Hayao Miyazaki

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by Sugar

Spirited Away (#1 grossing film of all time in Japan)

Princess Mononoke (More violent and with disturbing imagry than the others, but what a FABULOUS movie! Watch it first before the kids do just so you know what you're getting into. If you don't have kids, JUST WATCH IT!)

My Neighbor Totoro (Very kid friendly. Family moves to the country, only to find out that there are fuzzy spirits living in the nearby forest. LOVE the cat bus!)

Howl's Moving Castle (I had to watch it a couple times to get my head around the story, but it's very sweet. And the castle animation is AMAZING!

Anyone else love this guy?

we love the dude, But I am a Anime buff, So of course I will watch Miyazaki's classic movies (Hate to say I hate Disney's approach at re-dubbing Miyazaki's collection-Use some well-known Hollyweird asskiss over well reknown Anime voice characters will not bring in the crowds as they believe. Billy Crystal-No...Crispin Freeman-Yes!!!). "Howl's Moving Castle" is a great movie...Really sad that only 2 people saw it here, Deb & myself.

Gimme ANY Japanese anime movie that makes you think over ANY/ALL the current American garbage releases.

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

I totally agree, his work puts Disney et al to shame (bar Pixar that is). The Moving Castle is a work of genius, it's fascinating to watch, but Spirited Away is more spellbinding as a story I think.
I love Mononoke too, it was the first Miyazaki I ever saw. I almost registered as Princess Mononoke you know!

is how the Japanese were influenced by what Disney USED (ie-"Cinderella", "Snow White", "Alice in Wonderland", et al) to do with regards to animation, And used that influence and expanded on the production values to make the best animated movies available to the general public.

The Japanese also took the GREAT story telling of Chuck Jones (!!!) and used his style of being able to hold an audience's attention, while adding side story to the main story.

As for ongoing Anime series as opposed to the dramatic movies, I religiously watch "Full Metal Alchemist" which is not childish ("Pokemon") nor ultra violent ("Vampire Hunter D"). Great production but even better story telling that makes this one of the top 5 animes to ever arrive in the US (Yes, FMA is constantly rank in the top 5 in many a Anime print magazine as the best anime to arrive on these shores.)

http://www.fullmetalalchemist.com

Brian "Chuck Jones is GOD! While Disney still blows..." j.

[Sugar]

Originally Posted by estranged4life

we love the dude, But I am a Anime buff, So of course I will watch Miyazaki's classic movies (Hate to say I hate Disney's approach at re-dubbing Miyazaki's collection-Use some well-known Hollyweird asskiss over well reknown Anime voice characters will not bring in the crowds as they believe. Billy Crystal-No...Crispin Freeman-Yes!!!). "Howl's Moving Castle" is a great movie...Really sad that only 2 people saw it here, Deb & myself..

For the most part, and for the sake of my daughter, I listen to the dubs until I am more familiar with the imagery, then I watch the subtitles. I always say I like my live action subtitled and my animation dubbed, but I often gleen some additional meaning from the sub-titles that I do from the dub.

Some of Disney's dubs are better than others. I actually think Mononoke and Spirited Away's dubs are pretty good, while the Fannings in Totoro are a bit underwhelming. Billy Crystal was cute as Calcifer, but he's so undeniably "Billy Crystal" it can be distracting, not unlike Robin Williams in Aladdan (and I hated what that did to the story)

Originally Posted by estranged4life

Gimme ANY Japanese anime movie that makes you think over ANY/ALL the current American garbage releases.

AMEN! There is so much crap out there, especially for kids, it was/is so refreshing for me to discover this stuff. I was into Ralph Bakshi and other animated movies for a while, so I'm not quite sure how I missed Miyazaki all this time. My loss.

Unfortunately "for kids" in this country often translates to insipid crap that offers lots of stuff to buy rather than quality storytelling. When I worked in theatre I worked the Philadelphia Children's Theatre Festival, and I was amazed at how interesting and compelling other countries' works for children were compared to ours. That's what Miyazaki reminds me of.

Of couse we've become so culturally lazy in this country, unwilling to be challenged by an unfamiliar story line, telling ourselves that we are better fulfilled by the latest cheap crap we bought at Wal-Mart.

Nah, I'm not bitter or anything...

[Nixxxed]

Originally Posted by Sugar

It is, though I'm not sure why all the other commuters are mearly humanoid shadows. There must be some significance to that. Kind of like the medicine from the river god...why does San spit it out after she takes a bite of it while she's sitting on the balcony with that older-sister-type-character-whose-name-currently-escapes-me?

I watched this again this weekend, because of this thread. I think the humans were in shadow because Sen was trapped in the spirit dimension. Plus, she was travelling to Swamp Bottom during the daytime.

As far as the medicine goes - the only thing I could think of is that maybe it tasted bad, so she knew it was medicine to save for when she needed it?

I had only seen this movie once before, and I was amazed at how much I had forgotten. So many little charming details. And the characters! Yababba's bouncing head pets are my favorite. Oh and the soot sprites, which I also realized were in My Neighbor Totoro.

[Sugar]

Originally Posted by estranged4life

The Japanese also took the GREAT story telling of Chuck Jones (!!!) and used his style of being able to hold an audience's attention, while adding side story to the main story.

Brian "Chuck Jones is GOD! While Disney still blows..." j.

I was wondering about this but I wasn't going to address it, until I found out that one of my absolute favorite cartoons from when I was a kid (one that I bought for myself YEARS before I had a child), Rikki Tikki Tavi, is a Chuck Jones production.

Certainly I know the name, and I ADORE Rikki Tikki Tavi, but what is it about him that deserves the praise you heap upon him? I gotta know!

And of course, largely and lately, Disney blows...

[Sugar]

Originally Posted by Nixxxed

I watched this again this weekend, because of this thread. I think the humans were in shadow because Sen was trapped in the spirit dimension. Plus, she was travelling to Swamp Bottom during the daytime.

As far as the medicine goes - the only thing I could think of is that maybe it tasted bad, so she knew it was medicine to save for when she needed it?

Well my husband, Master of the Obvious, says, "Well everyone who ate some of that thing threw up, so..." but I thought it was tied to purging evil, but maybe not! Maybe it's just River ipecac.

Maybe that's it about the train. And there is Sen, so close but yet so far...interesting...

Originally Posted by Nixxxed

I had only seen this movie once before, and I was amazed at how much I had forgotten. So many little charming details. And the characters! Yababba's bouncing head pets are my favorite. Oh and the soot sprites, which I also realized were in My Neighbor Totoro.

All those interior scenes of the bathhouse have amazing detail. And at the end when she picks up the transformed Bo (in fat mouse form) and the bird-thing that carries him around, they're not forgotten characters. They're part of the action.

I love how Yubabba is drawn. That frilly blue dress and her hair! I always think her hair -- at the end after she realizes that her baby is gone -- you know that's "I Can't Wait" Stevie hair!

The bouncing heads...yeah, how good IS the pot is in Japan?
Probably have amazing hydroponics.

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by Sugar

I was wondering about this but I wasn't going to address it, until I found out that one of my absolute favorite cartoons from when I was a kid (one that I bought for myself YEARS before I had a child), Rikki Tikki Tavi, is a Chuck Jones production.

Certainly I know the name, and I ADORE Rikki Tikki Tavi, but what is it about him that deserves the praise you heap upon him? I gotta know!

And of course, largely and lately, Disney blows...

Chuck Jones created a few of my favorite characters of all-time Pepe LePew, Wylie E.Coyote, Road Runner, Speedy Gonzalez, Foghorn Leghorn, etc.

If memory serves me right, He also had a hand in developing Bugs Bunny, Sylvester & Tweety, Elmer Fudd. He even admitted that Daffy Duck was a rip-off of the Disney character Donald Duck.

He produced some of the BEST "Tom & Jerry" episodes (Mid to Late 60's) for MGM. Those episodes in my eyes are the best animated shorts of all-time.

Dare I forget he also produced the classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Chuck gave his characters realism, A realism which a person could relate to. You could find something in his characters and say to yourself "Man, I can see that point of view because I lived it."

[ragandbone]

Originally Posted by estranged4life

we love the dude, But I am a Anime buff, So of course I will watch Miyazaki's classic movies (Hate to say I hate Disney's approach at re-dubbing Miyazaki's collection-Use some well-known Hollyweird asskiss over well reknown Anime voice characters will not bring in the crowds as they believe. Billy Crystal-No...Crispin Freeman-Yes!!!). "Howl's Moving Castle" is a great movie...Really sad that only 2 people saw it here, Deb & myself.

Gimme ANY Japanese anime movie that makes you think over ANY/ALL the current American garbage releases.

My husband and I watched a video of "Laputa -Castle In the Sky" without dubbing or subtitles (because that was the only copy we could get at the time) and we still prefer that version.

[tuigirl]

Changing the subject slightly( but still on the Japanese culteral theme) does anyone quite like the martial arts movie gendre? We love the Crouching Tiger.., Hero and Flying Daggers trilogy

[David]

Originally Posted by estranged4life

Chuck Jones created a few of my favorite characters of all-time Pepe LePew, Wylie E.Coyote, Road Runner, Speedy Gonzalez, Foghorn Leghorn, etc. Chuck gave his characters realism, A realism which a person could relate to. You could find something in his characters and say to yourself "Man, I can see that point of view because I lived it."

Chuck Jones rocks seriously! I have my Chuck Jones documentary on DVD, plus all three volumes of Warner Brothers Looney Tunes Golden Collection. These are the greatest animated shorts of all time, as far as I'm concerned. Among cineastes, Jones & the other major Warner animators are considered auteurs--artists of the rank of Godard, Welles & Lang. But never mind the hooey! Chuck Jones ROCKS! "What's Opera, Doc" ... come on!

http://www.coldbacon.com/jones.html

[Serrart]

Originally Posted by tuigirl

Changing the subject slightly( but still on the Japanese culteral theme) does anyone quite like the martial arts movie gendre? We love the Crouching Tiger.., Hero and Flying Daggers trilogy

Love them. All of them, from Shaw Bros to Tsui Hark's ghosts epics, from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan's crazy Hong Kong films. Besides they're often played by some incredible actors like Chow Yun Fat, Maggie Chung, Tony Leung Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh.

Romy