E-Book, Englisch, 184 Seiten
Le Blanc / Odell Studio Ghibli
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-84344-489-3
Verlag: Kamera Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
The films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata
E-Book, Englisch, 184 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-84344-489-3
Verlag: Kamera Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
Michelle Le Blanc is a freelance author and film critic. She has co-authored books with Colin Odell about John Carpenter, Tim Burton, Horror Films, Jackie Chan, Vampire Films, Anime and Studio Ghibli and contributed to Wallflower Press's Alter Image and The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. She is an editor and contributor to the online film review salon Kamera.co.uk and Vector Magazine.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Weitere Infos & Material
The Pre-Ghibli Works of Takahata Isao and Miyazaki Hayao
Studio Ghibli did not form in a vacuum. Both Takahata Isao and Miyazaki Hayao had a number of jobs with different animation companies before they finally formed their own studio. The pair had worked on a large number of productions of various sizes and in many different roles. This section will concentrate on the major television series Miyazaki and Takahata worked on as well as all their theatrical releases as directors prior to the formation of Studio Ghibli.
THE TOEI YEARS
Both Takahata and Miyazaki began their careers working in the factory-like animation studios at Toei Doga. Toei produced TV series as well as feature films and the pair worked on both, their paths crossing on several projects, notably on the series Wolf Boy Ken (1964-5). In general, Takahata’s role in the early years at Toei was as assistant director while Miyazaki progressed from in-betweening work through to key animation (including a couple of episodes of the popular series Sally the Witch [1966-8]) and eventually design. The pair’s biggest project at Toei, Horusu, Prince of the Sun, was an artistic triumph but a commercial failure. Takahata would not direct another feature for the company and returned to television work. Miyazaki, meanwhile, continued his involvement with animated features, contributing to such films as Puss ‘n Boots (1969) and The Flying Ghost Ship (1969), the latter featuring a scene in which a giant robot devastates a city, foreshadowing Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Puss ‘n Boots is particularly striking in its use of design and perspective, combining comic kawaii (cute) characters and quirky action sequences. With a princess to rescue, a castle with a dungeon full of skulls and bones and a daring rescue, it’s chock-full of sequences that anticipate Miyazaki’s later The Castle of Cagliostro. As a tie-in to the film Miyazaki also drew a serialised manga version of the tale. Treasure Island (aka Animal Treasure Island, 1971) retold Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story as a madcap adventure with much of the cast as animals, most notably the pirates of the ship Pork Saute, who are pigs. Even more crazy was Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves (1971), a sequel to the familiar story where Ali Baba’s descendant is now an evil tyrant and the ‘thieves’ are actually the good guys – Al Huck and a bunch of cats and a rat – seeking to topple the King.
POST-TOEI
Both Miyazaki and Takahata quit Toei to find work elsewhere. An attempt in 1971 to film Pippi Longstocking was put on hold when the author Astrid Lindgren declined to grant rights to the books. Their first major project was on the television series Lupin III (1971), based upon the hilarious but vulgar manga by Monkey Punch, for which they both took directing credits. Although not as racy as the manga, the series was notably bawdier than the film that later became Miyazaki’s directorial feature debut and which was taken from the same source material. Miyazaki would also find himself directing two episodes for the second series in 1980. Other small television jobs followed but the public craze for pandas in the 1970s led to the theatrical release of the short film Panda Kopanda, directed by Takahata with story, design and animation by Miyazaki. Further television work followed but the two really hit their stride with Heidi, a Girl of the Alps.
THE NIPPON ANIMATION YEARS
Although it underwent a number of title changes and company rebrandings over the years, Nippon Animation’s World Masterpiece Theater was a prodigious production. From 1969, the company aimed to produce annually an animated version of a classic story, which was serialised weekly, with some of the titles running to a full 52 weeks. Miyazaki had previously worked on the series’ adaptation of Moomin (1969-70). Heidi, a Girl of the Alps (Arupusu no Shojo Haiji, 1974), directed by Takahata and with Miyazaki handling design, was a huge success with its charming characters and attention to detail, particularly in the animation of the animals. Based upon the popular nineteenth-century books by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, Heidi is the tale of an orphaned girl living with her grandfather in the Alps. The use of sweeping scenery, the careful pacing and the vivid animation made the show a hit, and it was syndicated abroad. It was so successful that a feature film was released, edited from episodes of the series.
Both Miyazaki and Takahata worked briefly on A Dog of Flanders (Furandasu no Inu, 1975), based on the classic novel by Ouida (Maria Louise de la Ramée), but returned to larger-scale productions with From the Apennines to the Andes (aka 3,000 Ri to Visit Mother, Haha o Tazunete Sanzen-ri, 1976). The hero of the story is Marco, who is living in Italy in the late nineteenth century. His mother works in Argentina to send money to the family, but when the regular letters she sends her son stop arriving, Marco takes it upon himself to get to the root of the problem, leading to an epic journey across continents. Once again Takahata was responsible for directing the series and Miyazaki for design, the result being another success, spawning a belated theatrical release edited from the series in 1980. Various jobs on other World Masterpiece Theater productions followed, including Rascal the Raccoon (Araiguma Rasukaru 1977). The pair’s final major work for the series was Anne of Green Gables (Red-haired Anne, Akage no An, 1979) from the book by Canadian writer LM Montgomery. Takahata directed the series and Miyazaki worked on the earlier episodes before leaving Nippon Animation. The exceptional backgrounds and realistic animation mark this as a superior TV series. Anne is an orphan girl who grows up in her adoptive parents’ home, Green Gables, and endears herself to them, despite them having wanted a boy. A gentle animation, as well as an accurate adaptation of its source, the series illustrated Takahata’s growing interest in the boundaries between childhood and adulthood, which would come to mark much of his later work. Takahata constantly looks at the growing-up process and the way in which children tackle their increasing responsibilities.
Prior to Anne of Green Gables Miyazaki had been working on another project for Nippon Animation, but not as part of World Masterpiece Theater. Conan, the Boy in Future (1978), an adaptation of Alexander Key’s The Incredible Tide, was an ambitious and exciting adventure epic that signalled the real genesis of Miyazaki’s style as a director. Miyazaki designed, storyboarded and directed nearly all 26 episodes with the help of Takahata (storyboards) and their mentor Otsuka Yasuo (animation director). The importance of this landmark series is difficult to overemphasise. Like many Miyazaki productions it appears to be aimed predominantly at the youth market, yet it contains nuances and perspectives that transcend the bland entertainment often passed off as family viewing.
Set in 2008, young Conan mistakenly believes that he and his grandfather, plunged back on to a dying world when their spaceship fails to escape the atmosphere, are the last of the human race, the other survivors of this terrible crash having since died. The world’s oceans have risen and the Earth has been ravaged by a terrible war that has turned it into a devastated wasteland. Out shark-hunting one day, Conan chances upon Lana, a pretty girl whose grandfather could hold the key to mankind’s salvation. Unfortunately, the military island Industria, seeking world domination, want the secrets and stop at nothing to get them, kidnapping Lana in hopes of getting to her grandfather. After his grandfather is killed, Conan embarks upon a quest, aided by oddball companions he meets along the way, to save Lana and, potentially, the planet. The links to the natural world, the Nausicaä-like, post-apocalyptic scenario and the similarities in design to Laputa: Castle in the Sky all point to Miyazaki’s future work. The series delights in scenes of flying and imaginary vehicles – in episode two, Conan bravely tries to rescue Lana from one such flying machine, using his harpoon to pry it open like a tin can. Themes relating to the resilience and hope of the young, the nature of friendship and community, the stupidity of warring nations and the relationship between people and the environment all feature heavily. The ideas of communicating with animals, of psychic links and of peoples isolated from each other all feed into later projects, and there are even underwater scenes that recall works such as the Ghibli Museum short film Water Spider Monmon (2006) and Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. Considering the series was destined for television (it was eventually syndicated but never received an English-language release), the quality of the animation, like most of Nippon Animation’s output, is staggering. The characters, in particular, are portrayed with great flexibility: realistic in the serious scenes, deliberately stylised during the more comic moments that help temper the otherwise grave journey.
One curious quirk (one that is common for TV anime) is the short comic sequence...
