This post is because I believe no Miyazaki film should be missed out in here if I had watched it. 'Ponyo' (2008)has got all usual Miyazaki elements, 'Strong feminine' , lush green country(sea) side, Innocent childhood to the minute details including their big mouthed cry/laugher and fast paced movements, a serious liking towards the elements of nature (if it was woods in Totoro, its ocean in Ponyo), and 'spirits' that rule Japanese mythology. But, above all, its the heart that he puts in to his craft that makes his works unique. For example, in the time of extreme CGI, he preferred hand drawn animation with at least 1,70,000 images to produce Ponyo. On Animation front, Ponyo or any Miyazaki movie doesn't offer the CGI built perfection that Disney offers with its own works like 'Tangled' ,but the magic he creates with his pure animation technique is so interesting and so incomparable, that make each of his characters into a cult status. Compare his works with disney's classics like 'Dumbo' and you would be surprised to find the similarity in the techniques that Miyazaki uses in the modern world. May be this simplicity is what that makes movies like dumbo defy the age. Worldwide adaption of miyazaki movies and themes are the result of his way of simple story telling. There are western critics who criticize miyazaki for poor characterization and they blame he doesn't try to show the real expressions of adults (an over stressed mother is missing in Ponyo, when her husband is in rough sea fighting for his life) but, I believe its more to do with the Japanese culture or their human nature in comparison to the western. Miyazaki celebrates strong feminine side of his women leads, who would wield a sword rather than to lie down and weep.
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| Hotel Transylvania |
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| Spirited Away |
Lets look on the brief about the hyped up 2012 Hollywood animation movie Hotel Transylvania,
"The film tells a story of Dracula, the owner of Hotel Transylvania, where the world's monsters can take a rest from human civilization. Dracula invites some of the most famous monsters..." and, an uninvited human intervention actually creates the story. Now, isn't the plot sounds similar? Yes, Its miyazaki's 'Spirited Away', and Hollywood keeps adapting this Asian genius,who else can offer such complex yet captivating stories for children with such beautiful animation.
