"The Secret World of Arrietty"

A new slice of enchantment from Studio Ghibli, reviewed for MSN Movies. 

Comments

[JP]

Just watched Miyazaki's Nausicaa for the first time. What a movie!! Every time I watch a Ghibli/Miyazaki movie I am stunned by the pure joy that seeps into the material.

What did you think of Ponyo Glenn? I didn't think it was among his best, perhaps a little more directed at kids then his previous features, however, I think it's among the most beautiful of his movies...Those Waves!

[Fernando]

Oh gosh, I didn't realize this was already coming out! Very excited. I felt like I was on the cusp of tears throughout the entirety of PONYO and had no clear idea why. That's gotta some kind of mark of quality right there.

[Oliver_C]

"If you really want to see the best current animation, go to Japan, especially to the work of Hayao Miyazaki."

-- David Thomson, 2005

[LLJ]

I thought Ponyo was great, in fact I enjoyed it more than Miyazaki's 3 previous features. Yes, it was the most child-like Miyazaki film since Totoro, but there's a freewheeling playfulness to the storytelling, animation and artwork that was infectious to watch.

That said, Ghibli has a very talented animation staff overall, and I hope Yonebayashi builds on this film's success.

[Chris O.]

It's a near-crime that these films aren't available on Blu-Ray here in the states with the exception of "Ponyo" -- although I see the "Nausicaa" Blu is out on March 8. (They also make you wish for a Ghibli virtual reality helmet so you can revel in those blue skies a bit more, but mabye that's just me.) My son was bitten by the imaginative bright-eyed well-designed Ghibli bug with "Ponyo," then subsequently "Totoro" and "Kiki's," and now wants to see them all. Watched "My Neighbors The Yamadas" over the weekend, in fact, and didn't anticipate how experimental and episodic it was going to be (in the good sense of the words).

@JP - Here's Glenn on "Ponyo:"
http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2009/08/ponyo-on-court-street.html

[Thomas]

The "Nausicaa" Blu-ray actually came out in the US March 8th of last year. And I've already watched it three times since getting it (it was the only Miyazaki film I hadn't seen yet.)

[LLJ]

Chris O, if you can, do try to catch "Only Yesterday" in the Ghibli retrospectives touring North America currently. If you enjoyed "My Neighbors the Yamadas" I think you'll find this earlier Takahata effort just as eye opening. Quite frankly, it's my favourite Takahata film of the Ghibli era, even over the excellent and much more well-known "Grave of the Fireflies."

It also needs to be said that "Only Yesterday" is the only Ghibli film that has never been released in North America, along with "Ocean Waves." See them both; the chance that Disney will release them at all seems quite slim.

[Josh Z]

From the review: "As is always the case with films from this studio, there isn't a Smash Mouth song within 100 miles of these proceedings."

I wish I had never suffered through the English dub of Ponyo, which has an abhorrent auto-tuned dance remix of the theme song performed by Miley Cyrus's little sister and one of the lesser Jonas Brothers. That's probably John Lasseter's fault, though.

[lazarus]

FWIW, I got a region-free bootleg Ghibli boxed set a long time ago that contained Ocean Waves (aka I Can Hear The Sea) and Only Yesterday, as well as everything else from the studio. It even had a fantastic music video Miyazaki made for some J-Pop group. All the menus were in Japanese but each film did have English subtitles.

Anyway, that was back around 2002/2003 (the set only went up through Mononoke), but I don't think I paid more than $25 for it. I imagine there's still something similar floating around.

Also, am I the only person who preferred Goro Miyazaki's Tales From Earthsea to Ponyo, and now Arietty? I seem to be in a very small minority of people who even liked that film. For a first feature, it has a lot of great work in it.

[Chris O.]

@Thomas - Completely missed it. Sorry about that. Thanks!

@LLJ - Yeah, I really want to see it. Thanks!