Ponyo

Although Ponyo may not be the most powerful film Miyazaki has done, I still felt that he made a very nice film. Of all of Miyazaki’s works so far, Ponyo has got to be the simplest, in terms of themes and art style. However, there is more to this film than people take for granted.

As we may already know, the story of Ponyo is inspired by the classic Hans Christian Andersen story “The Little Mermaid.” In his version of the story, Andersen stresses the impossibility of love between mermaid and prince as well as the unity between land and sea. Miyazaki takes this theme and expands on it by showing audiences that things are possible. Miyazaki expresses this idea by creating multiple dualities. For example, rather than just parallels between land and sea or boy and girl, there is also child and elder as well as human and goddess.

Another interesting thing to take notice about this film is the way he includes references from his other films. One example is in the very beginning of the film when Ponyo tucks herself under a jellyfish. It looks very much like when Nausicaa is looking through the Ohmu eye. Another example we see is when Lisa drives to the nursing home. Her way of driving looks very much like Lupin III driving in The Castle of Cagliostro.

Throughout the film we are shown a world where people are separated or distant from one another, however, it isn’t until Sosuke’s encounter with Ponyo that barriers are broken down and people are brought together. Miyazaki reminds us of the kind of life we use to live such as being together as a complete family.

Howl's Moving Castle

No matter how many times I watch Howl's Moving Castle, I will always see something new in the film. Even though this is one of my favorite Miyazaki films, I still can't remember everything I had watched. I still feel that I can't fully understand or analyze this film. However, I do feel that I have a grasp on some of his themes.

One of the things that I noticed in the film is the way Sophie changes back and forth between young and old. Throughout the film Sophie is constantly changing in physical form in a very gradual pace. It is hard sometimes to even know if there is any change at all. However, during scenes when her transformations between young and old are obvious, she changes based on how she feels about herself. When Sophie feels indecisive, she begins to grow old. When she is confident and decides to make a choice she reverts back you her youth. Another thing I found interesting about her transformation is the fact that by the end of the film, Sophie doesn't actually change back to her original form but into something slightly new. After Sophie cuts her braid and is young again, her hair color remains gray. I saw this scene as a sense of growth in the character as well as a reminder that we are constantly moving forward. This idea is also shown in Miyazaki's other films such as Kiki's Delivery Service. For example, we see at the end of the film that Kiki's powers are restored but she also loses her ability to speak to Jiji.

Other themes that is noticed is the idea of war being flawed. No matter how righteous its cause, war will always break down the human spirit. We see this occurring through Howl's participation in the war as he transforms from human to monster. Although we aren't quite clear as to why there was a war in the first place, I felt that Miyazaki left in unclear in order to express that all wars are bad. There is need for anyone to know the reason for the war because there is no such thing as a good war.

The last theme is the concept of no one being able to live alone. Throughout the film, we see Sophie encounter characters who eventually become part of her new family. It was with each others help that Sophie and Howl were able to break their curses. It also wasn't until after they realized their feelings for each other as well as their refusal to runaway from their problems that the two found a sense of purpose in life. In the final scene, we see Sophie riding on the new flying castle along with Howl, Markl, Calcifer, the Witch of the Waste, as well as the dog.

Spirited Away

An interesting element I found in Spirited Away is the portrayal of elders. A good example is Yubaba. She is in charge of the bathhouse, she has control over people, and is also very powerful. By making her obscurely larger than everyone from head to toe (literally), Miyazaki further emphasizes how powerful she is. He breaks from the stereotype of elders being weak and fragile. As we see in the film, Yubaba is anything but that. We also see this type of characterization in Castle in the Sky. The sky pirate, who is referred to as Mama, is also an old woman who is powerful. She is adventurous and clearly takes charge of her group. Miyazaki uses this characterization again in his next film, Howl's Moving Castle, which becomes a main focus.

Another thing I wanted to touch upon is the concept of the pigs' transformation. When Chihiro's parents are transformed into pigs, it reminded me of the old Disney film, Pinocchio. In Pinocchio, there is a scene where a lot of little kids are taken to an island filled with carnival rides and things to break. The kids are given the opportunity to misbehave without getting in trouble by parental authority. However, later that night they realize that they have transformed into donkeys. In this film, it is implied that the donkeys never transform back into kids nor are they reunited with their friends or family since they have been shipped to places where they will be used for labor. This scene made me wonder if the pigs in Spirited Away we're all humans. If two of those pigs were Chihiro's parents, how certain are we that the other pigs are just pigs? It also made me wonder about what they were going to do with the pigs. Obviously, the pigs wouldn't have been used for labor. They don't even provide anything else like other farm animals do. The only real use for a pig is food.

After putting these two scenes together, I realize just how similar they really are. The two scenes both involve transformations involving bad behavior. Just like how Pinocchio shows children that it is wrong to only play and have fun, Spirited Away shows that we shouldn't believe that money will solve everything.

Princess Mononoke

After watching Princess Mononoke, I impressed by how much thought was put into this film. There is plenty of detail to discuss in terms of Miyazaki's recurring themes. One of the themes we see is anti-war. With technology(Lady Eboshi) clashing with San (nature), Ashitaka is situated in a position where he is caught in between the two. Rather than taking a side, he tries to compromise by suggesting that technology and nature live together. He believes that this war will inevitably solve nothing and only lead to more hatred. He is constantly reminded of this thanks to the curse mark on his arm. Another theme is the idea of good versus evil. In this film, it is very difficult to distinguish who is pure evil or pure good. When we are first introduced to Lady Eboshi, we assume that she is evil because of her negative effects on nature. However, at the same time we also learn more abut her and see good sides about her. The same thing goes for San as well.

Although this film does not have any themes of flight, it does have characters who can run fast and jump high. As I mention in Kiki's Delivery Service, the idea of not being able to fly might be a sign showing that we are connected to the earth. While it may not have been as strong or obvious in Kiki, this idea fits perfectly in Princess Mononoke because everyone (humans, gods, animals) are fighting for resources. They must learn to share and work together.

Something else I wanted to mention is the death of the Deer-God at the end of the scene. Going off of our discussion from last week, we talked about why he died after having his head returned. After watching the scene again, I started thinking about the possibility of the Deer-God committing suicide. With all the chaos that had taken place throughout the film, I felt that the Deer-God choose to kill himself in order force everyone to stop fighting. Without the Deer-God around others can no longer rely on his ability to bring life and death. Because of the Deer-God's death, everyone must come to the realization that life is precious and that we need to take better care of our world. Whether the Deer-God made the right decision or not, he does in fact forge a new path for the world.

Porco Rosso

This semester was the first time I ever watched Porco Rosso. I have to say I liked it a lot. I personally loved the way Miyazaki set up the opening sequence. In this scene, we the seaplane pilots stealing money from a cruise ship. What made this scene very funny was the fact that the little girl on the ship showed no fear of the pilots. It was nice to see fearless little girls taking advantage of the pilots. Miyazaki creates a strong emphasis over who is dominant by having these large men contrasted with the little girls. I found it very ironic to see that the pilots were losing control of the situation with the little girls. What made the scene even more funny was knowing that the little girls were on the swim team. They didn't have to worry about drowning or anything else for that matter since Porco came to their rescue. By the end of the scene, Miyazaki continues the running gag of the little girls by having them excessively playing around and asking Porco questions.

Something I thought was interesting was how Porco refuses to take a life. Near the end of the film, Porco and Curtiss are shown fighting against one another in a dogfight. After countless barrel rolls, the crowd begins to question why Porco refuses to shoot. The leader of the seaplane pilots then explains to Fio that Porco is “not a killer.” Porco refuses to shoot if he thinks it might endanger or kill Curtiss. I thought this scene showed a different side of Porco that we may not have noticed before.

Another thing I found interesting was how much Fio reminded me of Nasuciaa. They both have short red hair and they are are very talented when it comes to technology. Fio also appears to be brave just like Nausicaa in times when she needs to be. One example is in the scene when Fio confronts the seaplane pilots and lectures them about having honor.

Kiki's Delivery Service

I would have to say that out of all the Miyazaki films so far, Kiki's Delivery Service is still one of my top favorites. While his epic films are more exciting to watch, I always felt that Miyazaki's talent in story telling shined in his coming-of-age films. Stories about daily life and growing up are the types of films I felt reached people on a personal level. Many people could relate to the characters. What I loved most about Kiki is the theme of childhood and believing in one's self.

Unlike Miyazaki's other films, Kiki's Delivery Service doesn't deal with any actual antagonist. The only "villian" Kiki has to deal with in the film is within herself. Throughout the film, Kiki learns how to live on her own by earning money delivering packages. Something I hadn't noticed the first time I watched this film is the fact that Kiki's Delivery Service is the only film where having money is big concern. One interesting example is the scene when Kiki is at the bakery waiting for potential customers. In this scene, we see not only Kiki's concern about money, but also concerns about her looks. Because of these concerns, Miyazaki is able to add a sense of realism to the film as well as character developement.

Another interesting thing I noticed in this film is the way Miyazaki sets up his world. As we already know, Miyazaki loves to create strong female characters for his main roles. While Kiki may not be considered strong in the beginning of the film, she does meet various women who are strong and have professional careers. For example, we have Ursala who is an artist, Osono who is a baker, and Maki who is a fashion designer. Of the all the women Kiki meets, she chooses Ursala as her role model. Ursala is the one Kiki relates to the most. She is also the person who helps Kiki regain her powers.

In contrast to the theme of flight, which in Miyazaki's films usually represent freedom, I felt that Miyazaki used rain/water as a way to remind us that we are still part of the earth and to not take advantage of our freedom. For Kiki, I saw the weather as one of her major obstacles. Usually when Kiki becomes overly excited, she is always interrupted by bad weather. We see this early in the film when Kiki decides to leave home because it will be the "perfect" day. While Kiki may be able to fly high and soar over the city, the rain constantly brings her back to the ground. She even becomes sick and unable to leave her room because of it. She is reminded that life isn't easy and that not everything will always go her way. Luckily for her, the rain is also helps guide Kiki. If it wasn't for the rain, Kiki wouldn't have discovered the big city she ended up staying at. She also wouldn't have learned how to rediscover the source of her magic.

Something else I noticed about the film is the change of music and dubbing. In the English dub, the music for the opening and ending sequences were replaced with more American songs. There was also additional background music in scene that weren't there in the original Japanese version. Another change is near the end of the film when Kiki regains her powers. In the Japanese dub, Kiki is no longer able to speak with Jiji the way she use to. However, in the English dub, Jiji is able to speak to Kiki again. This change obviously made fans upset since it changed the way we saw the film. Fortunately for us, there has been a new release of Kiki's Delivery Service by Disney with most, if not all, the Japanese songs, music, and dubbing back the way it was from the original.

Personally, I loved both the Japanese dub as well as the English dub. Of course do prefer the Japanese dub, but I also love the English dub since it was how I watched the film the first time I saw it on TV. I loved the film in English and watching it in Japanese only helped intensify my viewing experience.

My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro is a sweet, good tempered animated film that shows the simple joys of life, and the little things we often miss in our busy world. One example of these things we often miss are the feelings of warmth and comfort from our parents. As children grow older they tend to move away from those feelings. Miyazaki helps remind us what those feelings were like. A good example of this is in the scene when Mei stumbles into the magical forest and meets Totoro for the first time. In this scene we see Mei peacefully sleeping on the belly of Totoro while calm music (instrumental version of the epilogue song) is playing in the background. Juxtaposing this scene is a shot of the rice fields as well as a snail to show that time is slowly passing by.

Although this film does express the possibility of Mei and Satsuki losing their mother, the film still presents an optimistic message that everything will be alright in the end. We see signs of assurance during the climax of the film when Mei gets lost trying to visit her sick mother. One example of assurance is when Satuski herself is able to seek Totoro for help. In this scene, Totoro's cheerful expression of wanting to help is a sign of hope and confidence that everything will be fine. What also makes it assuring is the fact that audiences already have a sense of what Totoro is capable of. Another example of assurance is when Totoro summons the catbus. Rather than heading to Mei's location, the catbus changes the destination to "Mei" showing that they will definitely find her. Although not as obvious, there is also a sign of assurance that Mei would be safe when we see Mei sitting down all alone. In this scene, Mei is sitting next to a row of statues. Traditionally, these religious statutes are represented as protectors. The most reassuring scene in the film is probably the epilogue since it does show that the mother is doing fine.

An interesting thing to point out is the use of music. As mentioned earlier, the epilogue song is actually first introduced when Mei first meets Totoro. When we hear the song again in the epilogue, we feel not only a sense of reassurance but we are also reminded of those feelings of warmth and comfort.