Hayao Miyazaki and My Neighbor Totoro

A lot of my friends have been telling me to check out Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli’s films for a while, and this week I finally did. When I was younger I had seen Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke, but it was so long ago that I definitely don’t remember either of them. This week I watched My Neighbor Totoro and I absolutely loved it. It had an engaging, heartwarming story that I was very invested in and characters that are easy to sympathize with. Those were probably the biggest reasons that I liked the movie, but one thing that did stand out to me at certain times was the sounds design. Sound is something that can really make or break a movie/video, and especially an animation. In this case, the sound design definitely added to the film. Good sound design is something that is going to be very key in my name project - it could either make the final product cool and believable, or cheesy and lame. I’m really hoping for the former.

The Castle that Moves

   
    In most recent news, Japanese film-maker and animation master, Hayao Miyazaki just received an honorary Oscar for his work. This comes close to the anniversary of one of his most well-known features, Howl's Moving Castle (a Studio Ghibli film). It's a fantastical story about a girl named Sophie who meets a wizard named Howl, and the adventures they have in dealing with a land ridden with an impending war and a corrupt hierarchy of power that plots to go against them.
    Miyazaki always has a very distinct look to his films, from the incredibly detailed backgrounds to the fluid lines of his animation. In fact, Miyazaki was probably one of the last big name animators that has stuck to animating his features (for the majority) by hand. It's safe to say that there is quite a difference between 2D and 3D animation, but what Miyazaki does when incorporating both together is something that is not often seen when attempted.
    Looking at little pieces of this film, on of the most notorious is Howl's moving castle. From the very first moment we see and hear it clunk across the screen, shrouded in an eery mist, it's becomes iconic to visual look of this movie.

    You can see that is combines a unique mixture of animation that looks to make a two dimensional object 3D while maintaining it's traditional looking roots. It's truly a masterpiece of its kind and something that once again, only goes to see the hard work that was put into setting up the atmosphere of this film.

   It's worth it to take a look at the process that went into the creation of this movie. Because while it may not be you cup of tea, you can't argue that there isn't a certain type of skill and finesse that went into making it. Whether you decide to see if for yourself, in either the Japanese sub or English dub, it's worth checking out. 

"Spirited Away" into the World of Miyazaki

I couldn't possibly go this whole semester without talking about my favorite animated film: Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. I believe someone else wrote a blog on a similar topic, but these films are so good it is worth repeating. When people think about animated films, they usually think they were just created for children. In many cases, this has been true, but not Miyazaki's films. Sometimes, my friends and I will have Miyazaki nights and watch Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle or Princess Mononoke. These films are filled with a thrilling storyline, unforgettable characters, and a feeling of adventure that resonates with the viewer for several days to come. This is all accomplished through Hayao Miyazaki's attention to detail, not just of elements in the environment, but behavioral details of characters and a deeper emotional detail in relationships within the story. How he conveys this through images is a truly impressive and beautiful gift. The stories themselves are filled with metaphors and deeper meaning than what is on the surface. It takes a contemplative and imaginative mind to decipher all that is in these films. Every time I watch them, I see something new. I was curious on how Miyazaki makes his films. I focused on Spirited Away:

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I was blown away to discover that Miyazaki writes, directs and animates his own films. It is literally his vision that audiences see when they watch the films. To discover that Pixar and Disney use his films for inspiration says a lot about his abilities to tell stories, and to tell them in a very real way that absorbs the viewer in a new, complex, and surreal world. Here is a true animator and storyteller whose stories resonate from the very young to the very old.



By Amber Capogrossi

Miyazaki's "Final Film"

After 51 years of writing and animation, as well as thirteen award winning films famed director Hayao Miyazaki lays down his pen for The Wind Rises…for now.  The writer of Ponyo, From Up on Poppy Hill and The Secret World of Arrietty, has claimed these to be his last films before allowing new talent, like his son Goro Miyazaki take the reins of writing/directing the Studio Ghibli franchise. But almost every time he’s said this, the wizard always seems to have one more trick left up his sleeve, and creating his most recent features that continue to astound us. Unlike his previous “last films,” this one seems to be his grand finale, as he returns to the director’s chair after five years. The film is adapted from Miyazaki’s 2009 serialized manga of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Mitsubishi A5M aircraft used in WWII. 

Much of the film’s story parallel’s with Miyazaki’s personal journey as a storyteller. Miyazaki and Horikoshi both share an enjoyment craft of what they do and sought to create beauty and art in story, animation and aviation respectively.

Like some some of his other projects it contains the following things one usually associates with a Miyazaki film.

1) Prominent Female Protagonist that resembles the pervious ones

Naoko Saotomi

          2) Fantastical Images 

        3) Highly Detailed Environments

These elements are the main reasons I continue to watch Miyazaki's films. When I found out this film is supposed to be Miyazai's last I was disappointed. Personally I don't think this is the end for Miyazaki as far as a storyteller. But if this is his final film in the director's chair, I think he couldn't have chosen a better story to end his directorial rein at Ghibli. Most likely Miyazaki will continue in the as the mentor for the upcoming directors at Ghibli.

Like his son's film created 2006 where he presented the concept, while his son handled the screenplay and directorial aspects of the project.

Mesmerizing

Maybe it's just me, but the title sequence from Ponyo is incredible in my opinion. It doesn't actually start until around 4:40 though. Although I couldn't find the sequence online in English, the animation behind it is really what I love. The only two films I have seen by Hayao Miyazaki are Ponyo and Spirited Away, which is also really great! The animation in these films is just incredible and worth the watch. Miyazaki's work as a writer and director, as well as in the animation department has really made him an extremely well know successful Japanese filmmaker. 

 

Miyazaki

So as most of you probably know, Hayao Miyazaki announced recently that he is officially retiring from the film business. For those of you who don't know, Miyazaki is a renowned animator and film maker. He was the creator of "My Neighbor Totoro",   "Howl's Moving Castle", and "Spirited Away" to name a just a few. It is because of this that today I chose to post a scene from "Howl's Moving Castle". I chose this particular clip because there's a lot going on in it. In this scene the interior of the castle is transforming into a small almost cottage-like setting and that process is shown here. Along with that, there's the wind that billows Howl's clothes, and Calcifer, the fire demon's sudden transformation. I think looking at a piece of hand drawn animation is not only an opportunity for admiration, but also to understand where a lot of the techniques we use today came from. Things like tweening and other processes we still use today started with animating in this manor. I'm always impressed by the shear amount of work that goes into something like this, and by how much movement and life these animators can create with 2 dimensional images. Animation like this has amazed me since I was about 6, and Miyazaki was always a prevalent part of that inspiration.

Spirited Away Trailer High Quality

Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is easily one of the best animated films of all time.  Within the first five minutes you wouldn't exactly understand why its dubbed as such, the graphics are simple and the characters are average looking but as the story goes on the simplicity is what makes the movie so pure and beautiful. Miyazaki purposefully made this artistic choice claiming that he didn't want the animation to "steal the show"and although they had a very vast knowledge of the software necessary to create elaborate animations the animators mostly animated the characters by hand ( the good ole fashion way).  I personally can't imagine the movie any other way. There is something so raw and unadulterated about Miyazaki's style that perfectly fits the theme of the movie: the journey from childhood to adulthood.

This trailer does not do the movie justice in the least bit, but I recommend you watch it if you haven't already. It is an absolutely beautiful story.

Hayao Miyazaki

If one person could represent my childhood, it would be Hayao Miyazaki. I grew up with his movies, I still love his movies, and I still wait with anticipation for a new one to come out. The first movie of his that I've seen, and that I still own on VHS, is Kiki's Delivery Service which is about a young witch going off into the world. In the english dubbed version, Kirsten Dunst provides the voice for Kiki

I love Hayao Miyazaki's films for their stories and his style of animation. If I didn't know the title of a new film coming out, what it was about or anything, I would be able to tell it was a Hayao Miyazaki film just from watching one second of the trailer or looking at a screencap of the film. His style is very well known and established. I prefer his style over movies like Wall-E, Toy Story, and The Lion King. Some of my personal favorites are Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away (Which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002) , My Neighbor Tortoro, and Howl's Moving Castle (Which I do own on DVD if anyone wants to borrow it) and you can watch the trailer here and get a taste for what his films are like:



All of his films are generally family friendly and extremely heartwarming, I recommend every single film to everyone.