Osamu Tanabe, Yoshiyuki Momose, and Takahata

Ben Ettinger has another must-read essay on his Anipages blog, this time about two immensely talented Studio Ghibli veterans, Osamu Tanabe and Yoshiyuki Momose. Both have extensive experience with Isao Takahata's films at the studio, from Grave of the Fireflies to Winter Days. I've written about Momose a few times before here on the Conversations on Ghibli blog, mainly for his work on Ghiblies Episode 2 and the three Capsule videos that appeared on Japan's Short Short DVD. Here's another opportunity to look at his career.

Osamu Tanabe, it turns out, was the director of a terrific little music video called "Doredore no Uta," which also appeared on Short Short. It also happens to be one of my favorites, thanks to the catchy song and vividly colorful, yet realistic animation, firmly in that sparse watercolor style the studio's been playing with ever since My Neighbors the Yamadas. Hmm. Since I have the Short Short DVD, I really should have known Tanabe was the director. Really need to brush up on my Japanese.

Tanabe also animated Takahata's 60-second short for Winter Days - you know, I think that one's still available on YouTube, and his career spans across familiar anime classics like Akira (as an in-betweener) and Like the Wind, Like the Clouds and Hakkenden and Cat Soup and Junkers Come Here and all of Takahata's Ghibli movies. Ben Ettinger goes into detail on his favorite Tanabe moments, particularly Doredore no Uta, and offering all the usual brilliant insights that make him the number-one anime resource in the West, bar none. Not that I'm piling on the praise too highly; he really does deserve the credit for all his hard work. There isn't a better person to study anime history from. Give it a read and pass along.

Shotgun Shacks and Ghibli Contests

Hey, kids, guess what? I've moved to a new apartment. Much nicer one than the old shotgun shack. I'm still in the midst of 1) paying off the remainder of my cable bill, and 2) getting the cable hooked up to the apartment. Fortunately, there are a couple computers here in the party cabin at the apartment compound, or whatever you call it. Anyway, that's where I've been lately.

I also want to update everyone on the April anniversary contest here at the blog. I've had a number of responses, all of which are excellent and insightful. I'll promise to reprint all of them here in future posts. Many thanks to everyone who sent in entries.

As to the down side....NOBODY FREAKIN' SENT IN ANYTHING!! What's wrong with you people? Do I really only have eight or ten visitors? What's the freakin' deal here?! Don't be so suspicious and paranoid, kids - I'm just giving away some free stuff to say thanks. I'm not selling your names and addresses to military recruiters or anything.

The upside? All of you who sent in your "Top 5" votes will come away with something. I'll announce the winners in an upcoming post, and I'll email you back to ask for your mailing address. Unless you didn't want all those DVDs and my second copy of the Nausicaa books. Yeah, right. Whatever.

NHK Professional Clips Got Pulled

A big thanks to NHK, whose employees apparantly have nothing better to do than scour YouTube for clips from its television shows. Thanks to their valiant efforts, those nasty, horrible clips of Miyazaki were pulled. Gee, good move there, jerks. Yeah, that'll show us. Now we'll have to actually turn in to your crappy network to watch this stuff.....

...Except for those of us who inhabit the rest of the world. Oops. Fuckin' jerks. Why don't you weasels go play in traffic or something?

The endless attempts by traditional media to control the public never ceases to amaze me. Wasn't this on free television? Ya think maybe I should show a picture of my VCR? How 'bout a TiVO? Does the phrase, "internet download" mean anything? Shutting down something on YT means nothing. Get bent, losers.

Today's Funny Thought

Funny that I got more referrals this week from a snarky letter I unloaded on Salon than anything else. I've really gotta get my blog selling skills up to speed. Or maybe I just need to protest the sorry state of "pop music" more loudly. I'll be outside with my guitar and a sandwich board.

Conversations on Ghibli Birthday Contest!

To commemorate the blog's first anniversary, I'm giving away a collection of, well, everything. Paintings. DVDs. Books. Fansubs. And this weird frog thing. I really don't know what it is.

Okay, here are the rules:

1) List your Miyazaki/Takahata Top 5. It can be anything and everything, from Toei Doga to Studio Ghibli. Horus, Lupin, Heidi, Conan, Gauche, Nausicaa, Totoro, Fireflies, Howl - anything goes.

2) Write a short note or essay about your favorite. Which is your number one, and why? You don't need to write a full-scale movie review (like reciting the plot), just share your love with us, speak from the heart and your own experiences.

When the contest is over, I'll compile all the votes and share some of your notes here on the blog. Send your Miyazaki/Takahata Top 5, and your favorite essay, to d.thomas1973@gmail.com. This contest runs through the month of April. The final day is May 1. Pass the word! Let's see who is the most popular!

Okay, here are the prizes:

First prize is a new car. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.

1st Prize - An R3 DVD of Omohide Poro Poro. A Kiki tote bag, perfect for showing off your new DVD. And an actual Daniel Thomas painting from my vaults. Probably a watercanvas.

Next up is the Mystery Disc. What is the Mystery Disc? What kind of stupid question is that? It's a Mystery Disc. Could be anything. Even a boat. But it's on a DVD-R, taken from my movie collection. One of the imports, that's for sure.

Finally, the dvd-rom Fansub Collection. This package includes: Horus, Prince of the Sun; The Flying Ghost Ship; Lupin III (series 1); Future Boy Conan; Anne of Green Gables; the Nemo Pilot; Ghiblies 1; and a collection of Hayao Miyazaki comics. Oh, and I'll throw in the divx codecs and the VLC Media Player so you can actually watch this.

2nd Prize - The 4-book set of Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. This is the older Viz release, which was replaced by the larger 7-book set. So, basically, you're getting my backup copy. Sorry, Kui. Kai is dead.

Just for kicks, I'm throwing in one of the toys YesAsia sends me with each order. I've got four, you'll get one of 'em. Also, you'll get a Mystery Disc, the dvd-rom Fansubs, and one of my paintings.

3rd Prize - An R3 DVD of Whisper of the Heart. Good for you. You also receive a Mystery Disc, the dvd-rom Fansubs, and one of my paintings. Oh, and you get the second of the four YesAsia toys. Might be the hot anime girl. Might be the cop car. You don't care.

4th Prize - An R3 DVD of My Neighbor Totoro. Happy, happy. Joy, joy. You also get a Mystery Disc, the dvd-rom Fansubs, and one of my paintings. You better not sell it to Sotheby's. Oh, and you get the third of the four toys. Maybe you'll get the frog.

5th Prize - The PC game Star Wars: Empire at War. This was a Christmas gift, so don't go bragging to your friends that I spent a lot of money on you. I only paid for postage. Oh, you get the last toy, the Mystery Disc, the dvd-rom fansubs, and one of my lousy paintings.

6th-10th Prize - A Mystery Disc, the dvd-rom Fansubs, and one of my lousy paintings. No, you can't have my Pink Floyd and Cream records.

11th Prize - You're fired.

Happy Birthday! Ghibli Blog Turns One!

Happy Birthday! Conversations on Ghibli turns one year old on March 30! Many thanks to everyone who has visitited, left comments, sent me emails, added me to your blogrolls, sent me presents in the mail, or just paid an occasional visit.

My purpose in this blog has always been to spread a greater understanding of the works of Studio Ghibli and all its creators. Hopefully, you've learned a few things. You won't go around thinking of Miyazaki as, "that guy who's kinda like Walt Disney" any more. "Oh, he's the one who did that cartoon with the big cat. My five-year-old likes that." And, likewise, wou won't think of Takahata as, "that other guy, you know, the one who made that really, really depressing war movie."

So, happy birthday to the Ghibli blog!

Also...stay tuned. I've got a contest coming out. I'll unveil everything later tonight. Prizes will include fansubs, tote bags, DVDs, and maybe that extra copy of the Nausicaa books. Watch this space, kids.

Today's Screenshots - Gedo Senki

Haven't done this in quite a while (it is pretty time-consuming, dontcha know), so I thought I'd spread the harvest around and show off a number of screenshots from Goro Miyazaki's Gedo Senki.

I've just finished watching it, and I'm going to need time to piece everything together and figure out a more diplomatic method of presenting my thoughts. There's a lot to jumble down, from the presentation of the movie itself, its relation to Ursula LeGuinn's Earthsea novels, and (obviously) Goro's relations with his old man. Whatever. I need sleep.

But just in case you're wondering, here's my "short, short version" (arcane Mel Brooks riff, dontcha know) of Goro's first movie:

It's shit. Absolute fucking shit. And you can quote me on that.

More to come later.

What's This? Gedo Senki DVD? A Dub?

Word on the street - specifically, the website otakunews.com - is that Gedo Senki (Tales From Earthsea) will be released on DVD this July 4 in Japan. This is rather sudden news, but Ghibli typically releases DVDs in summer or the Holidays, so it seems pretty sensible to me. The biggest surprise? Apparantly a Disney dub will be included! Seriously, no bluffing. It seems Disney has been working quietly behind the scenes to prepare an English-language dub for the film.

As always, expect English subtitles to be included on the DVD, and the usual extras like trailers and storyboards. Hey, now I don't feel so bad about having crummy subs on my download copy. Oops. Forget I said that. Nuthin' to see here, kids. Move along.

Miyazaki on NHK's Professional - Ponyo's Debut

(Update: This video has since been removed from Youtube.  Sorry.)

Just recently, Japanese network NHK aired a special episode of its series, "Professional." For three months last summer, a director and camera followed Hayao Miyazaki around the Ghibli studio as he was beginning the production of the next movie. This footage marked the official debut of Ponyo on a Cliff (Gake no Ue no Ponyo) to the Japanese public.

Thankfully, I know someone from Japan who Tivo'd the show, and sent me five short clips to watch. Naturally, I uploaded everything to YouTube, so we can all watch together. I'm pretty certain this is the first real footage seen anywhere in America, so I'm proud to be able to present to you the first footage from the making of Miyazaki's next film.

And, as always, I wish to thank my Japanese contact, who very graciously sent these clips to me. It hadn't even occured to me to ask. Hmm. Maybe I should send him my copy of the Gedo Senki subtitle file, and see if he can clean it up a bit.

Anyway, here are the five clips from NHK Professional:

Clip One - Explaining Ponyo



Miyazaki explains the basic plot to Ponyo, and we see character drawings of Ponyo the fish-princess and Sousuke the boy. We also see Ponyo as a fully human girl, continuing the themes of metamorphosis from Porco Rosso and Howl's Moving Castle.

The heroine is a goldfish princess named Ponyo. The boy is a five-year-old named Sousuke. Says Miyazaki, "I want to make a film that audiences feel that 'Ponyo is so cuts,' and 'Sousuke did a good job."

Clip Two - Ponyo on a Jellyfish



Miyazaki at his desk, sketching and painting. We see character designs pinned to the walls, and some impressive drawings of Ponyo riding on a pack of jellyfish. Hey, look at that! Heidi Tree! Surprise!

The title to this segment is, "making anime isn't logic." Miyazaki explains that it's easy for a movie to be dull if it's made by logic; its scope will be narrow by logical thinking. "I'll try to destroy logical making," he says. "Kids easily feel that...because they live without logic."

Clip Three - Big Tsunami and Ponyo



My favorite moment by far - Miyazaki pulls open his desk and brings out a box of pastel sticks. What a great thrill, in this age of plastic CGI, to see a great artist create the old-fashioned way. Pencils, paintbrushes, watercolors, pastels. These clips give us a great insight into his drawing style. We see a painting of Ponyo riding a fish during a storm, and Miyazaki painiting the film's title cards.

Am I the only one who really digs this studio? It has such a terrific atmosphere, more like a treehouse than an animation studio. It's much freer and more open. Little wonder, since the Ghibli building was designed by Miyazaki himself.

Clip Four - Preview of Gedo



Miyazaki attends the June 28 studio screening of Goro Miyazaki's Gedo Senki, with his lifelong collaborator and friend Michiyo Yasuda in tow. He sits near the front, apart from everyone else. After the first hour, he walks out of the theatre, visibly agitated and tense. He's clearly upset, and spends the rest of the time talking about this to Yasuda. This is a surprising contrast from the official story, in which Ms. Yasuda later speaks to Goro and the studio of Father Miyazaki's approval. Did that story really happen, or was she merely being diplomatic?

Strangely enough, I had pretty much the same reaction after watching the first five minutes of Goro's picture - I got as far as the title card before I had to split for the day job, and I was just agitated and upset all damned day. Still haven't watched the rest of the movie, but I can understand now just why the whole Goro backlash happened.

I really enjoyed seeing the amount of affection and comraderie between these two old friends, Miyazaki and Yasuda. Watching them giggle and goof off and bump into one another. Another favorite moment.

Clip Five - Storyboard and Ending



July 17, The Ghibli animators arrive with pencils and brushes in tow. Pencils! What a rush. Many more of Miyazaki's watercolor drawings on display. It seems the first act is finished and everybody's ready to go. Miyazaki begins work on the e-konte, which serve as the "shooting script" or final storyboards of the movie. This is the first time I've seen these in their actual size (I bought the e-konte book for Horus last year).

Interviews with Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki and again with Michiyo Yasuda, who is the chief color designer as always. Her art book has been out of print for many years, and I'd kill to see it someday.

We finish with a first peek into an actual animation cell of the film, Ponyo peeking her head out. That's the final tease, kids. You'll have to wait until the first trailers are released, hopefully by the end of this year.

Film Reviews Update

Short update here. As you know, I've written many film reviews on my original website, DanielThomas.org. I'm going to be reprinting them here at the blog, over the course of the next several days, and have the review links (on the right-hand column) point directly to them.

DanielThomas.org is four years old, and I haven't touched the site in months. I'm still mulling over whether to keep it alive or just let is pass away, so at the very least I'll move the film stuff over here. Maybe I should re-post the other movie reviews, too. Depends on my mood, I guess.

Ponyo on a Cliff to be CGI-Free

According to a recent article in Variety, Studio Ghibli is announcing that the upcoming Ponyo on a Cliff will not incorporate any computer animation. The entire movie will be presented in the traditional, hand-drawn way, with a visual style wrapped around pastels and watercolors. Makes a lot of sense to me, considering that Miyazaki wants to create another children's classic on par with My Neighbor Totoro.

Studio Ghibli has never fully embraced CGI, certainly not the way the American studios have. They approached it slowly, carefully. Computers were first used in Takahata's Pom Poko for only three shots, then again briefly in Miyazaki's music video short On Your Mark, and also for one scene in Whisper/Mimi (the Miyazaki-directed flying sequence). Computer technology was always used to augment and support the existing skills. Things like compostions and scrolling, mostly.

Mononoke marked the first great step into CGI, and Ghibli finally found its proper balance. It was also the studio's final film with traditional paints and cells; My Neighbors the Yamadas was created entirely on computers, which was very expensive at the time, but was a crucial investment. Spirited Away continued to move things forward, further integrating CGI into the traditional style.

Even though Ghibli continued to make steps towards computers, Miyazaki always insisted that CGI-assisted shots would compose a small fraction of a total picture, roughly 10%. I don't know if that's a firm number, or a general rule. It seems that there is a greater CGI presence in, say, Howl's Moving Castle, than Mononoke or Sen or The Cat Returns. Then again, maybe I'm just thinking of that great, lumbering castle.

With the studio's short films, Ghibli allowed greater freedom for its artists and animators to experiment, and there's a far greater use of CGI found in Ghiblies Episode 2 than any of the major studio films. Likewise, Yoshiyuki Momose's three magnificent Capsule videos, which chronicle a fashionable young woman of the future, is completely dominated by computers. Another excellent example are the series of very brief House Foods commercials a few years back; the first three ads were directed by Miyazaki himself, and the latter two were directed by Momose.

CGI animation in the West has pretty much copied from Pixar's formula. Everyone's still trying to top Toy Story, and, of course, they can't. Heck, even Pixar hasn't topped it. But there's a creepy sameness to all things CGI these days. I'm burned out on the shiny, plastic-doll look that populates everything. For all its supposed strengths, nobody has even tried to experiment and explore the possibilies of computer animation. Everywhere, ironically enough, except Studio Ghibli, which has always kept the machines at arm's length.

And now Miyazaki will keep those boats tethered to the docks entirely for Ponyo's voyage. Kinda makes me wonder just what would have happened if Disney allowed Howl to be seen in this country, the impact that would have been felt across the public and the animation studios. Just how deep would the influence have been felt? I hear that same phrase from every American animator - "Miyazaki is God." Well, just when are you gonna prove it? For all this supposed reverence, I'm not seeing it in anyone's work. Aside from Toy Story, I guess.

Movie Night - Future Boy Conan, Ep. 6

(Update: This video has since been removed from Youtube.  Sorry.)

Just finished uploading another episode of Future Boy Conan, so here it is. Since we're all gossiping about Miyazaki's new movie, it's a good time to revisit one of the classics from 30 years ago. Can you belive Future Boy Conan is nearly 30 years old? Time flies.

In this week's episode, Conan has found Lana who is imprisoned in Industria. He eventually finds a way in, and they manage a successful jailbreak. Eventually, they wander into a hangar, discuss the history of Industria, and just why Lana has been relentlessly pursued. They meet the Industrian leader, Lepka (who, oddly enough, looks just like the Count of Cagliostro), and are recaptured. Meanwhile, Capt. Dyce and his crew choose to rebel against their bosses and break Lana out. Jimsy catches wind and runs off to help break Conan loose while Dyce runs off with Lana in tow. Another action-packed episode. What happens next? I don't know! But I'm sure there are some really cool breakfast cereal commercials to keep us distracted.

Conversations on Ghibli Has Moved (Duh)

As you can gather, I've moved the Ghibli blog to a new address, one that's much simpler to remember and spell out. Everything is the same and nothing has been lost. The address is now www.ghiblicon.blogspot.com.

Please make the necessary adjustments for your links and bookmarks. I've kept the old address as a splash page to send you over here, just to make things as easy as possible.

I was thinking about this while mulling over plans for the weekly podcast project. I realized I needed a shorter web address, one that would be quicker to jot down and memorize. Thankfully, "GhibliCon" was available, so here we are. Note to self: hurry up and secure "GhibliPodcast" before it's too late...

The New Miyazaki Film - Ponyo on a Cliff

This past week, Studio Ghibli finally announced Hayao Miyazaki's new film - Ponyo on a Cliff, or Gake no ue no Ponyo. This is a story that centers around a five-year-old boy named Soskue, and a goldfish princess named Ponyo that wants to become human. The movie has been in production since last summer, and is set for a summer 2008 release.

One exciting detail about Ponyo is that the entire movie will be storyboarded in detailed pastels and watercolors. This is a much more detailed, time-involved process, and a rarity in Japanese animation. It gives us a great insight into the mind of Miyazaki, as well as his ambitions.

And it seems that Miyazaki's patented style of personal storytelling will continue with this film. Goro Miyazaki - the estranged elder son who directed last year's controversial Gedo Senki - is the model for the character of Sosuke. Toshio Suzuke has highlighted the movie's themes as, "father," "mother," and "cliff."

It's interesting to me that Miyazaki's focus has moved so strongly to his family relations. To a great extent, Howl's Moving Castle was a tribute to his wife (the archetypal Heroine) and their marriage. Goro's movie debut was very heavily wrapped around his father's icons and his conflicted feelings about their relationship. Now Father Miyazaki has responded with a story about his son as a young boy. Where will this go? How deep will these themes penetrate Ponyo on a Cliff? At this point, nobody knows.

As an artist (or as someone who splatters paint on canvas and calls it "art"), I'm really thrilled to see more of Ponyo's watercolor paintings. Studio Ghibli has made great strides in capturing that painted watercolor look into its animations. My Neighbors the Yamadas was the first great step in that direction, and you can see it continued in Ghiblies and Ghiblies Episode 2 and the various shorts on the Short Short DVD. They've managed to incorporate computer technology in bringing the hand-drawn style to life in a way the Americans have never conceived. We're still too obsessed with trying to top Toy Story. Which, of course, ain't ever gonna happen.

Ponyo on a Cliff will probably start trickling out by the end of the year. That's usually when the first teaser trailers appear. That is, if Ghibli can meet the summer 2008 release date. The old man still has something to prove, he's still got an ambition. That's the thing that excites me the most about this project. It's the thing that makes Miyazaki one of the great filmmakers of our age.

Ah, well, back to The Beatles!

Update: Have comments for this post been switched off? It certainly wasnt' anything on my part. I'm always eager to see you batting your ideas around. Appears to be a Blogger thing, which is weird because it's been working so well lately.

Sgt. Pepper's on Vinyl - and Mono!

A bit of an off-topic surprise, folks, but I wanted to share. I've been collecting vinyl for a couple months, thanks to a recent purchase of a portable turntable. PREACHY SERMON OF THE DAY - get yourselves a turntable and vinyl records.

Anyway, I go record hunting on Saturdays, thanks to several local vinyl record shops in Uptown Minneapolis. Treehouse Records is the best place for used vinyl, and today, tucked away in the recently-acquired stock...The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Hearts Club Band.

Oh, and did you notice that little sticker? MONO.

When I saw this, the adrenaline kicked in. I could hardly believe my own eyes. Is this the long-sought, legendary mono version of Sgt. Pepper's? I pulled out the record and checked the serial number.

Yep. This is the real deal, kids. The mono version of Sgt. Pepper's!

And did you see that price tag again? $25.00. That really sent my head spinning. I was almost certain someone would club me on the head and run off with the record. Breathe, breathe, calm down, don't panic.

This is one of the holy grails of vinyl records. You see, most '60s pop albums were recorded and mixed exclusively for mono sound. Stereo was still a novelty for older consumers with greater incomes, and as a consequence was used mainly for jazz or classical. Coltrane's Giant Steps has some of the best sound you'll ever hear on vinyl.

So that means all the early Beatles albums were created for mono. These are the versions they wanted you to listen to. After the mono album was finished, the master tapes were sent to another plant for the necessary alterations into stereo. Eventually, stereo took over, and those were the versions that persevered.

What does this mean? It means Sgt. Pepper's hasn't been available in mono for 35 or 40 years. It hasn't been around for decades.

The version I have is the Capitol release, and I don't think this baby's been played more than once or twice. It's in perfect shape. The original vinyl sleeve is also here, with the psychedelic water pattern. And, finally, the paper cutouts are present as well.

There are a number of differences between this version and the stereo version everyone knows. Some subtle changes, and a few major changes. At least one song is played at a different tempo, numerous sounds in the mix pop in and out, and you can hear Paul's shouts at the end of the Sgt. Pepper's Reprise. Oh, and the Capitol version doesn't have the famous run-out groove, which royally sucks. I love that part! Ah, well.

How much is this worth? The last time I checked Ebay, a copy of Sgt. Pepper's mono sold for $500. I bought mine for 25 bucks. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!