Aug 21 2008
Anime wizard scores another big hit
Japanese cinema legend Hayao Miyazaki (at the right in the picture above) has made a huge splash with audiences once again. His latest work with his production outfit Studio Ghibli is Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (崖の上のポニョ, Gake no Ue no Ponyo?), and it promises to be another one of the animation master’s wondrously magical blends of fantasy and drama. Miyazaki, you may recall, won an Academy Award for Best Animated Film in 2003 for the beautiful ghost-story/coming-of-age movie, Spirited Away (which had actually been released in his native Japan in 2001).
Since its opening on July 19, this new feature, about a little boy who befriends a mermaid girl, has already topped 10 billion yen (that’s about U.S. $91 million) in the Japanese market alone. Apparently, the theme tune (by longtime Miyazaki composer Joe Hisaishi) is ringing away on every other cell phone out there as well.
Hayao Miyazaki enjoys one of those rare cultural positions for a creator of “family-friendly” animation because he’s celebrated equally by children and adults, audiences and critics. Kind of like Pixar here in the States. (Pixar honcho John Lasseter, by the way, is an avowed Miyazaki fan.) Even though the protagonists are often youngsters, the films themselves are never what one would consider “childish.” They’re strikingly mature emotionally, and offer a gentle beauty that we rarely see in cinema today.
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea will be released in the U.S. at some stage, according to Japanese studio Toho Co., Ltd., but no distributor has been decided upon as of yet. In the meantime, it’s slated to be shown in competition at the 65th Venice Film Festival, which begins on August 27. And you can always watch the trailer for the movie here.
I haven’t heard about this one. Any news on when we’ll see it here? At the end of the trailer I could practically hear thousands of Japanese girls cry out “Kawaii!” in unison.
No news on anything regarding U.S. distribution aside from the fact that its Japanese distributor, Toho, wants to release it in the U.S. Considering that SPIRITED AWAY took about a couple of years, it could be approximately that long.