Hayao Miyazaki

[MacGuffin]

Miyazaki Starts New Animated Film
Source: Variety

Hayao Miyazaki has started production on his latest as-yet-untitled animated film, according to Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli.

Variety says the release is scheduled for summer 2008 -- four years after the bow of his last feature, 2004's Howl's Moving Castle, which grossed $170 million in Japan alone.

An international sales company and local distributors have yet to be announced, though Toho has handled all of Miyazaki's recent films.

Miyazaki holds the Japanese box office record for his 2001 animated Spirited Away, which scored $258 million. The film won the animated feature Oscar as well.

[pete]

I thought jimmy neutron won that year.

[Alexandro]

I dont know how many people around here have seen My Neighbor Totoro, but it's awesome, one of the bests...Ebert nailed just right in his great movies review, not everyday you see an animated film, or any kind of film, inm which there is never any conflict, just good vibes and cool situations making you wish you were a kid in the woods...

Nausica is also pretty good.

[The Perineum Falcon]

I dont know how many people around here have seen My Neighbor Totoro, but it's awesome, one of the bests...Ebert nailed just right in his great movies review, not everyday you see an animated film, or any kind of film, inm which there is never any conflict, just good vibes and cool situations making you wish you were a kid in the woods...

Nausica is also pretty good.

Agree wholeheartedly on both counts, though I do prefer the Nausicaä manga, something i reccommend to any fan of Miyazaki. He seems to have perfectly captured images in flight with a pencil.

[Bethie]

My 4 year old niece loves My Neighbor Totoro. I introduced her to it, of course. She always brings the dvd to my house so I've seen it a few times. She enjoyed Kiki's Delivery Service too. Who wouldn't enjoy Phil Hartman as the cat?

The only Miyazaki film I didn't care for was Castle in The Sky...ohh and Princess Mononoke was strange. I want to hug Spirited Away. Howl's Moving Castle is one my fav films ever. Porco Rosso is one cool pig.  8)

[pete]

I have a brilliant book of his, containing a lot of interviews, essays, sketches, memos, and journal entries of his from 1979 to 1996.  he's a pretty smart guy with a lot to say about films, animation, and economics in general. 

[Pubrick]

I have a brilliant book of his, containing a lot of interviews, essays, sketches, memos, and journal entries of his from 1979 to 1996.  he's a pretty smart guy with a lot to say about films, animation, and economics in general. 

yeah, and i went looking for it after you told us the first time.

I just bought a Hayao Miyazaki book titled "The Starting Point" in a bookstore here in Taiwan.  It contains all some 90-odd articles, manuscripts, sketches, interviews, essays, and journal entries, from Hayao Miyazaki.  That is one intelligent man with a lot to say about everything.  I especially love his view on the creative process and childhood.  He thinks it's a sin to consider the childhood an investment for the future.  He thinks five minutes in a child's life is more vital than 10 years of his adult life.  He also hates the idea of "family time" being a date between a kid and his parent.  He thinks the parent should simply bring the kid and a few buddies along for some trip.  Leave the kids be, and pay for everything.  He thinks children are born with two innate abilities--the ability to create things with their hands and the imagination that allows them to entertain themselves with the most mundane household items; anyone who rids a child of either deserves prison.  His contempt for wealth is so incredibly healthy and fun.  a few quotes:
"some people think the folks who make money are the smart ones.  I'll be happy if there are fewer of these people around.  These days they are always panicking, and they probably will be the same in the future.  they panic but they're out of ideas, and I just pray that they leave me alone."
"the economic boom is an era where idiots get to flourish, but frankly, all they are doing is advertising their own stupiditiy."

I love angry romantics.  they make the best films.

no luck.

[MacGuffin]

I Lost My little Boy
Source: FilmIck

It has reportedly now been confirmed that the next Ghibli film is Miyazaki's adaption of the Chinese children's novella I Lost my Little Boy, the cover of which you can see above. As far as I can tell, not being able to read the book, the story revolves around a young chap dying from heart disease - but isn't at all downbeat... well, not for most of the page count, anyway.

The oddest thing about the project is that the book is very obviously inspired by Miyazaki's previous films, and, I'm told, even makes mention of Totoro as though he actually exists right at the very top of the first page.

So, to recap: a Chinese author wrote a children's story about dying from heart disease, set it in the same universe as a number of popular Japanese anime (many of which didn't share a universe in the first place) and now, the studio and director responsible for those anime and adapting the book into their next film.


Hayao Miyazaki's Latest - And Final? - Film Revealed?
Source: Twitch

File this one firmly in the rumor pile but it comes from a source that has never steered me wrong before ...

It is well known that Japanese animation auteur Hayao Miyazaki is currently hard at work on his latest film, one that once again is speculated to likely be the final project of his lengthy and hugely acclaimed career. What hasn't been announced is what the film actually is. According to Brendon at Film Ick that particular cat may be out of the bag with wiord surfacing there that Miyazaki's current project is an adaptation of Chinese children's novella I Lost My Little Boy - the story of a boy dying of heart disease. This was rumored as a possible project for Miyazaki all the way back in 2005 but when things went quiet on that front it was widely assumed that the project had been abandoned. Apparently that's not the case as word is starting to circulate in the Japanese animation and publishing community that it is, in fact, the project the master is currently working on ...

[MacGuffin]

Miyazaki Next Helming Ponyo
Source: Variety

Toho will release director Hayao Miyazaki's next animated film, Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on a Cliff), in summer 2008. Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli will produce.

The film is Miyazaki's first since his 2004 megahit Howl's Moving Castle, which scored $169 million off 15 million admissions in Japan. The new film concerns a goldfish princess named Ponyo who wants to become human and her relationship with a 5-year-old boy.

Miyazaki, who is writing the original script, is basing the boy on his grandson, the son of Tales From Earthsea helmer Goro Miyazaki.

The seaside setting is inspired by the director's 2005 stay on Japan's Inland Sea, renowned for its scenic views.

Instead of incorporating ever more CG cuts into 2-D animation, as Studio Ghibli has done in recent films, Miyazaki intends to make "Ponyo" with a pastel watercolor, hand-painted look.

[MacGuffin]

Hayao Miyazaki knocks Japan PM, manga
Oscar winner says kids should spend more time outside
Source: Hollywood Reporter

TOKYO -- Japanese Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki criticized Prime Minister Taro Aso's penchant for "manga" comic books Thursday and said children should spend more time experiencing nature than getting engrossed in video games and TV.

The 67-year-old director of a string of animated blockbusters including this year's "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" was asked what he thought about 68-year-old Aso's much-touted penchant for reading comics, which has gained the premier a following among fellow manga fans.

"It's an embarrassment," Miyazaki said in a rare news conference. "That's something that should be done in private."

A maverick who has stuck to hand-drawn artwork despite the burgeoning digital animation industry, Miyazaki harks back to a more natural, pre-industrial Japan in works such as "Spirited Away," for which he won an Academy Award in 2003.

Miyazaki distanced himself from the "soft power" of video game and manga content that Aso and other Japanese politicians have tried to harness to boost the country's image.

Aso even launched an international manga award to promote the genre -- a 500 billion yen ($5.2 billion) industry in Japan alone -- around the world.

"This environment surrounding our children is full of virtual reality: television, video games, e-mail, mobile phones and manga," Miyazaki said.

"I think this saps children of their strength," he said, adding that he realized his viewpoint was paradoxical, given his choice of vocation.

Miyazaki said he advocated having children learn practical skills such as lighting fires and using knives before they learn to read or count.

"Instead of thinking about how to stimulate demand by creating bridges or roads, we should have the proper environment in place for future generations," he said.

He also spoke of his efforts to train a new generation of young animators. He has chosen 20 young people to start work next year in a training studio away from Tokyo, he said.

But Miyazaki had little to say about his own son. Goro Miyazaki, who has publicly criticized his father, scored a boxoffice hit with the animation "Tales of Earthsea" in 2006.

"It's a difficult problem," he said, when asked what he expected of Goro. "I don't favor him just because he is my son. I think he will face testing times in the future. That's all."

[MacGuffin]

Cyrus And Jonas Siblings Team Up For Miyazaki Movie
Source: MTV

Miley Cyrus and Nick Jonas aren't the only Cyrus and Jonas family members working together on new projects these days. Noah Cyrus, Miley's 9-year-old little sister, and Frankie Jonas, 8, better known as the Bonus Jonas, are voice actors in the animated flick, "Ponyo," by "Spirited Away" director Hayao Miyazaki.

"I actually have a movie coming out call 'Ponyo,' " Noah told the Press Association about the movie. "I play a goldfish in it, and I wanna be a human in it, and my best friend is a human, and I think that's where I get it from, and then I turn into a human. The guy who plays my best friend in it is Frankie Jonas, the Jonas Brothers' little brother."

"Ponyo," which was released as "Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea" in Japan last July, will be released stateside on August 14, according to Slashfilm.com.

Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Betty White have also been cast to do voices in the film. According to Slashfilm, Disney hopes to make the American release of "Ponyo" Miyazaki's "biggest hit ever Stateside." "Spirited Away" earned more than $10 million dollars stateside.

[Gold Trumpet]

Keep this movie out of Disney and Pixar's hands. Disney is always an ehh, Pixar is quality for original features, but their English translation for Spirited Away was a wrecking ball to many things that made the film great. Miramax actually made Princess Mononoke better with their English translation, but Disney and Pixar live in fear of an animated film being too smart for children. They could fuck up this film.

[Ravi]

Pixar is quality for original features, but their English translation for Spirited Away was a wrecking ball to many things that made the film great.

Do you mean the English dubbing was bad or the subtitles?  And what was so bad about them?

[Gold Trumpet]

Pixar is quality for original features, but their English translation for Spirited Away was a wrecking ball to many things that made the film great.

Do you mean the English dubbing was bad or the subtitles?  And what was so bad about them?

I was pointing to the dubbing. The subtitles were fine because they aherred to the original script and it's likely that Disney did it because some component of the film had to reflect Miyazaki's original intention, so they figured why not the subtitled version, since no one would watch it.

To explain, in the subtitled version, Chihiro (Sen) slowly discovers her connection to the spirit world over the course of the film. In the dubbed version, she knows the dragon is Haku at first sight. She explains it to herself, but in the subtitled version his identity becomes revealed slowly. When the dragon is fleeing from Zeniba's spies and Sen tries to help, she catches herself by surprise when yelling at the dragon as if he was Haku. The scream on her part was instinctual. By the time the dragon morphs back into Haku, Sen is surprised it's really him, but her instincts told her who he was. The slow discovery of Haku as the dragon is important to the themes in the story, but is totally absent in the dubbed version.

Also, in the dubbed version, they rationalize why Sen refers Zeniba (Yubaba's sister) as grandma. Zeniba asks Sen to refer to her as grandma, but in the subtitled version Sen just starts calling her that, like it was something she did before. Also, the dubbed version continually says that only true love can break the spell that Haku was under, but in the subtitled version love is only referred to when the keeper of the furnaces (I forget his name) just says "love" when trying to understand why Haku is still alive (after his brutal attack) and why Sen went to Zeniba to save Haku.

At the end when Sen is flying with the dragon and she remembers the story about falling into a river as a child, it permanently transforms the dragon back into Haku. In the dubbed version she tells the story then Haku goes on about how he was the spirit of the river. In the subtitled version it is only said that Haku was the river. It never says whether he was a spirit or a living body of water. It's left open to interpretation.

Finally, in the dubbed version, at the very end, Dad says to say Chihiro about how a new school can be scary and Chiro replies that she can handle it, but that is never said in the subtitled version. It just cuts to end credits so the film doesn't try to over emphasize a point about Chiro's maturity over the course of the film. The subtitled version at least thinks you understand that she turned over a new leaf, but the dubbed version continues to spell things out.

All in all, the subtitled version gives you a metaphysical story. The connections with Chihiro and the spirit world are implied, but never really explained. Keeping a good amount of mystery to her connection with the spirit world is what makes the story metaphysical. You wonder about how the characters are all connected. The dubbed version not only tries to explain every mystery, but it also tries to outright ditch a lot of them too. It's almost offensive.

Miramax only made one major change when adapting Princess Mononoke. The Spirit of the Forest was originally referred to as a Deer God in the original, but I thought the original name that was too vague anyways. The story implies a lot of weight in his character so a more suited title to show his importance was needed. Other than that Miramax left things alone. They improved sound quality by giving a lot of action scenes more sound effects to heighten tension. None of the effects were over embellished. It just made the story flow a lot better for me.

[Sleepless]

Any word on whether Goro Miyazaki's Gedo senki (Tales From Earthsea) is going to see a US release? I noticed it was on DVD in the UK last year, but it seems it's not even been shown over here yet.

Re-watched Kiki's Delivery Service last night. Good, but not great. Nausicaa and Totoro remain my favorites.