Future Boy Conan Memorial Box (LaserDisc)

Future Boy Conan is the 1978 television anime series created and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Spanning 26 half-hour episodes, it tells the tale of a group of young heroes and their adventures in a post-apocalyptic world. It perfectly balanced the cliffhanger serial style of Miyazaki's younger years with the social commentary of his later works such as Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. If you're a fan of Castle in the Sky, then you'll love Conan, which is definitely cut from the same cloth.

This LaserDisc box set was released in Japan some years ago, and like most classic anime series for the format, it is now a prized collector's item. You can find copies on Ebay easily, but expect to spend a lot of money. Even if you don't have access to a LaserDisc player, you can enjoy the packaging, as well as the complimentary art book, which goes into detail on the series, including a number of production art stills and screenshots.

Everything is in Japanese, and there are no English subtitles on any of the discs (the only English subtitled version of Conan at present is an online fansub copy). This will be a barrier to many Western fans, and we are reminded once again that so many of Miyazaki's pre-Ghibli works remain beyond our reach.

Why is Future Boy Conan not available on our shores? I suspected licensing (read: money) is the cause, as Nippon Animation owns the rights and do not appear willing to deal with anyone. Then again, we don't know if anyone has made any formal offers. The challenge in importing an anime series from four decades ago is quite high, as a new dub soundtrack would have to be produced, and the fanbase is far too small to cover the costs. Anime fans are typically teenagers and college students, and they have more than enough on their plate from the present; they don't have much time or patience for the "old" stuff. That's okay. You and I were the same when we were their age.

At some point, somebody will have to bite the bullet and bring this great series to our shores. Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have a solid cult following today, and that fan community is only growing over time. Sooner or later, they're going to discover that there's life beyond Totoro and Spirited Away, and movies that were made before Castle of Cagliostro and Nausicaa. I'll bet that if you sit down any Miyazaki fan and have them watch an episode, they'll become diehard fans of Conan just like you and me.

This reminds me, I really need to finish that Future Boy Conan blogathon that I began way back in 2011. By the time I reached the eighth episode, I was hit by writer's block, and couldn't find anything further to say. I need to finish that one up, certainly for the Ghibli book project and for posterity.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays From Ghibli Blog

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our friends and followers from Ghibli Blog. Here's hoping that you're having a great time, that you got all the presents you wanted, and that the weather outside isn't unbearably cold.

Here's Totoro hanging out at the bus stop again. He doesn't have to go anywhere, he just likes hanging out for fun. Even he is a bit surprised at the arctic air that's blasting through North America right now. He's getting a full plate of a traditional "Minnesota Winter". That's okay, things will warm up soon. At least he has some snow to play around in.

Don't forget to also visit our indie publishing site, DT MEDIA, and consider purchasing or downloading one of my books. I'm already working on the next two manuscripts, including the mammoth "Conversations on Ghibli" book project that is seemingly never finished. Oh, well, whatever.

Spirited Away Academy Awards Screener

Ghibli fan Molly DeWolff asks about this impressive little piece of Studio Ghibli memorabilia:

Hi! 

I found an academy screener copy of Spirited Away at my local library book sale and wondered if you could tell me a little bit about it? After relatively thorough google searching, your tweet about the same copy back in June of this year (though the one I found is NOT sealed) is the closest I came to finding anything like it. Is a copy like this collectible or worth keeping? Can you tell me where I can find more information on it? 

Thanks! I appreciate your help.

I shared some photos of this VHS Spirited Away screener on my Twitter page earlier this year. I found it on Ebay, which means one lucky Miyazaki fan now has this prized item in their collection. I'm a little envious, and I'm wondering right now why I never tried to buy it when I had the chance.

Movie "screeners" are commonly used in Hollywood during the awards season. Free copies are distributed to voters and judges, usually along with a nice gift basket, press kit or other promotional items. It is the same as any home video release, only without the endless commercials and with minimal packaging. Also, as this was distributed at the end of 2002, the Disney producers released on videotape. It's crazy to imagine that people were still watching movies on VHS barely only 16 years ago.

Right now, as I'm writing this post, a local Chicago TV station is broadcasting Mel Brooks' 1968 comedy classic The Producers. They're playing an old videotape. You can really hear the tape hiss in the background, the details are smudgy, the colors are bleeding everywhere, and the picture is cropped...but it still looks pretty good. I'm having a fun time. Heck, at this point, I'd feel very tempted to pop in this Spirited Away VHS and make a big bowl of popcorn.

Anyway, if you ever find any screener VHS tapes, hold onto them. They'll be worth something someday. Maybe. Whatever. Sentimental value is priceless.

Future Boy Conan LaserDisc Box Set

Future Boy Conan is Hayao Miyazaki's 26-episode series that aired on Japan's NHK network in 1978. It was not a ratings hit, but the series has become a cult classic as Miyazaki's name rose to fame with the movies of Studio Ghibli. It may even be his finest achievement in animation, a perfect distillation of his many talents and personas. Action, adventure and romance crash head on into sober observations of war, decay and destruction. The buoyant, younger Miyazaki meets his cynical, older self that would soon emerge with Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind.

In the West, Conan remains virtually unknown, even among Ghibli fans. In Japan, however, the series has been widely celebrated on all the major home video formats, from VHS to Blu-Ray. Here is one excellent example of this: a glorious LaserDisc box set, featuring all 26 episodes on six discs and a large art book, all packaged in an impressive case design. This looks absolutely spectacular.

These Conan box sets are found on Ebay from time to time, and the price is quite expensive, as you would expect. At this point, it's really a conversation piece for the diehard fans. It certainly will look awesome on your bookshelf next to the other LaserDiscs and vinyl records. But would it actually be played often? Probably not, especially when a vastly superior Blu-Ray release is more easily available (and just as frightfully expensive).

Unfortunately, for English-speaking fans, no commercial release of Future Boy Conan includes English subtitles. It appears there was at least a cursory attempt at exporting the series, hence the "Engrish" title, "Conan, The Boy in Future." I don't have the heart to tell Nippon Animation that nobody actually talks like that. We've always used the direct translation of Mirai Shonen Conan, "Future Boy Conan." I just know that if we ever secured a Western release, this would become a major argument, just as we had a major fight over title "Horus, Prince of the Sun" a few years back.

I have no idea why Nippon Animation (the Japanese animation studio who holds the rights) has never successfully exported this series. Like most matters in the movie business, the answer likely comes down to money. Now that the show's creator is an internationally-famous movie director with two Academy Awards, the price tag has shot through the roof. Hey, this is their chance to cash in on that meal ticket.

Also, it must be said: there is virtually no interest or demand for Future Boy Conan in the States. Anime fans, who are largely teenagers and college students, won't touch anything they consider "old", meaning anything older than they are. They also won't touch Miyazaki or Ghibli, as they consider those too "mainstream". Ghibli fans, likewise, have little to no interest in anything Miyazaki or Takahata created before 1984. Believe me, I've tried. They like to share Totoro fan pictures. Beyond that, it's a struggle to gain any attention. Oh, well.

Riffs: When Marnie Was There, My Neighbor Totoro, Omohide Poro Poro

Hiromasa Yonebayashi pays tribute to the Studio Ghibli movies in all of his work, and When Marnie Was There is chock full of them. Here is one easy riff for fans: Anna is wearing the same hat as Mei in My Neighbor Totoro. However, I was also reminded of Taeko's hat in Omohide Poro Poro. Maybe that's just me, or maybe it's intentional. You be the judge.

Download My Ebooks For FREE on Amazon

Update: The free ebook promotion has ended, but the prices are now only 99 cents. Please pick up a copy. You can also purchase a paperback for $19.99, which is the ideal format for these great books.

Good news, everybody! My ebooks are FREE on Amazon from now until Sunday, December 10. Please download a copy of each and leave a reader review.

Zen Arcade: Classic Video Game Reviews features 140 classic video game reviews for NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Genesis, NEC Turbografx and Neo-Geo. Do you love retro games? Did you score that awesome Super NES Mini? Here's your guide. You've played the games, now read the book.

Pop Life features essays and stories on movies & television, music & audio, classic & modern video games, and politics & life. Oh, and there are a number of chapters on Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Ghibli and anime. This book is awesome. It's funny and grouchy and feels like a classic rock double album.

Greatest Hits: An Anthology in Four Volumes is an anthology of stories, reviews and essays on pop culture and life. Read 26 chapters about Studio Ghibli. Read 20 chapters about the greatest video games ever made. Read about vinyl records and cool albums and great movies you shouldn't miss.

Remember, kids: the sooner you download my books, the sooner I'll get off your case and go back to posting Totoro pictures. I think that's a pretty fair bargain, don't you?

Mary and the Witch's Flower English Dub Trailer

Studio Ponoc and Madman Entertainment have unveiled the first trailer for the English-language release of Mary and the Witch's Flower. As you would expect from an animation studio staffed by Studio Ghibli alumni, the art direction and animation looks wonderful. Colors just pop out of the screen with verve and gusto. Shots are skillfully composed, complex yet still easily understood. There is a great amount of creativity in these scenes. I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie in theaters.

I really enjoy this new dub. The actors are all sporting English accents, which fits the story much better than the typically bland Southern California accents you get most of the time. I am reminded of the brilliant UK-exclusive soundtrack for Arrietty the Borrower, which I greatly preferred to the US Disney version.

To longtime Ghibli fans, this movie looks like a mashup of Miyazaki movies. If you're used to playing the "Ghibli Riffs" game, then you will have a field day with this picture. I spotted a good number in this trailer, which I will detail in a future post. For me, I always enjoy spotting these unique easter eggs, and I'm glad to see the tradition continue into the next generation.

Mary and the Witch's Flower pulled in respectable numbers at Japan's box office, certainly nowhere near the level of Hayao Miyazaki blockbusters, but even the master himself wasn't able to sustain that stratospheric level of success forever. Studio Ponoc and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi should be proud of their accomplishments. He has really progressed as a director. I was one who felt that The Secret World of Arrietty spoke more to his future potential than his actual skills (the movie is entertaining but slight). When Marnie Was There showed great improvement in his filmmaking skills; still not quite to the level of Miyazaki, Takahata, Yoshifumi Kondo or Yoshiyuki Momose, but better than the other lesser known directors. Now he is ready to conquer the world.

If this trailer appears a touch too derivative of Ghibli, it's clearly a gesture of affection as much as a desire to carry the flame forward. Given the enormous costs of producing hand-drawn animation of this quality, all concessions to the mass market must be taken. Ponoc needs Ghibli fans to show up in force, especially in the home country. These folks need a big success so they can continue making movies. We don't want the spirit of Ghibli to truly die out.

Next time, however, I expect to see something truly original, something that breaks in a new direction. Perhaps we will even see another feature director emerge to lighten the burden on Yonebayashi's shoulders? I always thought Katsuya Kondo had great potential in the director's chair. I still cannot understand why Momose was never given a feature film at Ghibli; his Capsule music video trilogy is the best thing Ghibli created in ages. Just imagine if Toshio Suzuki tapped his shoulder to sit on the captain's chair...instead of Goro Miyazaki, the reluctant prince.

Mary and the Witch's Flower opens on January 18, 2018 in the United States. Get your tickets early.

Riffs: Heidi, Girl of the Alps, Omohide Poro Poro

Of all the great works in the Hayao Miyazaki-Isao Takahata canon, it is Heidi that stands tallest. At least where the riffs stand. Nearly every one of the 52 episodes from the groundbreaking anime series has been quoted in the directors' later works. For those of you playing the "Ghibli Riff Game", you will never truly become a champion until you've spotted all those Heidi moments.

Here is but one terrific example. This shot from Omohide Poro Poro (Only Yesterday) of children running down the aisle of a train passenger car is directly quoting a shot from a later episode of Heidi, one in which the title character, her "Alm-Uncle" and her friends spend a vacation at the ruins of a great castle. Notice how characters wink back at the camera as they skirt on by. That's a very sly shot.

One extra riff tidbit: the Heidi episodes set at the castle (a completely original plot line that was never in the original Johanna Spyri novel) were later riffed in Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, when Lupin and Jigen encounter the ruins of the Cagliostro family castle. And the elderly groundskeeper who speaks to them? He is voiced by the same Japanese actor who voiced the Grandfather in Heidi.

Better learn your Ghibli Riffs, kids.

P.S. I've been holding onto that Heidi screenshot on my computers since 2005, when I bought a Taiwan DVD Heidi box set and watched the whole series. No, there were no English subtitles, which was unfortunate, but I was able to follow pretty easily in my crummy toddler-level Japanese grammar skills. I'm still not any better.