Since I left college I haven't been as attentive to Studio Ghibli as I used to be. Before Disney and Pixar started bringing their films over here to the states the only way to see them were through imports and special showings. I actually once drove 4 hours down to NYC just to attend a showing of Porco Rosso. But as they've been gradually coming over here and my time and money have been occupied, I haven't kept quite as up to date on a lot of their films.

There have been many movies which have come out since I stopped checking up regularly, such as "My Neighbors the Yamadas" and "Tales from Earth Sea." I went out of my way to see "Ponyo" in the theater, and when "Arrietty" comes out here in February I plan to see that one too (though I am aware that it's viewable/available in other countries and by other means).

I hate to say this but "Tales from Earth Sea" actually bored me to tears. There were a number of story elements early on which annoyed me, and the characters all gave me no interest or sympathy. Early in the film there's a ridiculous line said by someone on a boat in a storm about how he can't remember the real names for water and wind. It's not till almost 40 minutes later into the movie that it's explained that the "true" name of something holds the most magical/spiritual power. I don't know if that was meant to be a "secret" or something, but it just comes across as unintentionally hilarious since we have no basis of understanding for what the man is saying. It just sounds like he's being an idiot.

The whole narrative was so bland and cliche, especially the theme of the whole movie about accepting death and not letting it rule your life. They preach it so hard throughout the course of the film, but it all comes across as being fairly silly and childish. It doesn't help that it's become almost a cliche in and of itself to have anime characters constantly asking somber questions of fate and destiny and trailing off with unanswered "why's" and "who am I?"

Cap it all off with putting all this time, love, craft, attention to detail, and money into making a fantasy movie set in a magical kingdom... without the magic. Aside from a couple short moments with hints at magic in them, the entire film is almost bare of it. It's like Lord of the Rings without the monsters. Lots of scenes of people traveling and being in a city or farming, but not a lot of sword fighting or magical escapades. Maybe that was the intent of the film, but to me that kinda feels a lot like a cheap tease. Spend all your time telling us what a magical place this is, and how unbalanced everything is becoming... but show us almost nothing of it.

The villain was interesting though... what is it with magical people looking vaguely feminine in Ghibli films (*ahemHowl'sMovingCastle*)? How come he has such a huge tower and is so feared, yet he only seems to ever have 6-8 guards total? Why did he turn old and crumble away in the end? They never mentioned that he had been sustaining his life unnaturally... in fact wasn't that what he was after? Why did the main character kill his father? If he was so scared of his "evil" side possessing him, why did that same evil side befriend the main girl and help her so much? Did she turn into a dragon at the end? What were the dragon's meant to represent and why were they killing each-other at the beginning? Should I really believe that one lone sorcerer's attempts to live forever (which I mind you never manifested itself on the screen in any way) threw this entire WORLD up in arms and disarray? I'm sorry but when the movie itself is so boring, my mind begins to wander and I can't help but think of all these various questions I felt were left unanswered.

Contrast that with "My Neighbors the Yamadas" which positively reeks with subtle charming humor and a unifying art style rendered impeccably. In many ways it feels like a Totoro or a Only Yesterday in terms of pacing and quality. Aside from a couple exceptionally obvious CG parts, the whole film is much more capable, both on a narrative level and an artist one.

While we're on the subject of Ghibli I wanted to talk about the american dubbing. Now I know, a lot of anime fans hate dubbing. To a certain degree I understand. The original language should be watched with subtitles, as it'll feel more authentic. But dubbing isn't inherently a bad thing, and I think a lot of Anime fan's knee-jerk reaction to the very idea of dubbing is grossly unjustified and rather immature. And we're also talking about great movies being dubbed by great companies (Pixar and Disney) and overseen by John Lassiter and starring big name actors in show business. On the whole, Ghibli films have been dubbed with far superior results and treatment than most other Anime have.

My favorite dubs thus far have been "Howl's Moving Castle," the original "My Neighbor Totoro" (the FOX version not the Disney redub), "Castle of Cagliostro," "Spirited Away," "Kiki's Delivery Service," and "Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind."

My least favorite would have to be both "Porco Rosso" and "Laputa: Castle in the Sky." For Porco it was mostly because of the accents and the lack of a gruff sounding Michael Keaton for the pig. For Laputa it would have to be the constant necessity to "explain" sight gags with stupid verbal quips. The most infamous example is when two big burly men try to 1-up each other in a "macho" contest by bulging their muscles so hard they rip their shirts. The gag itself works fantastically on it's own, we don't need people shouting "yeah! Do that trick! Burst your shirt!" to explain it. Overall a rather shoddy dubbing, although I must admit I really liked Cloris Leachman as the pirate captain.

Finally the last thing I wanted to talk about is the contrast between the characters and the backgrounds. In all of the Ghibli films (with the exceptions of The Yamadas and Ponyo) the main characters are all rendered in a very simplified almost "puffy" style, while the backgrounds are rendered so gorgeously that they sometimes look like photographs. This strange separation of character and environment is common in animated films (especially Disney) but there's usually a more overriding cohesiveness to it.

For example, while the backgrounds in "Aladdin" are rendered well, they retain the fun loving S lines and round shapes that the characters themselves are made up of. "101 Dalmatians" has a rough newspaper texture and quality to it's animation (owing largely to the invention of the photocopier) and the backgrounds reflect that with high contrasting line work and sketchiness with artistically sloppy color flats.

Ghibli, on the other hand, seem to always strive for a hyper realistic rendering of the backgrounds while abstracting their characters into the most simplest shapes and lineart possible. In some scenes the character cels look so flat and empty, held up only by the impeccable animation and movement. I'm not saying it's wrong, far from it, but it is a little weird if you think about it...

I don't really know where I'm going with this, I just thought it was interesting to point it out and see what people think.

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