan with the Chinese dubbed version of Totoro and the original Japanese Laputa when my brother and I were only toddlers. We grew up on those movies like some children grew up on Sesame Street, and Laputa remains one of my all time favorite movies. It’s unfortunate that much of Ghibli’s older movies, (Porco Rosso, Nausicaa, etc) which in my opinion are better than most of what Ghibli has produced lately, also have a lot less exposure in the U.S. Media.
I’ve loved that video for years. Was so disappointed to learn there was no movie to go with it — it was the movie. But eventually I came to realize that the reason it stuck in my head so well was because I kept coming up with my own backstory and sequels for it. I like it better that way.
Whoops, missed the part where you asked for a favorite Miyazaki film. I’m torn, because Nausicaa was the first Miyazaki film I ever saw, and my first love. Clint, I can’t agree with you about “Warriors of the Wind”. Some of the most beautiful scenes in the original — quiet scenes, but important from a mood/theme perspective — were cut out entirely to make the film seem faster-paced and more actiony. Some things that were left intentionally mysterious got “explained” in the WotW translation, and the explanations didn’t make much sense. The original was aimed universally at adults; WotW was made for American children. It isn’t the same movie because of that.
On the other hand, I really like Princess Mononoke. I loved that it delved into the mythology of Japan’s indigenous people (or at least, I always interpreted Ashitaka’s people as Ainu or something similar), and that it dealt with nature as a two-sided thing, neither good nor evil. Too many films shoot their own environmental message in the foot by oversimplifying nature as good and technology as bad. Miyazaki just kind of went, “Screw all that. Nature’s powerful, bottom line; respect it, dammit.”
(Plus I secretly yearned for a pet dog big enough to ride on, when I was a kid.)
Nora, like I said, I didn’t hate it. It did kill me when the scene was cut where Nausicaa was protecting the ohmu baby. Tragedy.
What I didn’t like about the dub was Alisson Lohman. She is such a flat and emotionless voice actor. Plus the god-warrior bit.
So I guess we’re left with the original Japanese version. Which still ROCKS!