2009-08-15
Heidi Exhibit at the Ghibli Museum
Here is another terrific glimpse inside the Ghibli Museum. This video segment is from a Japanese tv show, where the young hostess gives us a peek inside (no cameras are allowed inside the museum). This episode was broadcast while the museum's exhibit was dedicated to Heidi, Girl of the Alps, one of the seminal masterpieces of anime.
Funny enough, this clip is dubbed and subtitled into Spanish, presumably for broadcast in a Spanish-speaking region. The Heidi exhibit would be instantly recognized just about anywhere, as it was exported throughout the globe in the 1970s. Everywhere, of course, except the United States.
There's one very interesting shot of an old photograph from that period. The camera gives a closeup of Heidi's three main creators: layout artist Hayao Miyazaki, character designer Yoichi Kotabe, and director Isao Takahata. They were each in their 30's when the series was created. They look so very young; at least Miyazaki and Kotabe do. Takahata, it seems, has always looked old. Must be the genius; he radiates a wisdom far, far beyond his years.
Someone should take a screenshot of that closeup and pass it around. We have so few photographs of when they were young.
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2 comments:
I hope the animated shorts they air at the ghibli museum will be released on dvd some day
Well, I understand your wanting to see the Ghibli Museum shorts. I'm sure all the Totoro fans would love to discover Mei and the Kittenbus. But the only way anybody will see these movies is at the museum. These will never be released commercially, and that is the direct vision of Hayao Miyazaki.
Miyazaki created the Ghibli Museum as a place where children could let their imagination run and play, free from the trappings of commercialism. The short films made for the museum are intended solely for its little theater.
To be honest, I don't know if Westerners, and Americans specifically, would be very impressed with these shorts. It's not that they are poor - it's Miyazaki, brilliant as always! - it's that these shorts are very sweet and simple stories, like a puppy running through the city, or children imagining a giant whale as their friend, or a young girl exploring a house in the woods.
As long as Hayao Miyazaki is alive, these films will remain at the Ghibli Museum.
One idea that I've always liked, and I'm curious to know if anyone has proposed this, is the idea of touring these short films across children's museums around the world. I think that would work wonderfully. It would preserve the integrity of the original works, and give children everywhere the same experience of children in Japan.
There was a Totoro exhibit that toured around the children's museums here in the United States, sponsored by Seattle and St. Paul. And it was a really wonderful experience. So there's an idea that I'd like to propose.
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