A Look at the Cliffhanger LaserDisc Arcade Game

In 1983, an arcade videogame called Dragon's Lair featured fully animated movie scenes that were streamed off LaserDisc. It was a great success and spawned a mini-boom of likewise imitators. Stern Electronics, the US publisher known for many successful video and pinball games, sought to get in on the action, but lacked the resources to finance a million-dollar production of their own. Instead, they turned to Japan in search of animated movies to use.

They found two anime films based on the popular Lupin the 3rd franchise: The Mystery of Mamo and The Castle of Cagliostro. After securing the rights, Stern hired Evanston, Illinois-based production company Associated Audio Visual, Inc., who assembled action scenes from both movies into an interactive game, and the resulting product was dubbed Cliffhanger.

Like most LaserDisc videogames, Cliffhanger is an interactive movie where you move a joystick or press buttons at key moments when prompted by on-screen displays. This provides the illusion of participating in the action, by dodging enemies, attacking foes or driving a car through crowded roads. Any actual interaction is minimal, and you are really just responding to flashing lights while a movie plays in the background. For the time, it was an impressive feat, but the lack of true immersion combined with high production costs doomed the genre to extinction. By 1984, the US videogame industry was in complete collapse, including the arcades, leaving only a few publishers to survive.

Miyazaki fans will be interested to know that the dubbed segments for Cagliostro were recorded exclusively for this game and appear nowhere else. An effort was made to include these scenes in the Discotek Blu-Ray package, but were unsuccessful due to rights and contracts.

The Cagliostro dub is almost cartoonishly bad. It almost sounds like the pimply teenager from The Simpsons recorded the voices and that all the dialog was riffed on the spot, without any scripting. You can also hear the original Japanese soundtrack playing faintly in the background. The names have also been changed: Cliff (Lupin), Jeff (Jigen), Samurai (Goemon), Clarissa (Clarisse) and Count Draco (Count Cagliostro).

Today, a Cliffhanger arcade is extremely rare and expensive, but the game is playable on MAME, the arcade emulator. It remains an interesting curio from a bygone era, one that could never be allowed to happen again. Miyazaki would probably slap you upside the head if you even mentioned the subject in his presence.

New Additions to Videos

I've added a host of new links to the Videos section, including a number of Toei Doga classic features that have never been released in the West and are now frightfully difficult to track down. Don't forget that Heidi, Marco and Anne are also available with English subtitles, and I strongly urge you to watch these while you can.

As always, I strongly urge the owners of these classic films and television shows to release these titles on our shores on Blu-Ray and DVD. There is a small but dedicated following of fans who would scoop them up in a heartbeat.

Hustle Punch: The Complete TV Series

Hustle Punch is a TV anime series created by Toei Doga and broadcast in 1965. It ran for only 26 episodes, but is an excellent cartoon with a very strong Hanna-Barbara groove. The series was masterminded by Yasuji Mori, Isao Takahata directed the opening sequence, Hayao Miyazaki and Yoichi Kotabe were key animators, and pretty much the whole gang of regulars that we all know and love worked on this series, which took place while Horus, Prince of the Sun was in pre-production.

Youtube user Felipe Jimenez has compiled all 26 episodes into this single video. It's a great discovery, although the video quality suffers from occasional glitching and there are no English subtitles. That's okay, since you're watching a lot of goofy slapstick cartoon gags that anyone can understand.

Beyond that, some of the animal characters from this series appeared in Animal Treasure Island, and the fox character also appeared as the villain in the third Puss in Boots movie from 1976. Finally, we can see that the junkyard and safe that appears in the opening was later riffed by Hayao Miyazaki in the final episode of Lupin the 3rd: Series One in 1972. Small world.

As always, be sure to watch this show before Toei gets wise and has it removed.

Isao Takahata: GeGeGe no Kitaro (1971)

GeGeGe no Kitaro is a popular manga comic that has spawned a number of TV anime series over the years. The first series was produced by Toei Doga and ran from 1968-1969. A second series, this time in color, was created in 1971. Isao Takahata had a minor involvement on this show, directing episode 62 of the original series and episode 5 of the second.

Takahata also directed the opening and ending sequences for the 1971 series, making this his final work with Toei Doga before leaving with Hayao Miyazaki and Yoichi Kotabe to A Productions to join Yasuo Otsuka for Lupin the 3rd and Pippi Longstockings. A Youtube video of this has been posted below.

Currently, there are no complete episodes of the 1968/1971 GeGeGe series on Youtube, but complete box sets are available in Japan for the price of a kidney or any other major organ. One of these days, one of us will have to bite the bullet and purchase those, if only so that we can finally see the Paku-san episodes. Until then, we have his credit sequences to enjoy and share.

Isao Takahata Episodes of Moretsu Ataro

Moretsu Ataro (Ataro the Workaholic) is a television anime series created by Toei Doga in 1969-70. Adapted from a gag comic that ran from 1967-1970 in Weekly Shonen Sunday, it's a purely zany and wacky kids cartoon. Isao Takahata directed episodes 10, 14, 36, 44, 51, 59, 71, 77 and 90 (the series finale).

Thanks to Youtube user Mr. Batsugoro, the entire series run has been posted online. There are no English subtitles, but as is the case with most vintage anime, you learn to live with it. What matters is that we are finally able to watch these episodes.

I am posting all of the Takahata-directed episodes here. As always, I strongly urge everyone to store these episodes for posterity. These things have a nasty habit of disappearing suddenly and without warning, and the chances of seeing a commercial release in the West is slightly less than zero. Remember all those fansub copies of the classic Toei Doga feature films that vanished off the face of the earth? Good luck finding those again.

It's always a thrill to discover more of Takahata's work, particularly the late post-Horus Toei period. Enjoy!

Toei Doga Movie Trailers: From Hakujaden to Sinbad

A YouTube member named Kenshiro Minami has posted a video compilation of trailers for the first six Toei Doga animated feature films. This is a terrific find that I am happy to share with you.

As we all know, Toei Doga was the leading animation studio in Japan's postwar years, growing into a powerhouse that trained, educated and inspired an entire generation of animators. Nearly every famous anime artist or director from the 1970s and 1980s got their start at "Toei University." And that includes Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki and their many friends with whom they crafted so many classic films and television shows.

The movies featured in this compilation include: Hakujaden (1958), Shonen Sarutobe Sasuke (1959), Saiyuki (1960), Anju to Zuzhiomaru (1961), The Adventures of Sinbad (1962) and Wanpaku Oji no Orochi Taiji (1963).

All of these movies were given limited theatrical release in the US, usually with a change in title, all-star cast and the addition of new musical numbers. These are interesting historical curios that are worth checking out, and are available on VHS and LaserDisc. Alakazam the Great (aka Saiyuki) was even released on Netflix and Amazon Video.

Of course, none of these Westernized variants are anywhere as good as the Japanese originals, which stand as true animated classics of a bygone era, as good as animated classics from Russia, France and America. They remain almost entirely unknown, and only a small number of titles were released outside of Japan on DVD. In Japan, Toei is only now beginning to open the vaults for complete restorations on Blu-Ray, but only for a select few.

In the States, only three Toei Doga films were released on DVD, all by Discotek: Horus, Prince of the Sun, Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island. The latter two are now out-of-print and highly collectible, while Horus has also been released on Blu-Ray.

The first six Toei Doga features represent an era of complete creative freedom and dominance. In 1963, manga legend Osamu Tezuka, who collaborated on Saiyuki, Anju and Sinbad, founded his own animation studio called Mushi Productions and moved into television, sweeping in the TV anime era with Tetsuon Atom, aka Astro Boy. The winds of change were sweeping through the industry, and before long, nothing would ever be the same again.

Hayao Miyazaki's Eulogy of Isao Takahata (English Subs)

It's hard to believe that Isao Takahata has been gone for nearly two years. His presence and impact found in his work continues to shine and inspire us, and will continue to do so for many years to come. But his loss is equally profound and will always linger in our hearts.

At the public memorial service at the Ghibli Museum, Hayao Miyazaki offers a touching tribute to his lifelong friend, colleague and rival, offering a couple personal anecdotes from their days at Toei Doga in the 1960s. We still feel the emotional weight of his words.

3000 Leagues in Search of Mother (Marco): The Series Playlist

I present to you 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother (aka "Marco") in its entirety. This 52-episode series was the 1976 season of World Masterpiece Theater, and the second in Isao Takahata's celebrated Heidi-Marco-Anne trilogy of masterworks.

This video contains the playlist for all 52 episodes, presented in Japanese audio with English subtitles.

Now a few quick notes about its creators. This series was a teamwork collaboration between Takahata (director), Hayao Miyazaki (layout, scene design) and Yoichi Kotabe (character design). It is the direct followup to Heidi, Girl of the Alps, which became a groundbreaking success in Japan and throughout the world. The trio had begun at Toei Doga and continued as a team for a number of years, first teaming with alum Yasuo Otsuka on Moomin and Lupin the 3rd, then working tirelessly on the Pippi Longstocking project that was notoriously scuttled by author Astrid Lindgren, then finally to Heidi.

Heidi succeeded because the trio of Takahata-Miyazaki-Kotabe worked together as a team, contributing story ideas and characters together. With the Marco series, however, Takahata took a more firm control over the story, pushing relentlessly in the direction of emotionally-charged melodrama. Its scale became epic, spanning two continents, an ocean and a widely varied cast of characters, and all stylized after the Italian Neo-realists. Flights of fancy or imagination are almost nonexistent. Marco's journey is not driven by wonder or discovery, but obsession, suffering and pain. Imagine the Book of Job starring James Dean and you'll have some idea of what to expect.

It would seem that Marco's obsession reflected Takahata's, and is it said that his relationship with Miyazaki and Kotabe suffered as a result. By the end of the series, Kotabe walked away, effectively breaking up the band that had stuck together throughout the decade. He would return five years later to work with Paku-san again in the 1981 movie Jarinko Chie, and later with Miyazaki in Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, but his animation career began to decline. In the mid-1980s, he found himself working at the most unlikeliest of places: Nintendo. There, he would help with art and character design for many of the company's most beloved videogames, including Super Mario Kart and Pokemon. Remember Pikachu? That's Kotabe.

Hayao Miyazaki would finally begin his solo directing career (not counting the 1972 Yuki's Sun pilot film) with the spectacular 1978 series Future Boy Conan. Yasuo Otsuka, who served as the animation director, famously noted how his friend's relentless creative drive and work ethic had exploded during his time as Paku-san's right hand. And while Miyazaki did return one final time to serve as layout/scene designer for Anne of Green Gables in 1979, he left the series after 13 episodes to join TMS's Telecom studio to direct his first feature-length movie, Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, once again with old friend Otsuka by his side.

The next time Takahata and Miyazaki worked together was on the infamous Nemo movie project, traveling to California as members of the Japan delegation. Both walked away over creative differences, and while Takahata continued to thrive with the wonderfully sublime 1982 film Gauche the Cellist and the 1982-83 TV version of Jarinko Chie, his colleague struggled after several years of commercial and creative failures.

Miyazaki retreated to his first love, drawing manga comics, creating a serial comic for Animage Magazine called Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind in 1983. After a long period of begging and pleading by the magazine's young editor, Toshio Suzuki, Miyazaki was convinced to direct a film adaptation of Nausicaa which was released to great success in 1984. Its success led directly to the founding of Nibariki, Miyazaki's production company, and, of course, Studio Ghibli, which found its first commercial success in 1989 with Kiki's Delivery Service*. The rest, as they say, is history.

Takahata, as I've said, continued to enjoy success as a director, and he was the top dog at the time. He helped Miyazaki by guest-directing two episodes of Conan, and brought along young animator Yoshifumi Kondo as the animation director/character designer for Anne of Green Gables. Kondo had previously worked on Lupin Series One and he quickly became Paku-san's new prized student, the right-hand-man for the famous "director who cannot draw" in Grave of the Fireflies, Omohide Poro Poro and Pom Poko. Kondo died in 1998 from a brain aneurism, leaving Takahata reportedly guilt-stricken over working his prodigy so hard**.

3000 Leagues in Search of Mother sits at a fascinating crossroads in these three careers. It represents the peaks of the post-Toei years, drives the evolution of 1970s anime and sets the stage for Studio Ghibli. It represents a beginning, middle and end of converging eras. And despite any creative turbulence behind the scenes, this series remains a masterpiece of dramatic storytelling and naturalist animation. In my opinion, it is the greatest of the Heidi-Marco-Anne trilogy, the richest and deepest and most compelling, filled with mythic grandeur.

Watch this series. Just put down whatever is on your Netflix playlist and watch this instead.

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(*Note: That's correct, the first three Ghibli features -- Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies -- all lost money in their initial theatrical runs. Their success, especially Totoro, would come years later with home video and merchandising.)

(**Note: This story came from a rather strange rant last year by Toshio Suzuki, who accused the late Takahata of being a tyrant who drove away talent and led Ghibli to ruin. It's very odd as this portrayal of the director as a hotheaded control freak is greatly at odds with his image as the epitome of zen cool ("walking logic" in Mamoru Oshii's words) and more descriptive of Miyazaki.)

Video: Hayao Miyazaki Delivers His Eulogy for Isao Takahata

I have found two videos from the Isao Takahata memorial service at Ghibli Museum. The first includes the complete remarks from Hayao Miyazaki. The second video is a news report from Japanese television, featuring clips of other individuals. Unfortunately, there are no English translations available at this time. If anyone would kindly provide a translation of Miyazaki-san's remarks, we would all be very grateful.

Update 5/16: The first video has been pulled from YouTube. Hayao Miyazaki's complete remarks in Japanese are available below. We still need help with an English translation. Much thanks to Infoglitz and Becqerine from Reddit for their assistance.

朴のニックネームは確かではありませんが、主にとにかく午前中に嫌な男ですが、東映アニメーションで働いていてもタイムカードを押した後、私が "Pakpaku"として買ったパンを食べて、彼は彼が蛇口から水を飲んでいたと言いました。それが朴氏になったという噂です。 

それは記念碑の形ではありませんが、私が今日書いたことを読むでしょう。 

朴氏は、彼が95歳になるまで生きると信じていた。私は時間がないと思った。 9年前、医者からの電話がありました。 「あなたが友達なら、タカハタのたばこを止めません」それは深刻な恐ろしい声でした。鈴木さん（鈴木俊夫さん）と鈴木さんは、医師の力を恐れてテーブルを横切ってお互いに向き合っていました。正しい姿勢で話すのは初めてのことでした。 「朴、喫煙をやめてください」と私は思います。 「働き続けるためにはやめてください」これはスズキの言葉です。私は、言い訳や反対が怒って爆発すると思ったが、「朴さん、ありがとう、私は辞める」と朴氏は平凡に言って頭を下げた。そして、朴氏は実際に喫煙をやめました。私は朴氏のそばで、たばこを吸った。 「いい香りだと思うが、まったく吸いたくない」と朴氏は語った。彼は上の俳優だった。結局のところ、私はそれが95歳になる人であると思っていました。 

1963年、Parkは27歳でした。私が22歳の時に初めて会った。私はまだその言葉を聞いた日を覚えています。私は夕暮れのバス停で練馬バスに向かうのを待っていた。若い男が雨の水たまりが残っている通りに近づいて来ました。そこに静かで賢明な見方がありました。高畑功朴氏に会った瞬間だった。 55年前ですが、私はそれをはっきりと覚えています。当時の朴氏の顔はまだ覚えています。 

次回は、東映アニメーションの労働組合の関係者にプッシュされたときパクと出会った。朴氏は副会長である。私は緊張し、悪心に悩まされ始めました。まだ組合事務所のプレハブにいて、私は朴氏と話をして狂った。すべて。私たちは私たちの仕事に満足していませんでした。私はより遠く、深く、より誇りに思うように仕事をしたかったのです。私は何をしなければならないのですか… …パークの文化は圧倒的でした。私は得ることが難しい人に会うことができてうれしかったです。

（「高原を監督する監督、ホルスの君の王子様」の冒険）は難しいものでした。スタッフは新しい方向性について不器用だった。仕事は遅れて遅れ、会社全体を巻き込んだ事件になった。パークのべたつきは超人的だった。会社の偉大な人に脅かされ、私が泣いても彼は抱きしめていた。私は夏の空調が止まった休日だったので、私は自分自身で大きな紙を背景に背景の絵を書きました。会社と組合との間の合意の下で休日の仕事が許可されていなくても、私はそれを保つことができませんでした。タイムカードを押す必要はありません。 

最初の問題（プレビュー）を見たとき、私は動くことができませんでした。それは感動しなかった、それは驚きに圧倒された。会社のプレッシャーの下で、私は "失われた信仰の森"の場面がかき消されないようになっていることを知っていました。パークはチームと強く交渉し、最終的に各カットの枚数まで約束し、必要な生産日を約束しなければならなかった。当然ながら、約束がはみ出し、朴氏が原稿を書くたびに約束された。朴氏は最後の原稿をどのくらい書きましたか？私も多くの仕事をしていましたが、私は朴氏の闘争に近づく時間がありませんでした。 

最初の号で初めて、「失われた信仰の森」のヒルダの場面を見ました。圧倒的な表現であった。どのような強い画像。それはどんな優しさでしたか？私は朴氏がこれを表現したかったことをはじめて理解した。朴氏は彼の仕事を成し遂げていた。リリースから30年を経た2000年には、この映画に関連する人々のグループがMr.パーク。当時の会社責任者、経営幹部、中堅のスタッフが会社やサイトを挟んで苦しんでいる、生産の進捗状況、職員を描く、女性の背景や彩色、撮影、録画、編集などスタッフが集まった。興行収入はなかったが、誰も気にしなかった。 

パーク、私たちはその時たくさん住んでいました。朴氏は私たちが住んでいた方法でした。ありがとう、朴氏。私は55年前にその雨のバス停で電話をした朴氏を決して忘れないだろう。ごめんなさい。

Son of Miyazaki: A Goro Miyazaki Retrospective

YouTube essayist and documentary filmmaker Steven McCarthy returns once again with another look at Studio Ghibli, this time examining the career of Goro Miyazaki, the son of founding director Hayao Miyazaki who was responsible for Tales From Earthsea, From Up on Poppy Hill and Ronja the Robber's Daughter. This video goes into detail on these films, including production, overarching themes and public reception.

Goro Miyazaki doesn't get enough love from the fans. Part of that is due to the family name and the curse of having a famous father (ask Julian Lennon), and part of that is simply experience, as we have so few works to examine and study. If he continues to create animated films and television series and develop his own unique voice as an artist, those qualities will begin to dominate the conversation.

McCarthy does an excellent job moving that discussion forward, highlighting his strengths and weaknesses, his difficult relationship with his father, and the qualities that make Goro his own man. He may yet define the next generation of Studio Ghibli, bringing it into the modern era of 3D computer graphics animation while retaining the qualities of the hand-drawn tradition.

Once again, great video and great work. McCarthy promises this will be his final Ghibli documentary for a while, as he pursues other topics. I look forward to seeing his future projects. Somebody give him some grant money so he can create a feature length movie.

Heidi: Todos Los Episodios (en Espanol)

In the United States, Isao Takahata is best remembered for his Studio Ghibli movies, including Grave of the Fireflies and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. In Europe and Latin America, however, he is remembered for Heidi, the landmark 1974 animated series that became a household name to children all around the world. The series has been shown in over thirty countries and translated into twenty different languages.

Here is the Spanish-language version of Heidi, all 52 episodes complete and uncut. Since half of our household is Colombian, these videos will be most welcome.

I really like the rich color saturation in these video transfers. It looks like it was translated directly from 35mm film, which is how the series was originally shot. Yes, there is a lot of color bleed and fuzzy NTSC resolution, but this only adds to the warmth and nostalgia. The Spanish-language dub is also quite excellent, much better than I expected. I might have to stop watching episodes of my fan-translated copy (using video sourced from the Japanese Blu-Ray) and start watching this instead.

Enjoy Heidi todos los episodios en Espanol! Yay!

One Week Only Podcast Pays Tribute to Isao Takahata

One Week Only Podcast has just published this excellent video tribute to the directorial films of Isao Takahata. This automatically receives two big thumbs up from me for showing clips from Paku-san's many pre-Ghibli films. The only major directorial work that's missing is the 1971 Lupin the 3rd series, but that's really more Miyazaki's thing, right?

There have been many wonderful tributes to Paku-san this past week. It has been a very long and difficult seven days since his passing. But it is nice to know there are others who mourn with you. When I began this weblog, I swear I was the only one who knew about any of these movies. The only Takahata movie that anyone had ever heard of was Grave of the Fireflies, and even then, the exposure was limited to a handful of small anime fan sites and Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" column.

Enjoy this terrific video. Have you seen all of these great movies? The first person who says "yes" will receive a free pizza! Okay, not really. You'll have to buy your own pizza. But you will have genuine bragging rights.

Redcoat Discusses My Neighbors the Yamadas

YouTube channel Redcoat has published a great discussion on Isao Takahata's 1999 comedy classic My Neighbors the Yamadas. This program was made as a tribute to Paku-san's passing on April 5. The occasion is very sad, but the tone of this episode is cheerful and celebratory, highlighting many of the memorable themes and scenes from this great movie.

Yamada-kun remains one of the less popular and less known Studio Ghibli films, as most fans will prefer an action-packed fantasy adventure like Spirited Away than a low-key comedy that is adapted from a Japanese newspaper comic. But if you are willing to give it a chance, you will discover a movie that is upbeat, very relatable and very, very funny. Yasujiro Ozu would be proud, and probably a little jealous.

It's Paku-san. What more do ya want? Why else are you here? Go watch this video, then go watch the movie.

Himitsu no Akko-Chan (1969-70)

After the commercial beatdown inflicted upon Horus, Prince of the Sun in 1968, the Toei Doga bosses punished Isao Takahata by yanking him away from feature films, demoted him in rank, and sent him to work on the studio's television cartoons. Where did he end up first? He ended up here.

Himitsu no Akko-Chan ("The Secrets of Akko-Chan") was a "magical girl" anime based on a popular girls manga comic. The series was successful enough, running 94 episodes during its 1969-70 run. The series was later revived on television in 1988 and 1998, and also appeared in three theatrical film adaptations. The series currently exists as an ongoing web comic in Japan.

According to various Wikipedia pages, Takahata worked as assistant director for the original series. It is still unknown just how much creative freedom he was given at the time, but I would have to assume that he was kept on a very short leash, and probably focused on rebuilding his reputation with the studio bosses after fighting the epic war over Horus.

By 1971, Paku-san had had enough. He took Hayao Miyazaki and Yoichi Kotabe and escaped to join fellow alum (and "older brother") Yasuo Otsuka at the A Productions studio, where they began their pre-production work for the doomed Pipi Longstockings project. Takahata and Miyazaki would jointly direct episodes of the "Green Jacket" Lupin the 3rd series, and Takahata would work as director on other A Pro series while working on Pipi, Panda Kopanda, and eventually preparing for his epic triumph with Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

This is a very interesting period in Paku-san's career, and it remains a bit of a mystery to me. It would help tremendously if we had more of these anime series available to watch. But at least we have these bits and scraps to inspire us and keep us moving forward.

As for this video, it shows the opening to Himitsu no Akko-Chan. A DVD set was released in Japan, which is probably where this clip originated.

Roger Ebert Pays Tribute to Grave of the Fireflies

In this interview for the 2002 Central Park Media DVD, beloved Chicago movie critic Roger Ebert paid tribute to Isao Takahata's seminal 1988 masterwork, Grave of the Fireflies. Ebert was not only an early champion of the films of Studio Ghibli, but a champion of anime at a time when the mainstream movie community refused to touch the medium with a ten-foot pole. Thank God that he stuck his neck out and promoted these great movies.

Ghibli Blog would never have existed if not for Ebert's Greatest Movies columns, and especially his essay on Grave of the Fireflies. I watched the movie on VHS in 2001, and it took me two days to make it entirely to the end. I was too emotionally overwhelmed to make it more than halfway.

After a few days had passed, I was genuinely curious. How could animation create such a beast? What mad genius imagined such a thing as "realistic animation"? This wasn't a cartoon, not like Disney or Bugs Bunny or even known anime classics like Akira or Ghost in the Shell. This was more like an Ozu film, or Schindler's List.

What really blew my mind in those days was the sheer obscurity of it all. Nobody knew that Grave of the Fireflies even existed. Ebert was the only film critic who had even mentioned the movie, much less praised it. And nobody knew anything about the director behind it, or anything about his career. What else did this guy make? Did he make other movies like this one? Where can I find those movies? What were they like? Were they any good? All answers were either met with shrugs or silence. Nobody seemed to know the answers, and nobody seemed interested in discovering those answers.

Two years later, I had my own arts website, and Fireflies was the first posted movie review. I worked and worked endlessly to write that essay. I soon followed up with more reviews of Studio Ghibli movies as I could discover them. The import titles were virtually impossible to find, and relying on "fansub" translations online meant extremely slow downloads on Kazaa or Napster. We're talking 56K phone lines. It took me weeks to download copies of Omohide Poro Poro, Pom Poko, Porco Rosso, Mimi wo Sumaseba and Umi ga Kikoeru. Eventually, I was able to buy DVDs that were released in Japan (expensive) and Hong Kong (cheaper but lower picture quality). Thankfully, most of these movies included subtitles so that I could follow along.

It is only now, in 2018, when we finally have all Studio Ghibli feature films available on home video in the USA. Isn't that crazy? Thankfully, it is now extremely easy to discover all these amazing movies. You'll probably have to purchase Isao Takahata Blu-Rays online, as most retailers have pretty poor selections. But at least they're available.

Thank God for Roger Ebert for awakening us to these amazing worlds. And Thank God for Paku-san for creating those worlds.

Anne of Green Gables (1979, 50 Episodes, English Subtitles)

Anne of Green Gables is the 1979 season of the World Masterpiece Theater television series, which was created by Nippon Animation. It is the third and final series created by Isao Takahata (director) and Hayao Miyazaki (layout and design). Yoshifumi Kondo replaces longtime friend Yoichi Kotabe (character designer and animation director). After episode 13, Miyazaki would also withdraw to direct Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro.

This is a fantastic series, my favorite of all Anne of Green Gables adaptations. Paku-san really dives into the depths of these characters and knows just where to adapt, where to cut and where to expand. He understands the psychology of these characters, not just Anne, but everyone, especially Marilla. His objective storytelling approach is very even-handed and balanced, and it's a quality that is somewhat unique to this Anne. Most other versions identify too strongly with the main character, and they suffer a little as a result.

I could write a million words about this series. It's absolutely magnificent, even if a touch below the standard set by Heidi and Marco. It's funny and touching and emotionally varied. There are some really beautiful moments just in the first episode. And I wouldn't dare spoil the devastating heartbreaks that occur in the final dozen episodes.

Here is the entire series, all 50 episodes, with English subtitles. Enjoy it before it disappears!

Jarinko Chie (1981, English Subtitles)

Jarinko Chie is Isao Takahata's 1981 slice-of-life comedy about the misadventures of a young girl and her family in Osaka, Japan. Her parents are separated, and her father is a bumbling gangster wannabe who frequently gets into fights and gets into trouble. She meets a cat who walks upright and talks and also enjoys getting into fights. Various episodes of hilarious hijinks ensue, with occasional forays into the emotional melodrama that Paku-san mastered so easily.

This movie is adapted from a Japanese manga comic, and was successful enough in theaters to spawn its own TV series, which ran for two seasons. Takahata served as the "general director" for that series, which means that he oversaw the production, but did not direct any specific episodes himself. The tone is generally light and funny and maybe a touch satirical, at least if you understand the region.

The voice actors all hailed from a famous comedy troupe, whose name I can never remember and forgot to write down many years ago. They're basically Japan's answer to SCTV or Saturday Night Live. If you lived in Japan in those days, you'd recognize the voices and have a good laugh.

The episodic structure of Jarinko Chie is similar to My Neighbors the Yamadas, except that there is a narrative thrust throughout the picture, as Chie tries to bring her dysfunctional family back together.

Basically, this movie is Paku-san's version of The Simpsons. I love this movie. It's magnificent and touching. It doesn't quite reach the heights of Gauche the Cellist, but it's a work of brilliance. There are a number of "Ghibli Riffs" for fans to discover. Let's see if you can catch them all!

Longtime friends Yasuo Otsuka and Yoichi Kotabe both served as animation directors, offering some really inspired character designs that are cartoonish, yet grounded in realism and daily life.

I much prefer the Japanese title "Jarinko Chie" over its English translation "Chie the Brat," because I don't think that title really fits. I just have issues with "A the B" grammar. Whatever, doesn't matter. The important thing is that you watch and enjoy this movie.

This movie includes English subtitles and is broken into eight short videos. Hopefully, I have successfully posted the entire playlist in this post. Enjoy!

Gauche the Cellist (1982, English Subtitles)

Gauche the Cellist is Isao Takahata's 1982 movie about a young musician who is visited by a series of talking animals over a series of nights. During his encounters, the stubborn young man slowly learns to quiet his mind and discover the beauty of the world around him, and the music that is found throughout all life. It is a miraculous movie that will uplift your spirit and enrich your heart. It is one of the greatest animated feature films ever made.

And it has Beethoven. What more could you want?

Here is the entire movie, presented in its native Japanese language with English subtitles. Please watch and enjoy before the copyright police come barging through the door.

Hey, GKIDS, are you reading this? Release this movie in North America!

Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974, 52 Episodes, English Subtitles)

Whenever I am asked what is Isao Takahata's greatest works, I always say, simply, "Heidi Marco Anne." Those three television series are his crowning masterpieces, and the epic novels to Studio Ghibli's short stories. This series became a blockbuster smash success in Japan, and was soon exported to nearly every nation on the globe. Everywhere except the USA, that is. D'oh!

This week, in many parts of the world, Isao Takahata will be remembered as the director of Heidi, that beloved animated series that became the soundtrack to so many childhoods. Meanwhile, many of us who have never seen this program can discover it and be amazed, dazzled and overwhelmed.

This is a fantastic series. Of the "Heidi Marco Anne" trilogy, my personal favorite is Marco, but there's no denying the brilliance and boundless charms of Heidi. This masterwork, more than any other, is the defining paradigm of the Studio Ghibli movies. This is where Miyazaki found his best inspirations. And I think there's at least one "Ghibli Riff" in all 52 episodes.

This series is really a team effort between Takahata (director), Miyazaki (layout and design) and Yoichi Kotabe (animation director, character design), and they should all share credit. But it's Paku-san's genius and vision that made this work a reality. It was he who wanted to create a cartoon melodrama that celebrated daily life in almost documentary detail. It was he who wanted to push the emotional boundaries of the medium. It was he who wanted to shatter the "kiddie cartoon" archetype and create true literature. Heidi may not be as dark or moody as Horus, Prince of the Sun, Takahata's revolutionary 1968 feature film, but it's just as important a milestone in the evolution of anime.

This is a fantastic series. I wish GKIDS would just pay the ransom money and release the series in the US. These fan translations are terrific, but I'm really hungry for a proper Blu-Ray box set.

Here is the entire Heidi series, all 52 episodes, with English subtitles. Enjoy!

3000 Leagues in Search of Mother: Episode 1 (1976)

3000 Leagues in Search of Mother (aka Marco) is the 1976 television series created by the trio of Isao Takahata (director and writer), Hayao Miyazaki (layout and design) and Yoichi Kotabe (character design, animation director). This was their follow-up to the wildly successful Heidi, Girl of the Alps, which was instrumental in the anime boom of the 1970s and spread around the world. The series was followed by Anne of Green Gables in 1979, with Yoshifumi Kondo replacing Kotabe.

Of the three World Masterpiece Theater series, 3000 Leagues/Marco is my favorite. It has the richest, most epic story, the most varied and interesting characters, and the most emotionally challenging moments. It pushes serious melodrama to its limits, and it does lose some of the cheerful, bouncy energy of Heidi, but it's far more satisfying for me.

Is this Paku-san's greatest masterpiece? Maybe. It remains lesser known than either Heidi or Anne, perhaps owing to its source material, a little-known short story that was greatly expanded and adapted into a 52-episode series.

Here's the first episode of Marco. There are no subtitles, so you'll just have to follow along as best you can, but you should be able to understand the thrust of it. The story is about a boy named Marco, whose mother must leave their home in Italy for Argentina in search of work that will sustain their family. Marco does not want his mother to go, and his inner conflict will engulf his older brother and father in later episodes. Eventually, Marco travels across the ocean to search for his mother and bring her back home.

In addition to this pilot episode, the next ten episodes are on YouTube as well, from the same channel. Be sure to watch these before they get taken down by the copyright police. Whatever. Paku-san's art belongs to the world now. He belongs to us and we're never letting go.