1986 - CASTLE IN THE SKY aka LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY

Hayao Miyazaki temporarily abandons his themes of mankind's interaction with nature and children adapting to life in a complicated world in favor of this action packed fantasy adventure.

 Our hero Pazu,  is a young boy working in a coal mine.  One night he finds a strange girl named Sheta literally drifting through the sky while wearing a magic crystal.  The two young people team up to learn more about Steta's past life and the magic crystal.  This story features a series of amazing action set pieces that rival and at times surpass about anything that can be found in American action films.  The staging and animation are incredibly exciting throughout the film.

This is sort of a change of pace film for Miyazaki who would write and direct more contemplative films later in his career like My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo on the Cliff.  Castle In The Sky is actually kind of a throwback to an earlier fllm of his, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro which I believe was his first major feature film and also featured a number of exciting action scenes.  In many ways Castle In The Sky has much in common with The Castle of Cagliostro.

 

Disney had cut a deal with Miazaki's home studio Gibli and reworked the  soundtrack replacing the original Japanese voice talent with American actors.  Anna Paquin is now Sheta, James Van Der Beek is Pazu.  Cloris Leachman is the leader of a group of flying pirates and Mark Hamill is the chief villain named Muska.  Disney was fairly careful creating the re-dubbed soundtrack even though at times it's a little jarring to hear American voices come out of Japanese characters.  Still for the most part it works fairly well.

 

Along with the stunning action scenes one has to point out the animation background design with it's  airships, floating islands and giant robots.  Visually this film is also a real treat to look at.  A stunning film.

The film was written by Hayao Miyazaki,  the running time is 124 minutes.

2023 - THE BOY AND THE HERON aka How Do You Live?

Supposedly Miyazaki's last film however there are rumors that he is actually working on another project.  Hayao Miyazaki is 82 years old so who can say what is exactly going on with him.  The Boy and the Heron is in many ways a typical Miyazaki film if you can use the word typical when it comes to one of his films.  The film looks beautiful, the storytelling is interesting and the hand drawn animation is impressive.

 Prior to seeing this film I sat through the usual bunch of film previews which included two computer animation cartoon films.  One of them was about a bunch of ducks flying around New York for some reason and the other was the latest sequel from the once mighty Pixar studios, a company which seems to have lost it's way when it comes to making good films.  The point of all this is, the artistry of The Boy and the Heron really puts that computer animation junk to shame.

 

The plot of this film is difficult to summarize, it's loaded with symbolism and references to Japanese mysticism and culture.  There is the personal journey of a young boy who from what I can tell learns to be less selfish in life and starts to accept the role of fate for better or worse. But this is a very trite explanation of a very layered and complex film narrative.

 

This film is an impressive achievement particularly in animation.  Written by Hayao Miyazaki, the running time is 124 minutes.

1979 - CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, Miyazaki's first feature.

Hayao Miyazaki, made the transition to features with this film based on an animated character named Arsene Lupin, a thief.  This was the second feature film featuring Lupin and it's an exciting action film.  

Miyazaki has taken stock action characters, the thief with a heart of gold, the evil Count, the bumbling police inspector and the innocent blonde girl in danger and somehow managed to make them work in a story about counterfeiters operating out of a castle with a dungeon no less.

The animation technique may look outdated and let's face it the characters are very cartoonish looking at times but Miyazaki turns these liabilities into  assets.  The pace of this film is so fast and the action scenes integrated into the plot are so well done,  a viewer will probably not be bothered by the rather primitive look that pervades the film at times.

Action movie directors could learn a thing or two about making these kinds of movies studying Castle of Cagliostro a few times

100 minutes, written by Haruya Yamazaki and Miyazaki.

2009 - PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA, another good Miyazaki film.

 Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most interesting filmmakers working in the area of traditional animation. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is one of his best films. It's a very simple story of a young boy who finds a magical goldfish who changes into a young girl. The film reminds me of Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky. 

Miyazaki has always been interested in the themes of ecology and man's place in nature. He locates the story near the ocean and loads the film with lots of interesting imagery involving giant fish turning into waves. In one very amazing scene Miyazaki shows a house where a storm has flooded the backyard and has caused the yard to become a home to lots of odd sea creatures. 

  

The animation style is in the classic traditional style and demonstrates the hollowness of the over stimulated computer generated imaging techniques that have replaced classic animation.  I trongly recommend viewing all of Miyazaki's work.

 

Written by Miyazaki, the running time is 101 minutes.