Recently I had the immense pleasure of watching three master works of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. All three were part of the Studio Ghibli Collection, released by Madman entertainment, for the first time as Bluray releases.
In chronological order Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is the first Studio Ghibli related feature. Originally commercially released in 1984, it was in fact completed before the actual studio was formed, at this time it was only Miyazaki and his producer that hired freelance animators and key staff to work on this, one of them was the now prolific master Hideaki Anno, creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion. He was tasked with animating the final scene in Nausicaä, and the darkness and lore imbued in it is prevalent in his later mega successful series.
Nausicaä was the first Ghibli feature to start a major trend of female protagonists, however Princess Nausicaä remains Ghibli's toughest and strong-willed female main character. Interestingly, Miyazaki is obsessed with flying and flying vehicles, so in a lot of his features, particularly this, through the gliders, airships and insects themselves, there is a trend of flying and freedom. Finally, and perhaps the most indelible trend is the appreciation and preservation of nature and wildlife. This film was endorsed by the World Wildlife Federation and it is clear why. Nausicaä's devotion to the wild and her reaction to the mistreatment of these misunderstood beasts and insects are a testament to the world view and humanitarian qualities of Miyazaki himself.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is also vague in establishing an antagonist or obvious enemy, instead opting for warring states and conflicted agendas. This is another major trend Ghibli tends to add to their features, with only a handful of their films containing a truly defined, evil bad guy archetype. Nausicaä concerns the princess who rules with kindness, empathy and understanding beyond that of normal human capacity in the Valley of the wind. The valley is an extremely peaceful place where everyone works together and there is no conflict.
The rest of the world however is a post-apocalyptic land inhospitable by humans due to the toxins in the air, land and sea. Monstrous but neutral bugs and insects inhabit what is known as the sea of decay. A warring state uses this, and the discovery of a fabled giant warrior monstrosity to gain a foothold of the world, but all goes horribly awry as Nausicaä races to stop them and restore peace.
Joe Hisaishi's beautiful score sways to the mood and immediacy of each scene, and his memorable sound travels through many of Ghibli's releases. The opening credits are mind blowing and right through to the end credits the animation, flow and music layer perfectly and give Nausicaä an incredible production value. This was 1984! Now, released in March 2011 Madman's release is stunning, containing a great amount of extras, enhanced features and a mind blowing high definition recreation that makes this already classic title shine with a profound sense of new.
The extras on the disc are a real treat and are definitely worth investigating, included are:
- The disc cover itself, which has a reversible cover (to reveal the original Japanese art)
- A handy card inside, embossed and including the scenes and other titles in the collection
- English and Japanese audio - I am stern about watching films and series in their original format, but the English audio includes talent the likes of Patrick Stewart and Uma Thurman, so the production value is certainly high
- 1080p, 16:9 widescreen
- An audio interview with Toshio Suzuki (Miyazaki's long time producer and friend) and Hideaki Anno "Nausicaä and Evangelion! The whereabouts of the giant warrior" this interview is quite surreal but a welcome addition to the extras. A clock counts down the interview and a blue sky can be seen in the background as we hear familiar voices from Evangelion and then listen to the two men discuss the relevance and impact the giant warrior in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind has on Evangelion
- Behind the scenes featurette with the American voice actors, which aptly displays their passion for the dub
- Audio commentary with Hideaki Anno and Kazuyoshi Katayama (Director Assistant), I have not listened to this, but it certainly tempts me to watch the film with it enabled
- Storyboards, this is an interesting one, in the bottom right of the screen, as the movie plays the original films artistry of that exact screen displays
- Original trailers
- The birth story of Studio Ghibli featurette. This extra was wholly fascinating as a narrator described in detail the formation of the iconic studio and lows and highs they faced when developing each feature. It even uses actors to portray the key staff!
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was immensely successful but it would not have been so without Miyazaki's right hand man and producer Toshio Suzuki. Toshio had been in awe of Miyazaki and after working on some mediocre magazines eventually got the reins of one of Japan's most premier anime magazine, Animage. At this time Miyazaki was working on his solo feature The Castle of Cagliostro and Toshio was to interview him for the magazine. What he received instead was a brick wall of no responses and famously Miyazaki only spoke to him on the day he came to interview him at three am, to inform him only that he was going home.
Toshio stuck with Miyazaki's harsh attitude during this time and after Castle of Cagliostro was released Miyazaki opened up to him and Toshio helped him find funding for Nausicaä, which was extremely difficult at the time because it was a wholly original concept and only bankable things such as manga series stood a chance. One year later Animage had a Nausicaä manga serial in each issue and after its popularity Nausicaä was given the green light to be turned into a full length feature. Ghibli are famous for their no cuts policy, as an Americanized heavily cut version of Nausicaä was outright refused by the studio. Funnily enough Miramax tried it years later for Princess Mononoke and Ghibli sent them a katana with the simple message 'no cuts'.
1986, and with Studio Ghibli officially formed Miyazaki released the masterpiece Laputa Castle in the Sky, Madman released it on Bluray in April 2011. In terms of the only three Bluray released so far Laputa easily looks the best. Visually it is a fast paced, colorful and upbeat epic fable about a legendary floating castle (itself based off Gulliver's Travels) and the various parties with vested interests in getting to it. Laputa is one of the only Ghibli releases that has a male protagonist, Pazu. A strong willed kid that protects Sheeta, a girl that floats from the sky into his arms. She is the key to reaching the island, and both of them embark on a dangerous quest to get there first and stop the mysterious and evil Muska who knows more about the island than he reveals.
As mentioned Muska is bad; he manipulates everyone around him and does whatever it takes to reach Laputa. He is an iconic villain in the Ghibli-verse and one of the only truly evil characters. Another iconic character is the pirate leader Dola, who is extremely stubborn and thick skinned, but ultimately has a kind heart. This character turns from foe to friend and her attitude and beliefs are rumored to be based off Miyazaki's own mother.
The attention to detail in Laputa is stunning, each character's scene is proliferated with busy background activity and highly detailed objects. The lore of the world Laputa is in is completely fleshed out and it is rumored that this is the same land in Nausicaä only far in the past, or the future. It is a rambling adventure and each kinetic scene breathes with life and pulses with heart and passion. It is exciting and thrilling as Pazu and Sheeta go from fugitives to rebels with a cause.
The extras on the disc are the same as Nausicaä except the features are as follows:
- Storyboard (picture in picture)
- Behind the microphone (English dub)
- Textless opening and ending credits
- Original trailers
- Promotional video of Laputa and the Studio, as introduced and narrated by a Ghibli staff member
- Behind the Studio, a collection of featurettes focusing on snippets of Ghibli such as The World of Laputa, Creating Castle in the Sky, Character Sketches and The Producers Perspective. Each are short but demonstrate the extremely hard working the studio does and the unique character that is Hayao Miyazaki
Laputa was an immense success and the first
true feature to Ghibli's name, but what does Ghibli mean? It is not
Japanese, The name Ghibli comes from Arabic for sirocco, a Saharan
scout plane that makes reference to the wind and thus the studio's intentions
to stir a new wind, along with Miyazaki's
passion for aircraft. Funnily enough however the word is pronounced with a
hard ɡ making it gibli, so this was incorrect! Miyazaki however kept the
Ghibli spelling and pronunciation and it has stuck.
So this analysis of the first three releases of Studio Ghibli on Bluray comes to a conclusion with My Neighbors the Yamadas, a release that Miyazaki had nothing to do with and a departure from the epic fantasy and science fiction elements of the first two seminal mater works. My Neighbors the Yamadas was released in 1999, decades after the two aforementioned titles but it still holds up as a classic in its own right. It is a hand drawn slice of life family dramedy, that is nothing but extremely amusing vignettes that looks at a dysfunctional Japanese family and their interactions with each other and life as the seasons change. Although Yamadas is bountiful in its wisdom and many metaphors and analogies are used along the way to describe the highs and lows of family life, it is first and foremost a lighthearted, brisk comedy. The Bluray release is arguably redundant; comparable to Nausicaä and Laputa the enhancements from DVD to Bluray are not as noticeable, but it is in the color palette where the high definition shines. It is a striking and illuminating range of colors and water brushes that emphasis the traditional Japanese elements of family and exposes each members persona. Yamada's focuses on a specific event or situation, such as the matriarch preparing lunch for her husband. Some of the more meaningful events are followed with a deep poem. Regardless of the event, Yamadas is an overly joyful, sentimental and truly lovely ode to family. The way in which this subject matter is handled proves without a doubt that Studio Ghibli has that extra element not found in other productions that imbues the warmest, most natural feeling, and in its beautiful simplicity will bring a tear to your eye.
Extras on this Bluray include:
- Original trailer and TV spots
- Textless opening and ending
- Storyboards
- Behind the microphone (dub)
- NTV Special Program Super TV; Secrets of My Neighbors The Yamadas, this was an interesting but rather superfluous feature
These releases have only touched upon the oeuvre of Miyazaki's collection and imagination. Hopefully there will be more Bluray releases of these classics as this treatment of each feature is a welcome addition to any fan of good anime, good movies and good taste. Ghibli is the most prolific and superb animation studio in Japan. Their work has and will continue to stand the test of time, and for them to be released on Bluray is a significant event that applauds the undeniable genius and genuineness of a legendary master film maker, making his works more accessible than ever.