Hayao Miyazaki

When I first sat down with Émilie to talk about Japanese animated features last September, to my dismay I realized that I had seen one of Hayao Miyazaki's masterpieces. It was also Émilie's favorite Miyazaki film. Indeed, in the summer of 2005, my good friend Géraldine (who went to film school) took me and two other friends to see Howl's Moving Castle . Back then, the movie didn't make that much of an impression on me, and all I could remember was that the film was based on a book by Diana Wynne Jones. Hence, I was keen to see it again, if only ... Read Full Story

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In a rare win for heritage activists, a Japanese court Thursday halted plans for a road bridge over the scenic and ancient port that helped inspire the animation hit movie "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea". The court ruled that the impact would have been too grave on picturesque Tomonoura port -- which is lined with traditional Japanese houses and faces the Seto Inland Sea -- located in western Hiroshima Prefecture. It was the first time a Japanese court halted a public works project in order to preserve a landscape, according to public broadcaster NHK. "This is an epoch-making ruling," said one of ... Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director Hayao Miyazaki is considered a master of animation in his native Japan, and when Disney releases his latest movie "Ponyo" on Friday the studio hopes to score with an entirely different audience -- mainstream U.S. movie fans. Disney has tried before with other Miyazaki films in the United States and Canada, but has found little success. In 2003, his "Spirited Away" earned a best animated film Oscar, but only $10 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices. In 2005, his "Howl's Moving Castle" made only $4.7 million in ticket sales. Elsewhere around the world, "Spirited Away" hauled in $265 ... Read Full Story

Capsule reviews of films opening this week: "Ponyo" — If you're 5 years old, or under the influence of some hallucinogenic drug, this movie is probably awesome. Clearly, these are the ideal scenarios in which to watch the latest animated fantasy from Japanese writer-director Hayao Miyazaki. For everyone else, though, "Ponyo" will seem beautiful but surprisingly boring: a children's film that's at once overly simplistic and needlessly nonsensical. The hand-drawn images can be wondrous and inventive as they are in all of Miyazaki's films, but this story of a goldfish who longs to be a little girl lacks the sophisticated depth and engaging weirdness ... Read Full Story