From Animation to Epic - Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind

Hayao Miyazaki is known for his animated feature films. He is often called the Walt Disney of Japan. I’ve blogged about him before, and I will get some review for his films up over at my movie review site. But there is another piece of work that Miyazaki did in the mid 1990’s that doesn’t get as much discussion as his film work. That is his graphic novel (or manga in Japanese) called “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”.

This was also the title of Miyazaki’s first animated feature that he funded and produced on his own. Prior to this Miyazaki had been a director for hire working on many popular programs and movies including “Sherlock Hound” and ”The Castle of Caligastro”. But this was the first time Miyazaki was able to create a story he wanted to tell. And what a story it is. It takes place on a world that has been consumed by a toxic jungle, after humans have decimated the planet during a horrible war. The survivors attempt to survive on the edge of the toxic jungle, and one of these bastions of civilization is the Valley of the Wind. Princess Nausicaa and her people live in peace, until an airship crashes near their town. The people of the valley try to help the survivors, but there are none. The next day another airship appears, this one bearing an army bent on taking back what the first airship had in its cargo. War has come to the Valley and Nausicaa must defend her people from it, and keep the war from causing an invasion of giant insects that populate the toxic forest.

The movie was done in the early 80’s and while some of the animation looks a bit primitive now, the design and thought put into the world and the story is top notch. Miyazaki shows all the elements he would be come a master of in his later films like “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away”.

The difference between the film and the manga is that Miyazaki takes the world he created in the film and expands upon it tenfold. In the film there are three factions on this world, the valley of the wind, the warlike Torumekians, and the city of Pejitei. The manga has countless more, all pockets of humans that are tied to one another by war or dependence. Each one plays a key role in the story and adds to the main themes of compassion and man’s relationship with nature.

Nausicaa is the same character, a young woman who is so compassionate and caring that she is nearly perfect. Normally this kind of character is really hard to identify with and not be annoyed by. But Miyazaki keeps her human by having her struggle with her anger at first and then with despair. Most of the decisions she makes are the right ones, and she tends to always know when thing are going to happen or how they will play out. But we begin to feel bad for her. This world is filled with death and destruction. She can’t understand why people do what they do to each other. She can’t understand why they won’t change. It really begins to take its toll, and in the last third of the story, she begins to wonder if fighting to help these idiots is even worth it.

All along the forest and the powers of nature work against the humans, because the humans keep working against it. Miyazaki is a notorious ecologist. Many of his films include some kind of ecological message and to be honest he can feel preachy. The film of Nausicaa being one of his earliest seems to really slam it home at times. The novel isn’t exactly subtle but it works the message into the story of compassion, and makes it a bit more palatable. Humans are part of the natural world, and Miyazaki’s message is that no matter how hard humans struggle to dominate it – they are never going to be the masters. They must learn to live with nature. The toxic forest appears to be a cancer creeping across the world and destroying human civilization. While humans do their best to destroy themselves. But the truth is that the toxic forest is the first stage in a cleansing for the world, and if humans could only understand that, they would be able to look forward to a bright future.

The novel of Nausicaa retains much of the amazing art design and feel of the animation, but gets to really explore more facets of it. We get to see more giant creatures, more technology from the various factions, and more characters with other costumes and equipment. Miyazaki put a lot of effort into keeping the original feel and just delving into it.

If you’ve never tried a Japanese manga before, I heartily recommend this series. You don’t have to be familiar with the movie to enjoy it. It contains a great mix of sci-fi and fantasy elements. The art is excellent and the story, while it may be a bit familiar or heavy handed at times, is still very enjoyable. It’s in print in a six book format (I have the older four book format). For me this was an excellent transition. For the most part anime is based on a manga series and the results are usually poor. But because we have the same creator for both and because he took a story that was roughly 2 hours and developed it into a true epic (the events of the movie take up two thirds of the first book, and then the story goes into a new and interesting direction), its like reading a totally different animal.

Have you ever read or seen “Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind”? Do you have a favorite transition form graphic novel to movie or vice versa? What do you think about characters who appear “perfect”?

Art of Animation – Miyazaki

Since “Ponyo” was released on American shores this past summer, I decided to revisit a book I had about Hayao Miyazaki, ironically called “Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation”. It gives a nice basic overview of the man’s career up to the release of “Princess Mononoke” in 1998. So it’s a bit dated. In a way it was a neat look back at the type of book that would be released before the internet really took off for all things Anime and a time when most of Miyazaki’s work hadn’t been released in the states. Reading now was a bit odd, because the bulk of it is synopsizes for movies that are readily available. But back in the late 90’s only three of his films were available (uncut) in the US market, “Princess Mononoke”, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “My Neighbor Totoro”. It is the history of his animation work as well as the creation of his own studio, Ghibli, that makes this an interesting read– if not covered in a lot of depth.

But why should anyone care about Miyazaki? Japanese animation is pretty prevalent now and it’s impact has crossed over into much modern American animation. For one thing Miyazaki is actually a master storyteller in the animated medium. Just looking at his filmography and you can see a wide variety of topics: a comedy adventure film about a thief with a heart of gold, an epic post-apocalyptic legend, the story of a young witch trying to make it on her own in a big city, the war of man against nature staged in a mythic samurai setting, and the tale of a little mermaid who nearly destroys the earth. What is amazing is that all the films are successful and a few would be considered gems in anyone’s career.

Comparisons between Miyazaki and Disney usually occur. Miyazaki strikes me as less of the showman and more of a storyteller. The writer of the book actually compares Miyazaki to another famous Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa of “Seven Samurai” fame. That does seem to fit a bit better. Miyazaki picks his stories with care and makes sure that even in the simplest story a couple of key themes are realized. One of these themes seems to be man’s place in the world with nature. This has been a key element since his first independent film “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” and continues twenty some odd years later into “Ponyo”. For some, and this includes me, it comes across a bit preachy, but if you look at Miyazaki’s main conceit, it isn’t that humans are bad and nature is good. It’s more like humans are a part of nature – neither above or below it. Humans must understand that when they harm nature they harm themselves. “Nausicaa” and “Princess Mononoke” show this most clearly, but “Totoro” and “Ponyo” have elements of this as well.

One thing that Miyazaki does excel at is making his character relatable and human (even if they aren’t strictly speaking human). This is something that Disney seemed to loose it’s grip on in the late 90’s and that Pixar quickly figured out. Nearly all the main characters in a Miyazaki film connect with the viewer on some level. We’ve all been the new person in a situation, or felt like we’ve been put into a situation we weren’t ready to accept, or just dealt with losing a friend because they move away. His use of animating the world around the characters in a way that allows us to view it as they do works wonders.

One of my favorite moments of this is when Kiki, the young witch looking for a place to set up her new life, flies into the city for the first time. Up to this point Miyazaki has kept things moving at a measured pace, keeping motion leisurely and relaxed. But the minute Kiki gets into the city everything is in motion. There is noise all over the place, and Kiki nearly ends up run over by a bus. The anxiety is perfectly captured in the animation, facial expressions and music of the scene. Kiki and the audience wonders if she’s just stepped into something way bigger than she is.

I could write reams about what Miyazaki does right in his films. But I urge you to check out one of his films if you haven’t already. Different people will need different starting points. Those who enjoy a bit more mythic and epic feels to their stories would probably want to start with Princess Mononoke or Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind which could fall into fantasy or sci-fi respectively. Looking for something more along the cute and harmless route? I suggest Kiki’s Delivery Service or My Neighbor Totoro. Enjoy Alice in Wonderland and want to see a darker Japanese version, Spirited Away is perfect for that. Love WW1 airplanes and screwball comedy, Porco Rosso is the movie for you. Jules Verne more your speed, Castle in the Sky is the one for you. Looking for a modern day fairytale: check out the “Little Mermaid” inspired, Ponyo. The only one I don’t have a category for is Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s very much like a fairy tale, but has an old world feel to it. Visually it’s amazing. But it’s the one place where it feels a little off in the story department.

My favorites? “Spirited Away” amazes me each time I watch it. Visually stunning, a solid story and an excellent score to boot. My second favorite would be “Kiki’s Delivery Service”. The movie fits the definition of delightful. Kiki’s a great character and her struggles in the second half of the movie will appeal to just about anyone who feels they have a talent, but also feels that they’ve lost touch with it. The movie never fails to make me smile.

Ever seen any of Miyazaki’s films? Do you have a favorite? Do you think animation can be used to tell a story with impact, or is it only a place for kids entertainment?

Check out a blog about Spirited Away and it's take on fantasy here.

Fantasy’s Dark Side... for kids! - Spirited Away

It is rare that I travel outside my local sphere to catch a limited release for a movie, but when the opportunity came up to see "Spirited Away" in a theater, I made arrangements and went. This Japanese animated film was created by Hayao Miyazaki, often considered to be one of the greatest living creators of animated stories. His work is immensely popular around the world, but has yet to find popularity in the states. Disney has obtained the rights to his movies and have been releasing them (and others by his studio) in theaters and DVD.

I remember recommending the film "Spirited Away" to many of my coworkers when it came out on DVD. In the end I did get a few people to see it. Some enjoyed it, but weren't as enthralled with it as I was. One person in particular came back to me and said, "That was one F-ed up movie. That was for kids!?"

The basic story goes like this, young Chieko (around 6 or so) is moving to a new home in a different city. One the way there, her family stops at a mysterious, abandoned, amusement park. They find an amazing restaurant with tons of great food, but no one around. The parents start eating, but Chieko is afraid they'll get in trouble. She wanders around the amusement park and sees something startling - it looks like a ghost. She runs back to her parents and finds that they have been turned into pigs. Suddenly Chieko is trapped in a strange world filled with mythical spirits, witches, living soot-balls and dragons. She is forced into servitude by the witch who runs things but is determined to find a way to find her parents and change them back into humans, before they become a main course.

This movie was made with a sense of wonder and love the marvelous and unreal. It is filled to bursting with strange characters. Some of them, like the witch Yubaba, can go from unusual to terrifying at the drop of a hat. Some of the spirits are cute, like the ones that look like newly hatched chickens. Others are just plain bizarre, like the turnip spirit. Miyazaki mixes the weird with the wonderful, creating amazing settings, intense action scenes, and his masterful use of flight. I have yet to see an animator capture the exhilaration of flying like Miyazaki does.

Since the movie deals with ghosts, witches and the terrifying possibility that Chieko's parents might stay in the form of pigs and get turned into a meal - it has a dark edge. I believe that Miyazaki is targeting that age where kids are still afraid to be on their own, but need to begin to feel secure by themselves. They need to know that there are dangerous things out there, but they also need to think on their own and realize that the choices they make affect others. This is a lesson I think some adults need to learn.

I highly recommend "Spirited Away". It has top notch animation, great characters, wonderful music, and solid voice acting for the English dub. If you haven't seen it, give it a try, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. For what it's worth the Academy of Motion Pictures gave the film an Oscar for best animated feature. Some have called it a Japanese take on "Alice in Wonderland" and I can see that - but more along the lines of the original book and not the Disney-fied version.

Have you seen "Spirited Away"? What did you think of it? What makes a film appropriate for kids? How scary is too scary?